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 Centuries before the industrial revolution, Britain’s wealth was built on wool. Domestic sheep were herded by Neolithic man and likely sheepdogs were associated with him as well. The Romans brought pastoral dogs to Britain as they did sheep. John Caius, a doctor writing in the 1500s, mentions the “shepherd’s dogge”. His book, De Canibus Britannicus (Treatise on Englishe Dogges), may in fact be the earliest reference to the way British sheepdogs worked.
In Scotland, when a sheep economy took hold, the sheepdog was absolutely necessary. James Hogg (1772-1835), a shepherd and poet from the Ettrick Valley in the Scottish Borders wrote, “without [the sheep dog] the mountainous land of England and Scotland would not be worth sixpence. It would require more hands to manage a flock of sheep and drive them to market than the profits of the whole were capable of maintaining.”
Sheepdogs varied more in the past than they do today. There were as many breeds of working dog as there were breeds of sheep. Most of Britain’s breeds of pastoral dogs have become extinct, not only because sheep predators disappeared, but for other reasons, as well. Some vanished along with the need for specialized working abilities. Others disappeared when sheep and cattle were no longer being driven to market, but were taken by rail, and later truck, obviating the need for a strong driving dog capable of moving large flocks long distances.
In Australia and New Zealand, and in parts of the United States, where there are still huge flocks of sheep and sometimes exceptional conditions, specialized types of sheepdogs have been developed and are still used -- heelers, barkers, dogs capable of going over the backs of closely packed sheep or driving them long distances. But in Britain, and in parts of the United States as well, the Border Collie has emerged as the dominant herding dog.
Dogs like the Border Collie existed centuries ago. Old paintings and lithographs show the shepherd’s dog as one resembling the Border Collie. Sheila Grew, in her book Key Dogs from the Border Collie Family (1985), said “a century ago many of the [working] collies were hard, powerful...dogs, difficult to control and rough with...stock; but their keen [...] instinct, [...] concentration and great power over [...] sheep or cattle were such useful assets it seemed worth trying to find a milder natured type of working collie to cross with [them].” A Northumbrian farmer, Adam Telfer, “succeeded,” Grew says, “in finding the right blend of the two types of dog” in 1894. The Border Collie as we know it today is descended from that dog.
Learn more about the Border Collie by clicking here.
The above history was taken from the above web site.
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