Working Stock Dogs

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English Shepherd. This beautiful dog is a familiar sight to many people who think of it as a collie cross. Long-tailed and long-haired, with "feathered" legs and laid-back ears, the English shepherd is commonly black with tan trim (including a "penny" dot over each eye). At a height of 18 to 22 inches and a weight of 50 to 60 pounds, it's considered both a versatile heeler and a good all-round farm dog.

Australian Shepherd. With both a bobtailed dog and a blue merle collie in its background, the handsome "Aussie" is usually tailless and often strikingly colored. The latter feature may prove to be its downfall as a practical choice for ranchers if buyers begin to demand—and breeders consequently to aim for—merle (mottled blue gray) or tricolor dogs rather than animals with top working ability. Aussie merling, you see, carries an albino gene, which can develop into deafness and/or blindness in later life . . . and these are problems that will likely become more common if breeding for color gains in popularity. (A pup with excessive body—not trim—white is likely to have the genetic defect.) As the photo shows, Aussies—which can herd or drive—came in beautiful solid colors as well.

Catahoula "Leopard" Dog. The "cat" is a strong driving breed, somewhat houndlike in conformation, that may sport a variety of colors . . . including spotted and merle, with pale eyes. (Selecting for color over ability could create problems for this canine breed, too.) The state dog of Louisiana since 1979, but little known outside its home area, the catahoula has a distinctive working style that involves—among other things—circling livestock at great speed to keep the animals under control. These dogs—which one owner calls "walking sledgehammers"—may actually hurl unruly stock to the ground . . , a habit that causes them to be considered too rough by many trainers' standards, but makes them particularly effective in dealing with rank (wild) cattle.

There are, of course, a number of other herding and driving breeds . . . including the Shetland sheepdog (or "sheltie'), the pull, the McNab, the German koolie, the Belgian sheepdog, and the briard. For mare information, readers may wish to contact the National Stock Dog Registry, Dept. TMEN, Route 1, Butler, Indiana 46721.

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