Columbia MO

Julie, Just to clarify... I don't have stock, so my two dogs get to practice at many different locations around Missouri, including three different farms with 60+ acre pastures of cattle and/or sheep. I would not call Savvy a "star" compared to experienced Open level dogs, but he is a solid working dog that certainly equals 95% of the working ABCA farm dogs in this area for in putting in a good day's work. I like the ROM program and plan to ROM my rescue dog when he is old enough and would have eventually tried to ROM Savvy if not for his championship. As I have stated many times on the BC Boards, I believe that all dogs from all working/hunting/herding breeds should have to pass a working standard before they can get breeding-type registration. While the type of test is probably contentious, I would argue that any test (even obtaining a certain cutoff score in USBCHA Novice) would be better than the status quo where any BYB can breed dogs at will that have never even seen stock. I totally agree with this idea. I hope the owners of these dogs are already doing it. Many of the dogs that have been tested are sending their results here, but I don't have time to see if the dogs in question had done so or not. Edited to read: In case anyone is interested, I just checked the site I referred to above. Out of 769 dogs on the site that have been Optigen tested, there are 18 carriers and no affected dogs. Of these, 13 carriers are in Australia, 4 in New Zealand, 1 in the UK and 0 in the USA. Columbia, MO

Please explain how removing conformation champions keeps the breed useful? Is my conformation champion dog that will work cattle and sheep all day long in 60+ acre pasture, in any type of weather (thunderstorms, blizzards, 105 degree heat) somehow less useful than the dozens of fully ABCA registered dogs I have met on farms that have zero interest in stock? Please explain how arbitrarily deregistering a working dog because it has good structure is helping keep ABCA lines "useful." What would help is to not give breeding rights to ANY Border Collie in the ISDS, ABCA or AKC until it has passed some sort of test similar to the ABCA ROM. This would also include NOT de-register working dogs simply because they have been successful in conformation. Columbia, MO

Hey Katelynn, I'm not sure if you're simply a political zealot or really have your head in the sand. Whether you like it or not, Australian and New Zealand conformation lines dogs are 100% Border Collie from 100% ISDS dogs. My dog's great-great-grandparents are EXACTLY the same dogs on the pedigree of top working ABCA dogs (Blwych Taff, Wiston Cap, etc.). The CL gene is HIGHLY unlikely to have been a mutation that just suddenly popped up in the past 20 years. This gene is virtually certain to have been in the BC gene pool since before the breed even had a name. The gene was only discovered because the original gene pool from the conformation lines in Australia began with a limited number of ISDS dogs. Therefore, each pair of dogs that were bred were likely to have at least one of the same ancestors in the pedigree. All it would take is one "bad ancestor" from the ISDS to introduce CL. The "conformation progenitor" dog that introduced CL to Aussie/NZ lines is almost certain to have working littermates that stayed behind in the UK and introduced the CL gene into working lines of the ABCA and ISDS. The CL gene is rare in every line of BCs, but there is absolutely no reason to believe that it is not in ISDS and ABCA dogs right now. It is rumored that at least one CL litter has been produced in England (from ISDS lines) and another in Texas (from ABCA lines)--however, the working breeders are not as forthright as the AKC/Aussie/NZ breeders and will not let their names be released to the public (if the rumor is true). In any case, until a cross section of at least 500 ABCA dogs get CL tested and every one is clear, I will have to assume that they have CL in their gene pool because they come from the same bloodlines that my dog does prior to 1980 or so. Columbia, MO

Melanie, I don't believe this would be fair to the buyers of the dogs, who believed at the time that they were buying registered or registerable dogs. As I mentioned, this could now be affecting around 100 dogs. As I also mentioned, my own Kasper grandson works sheep and cattle, and his brother works on a cattle farm--both are CL-free by parentage. At the same time, I personally know dozens of ABCA dogs that have been tried and have zero interest in stock but are still bred and sold in my area by BYBs or by sport breeders. I don't know why in the world it would be of benefit to the ABCA to deregister a deceased AKC champion known to have produced working dogs when ABCA does not apply any type of working standard within their own registry. I just do not see how deregistration would be practical or beneficial, except possibly from the CL angle. I would definitely agree to some type of sanction, such as Kasper descendents for the next 15 yrs. having to test CL-free before puppies could be registered. Columbia, MO

Karen, Some history: Kasper was born in Australia, registered with their all-breed registry and shown to a conformation championship. He was then imported here and also shown to an AKC championship. He was then somehow registered in the ABCA. He would have HAD to have at least one conformation championship before getting in. Kasper's owner was a former OTCH trainer, and Kasper was working on his UD when he was killed in an accident. By all accounts he was a lovely dog in structure, temperament and willingness, though I have no information about his ability on stock. As I understand it, his brother didn't produce a CL-affected puppy until after Kasper died--certainly nobody was aware it was in his bloodline during his lifetime. Anyway, I believe that if the breeders and buyers involved in this pedigree were only interested in AKC sports and conformation, they would not have gone to the trouble of getting Kasper into the ABCA and breeding three generations (so far) of ABCA registered dogs from him. Back to your point about his offspring only being of interest to AKC people: Kasper was bred and produced an ABCA litter containing Indy. Indy was bred and produced an ABCA litter containing Blade. Blade was bred to Roo, a dual-registered dog from working stock and has either had or will have puppies soon. Now that Kasper will be a great-grandfather in this pedigree, and assuming he produced 3 ABCA-registered breeding dogs in his lifetime who each produced 3 more breeding dogs in their lifetimes... it is likely there are currently about 100 ABCA registered dogs with Kasper as father, grand, or great-grandfather. Any one of these dogs could possibly be carrying the CL gene, which is why it is a good idea to do the Optigen test before breeding any BC from any registry. Columbia, MO

My dog is not ABCA registered and cannot be. The ABCA will not allow a conformation champion to attempt to register on merit. At any rate, he is neutered and has never been bred. In the second part of the quote above, I'm not sure what you mean by bypassing the ABCA. The original pedigree that was posted shows that Kasper's offspring have ALREADY been ABCA registered, and that these offspring have ALREADY been bred to produce other dogs that are also ABCA registered. I would say that this already shows that Kasper (and potentially CL) are in the ABCA gene pool. In another generation or two, Kasper won't show up on printed pedigrees and anybody buying a decendent will have no way of knowing that they should be testing for CL. I hope this will at least get people to stop denying that there is a possibility that the CL gene may already be in ABCA dogs. I know it has been rumored (I have no backup on this) that a totally-ABCA-lines dog was found to have CL in Texas, but the breeder refused to allow publication of the dog or bloodlines. Now here is another possible avenue for CL to have entered ABCA. Now that Optigen has a DNA test for CL, I hope that all descendents of Kasper are getting tested before being bred. Everybody I know in the AKC with a Kasper descendent has done so...I doubt it is being done (or that breeders are aware of the test) in the ABCA. There is no reason to keep CL carriers out of the gene pool initially: with help of the test, carriers can be eliminated from the gene pool at the second generation with no risk of spreading the gene or having a puppy born with the disease. But they certainly should only be bred by breeders willing to pay to test each and every breeding dog & puppy and neuter all non-clear dogs in the second generation. Columbia, MO

Hi all, Regarding "buddy brace," it is non-sanctioned class at many USBCHA trials here in Missouri. Calling it a "just for fun" class is a matter of opinion. Most people I know (BC owners and otherwise) would consider *every* USBCHA class a "just for fun" class, because they do not grant any titles. Anyway, the entrants at our Buddy Brace last month were almost entirely Open class placers (in the money) plus our team, both from P/N. It is not for green dogs and in fact can be harder to manage than just having a single dog/handler on the course. I was just mentioning it to let people know that in fact an AKC conformation champion and grandson of the dog in question (also a conformation champion) is quite capable of shedding, penning, etc. Regarding the AKC or myself as their "representative".... First of all, I do not breed and have never bred. My conformation champion JRT and BC are both neutered. I am involved with rescue and am the co-chair of the AKC National Specialty Rescue Benefit this Oct. In previous years, I ran the other Rescue fundraiser at the specialty (the Fun & Games). I have gone undercover to puppy mills and written articles that are easy to find online. I was one of the people that advocated for UKC to crack down on puppy mills, as mentioned in the other thread. And I'm an active volunteer of our local humane society. So I hope you don't have to ask whether or not I support the new move by AKC regarding Petland. I have already written to the AKC expressing my opinion on this and suggesting that they instead increase funds by allowing mixed-breed dogs to ILP and compete in performance events. However, this would certainly not cause me to stop doing AKC events, anymore than the ABCA's hypocritical refusal to allow conformation champions to register on merit prevents me from competing in USBCHA. Columbia, MO

Hi, I just saw this thread and was going to post about Lancelot Lad, but Laurie beat me to it. Kasper is indeed a littermate to one of only 26 (?) known carriers. My dog is a Kasper grandson, and I only found out about the CL deal after I got him--very scary. My dog and his dam (Kasper daughter) tested clear. Kasper did sire several litters. I didn't know he had sired any dogs that registered into ABCA however. Regarding this quote above: "I doubt any of the dogs trialed, much less were bred for "work". My dog Savvy (an AKC conformation champion, among his total 25 or so titles) is Kasper's grandson. Just last weekend, Savvy was Reserve High in Trial at an AKC trial from the Advanced Sheep class. The only dog in the trial to beat him was handled by a USBCHA Open handler and beat Savvy by a single point. For those who knock AKC trials, Savvy also competes in USBCHA Open sheep buddy-brace, Pro-Novice sheep regular, and Novice cattle (2nd place of 16 at his first cattle T&P trial so far). So yes, Kasper has at least one working descendent. I'm not sure, but I was always under the impression that Hillcrest BCs trialed in USBCHA as well. Columbia, MO

Tammy, In answer to your questions about diagnosis. A ligament tear does not show up on x-rays. X-rays are done to rule out other problems such as dislocations and broken bones. After these have been ruled out, the vet does another test to diagnose a ligament tear. The vet will push forward on the back of the dog's thigh. If the ACL is torn, the upper part of the leg will "slip" forward because it is no longer properly linked to section of the leg below the knee. The pain now is not a big problem--the big problem is the pain that will soon begin developing due to arthritis. My JRT tore his ACL when he stopped to sniff something in the grass and my BC ran into him (I was just a few feet away). It was so light that the JRT didn't even move away--just kept sniffing. He didn't cry out or anything. When he moved off, he was holding up his rear leg and I thought he might have stepped on a thorn at first. When I took him into the vet the next day, he was in no apparent pain, even when manipulated by the vet... and wasn't even holding his leg up by then except to occasionally hop during a step. By the way, an ACL tear normally occurs when a dog or person has a foot planted on the ground and something bumps into them from the side. This is a super common sports injury in people: football players, etc. My co-worker had torn both ACLs by the age of 19 doing competitive water skiing. Ortho vets should not be hard to find in North America. All vet schools will have one. In the St. Louis Missouri area, where I went (5 hr. round trip from me), there are at least two private practices with several ortho vets each. But you should NOT have to go this far from Canada! There are probably several to choose from within 150 miles of you. The place to find a vet recommendation in your area is to quickly track down people in your area that do agility or other competitive dog sports. Most agility clubs will have at least one member with a dog that has torn an ACL. (Not necessarily doing agility.) Get recommendations from them of where they went for TPLO surgery. You are super fortunate to have pet insurance. Wow! This is exactly the type of injury that they cover. Columbia, MO

Tammy, I just now saw this thread, and immediately after reading your original post I knew it had to be an ACL tear. I have been through this with my JRT, and most BC owners that have been around long enough have had a BC go through this. Regarding your last post, an ACL tear is MUCH WORSE than having a broken bone. A broken bone is a $200-$500 kind of deal to have fixed. A torn ACL is a $1200-$3000 deal to fix. Unless your vet is an orthopedic specialist, do NOT trust your local vet to handle this after the initial diagnosis. My own vet is the "expensive type" with a great rep here in town. He was able to diagnose the tear in the ACL of my then 9 yo Jack Russell, then told me that it would "probably heal up on its own." I believed him, and sure enough, after just a few days my dog stopped limping. The limp would only surface occasionally, for a step or so during a long walk. But it did not seem to be causing him any pain at all and he was able to run around like normal. About 2 weeks after the tear, I read about ACL tears on the Internet and found out that if they are not surgically repaired within 3 weeks, they will immediately begin the process of arthritis, and the dog will have irreversible crippling pain within the year. Once the arthritis kicks in, the ACL can be successfully repaired, but the arthritis will also always be there and the dog will always limp and be in pain (and likely have to take $500/year of Rimadyl as a painkiller). After reading up on the subject, I immediately located a good orthopedic surgeon in St. Louis, a 5 hr. round trip from me. Piper was able to have surgery right at the 3 week mark. I had to take 4 different days off of work for our appointments to drop off, pick up, remove the cast, etc. Because of Piper's tiny size, age, and status as 'retired from competition,' I chose the medium-priced surgery. I forget the name, but they take some other tendons and ligaments and sew them around the knee to stabilize it--it is perfect for toy/small breeds. It has worked great, and Piper is still running Excellent level courses at agility matches at almost 12 yrs old. The surgery cost $1850 (I had to put it on a credit card--still paying it off). The best surgery for a young, active, and medium-large size dog is the TPLO, where they attach a hinged metal plate to the knee. MANY dogs with TPLOs are successfully running in agility at top levels. A dog with a TPLO has full function, no pain, and no arthritis if it is done promptly. This type of surgery runs $2500-3000. The cheapest surgery is where they take "fishing line" and string it back and forth as a replacement for the torn ACL. This is usually used for old, fat, couch potato dogs that don't use their knees much. Even some family vets can do this type of surgery. I would only consider this as an option for a young BC if I was absolutely broke and credit cards were maxed out. But that's just me. Good luck and I hope you have the "cheap" kind of cruciate tear and not the most common (and expensive) ACL tear. Columbia, MO

Hi there, An additional idea would be to give him his food in some kind of "puzzle toy." I have 9 Kong toys (hollow red rubber toy from pet store) for my 3 dogs. I stuff them all with cheapie canned food and keep them in the freezer. Every day, each dog gets one when I go to work. When I come home, "empties" go into the dish washer, then restuffed and added to freezer. This way I always have lots of extras in case company comes and the dogs need to be kept occupied instead of bothering the guest. By the way, I have found the cheapest Kongs are at: www.dog.com. Kibble either is fed using the Treat N Train (www.cleanrun.com store--HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for your situation) or a Buster Cube (from pet store). In a case like yours, I would not EVER feed your dog from a bowl, but would instead have him work for all of it by batting around the Buster cube, chewing on the frozen-food Kong, or lying down in front of the automated Treat N Train that dispenses his kibble every few seconds or minute (random schedule) to reward lying down. This will give him a lot of mental exercise, which can be as tiring or MORE tiring than miles of leash runs. I really hope you will look into getting a Treat N Train, which is about $100, but is way cheaper than it actually cost the manufacturer to make one. These are the last ones left (originally from Sharper Image). They come with a fabulously wonderful 3.5 hour DVD that is all-positive training and will teach you to teach your dog to relax and hang out quietly by the TNT instead of driving you guys nuts. I have one for each dog and they are GREAT! Columbia, MO

Hi there, I feel your pain! My 14" tall, 14 pound JRT scaled a fence at our rental house in England and killed our neighbor's cat. I have since become an "expert" on fencing for dogs that can go over/under/through anything. I highly recommend what others have said regarding an underground fence. I also use a hotwire with success on existing fencing--cost of about $40 at any farm supply, packaged as a "K9Trainer" shock wire system. Regarding the underground fence w/collar, you can do it yourself super cheap. Just rent a trencher to bury the line--it's as easy as pushing a lawn mower. Here's an article I wrote for our local humane society (rural area) about my own experience. (I'm the volunteer in the article). This explains how to install a fence and the cost as of about 2-3 years ago: Installing / Training for an Underground Electric Fence Good luck with your jumper, Columbia, MO

Hi SamDog, Sorry to hear of your loss of Sam. Congratulations on your new addition, Jake. I'm glad you went right out and gave another dog a good home. Regarding your question, Jake may just be tired out. When I get little puppies that age, they usually only toddle around for about 5-10 min., then have to take a nap. No appearance of play drive at that age is not indicative that it will neve develop. My JRT had zero interest in toys as a puppy and was clicker trained to play flyball at about 8 mos. of age. He wound up running in just over 4 sec. and became a total toy fanatic. My dog Repo was adopted at 15 weeks old. He would happily follow me, go on walks, and get petted, but had no interest in toys. Even by 6 months, he would watch me throw them, and just sit there making eye contact with me. When I wasn't looking, he might go take the toy and chew it. He then started bringing the toy--only when I wasn't interested or looking. By the age of 12 mos., I had finally clicker trained him to get a thrown toy and bring it back immediately. Today--at 17 mos--he is a total ball fanatic and would play fetch until he dropped. But it was a gradual development. I didn't know him at 10 wks old (rescued from a puppy mill), but I can almost guarantee he wouldn't have played with toys at that age. You may be sorry if he learns to play with them. At one point, Repo brought me a ball 200+ times every evening, even though I totally ignored him (working at the computer) and did not reinforce it. Columbia, MO

Hi all, I ran a business as an applied dog behaviorist for about 5 years full time. My credentials include an M.S. in Zoology/Animal Behavior and years of studying monkeys in the wild in Latin America. Also, my last three dogs have earned a combined 40+ titles in at least nine sports, including several dogs that were #1 or #2 for their breed in the U.S. These dogs are all clicker trained dogs. One is hypothyroid and from a line of fear-biters. Another is from a line/breed that is quite dog-aggressive. These problems have been managed with all positives and ZERO punishment. No person or dog has ever been bitten. I do not get cable, but have seen Cesar Milan on TV a few times--ugh. People run into me at stores, find out I used to work as a dog trainer, and gush as me "oooooh, then you must ADORE Cesar Milan--isn't he incredible!?" No I don't. He is a total idiot and a jerk. I consider him to be the Paris Hilton of the dog world, having no credentials other than having gotten himself a TV show. Academic degrees and dog performance titles are not a requirement for a good dog owner, but they sure as heck are for somebody who is promoting themselves as a professional trainer to millions. He is a showman pure and simple. He does not want to help, and knows he will NOT help, the owners of problem dogs which will have to actually LIVE with the dogs. Most of his methods REQUIRE a strange male (Cesar Milan) whom the dog has never seen in order to be effective. They are designed to show a 10-min quick fix on TV and will NOT work on a long term basis with real owners. First of all, consider the situation of Cesar "dominating the dog" and yanking the owner's dog off the furniture during his home visit...without getting bitten. "Wow!" ANYBODY strange to a dog can do that. When I visited clients' homes, I could establish myself as a bossy leader type within seconds (keeping dog away from food, blocking doorways, etc.)... and this is 95% due to the dog not knowing me yet and assuming the worst. Having this ability is not helpful at all to the client. They need a method that THEY can use. Cesar's heavy duty use of a treadmill (leading to the death of at least one client's dog) and 4-6 hour off-leash walks with his 40+ dogs are nothing that ANY owner anywhere in the world is likely to be able to replicate. It is difficult in most cities to find somewhere to exercise two dogs off leash. (By the way, what kind of dog owner brags about owning 40+ dogs? I would not call that a responsible owner--I would call that a "collector.") I have found in practice that the "tired dogs cause less trouble" is NOT true on a daily basis. I regularly met with clients who had read this advice in magazines. These owners were running their dogs up to 7+ miles every day before work, but the dogs had developed such an exercise tolerance that they still had enough energy to lay waste to the house as soon as the owner left for work. Conversely, I know many dogs who--literally--have never been allowed to walk further than 10' from the porch for a 3-time daily potty break and are beautifully obedient dogs. The only time the exercise thing applies is for a special occasion. It works great if your normally out-of-shape dog is taken for a 3-mile walk just before company comes. But if you do this every day, it will take a 10 mile walk the next time company comes. Note that I am not advocating lack of exercise. My own dogs go for 3 miles a day of walks, plus tennis ball, herding, agility practice, etc. I'm just saying that the exercise thing is stupid to suggest to pet owners as a cure for behavior problems, and I'm certain Cesar knows this as well as I do. Regarding the promotional stunt with putting new dogs in his pack... this trick is one of the oldest ones in the book! As others have mentioned, dogs are unlikely to start a ruckus with that many dogs around. I used to work at a doggy daycare with 110 dogs, and there was never a single fight. The same dogs would fight if they were in small groups of 3-4. At any rate, I am unwilling to believe CM's dogs DO get along, as long as they can (and do) edit their footage. A trainer similar to CM moved to my former city a few years back. He is a total e-collar person (I'm not against them in all cases--just against the way this guy used them). He trained 8 week old pet puppies in e-collars. The big deal that he would show all prospective customers was a video of a Newf that growled and charged at strange dogs on leash. Then he puts a shock collar on the dog and brings him into a "CM-style" group of about twenty "calmly submissive" (i.e. mentally/emotionally shut down) dogs. The dog walks around growling and gets shocked a few times. Then the dog lies down and the video ends. The trainer beams and accepts the praise and money from those prospective students. My point is that without that shock collar and a pack of 20 dogs that are also shocked every time they move (and have therefore learned to lie down in submissive postures)... this is not helpful to the owner of a dog that would like to take leash walks through their own neighborhoods. Well, there's my $2.00 worth on CM. Columbia, MO

Sorry to hear about your loss. The website www.petloss.com really helped me when I had to have my last dog euthanized at almost 16 years of age. They have a nice song on there: "Precious Little Friend," that is a bit sappy but was great to listen to over and over while crying. They also have a worldwide candle ceremony each week "online." Columbia, MO

WyoBC, This might be a bit far from you, but our regional rescue in Kansas City has a litter of possibly purebred BCs (the mom is definitely working lines BC and the pupppies are all marked like pure BCs). They also have a nice 7 mos. smooth female puppy that sounds like fun and who would like to do some sports. MoKan Available Dogs MoKan is a super rescue with very knowledgeable staffers that I'm sure would be a great resource if you adopted there. I'm not sure if they do long distance adoption, but it would be worth inquiring about. Columbia, MO

I've signed. Columbia, MO

Foos Human, Maybe after the contest in Oct., when I post the photos on my website with their IDs... you'll be able to figure out what Sydney might be a cross of. I'm hoping this will be a good resource for people who would like to compare their BC mix to known mixes. I'm now up to about 20 photos of known mixes, but keep 'em coming! Some are super easy to guess, but most I never would have guessed right myself. No wonder most Humane Societies fall back on the ol' "Lab mix" for any dog that looks black-ish and has short hair. Thanks! Sharon

Paula, Donna's red dog in the photo is a purebred BC, of course! I'm sure she was thinking it might be fun to throw a red purebred into the batch of mixes and leave people guessing if they are TOTALLY sure whether she is a purebred or possibly a mix (Brittany & Aussie...?)... Or maybe with the Irish Terrier in the background, people might incorrectly guess she's part IT...? Sharon

Julie, Freeway is adorable! Do you have any bigger photo of him that you could e-mail me for the contest? Mrs. Palmer, I saw a photo of a kelpie on a motorcycle in Australia in National Geographic years ago. I had the photo on my wall for years. I loved the size/shape/physique, but nobody I met had ever heard of them and they weren't in any breed books--even "rare breed" books. So I decided to get a "blue heeler" instead, which I saw in a photo with an actress/owner, and also in the movie The Road Warrior--it looked almost like a Kelpie. (Terrible way to choose a breed, but I was 18 years old!) That one ALSO didn't exist in any of the books. It took me another four years before I found out the real name was "Australian Cattle Dog" and got one of my own. I just saw my first Kelpie last year, about 20 years after I saw that National Geo photo! Sharon

Hey guys, I just checked my Inbox and already have five dogs, all different BC mixes. Yay! I have to say that I wouldn't have guessed any of them. Good stumpers! Please keep 'em coming and let any of your friends know that might want to send photos. I know there are some great spaniel mixes out there that could pass for BCs and BC mixes that could pass for spaniels! I'd like to get at least 20 photos to use for the contest. Does anybody know anyone with a dog from Hanging Tree lines? I have seen some of their dogs at cow trials that are deliberate mixes of ACD, BC, and even pit bull. That would be a good one to include. Columbia, MO P.S. By the way, it just occured to me that if you have an unusual looking purebred BC, that might be fun to put in the contest too as a ringer! (For instance: tail docked, unusual color or pattern, unusual earset, really HUGE or tiny, etc.) Maybe I should post this on the thread about Strangest Guess About What Breed Your Dog Is!

Hi all, I'm the chair for the 2006 BCSA Rescue Fund Benefit, to be held in October--last year the Benefit raised over $3000 for Border Collie rescue. As one of the fundraising games for the Benefit, I would like to post photos of known mixes and have people buy "chances" at guessing the breeds. I got the idea from Find the Pit Bull . I want to make it pretty hard, concentrating mainly on Border Collie and other herding breed mixes, smooth and rough coats, all different colors and patterns, dogs that look like purebred of a particular breed, but are really a mix of two totally different breeds, etc. I'm mainly interested in photos of adult dogs with herding breed ancestry (or who might fool people into believing they have herding ancestry) rather than deliberate toy mixes like Puggles, Shih-poos, etc. Please send any and all photos to me at k9shrink@prodigy.net. Please identify each photo clearly with the known mix of the dog. Please do not send any photos where you are making an educated guess as to the breed. I need to know 100% what the parents were in order to use the photo for the fundraiser. After the fundraiser, I may put up a page on my website so that people who adopt a mixed breed might get some ideas as to what mix their dog could be. I volunteer at the local shelter, and always wished I could find a page like this to possibly help in identifying unknown mixes that come in. Thanks, Columbia, MO

Hi, I can answer this one... I did a huge M.S. style thesis on dog/human evolution while in grad school. The main reason why wolves probably domesticated themselves (changed genetically in order to live in association with humans) was so they could live on the outskirts of human settlements and eat trash. What trash? Human poop. Humans 150,000 years ago didn't throw away anything "good" like meaty bones with marrow in them. Their trash was mostly indigestible crustacean shells and their own poop. Wolves would creep close to a human settlement and feast on this stuff. Not the most sanitary food, but it was certainly safer and more reliable than hunting! They were partially hard-wired for this as the females eat newborn cub poop for a while to keep the den clean. Most of the parasites in the human poop didn't affect wolves, and in fact would be destroyed in their guts. Therefore, having wolves around to eat the poop was an evolutionary advantage for the humans that allowed them to live on the outskirts. Their parasites would hit a dead end intead of spreading to the entire village. As this went on over many thousands of years, the wolves gradually underwent physical and temperamental changes that benefitted an animal who would be living in close association with humans. (For example becoming omnivorous, becoming less flighty around humans, etc.) Today, dogs still like poop as much as ever--whether of cat or human variety. (The cat poop fetish could indeed be from the high protein in cat food... still detectable in the poop). I read a book about sled dogs who went to the North Pole in the 1980's or 1990's. The teams had to haul their food in stages, so made multiple trips back to each previous camp to pick up more supplies and advance them up the line. The humans didn't even need to guide the dogs when retracing their steps to the previous camp. The dogs would race 20+ mph so they could get back to the human poop left at the last camp! So human poop is basically the dog's "original" food source. The only way to keep 'em away from it is probably to have great diaper pails and to shut the bathroom door when toddlers are using their potties! Columbia, MO

I do too--I have one BC from each background. I thought I'd mention, however, that you can't sort out working vs. conformation lines based on the look or coat type. Here is Derek Scrimgeour's Ben, who I met and saw work in person when I lived in England. Ben is a symetrically marked very rough coated dog who has been on the English team twice and is one of the most used stud dogs in the UK. Here is my AKC conformation champion, Savvy. He has more coat than I like (burrs--ugh!) but less coat than Ben. Here is an AKC dual Champion (herding/conformation), Lachlan. He was the overall #6 AKC conformation BC in America in 2003. So you can't tell anything about a dog's herding ability based on his coat type or amount. Whatever the differences between the lines, coat length shouldn't even enter the conversation! Columbia, MO P.S. I do think that smooths are more often mistaken for mixes, and possibly that is because they are more likely to have prick ears than rough coats. Prick ears are dominant in all dogs, and all mixes gravitate to prick ears over a few generations. So the fact that a dog has prick ears may be a "clue" to people that it is a possible mix. Just a hypothesis...