Mr. McDuffie in particular is interested in locating the dogs that show the hunting instincts of the Scotch collie, or "treeing farm shepherds" that were so common everywhere until the last half of this century. Mr. McDuffie is experienced in this type of endeavor, having successfully led efforts to locate and reestablish viable populations of two other breeds of dogs and one breed of horses. He also writes two columns for Full Cry.
Many descendants of the Old Scotch Collies were registered with various associations as English Shepherds, Border collies, or Australian Shepherds, and in Great Britain, the Border Collie, AKC Collie, and the Shetland Sheepdog continued to develop as other branches of this family. The Welsh Shepherd, or collie, still exists in Great Britain and there are currently efforts underway to form a registry and breed association for them. Many of these dogs today retain the instincts and intelligence of these forebears.
These dogs were a versatile breed, they excelled at herding livestock, guarding (both livestock and the family), hunting and predator control. Their duties varied from protecting the baby from snakes to moving the bull. As the focus of American life has moved from the homestead to the urban areas, the need for this type of all-purpose dog is dissappearing. People have abandoned the Old Time Farm Shepherd for more "exotic" specialized breeds, and show and trial dogs from Great Britain.
Today the descendants of these dogs are more often merely companions than herding partners, and even the dogs that are being entered in herding or agility competitions are not necessarily being selected for their ability to think on their own. Some are now being trained for search and rescue, and there is a movement currently underway to use this breed as guide dogs, endeavors that hope to use this superior thinking ability in a wonderful way!
Old Time Farm Shepherds exhibit an amazing intelligence and the combined instincts of herding and livestock guardians. They love to please their human partners, but can think on their own and think using choice and consequences to a degree that is often unbelievable to many canine training experts that are unacquainted with this breed. One owner of a farm shepherd said that he could tell his dog the name of the cow he needed, and the dog would fetch the specific one! Shep, an Old Time Farm Shepherd from Montana in the thirties, exhibited undying devotion.
Many modern English Shepherds still exhibit this amazing intelligence. Sue Lesly, reports that her English Shepherd dog, Abby, herded her goats into the barn and held them there until she could get home to fix the fence. For a detailed account of Abby's story click here. Another fine example of this herding/guarding combination is Micki, owned by Val Dambacher and bred by Rick McDuffie. Ranger is the grandsire of Micki, as well as Traveler, Jake, and Jacob.
Others continue to help their families on the farm like Chico here.
The farm shepherds in this country quite likely also carry the blood of other types of herding dogs that were brought here by immigrants from other locations in Europe. Some of the breeds that very likely had an actual, but less significant influence on the genetic make-up of the American Old Time Farm Shepherd, are the French Beauceron, the various types of the Scandinavian Lapphunds, the various types of German Spitz and earlier types of the German Shepherd. Caucasian Ovcharkas very likely accompanied the immigrants from Eastern Europe and Russia as well. The farm shepherds in Kansas exhibited various types of this mixture. Delilah is said to resemble these midwest farmshepherds. Delilah came from Hearts United for Animals in Nebraska. Other farmshepherds that were described this way were from the Pacific Northwest. Dusty Copeland said:
". I have been trying to bring back the old farm Shepherd from the Pacific northwest. my husband's family, as well as most ranchers from the area had old fashioned farm shepherds years ago. They were descendents of dogs brought across the plains in wagon trains, used to guard the family and flocks. They were larger than the dogs that appear to be on your site, 80-130 pounds, rough coated, usually yellow with a black mask, or sable or light tan to white in color. Most of the other characteristics as described in some of the old articles were the same, including the double dewclaws. If you or anyone else is interested in these dogs please e-mail me at dustyc@snowcrest.net"
Although his color is somewhat unusual, JJ is also said to be representative of a type of farm shepherd formerly common in the Pacific Northwest. Here are photos of JJ.
The predominant ancestor of the American Old Time Farm Shepherd was the "old Scotch Collie". These dogs originated in the north of Scotland, as evidenced by Bewick in 1790. Historical incidents, namely the Battle of Culloden and the subsequent immigration of numerous Scotsmen (including Flora MacDonald) to North Carolina around 1750, had introduced a viable population of this breed. Dunrovin's Old Shep was a dog of this type, and quite possibly this line is the last pure line of this type in the country today. Shep and his littermates are the backbone of the NKC Old Time Farm Shepherd genetic pool. Compare his picture to this photo from the Library of Congress.
After the Revolutionary war, many of the Scottish settlers in North Carolina lost their land, (due to their unfortunate allegiance to King George), and either returned to Scotland, or moved west.
The first Scottish families settled in Tennessee at about the same time as Bewick published his book of quadrupeds. Not surprisingly, the descendants of Dunrovin's Old Shep closely resemble these dogs in looks and function. This is due to the efforts of the family that was devoted to the careful breeding and preservation of this line for decades.
Queen Victoria was a dog fancier, and she had Scotch collies in her kennels. She crossed these dogs with Borzois that were imported from Russia. This initial cross had far reaching and long lasting effects. Throughout the first part of this century, the registered show collies had to have the look that this cross gave them to be competitive in the show ring. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending upon your perspective) the Borzoi blood did nothing to enhance the ability of the collie to earn his keep on a farm, and the term "farmcollie" became a derogatory appelation among the registered, show collie crowd, The placid, Borzoi temperament was deemed more valuable than the traditional Scotch Collie working ability. Nevertheless, there are some AKC collies of today that retain much of the original instinct of the working Scotch collie.
There is now a small group of Collie fanciers that want to locate registered AKC collies of this type, and encourage the preservation of the important functional, physical, mental,behavioral and aesthetic characteristics of this type for the future. They are the Classic Victorian Collie Club, and have a good library of historical collie pictures and information online. Tracy of Fordwich,is considered by many to be a beautiful variation of this type..
Another Scottish influence on the Old Time Farm Shepherd was the ancestral (pre-AKC) form of the Shetland Sheepdog. A small type of farm shepherd, called the midget collie, (about 30 lbs average), is known to have existed between the Oklahoma Panhandle and central Arkansas during the nineteen fifties and sixties. I have seen three of these that were white, two of the white dogs had sable caps or ears. Another was reportedly a grey and white, the grey being non-merle, like the color of a beardie. Those of us who are familiar with this breed agree that Daisy, a registered English Shepherd looks remarkably similar to these dogs, as does this "collie" from New Zealand. Here is Chipper a 45 lb "farmcollie" that was a registered "Shetland Sheepdog".
This picture of a Montana sheep dog from the forties resembles the midget collies we knew in the fifties.
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If anyone has information
Elaine Reynolds
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She looks similar to the "midget collie" that I had as a child in the Oklahoma panhandle. to adopt Annie contact: National English Shepherd Rescue. |  |
All references to the Old Time Farm Shepherd at this website refer to the North American landrace known by that term, and not the few that are currently registered with the NKC, unless otherwise specifically noted.
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