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I keep looking at the blockier headed dogs and I recognize the shape from another breed but can't quite put my finger on it.
I keep thinking that too. But for me, it may just be that it is reading as "not ACD" to me.
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My guess is that somewhere along the way a blockier dog did some big time conformation winning and then went on to stud and was probably campaigned really well. If you started looking at the lines you might start seeing the same stud in many of the blockier pedigrees. Or offspring of that stud.
I used to show a different breed in conformation and I saw that happen. Everyone wanted a certain stud on the pedigree either for bragging rights or to increase show puppy prices. I hope I'm wrong, especially in such an outstanding working breed.
Ah man, I sure hope not either, for gene pool reasons alone.
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Another time I climbed on top of two round bales that were on their sides. I was looking to see where my chickens were hiding their eggs. The rounds seperated and I went down between them head first. I was really stuck and couldn't get out. My daughter was in the backyard on the phone and Phoenix kept runnng to her barking. She kept yelling at him to be quiet and telling him to go back to the barn and stay with me. He would come running into the barn and I would tell him to go get my daughter. That poor dog. I don't know how many trips he made back and forth. My daughter told me he started pulling on her pants and was jumping up on her. She got made and went into the house. 
Oh man, it never ceases to amaze me how smart they are, and how involved and protective they are with their family. ...And, apologies to you, but I had to bust out laughing that you kept sending her back and forth to each other!! Not as dire of a situation, but sometimes I am trying to do art and she is RIGHT THERE IN MY FACE figuring out what I'm doing, so I send her to my husband...who is trying to wire some electronic device or another, so he sends her back to me, and so on until we figure out what is happening. 
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He thinks for himself and I like that a lot. I taught him words and phrases he needed to know like, "leave it" and barn and if I say goat he looks at a goat or pig he looks at the pig. Most of the herding he learned on his own. He found out that pigs bite when getting herded so he circles around them out of biting range and decreases the back side of the circle herding them forward.
He is spooky smart....lol.
I absolutely love that trait too. <3 They really are thinkers, and are great with phrases like you said. Say, you can teach her, "get your toy", and then "go get (husband's name)" independently. Then, if you tell her something like, "bring toy to (husband's name)", she'll go do it without him calling her or any help. I think the thing that first kind of freaked us out is that she would watch planes go past soundlessly in the sky, and would sit and watch the leaves rustle in the wind with is ridiculously peaceful look on her face. X) That is so neat that your dog figured out herding on his own...especially with ornery pigs!
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I tried to get pics of Phoenix today and he was so curious about the camera that I couldn't take the picture. I think Phoenix is more like what you are looking for.
Oh thanks, I would love to see him! He sounds *exactly* like what we are looking for.
On my end, her's our little girl. She is a bit lighter in build than even the leaner ACDs tend to be.
She never understands why other dogs need to take a shade and water break. If she's hiking, she wants to go go go. The handsome boy in front was a "Texas heeler" (Aussie/ACD mix), and was admittedly a little out of shape when we adopted him.
Watching the sunset. No, really. She likes to sit on cliff overlooks and look at the scenery too. Also, she smells flowers:
If inside the car, she just looks intent. If outside, she looks through the store windows to try to find whichever one of us is inside. I love this dog!
Inside the house, she is a cuddler and a couch potato. Our cat and one of our rabbits especially like to drape over her, and will come up to her for grooming like the little moochers they are. 'Course, they also do that to us....at three am....when people are trying to sleep.
She's a total pillow and blanket hog though. She gives you a long, suffering sigh when you send her to the bottom of the bed.
Edited by punk-a-doodle - 2/6/12 at 5:07am
. I was just speaking on the topic that it seems like the blockiness is well accepted and practiced by breeders who fit the generally accepted definition of responsible in several countries in regards to exploring the origins of this type.
