In researching Border Collie history and in postulating what might happen in the Border Collie future, it’s informative to look at the rise and fall of the Old Time Farm Shepherd.
This was once the quintessential American breed, the able and diverse dog used across the country as the indispensable farmhand, shepherd, protector, and hunter. It is the dog that inspired Lassie, only to be replaced by a transvestite “improved” dog show version in both that TV show and in the public’s mental model of what a “collie” is. Before the well-to-do in cities made the Boston Terrier the toast of the fancy, before Rin Tin Tin made the German Shepherd “America’s Dog,” and long before the Cocker Spaniels battled the Poodles and the Labrador Retrievers for the most popular American breed, the “Scotch Collie” was the dog under foot as America grew from a few colonies into an agricultural powerhouse.
Shasta the Old Time Farm Shepherd and puppies
This is the dog that settled the west and patrolled farm, ranch, and wilderness alike. But as America became an urban and mechanized culture, the OTFS was replaced here and there with more specialized and focused breeds, some closely related and others vastly different. As agricultural specialization grew and farm families didn’t keep the diversity of livestock in small numbers, large cattle or sheep ranches bred dogs more specialized to work cattle or herd sheep, dogs that didn’t need to be versatile enough to do both and then some. Sheep workers turned to the Border Collie, Cattlemen created the Australian Shepherd, and smaller farms found their unregistered Scottish bred dogs disappearing into wave of registered English lines of shepherd dog that would make the English Shepherd.
Old Time Farm Shepherd puppies
Families that no longer kept a small array of livestock could then meet their hunting needs with a dog breed specifically focused like the Beagle, the Labrador, or Golden Retriever. Conspicuous consumption in the upper classes could pick the show collie as a status symbol or move to a more city friendly dog like the toy breeds. Those looking for guardians could pick the GSD, Pit Bull, or Rottweiler. Versatility gave way to indulgence and specificity.
Although it’s been almost a century since writers began to lament “What happened to Old Shep?”–realizing too late that they had given up a good thing–a small but growing group of enthusiasts still exists and is working to preserve this breed. One of them is Andy Ward of the Old Time Farm Shepherd Blog and Little Boy Blue Farm. His outstanding bitch Shasta just gave birth to a beautiful litter of new old-time farm shepherd puppies. Check them out and the pilgrimage he went on to make this litter happen.
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retrieverman recently posted..Popular sire problems in a livebearer
You have to give it up to Andy, he’s single handedly sifted through so many wrong assumptions and documented Collie history as well as anyone. It takes a lot of gusto to say “no, I don’t think so” which he has done several times to more than one long held and cherished “truth.”
He’s the fellow who put the final nail in the coffin with my Queen Victoria research finding a first hand account of the exact name of the shepherd Noble came from. He’s also done excellent work on the greater Collie landrace and the breeds we’ve carved from it.
His work on the English Shepherd actually being English is a must read.
I don’t really care where the Scotch Collie / Farm Collie / Old Time Farm Shepherd / English Shepherd came from – I’m just glad they’re still here.
Two of them, one mindfully bred from working stock the other spawned from a random breeding at hoarder hell, are at my feet now and they’re wonderful, versatile dogs. I love that *most* breeders of these dogs are focused on health and working ability and that a gathering of the dogs shows a huge variability in type – yet all the dogs (or at least nearly all) still share the set of working and personality traits that make them so useful on a small farm.
Looking at them, you would not guess my boys are of the same breed, but spend a day with them and you’ll see that they are.
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In 1938 or 39, my parents bought a shepherd for my older brother and she was part of our family until she died just shy of 16 years old when he was 17 or 18. This pup was struck by a snowplow her first year and rather than have her put down, they opted to have the severely nerve-damaged paw/foreleg amputated. At that time, vets left a stump rather than doing the now more common surgery up to the shoulder. Queen herded cattle on three legs; she didn’t know she was ‘disabled.’ She went where we went. She saved my brother’s life twice, loved other animals except snakes (killer), adopted and cared for an extremely pregnant abandoned cat and then babysat the kittens, shared her food with the hungry cat without any hint of aggression, etc. She was the perfect dog.
The modern English Shepherd is an American breed, its history closely (and as folks around at the time are apt to tell you, sometimes literally 😉 intertwined with that of the Australian Shepherd. Neither arrived in the US as members of an established “pure” breed elsewhere, though both undeniably carry the blood of hardworking forebears brought over from the British Isles.
There have been all sorts of popular myths woven around the origins of most modern breeds, lol, usually by those seeking to make money or distinguish themselves in some way by promoting/selling dogs.
In the last century Tom Stodghill championed the black and tan line of English Shepherds he bred himself and enlisted others to assist him in his “clockwise” breeding efforts. Stodghill also actively sought AKC recognition, but thankfully, he failed, andfor the most part the ES remains the die-hard, useful “Farmer’s Best-Kept Secret” it has been for generations 😉
Andy Ward’s Shasta and my Blacksheep Suzy both go back to some of the same black and tan Stodghill ES ancestors, tho in breeding on I have selected over the years for a more versatile all-around farmdog, one generally better-suited to the small family farms on the increase today as more and more get back to the land and strive to farm sustainably, than the hard-biting cowdog rodeo type Stodghill favored. And I have opted to work within the registered ES genepool to do so, while Andy has chosen to outcross for his first litter of pups. To each his own 🙂
For some American working dog history:
http://www.herdingontheweb.com/shepherd.htm
My Suzy:
http://www.farmcollie.com/Dogs/torenssuzy.htm
My Rooster, also related to Shasta:
http://www.farmcollie.com/Dogs/torensrooster.htm
Shasta’s registered pedigree:
http://www.farmcollie.com/Dogs/wardsshastaped.htm
Thanks for the history lesson Tish. However as you so aptly pointed out the ES did not arrive here as a “pure” breed, nor are they currently a “pure” breed, they are a landrace breed and as such this talk of “outcrossing” is rubbish and purely subjective.
Andy Ward recently posted..Landrace vs Purebred Scotch Collies
I wonder if anyone might know if there are breeders of the old type Farm Shepherd, Scotch Collie or Farm Collie dogs in the UK? Thank you.
Look at the color patterns.
I accidentally found a photo of an old time farm shepherd dog and suddenly realized that this breed is exactly what my grandmother and grandfather had when I was a child. All my life I remember,”Tippy” being a very calm and smart dog. Never aggressive. I assumed that Tippy was just a mongrel,but with my grandfather being a hunter and owning a few farm animals it all makes sense now. I would love to have one of these dogs in our family.
Yes this is the case with quite a few working dog types/breeds and some others.
In many of the colonies the originals or early dogs were probably mostly likely landrace types imported or taken when people emigrated.
Quite a surprising one perhaps the then 100% landrace breed the Borzoi….
After all dog breeding with closed registries for shows in the old countries is only max 150 years old, even less for Continental Europe.
I really appreciate this post! good dogs, good people.