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Robust and kindly, and sporting a bearish, wooly coat not unlike theflocks they devotedly guarded, the Old English Sheepdog once upon atime ruled the rolling hills and pastures of Great Britain.

Rising to prominence in the late 1800s, thought to be a blend of Bearded Collie with adash of Russian Owtchar, they performed as “drovers,” a working dog that moved herdslong distances. It was a time when both cattle and sheep were larger and slower and theterritory vast. The Old English Sheepdog was a jack-of-all trades, often a jovial mud-rollerweighing in at 100 pounds, owning a bark likened to two pans being clanked together.

A Farmer’s Best Friend: The Old English SheepdogBy Lori Rotenberk on December 12, 2013

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Along the way they were given the nickname Bobtail, because their owners docked theirtails to mark them as working animals to avoid a luxury tax imposed for owning pets.Loving and loyal, stubborn and fearless, they were a herdsmen’s dog, the farmer’s servantin the fields.

That is until the American Industrialists, pockets filled with money, traveled to GreatBritain for business and leisure and beheld the very furry beasts.

Pittsburgh industrialist William Wade was the first to bring the OES, as they’re knownamong enthusiasts, to the United States. By the early 1900s, five of the 10 wealthiestAmerican families — the Morgans, Vanderbilts, Goulds, Harrisons and Guggenheims, allowned, bred and exhibited the dogs at New York’s 1905 Westminster show. They becamewrist candy for breeders editing traits for the show ring. The new “improved” OES had afluffier coat and more of a pet’s temperament. With each tweak, so faded the traits thatonce made them masters of the field.

Photo credit Mary Bloom / Westminster Kennel Club

By the 1950s, the OES was one of the most popular family dogs in America, a phantom ofitself portrayed in movies and television. OES’s had star turns in 1959’s “The Shaggy Dog”and “Please Don’t Eat the Daises” in 1960 and in the long-running TV series “My ThreeSons.”

Fred MacMurray in The Shaggy Dog (1959)

Farming, too, began to change. Herds and farms became larger and the animals smaller.Drovers were replaced by vans and trucks. The highly intelligent and workaholic BorderCollie and the nipping, whirling Corgi and Australian Kelpie took over. They were all low-maintenance breeds better suited to the task. The OES, never intimidated by well-hornedsheep nor wolves, fell prey to commercialism and breeding that suited the ring. By theearly ‘70s there were more than 17,000 OES’s registered with the American Kennel Club inthe U.S. A decade later, their numbers dwindled by 10,000. Today there are less than1,000. In both the U.S. and England, the OES is now an endangered breed that facesextinction and breed advocates are working to rekindle the love affair for the amiable, kindand intelligent puff of a dog.

In both the U.S. and England, theOld English Sheepdog is now anendangered breed that facesextinction and breed advocates areworking to rekindle the love affairfor the amiable, kind and intelligentpuff of a dog.

Some advocatespromote the OES notonly as a family pet butas a wonderful herdingdog for smaller flocks ofsheep, goats, ducks andgeese. Others sing thepraises of theirabundant coats, whichare actually wool, notfur, for creatingbeautiful, water-repellent woolen yarns.Many OES owners

salvage what comes out in brushing, turning it over to a local spinner.

Doug Johnson, president of the Old English Sheepdog Club of America, when reached byModern Farmer, happens to be bundled on this day in an OES wool scarf and hat due toheavy snow in Colorado. He laments his favorite dog is a dying breed.

“It’s because of the dedication it takes to maintain these guys,” says Johnson. “It’s a laboror love. When they were herding dogs, they were shaved down when the sheep weresheared, so their coats were manageable. With the busy lives we lead, most people don’thave the schedule nor the time to keep them up. But what they also don’t realize is as acompanion or family pet, the OES won’t let you down. If a farmer comes to me and saysthey would like a puppy for herding, I would be happy to work with them. It’s a wonderful

breed and I’ve dedicated my life to them.”

Johnson also believes that it should be mandatory that any OES that is shown should firsthave to have to been trained in herding.

‘As a companion or family pet, theOES won’t let you down. If a farmercomes to me and says they wouldlike a puppy for herding, I would behappy to work with them. It’s awonderful breed and I’ve dedicatedmy life to them.’

“It’s still instinctual in them,” Johnson adds. “I have 12grandkids and when they are at our house and out there withthe dogs, the dogs jump on the trampoline with them andwhen they’re running around, the dogs are out maneuveringaround them, one side to the other, herding the grandkids.”

“We see the numbers on the decline and it scares us,” saysKristine Loland who works with the Old English SheepdogClub of America. “By not breeding for herding ability we’vedone them a tremendous disservice and we didn’t do rightby them.”

It doesn’t mean that enthusiasts believe that the OES couldreturn as a dominant farm dog. Their impractical coat,capable of growing up to nine inches long, and sweet temperament are better suited as afamily pet, but their herding abilities should be honored and the trait often remains,Loland says.

Even at trials, when an Old English Sheepdog walks into an arena, “the sheep take notice,”Loland says.

But there are some who are rooting for a grand revival. Judy Asarkof, a sheep and goatfarmer in Carlisle, Massachusettes is one of a handful of small farmers who choose to workwith OES.

Before she had livestock, she had Mick, a now 10-year-old OES she acquired as a pet. On alark, when Mick was three, she took him to a local trainer for herding assessment to see ifhe had any natural instincts. Overjoyed with the tasks, he sailed through. Asarkof wasinspired to rent some farmland and purchase a few sheep for Mick to herd. It was a case ofthe farm dog coming before the farm. Today the 9-acre Sunflower Sheep Farm has 24sheep raised for their wool, 10 Nigerian Dwarf Goats and some ducks who are all herdedby Mick and Pele, a 4-year-old OES from Germany. Mick, though not a show dog, holdsmany major herding titles.

“The thing I love the most about herding is the connection with my dog, the sheep and theland as we do our chores,” Asarkof says.

Debra Lehr of Wilton, Calif. began using her OES’s for herding in 1986. Like Asarkof,Lehr, is a sheep farmer whose first dog was a family pet. She has bred sheepdogs, somethat are on farms and others with “hobbyists” who don’t farm but enter their OES’s inherding trials and competitions. “If I need muscle, I use my two sheepdogs, Bea andAddison,” Lehr says. “But I also have four Border Collies.”

Debra Lehr's sheepdog Bea herding.

Maureen Clark of Houlton, Wisconsin has an OES bred by Lehr that she trains for herding.Although Clark isn’t a farmer, she’s what enthusiasts refer to as a hobbyist. Clark bringsher herding dogs to farms where training takes place and where they get to work withherds.

Maureen Clark's sheepdog Louie in training.

PLANTS AND ANIMALS ANIMALS DOG WEEK HERDING SHEEP WEEK SHEEPDOGS

Overall, the role of working dogs in the U.S. is on the decline, according to the AKA,especially farm dogs, the taskmasters who rode the ridges, hills and valleys to movelivestock. There are fewer sheep farmers. And the future seems uncertain for the OES,even as a family pet, as their numbers dwindle.

But breed enthusiasts, including farmers who delighted in seeing their dogs commandflocks of sheep and herds of goats, hope that the breed will rise again.

“When they amble into the car and head down the road towards the farm they can’t wait toget there, to begin moving the sheep into a pen,” Clark says. “I see it in them. The joy, thelove.”

Lori Rotenberk is a Chicago-based journalist whose work has appeared in nationalpublications including the New York Times, The Boston Globe,Chicago WildernessMagazine, Grist and the Chicago Sun-Times. Follow her on Twitter.