Fun Trivia » Animals » Dog Breeds » Herding Breeds

Shelties are herding dogs, and were originally bred to herd cattle. Even if your Sheltie has no cattle to herd, you may recognize some herding traits in your dog. They may run in circles and even nip at your heels to keep everyone in the same room. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Toy, Terrier, Working

The sheltie, as many fanciers call it, comes from the Shetland Isles. Difficulty: Hard.

The border collie originated in Northumberland on the Scottish/English border. They were descended from old British droving breeds with some spaniel added. Because of their outstanding herding skills and capability to work with any kind of livestock, they soon became popular. Difficulty: Average.

 

United States/Canada border, Australia, Russia

The other differences are in the ears. The Cardigan's ears are more rounded, while the Pembroke's are more pointed. The Pembroke is often stockier, with straighter legs and a shorter body.

The Pembroke can sometimes be born with a bobbed tail, but the breed standard required a docked tail. This has now been made illegal in many countries as being unnecessary and possibly causing pain to the puppies. Most Pembrokes are now kept as family pets and the arguments, such as they were, for docking tails applied only to working dogs. Difficulty: Average.

Schutzhund isn't just for GSD's. Many other breeds, including the Rottweiler and Doberman take part in it. Schutzhund teaches search and rescue, along with protection training. There are three levels to it, with each level getting progressively harder. The other names I just made up, but they do mean something. Here are the translations: Schutzhund means guard or protection dog, Polizeihund means police dog, Suche und Rettung means search and rescue and ausgebildethund means trained dog. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Polizeihund, Suche und Rettung, Ausgebildethund

The Australian cattle dog was bred to herd cattle in Australia. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

hunting, companionship, fighting

The Groenendael has long hair and is completely black. The Tervueren and Malinois can be red, fawn and grey with black markings, differing only by the type of coat they have. The Laekenois can be red or fawn with black markings. It has a wiry coat. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Tervueren, Malinois, Laekenois

Another name for The Briard is 'Chien Berger de Brie'. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Belgium, Italy, Germany

The Rough Collie originated from Scotland.(Collie Handbook) Difficulty: Average.

 

Australia, Ethiopia, The United States

In Canada, you only need 10. In America, among those 15 points, you need three majors. Difficulty: Hard.

 

8, 14, 9

The colors are: red, black, blue merle and red merle. Although ASCA recognizes only four, there are different variations in those colors. Difficulty: Hard.

 

2, 6, 8

The best quote that I have seen is that Shepherds only moult once a year, but for 365 days. There will not be a time when your house is free of dog hair if you own a Shepherd. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Only in summer, Only in autumn ( fall ), Never

Fast and agile, border collies have boundless energy that is extremely difficult for the average owner to satisfy. It's best if they have a job to do, or to get them involved in some kind of physically demanding sport. Border collies have excelled in agility, flyball, flying disc, and many more. Difficulty: Easy.

 

About moderate, will do well with a walk and short romp, Fairly low, they like to lie around but enjoy a brief walk, They need a fair bit of exercise but it's difficult because they love to sleep

Whereas the Pembroke can come in shades of red, from fawn to sable, and black & tan, the Cardigan can come in all those, and brindle & blue merle.

Both corgis have a double coat, with short, thick downy hair covered by longer, coarser guard hairs. Difficulty: Average.

The white shepherd is the only color that is disqualified, although it is a serious fault to show a washed out or gray (silver) dog. There is a different breed (not AKC recognized) called the "White German Shepherd" that is specifically the white GSD. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Silver, Brindle, Black & Tan

The Australian cattle dog has lots of names but the cattle heeler is not one. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Red or Blue Heeler, Queensland Heeler, Halls Heeler

The Groenendael and Tervuren were both named for villages. The Groenendael variety was probably bred by the owner of the Château de Groenendael, Tervuren is in Flanders, in northern Belgium close to the border with the Netherlands.

The Malinois is named for the city of Malines. the French name for Mechelen as the city is now known. The Laekenois derives its name from the town of Laeken, which has now largely been swallowed up by Brussels. Difficulty: Easy.

 

People who bred them, Rivers, Belgian monarchs

Although they are mainly used as a herding dog, Briards are very quick learners, and have a very good memory. They will excel at just about any activity you might want to introduce them to. Difficulty: Average.

 

Retrieving, Sledding, Pointing

The original color was all black, later the colors that we see now came into the breed. (Collie Handbook) Difficulty: Hard.

 

All White, Black and White, Multi Colored

It is DQ'd from being shown because having a brindle Sheltie means (or used to mean) that the bloodline was impure because the brindle Sheltie was a descendant of a terrier. Difficulty: Hard.

 

tri-color, sable, bi-blue merle

Also, bi blacks can be bred to any other color safely. Difficulty: Hard.

 

sable, blue merle, white

Despite their small size, Shelties were originally bred to be herding dogs. Therefore, they need to exercise regularly. A short run or a long walk will make the Sheltie happy. In addition, Shelties are one of the smartest dog breeds, and need to be kept busy. Difficulty: Very Easy.

 

Physical exercise only, Mental exercise only, No exercise is needed

The original 'new' name for the breed was the Alsatian Wolf Dog. The Alsatian part came from the area of Alsace-Lorraine, and the Wolf dog came from its looks. Later, the Wolf Dog was dropped because it was felt that it would have as much of a detrimental affect as the 'German' part of the name. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Alsatian, Shepherd Dog, Belgian shepherd

Many people even refer to the sheltie as a "miniature collie." Although it resembles a Rough Collie, it isn't a perfect collie in miniature. There are many differences, such as the shape of the head, and the sheltie can come in more colors than the collie. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Border Collie, Bearded Collie, Pembroke Welsh Corgi

The Pembroke that we know now was developed at around 1107 BC by Flemish Weavers. The Cardigan was developed at around 1200 BC by a Celtic tribe.

The Cardigan was a recognized breed (by the American Kennel Club) in 1935. Difficulty: Hard.

Although it is a good guard dog, the GSD is primarily bred for herding. It has a strong herding instinct. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Guard, Sporting, Non-Sporting

Collies were bred specifically to herd sheep, they are one of the best Sheepherders in the dog world.(Collie Handbook) Difficulty: Hard.

 

Cattle herding, Horse herding, All of the above

They can be registered and shown under obedience and agility, just not shown in the conformation ring. There are two types of 'white' shelties, there is the color-headed white, and the double merle. The double merle is produced by mating two merles (sable or blue) together. You can get so many defects (blind, deaf and others) that only the most knowledgable breeders should breed them, and sometimes not even then. For further information, there was at one time a brindle Sheltie, although it is disqualified for reasons unknown. Difficulty: Hard.

 

1962, 1972, 1942

When two merles are bred, the offspring can be born blind and deaf. Poor little babies! Difficulty: Hard.

 

The offspring are born with hip dysplasia, The offspring are born with non-registerable colors, No problems can be expected

According to the AKC, Shelties should stand between 13 and 16 inches tall. A Sheltie's height is determined by measuring a line perpendicular to the ground from the top of the shoulder blades, when the dog is standing naturally. A dog with a height outside of the AKC range is disqualified from the show ring. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Great Dane, Yorkshire Terrier, Pomeranian

Vestibular disease affects the dogs balance. It is a disease that can come from a problem in either the ear or the brain. More information can be obtained from the UK German Shepherd Dog Helpline :

http://www.gsdhelpline.com/vest.htm Difficulty: Hard.

 

Sight, Hearing, Taste

Just by looking at the name, you can tell that the sheltie is used as a herding dog. It was bred to herd miniature sheep, which the Shetland Isles produced. It can also herd cattle, horses, regular sized sheep, and ducks/geese. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Working, Non-Sporting, Toy

Border collies are very intelligent, responsive, and quick to learn. They have excelled in obedience. They were bred to be like this, so that even when the dog is far from the owner herding livestock, it would still respond to every command from the master. Socialization is very important to prevent shyness and other behavior problems. Difficulty: Easy.

 

Stubborn and independent, they are difficult to train, Love to please but have a short attention span, Somewhat dim-witted, they take to training slowly but steadily

The Cardigan & Pembroke were each developed on either sides of a mountain range, by separate sets of people. The Cardigan was descended out of the dachshund family. Difficulty: Hard.

Cairo sprang to wider fame when his handler wrote a book, called 'No Ordinary Dog', about him in 2020, although the dog's part in the Operation Neptune Spear was already well known. Cairo had already served in Afghanistan and been severely injured when he was shot and nearly died.

In 2011, Cairo was part of the Navy SEALS force that attacked the compound where bin Laden was in hiding. The dog was set to patrol the perimeter to ensure nobody escaped and bin Laden was killed during the operation.

Hussein was already dead by then and Ortega became President of Nicaragua in 2007 Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi killed himself in 2019 while under attack by special forces. A Belgian Malinois was involved in this mission too - his name was Conan. Difficulty: Average.

 

Saddam Hussein, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Daniel Ortega

 

Lion's Mane, Nothing, Protection

Many sable merles look like regular sable and whites, but some look like muddy or washed out sable and whites, which can be penalized. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Blue Merle, Bi Blue Merle, Mahogany Sable

Australian shepherds are primarily bred for herding livestock! (mine prefer ducks and horses!) Difficulty: Easy.

 

Hunting, Tracking, Guard dogs

The very first Shepherds were bred from working sheepdogs, and for many years this was their primary role. Von Stephanitz recognised that herding was dying out in Germany and so began to breed and train the dogs for their other abilities. It was during WWI that their qualities as a 'general working' dog were seen to shine. In the UK, America and Australia the abilities of the breed to take on almost any task asked of them was soon recognized. Difficulty: Hard.

 

Guarding, Utility, Personal Protection

The Pembroke was developed out of dogs such as the Schipperke and the Samoyed. The spitz is known for pricked ears, pointed muzzle and curly tail, which the Pembroke usually doesn't have. Difficulty: Hard.