Dragoon 45 Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 I have seen the term "Fox Collies" crop up in a number of histories of the McNabb, and a couple of other semi-rare collie type herding dogs. I assume from the context of the histories this refers to Scottish type collies, as they are normally recorded as imports from Scotland. I have also seen the claim that Fox Collie refers to red and white BC's, yet I have seen nothing to back up those claims. As most references to Fox Collies come from the late 1800's and early 1900's, I am somewhat skeptical that it actually refers to any type of border collie. Does anyone know exactly what type of dog, Fox Collie refers to? Curious minds want to know. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentleLake Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Dunno how reliable this is, but this article says it's a Scotch Collie: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McNab_dog However, when you click on the link for "Scotch Collie" a quick skimming seems to suggest that the Scotch Collie was a precursor to border collies, and AFAIK, that's backwards. Another entry on Yahoo Answers has someone saying that it's another name for a McNab: https://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=A0LEVvc3E7BUTkMAiTZjmolQ;_ylu=X3oDMTBybnV2cXQwBHNlYwNzcgRwb3MDMgRjb2xvA2JmMQR2dGlkAw--?qid=20111101182835AA7wfGC So not much help here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnC Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Well, I was curious and found this thread on an obscure web site : http://www.bordercollie.org/boards/index.php?showtopic=13588 Interesting thread, but the relevant part is in Post #6: "According to Iris Combe, "fox collie" is an old term that was used to describe a farm collie that looked... foxy. Reddish coat, up ears. Sometimes the result of a terrier cross, back in the day. " ETA: Wrong Link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragoon 45 Posted January 9, 2015 Author Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 I have seen the reference to Iris Combe before, but I have also seen other references that refer to Fox Collies as a separate type, maybe a landrace? And to further my confusion, there are a few old time ranchers around here that call their R&W BC's: fox collies. Also as I understand it, McNabs are unofficially called Fox Collies. Then I was poking around on the Old Time Farm Collie site, and found some info that claims Fox Collie was just another name for the old time Scotch Collie from before the time Collies became popular show dogs in England.. Pretty much the more I look into this, the more confusing it becomes. It fascinates me, digging into the history, but sometimes it confuses me to no end. Thanks for the replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald McCaig Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Dear Historians, I can't be much help but does than deter me? There were dozens of working sheepdog breeds in nineteenth century Britain and there weren't many scruples breeding, say, a Whitlof Collie to a Scotch Collie. The McNab was imported to this country by Mr. McNab, the kelpie was imported to Australia and the original Scotch Collie (they've got one texidermied at Troon) was a yellow Border Collie - or the Border Collie was a Black and white Scotch Collie. It didn't matter much to working shepherds who didn't travel far and breed goodun to goodun. Donald McCaig Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dmadrid Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 I've had people tell me that Anja must be part fox (yes, I know it's not possible). We call her lots of things.... Maybe fox collie should be one of them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ourwully Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 dmadrid - that is as close to a fox as I've seen! What a beautiful dog! Bill Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalahundur Posted January 9, 2015 Report Share Posted January 9, 2015 Hm, dmadrid that dog looks a lot like my Kuggur, an icelandic sheepdog mix with probably some bordercollie in him, I´ll see if I find a good pic of him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gonetotervs Posted January 10, 2015 Report Share Posted January 10, 2015 A "Harzer Fuchs" is a German herding dog breed (which so far is staying out of Vdh ot FCI registration) and fuchs means fox... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banjoman Posted December 31, 2019 Report Share Posted December 31, 2019 On 9 January 2015 at 4:20 AM, Dragoon 45 said: I have seen the term "Fox Collies" crop up in a number of histories of the McNabb, and a couple of other semi-rare collie type herding dogs. I assume from the context of the histories this refers to Scottish type collies, as they are normally recorded as imports from Scotland. I have also seen the claim that Fox Collie refers to red and white BC's, yet I have seen nothing to back up those claims. As most references to Fox Collies come from the late 1800's and early 1900's, I am somewhat skeptical that it actually refers to any type of border collie. Does anyone know exactly what type of dog, Fox Collie refers to? Curious minds want to know. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.