English Shepherd, Scotch Collie, old farm collie/dog and everything in between

[ShrekDawg]

I have always been interested in the English Shepherd breed but especially the last few years. I really think I would like one eventually.

I have also read a little bit about Scotch Collies and other old collies.

It seems there are several trying to recreate the old style, all around farm dog/farm collie? And I'm not sure which is really "right" or if they all are or whatever. Maybe the ES is a totally separate breed?

ANYWAY.

This style dog seems like an excellent dog from the stories I've read and I know I definitely want something similar one day, regardless of the actual "breed." Maybe one day I'll have all of them.

SO.

I guess the reason for this post is that I would like any information you have about English Shepherds and the other similar dogs, maybe the differences between them, as well as stories and pictures of your dogs, current or past.

Thanks a lot.

 

[ShrekDawg]

Found this site which has some good breed info

http://www.englishshepherds.net/breedinfo.html

And the FAQ page has some info on differences between some breeds, scroll down to find the question, they go into quite a bit of detail.

http://www.englishshepherds.net/faq.html

But this one is the jackpot, soooo much info on the history of these breeds and many others, especially if you click on intro page or the north america page. It's all so fascinating.

http://www.bordercolliemuseum.org/BCCousins/BC_Cousins.html

So yeah, if anybody is interested, you could probably read that last site for hours if you delved into every single page there.

And here's some other ES sites I found.

http://www.englishshepherd.org

http://www.nesr.info/about-english-shepherd-breed.php

 

[ShrekDawg]

Still interested in stories and stuff too though

 

[ShrekDawg]

I probably won't be able to get one until I either move out or after Gator just cause two dogs is a lot but he's only 5

 

[ShrekDawg]

I know somebody on here has to own an ES or a collie

 

[NotAFarm]

@KDOGG331 My dad had a ES as a farm kid (is 82 now) in Nebraska. He said they were the best dogs and I always thought it would be nice to have one. I can't add anything more since I came along quite awhile after that dog and never got one.

 

[ShrekDawg]

@KDOGG331 My dad had a ES as a farm kid (is 82 now) in Nebraska. He said they were the best dogs and I always thought it would be nice to have one. I can't add anything more since I came along quite awhile after that dog and never got one.

Aww sorry you can't have one. maybe you can eventually? They really do seem like great dogs

 

[BlueShadow]

I am hoping to get a Scotch Collie. My understanding is that the history between the two breeds is not certain - some people say each breed evolved separately (one in England, one in Scotland), some say the ES was derived from the Scotch Collie, etc. No matter which breed came first, they developed so close geographically that they had to have had the same ancestors and some interbreeding. Plus, they were selected for similar traits. This results in two breeds with very similar characteristics.

With that in mind, the primary reason for choosing Scotch Collie is that I found one that should work for us right now, within reasonable driving distance. I suspect either breed would work equally well

 

[ShrekDawg]

Wow thanks for all the info! That makes sense that they developed close to each other or from each other. Scotland and England are fairly close to each other too and still had a similar culture back then or so I think (lots of sheep farming, etc.) so I imagine the breeds either intercrossed or were developed for basically the same purpose, therefore using the same or similar dogs/breeds, like you said so I imagine you're right. Although the scotch collie seems to look more like a traditional collie

 

[BlueShadow]

Wow thanks for all the info! That makes sense that they developed close to each other or from each other. Scotland and England are fairly close to each other too and still had a similar culture back then or so I think (lots of sheep farming, etc.) so I imagine the breeds either intercrossed or were developed for basically the same purpose, therefore using the same or similar dogs/breeds, like you said so I imagine you're right. Although the scotch collie seems to look more like a traditional collie

Well, the breeds were not selected for the EXACT same traits, just similar traits (because they were performing similar jobs in both England & Scotland). Their appearance is similar, but not the same. And Scotch Collies should look a lot like Rough Collies - basically, the Rough Collie is what was developed as certain breeders began selecting the Scotch Collie for show appearance and AKC guidelines. Rough Collies are much more closely related to Scotch Collies than are English Shepherds.