Welsh Sheepdog Society
Information about various herding breeds
can be found in dog breed encyclopedias such as The Atlas of Dog
Breeds of the World, by Bonnie Wilcox and Chris Walkowicz, and
there are foreign-language websites that can be found by using a
search engine.
A few more herding breeds are:
New Zealand Heading Dog, New Zealand Huntaway: These are the
working dogs developed for handling New Zealand's large flocks. The
Heading Dog, used as a gatherer, is a strain of working collie closely
resembling the Border Collie in appearance and manner of working. The
Huntaway, used for "hunting out" sheep in brushy areas and pushing
them along, was developed from old working collie types and a mix of
some other breeds (Labrador is one possibility) in order to obtain a
dog that has a lot of push and bark; huntaways are trained primarily
to drive the sheep ahead of or away from the handler. Huntaways vary
in appearance but generally are leggy, short-coated, heavy-eared
dogs.
Smithfield: An old type of English stockdog, often used as a drover's dog,
the name being associated with the Smithfield livestock market in
London. It was generally stocky in build, shaggy-coated, drop-eared,
often bobtailed, and as a working dog had a tendency to bark and grip.
The name is still used for a strain of working dog in Australia; these
are strong, close workers, varying in color, with medium-long or
shaggy (beardie type) coats.
Florida Cur, Yellow Blackmouthed Cur,
and other Cur breeds:
the Cur breeds were developed from the all-purpose dogs used for
herding and hunting by settlers in remote regions of the United States
-- "Old Yeller" was a dog of this type. Curs closely resemble
the related Catahoula in overall body shape and manner of working (for
information see "Catahoula Leopard Dog" above). Some strains, however,
are used more for hunting than for herding.
Blue Lacy: like the Catahoula and Cur breeds, a smooth-haired, drop-eared
all-purpose dog for herding and hunting. The breed was first developed
in Texas by the Lacy family and characterized by a distinctive slate
blue color (other colors also occur).
Alpine Shepherd Dog -- a German sheepdog breed (in German).
Patagonian Sheepdog: Spread throughout the pampas regions of
Argentina and Chile are strains of working dogs descended largely from
collies brought by settlers from Britain intermixed with other local
working dogs. Appearance varies considerably, with a wide variety of
colors, sizes, and coat types, but the overall impression of many is
of working collie characteristics. Recognized breeds such as the
Border Collie and Kelpie also are used as stockdogs in these
areas.
General-Purpose Dogs Also Used for
Herding
There are
several breeds which, while not primarily bred as herding dogs,
included herding among their tasks on the farm. These include such
breeds as the Kerry
Blue Terrier, Soft-coated Wheaten
Terrier, Schipperke, German Spitz/Keeshond, American Eskimo, and
others.
Mixed Breeds
Mixed breeds have also served as helpful herders, and, as is
the case with most other breeds, crosses played their part in the
development of many herding breeds. Frequently-seen crosses on farms
and ranches in America today involve various blends of Border Collie,
Australian Shepherd and Australian Cattle Dog. The German Shepherd X
Rough Collie was popular as a farm dog for many years in the Midwest.
Livestock Guardian Dogs
These aren't herders, but serve as protectors for
the flock, usually living full-time with the animals they are
protecting. In some regions there would be both local guardian breed
and a local herding breed; for instance, in the Pyrenees Mountains in
France the guardian dog was the Great Pyrenees and the herder was the
small, active Pyrenean Shepherd. Some of the guardian breeds on
occasion would provide a low-key, gentle guidance of the flock, but
they weren't active herders, a behavior that would be frowned upon in
a livestock guardian breed. Information about these dogs is available
at: