Quote:
Originally Posted by mistyriver
what kind of puppy?!
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He's an Aussie cross. I think he has some Border collie in him; a couple of his litter mates looked more like Borders, but he's blocky and big boned, typical of the Australian Shepherd.
There were 8 pups. 6 of them were blue, 2 black, and one was albino. The albino pup went to an albino rescue ranch in Post Falls. She could see and hear, and had some pale color in her coat. I think that if she can see well enough, she would make a good cow dog. The folks really wanted her; they flew down to pick her up.
The parent dogs are owned by the best cowboy I know. He singlehandedly wrangled a herd of about 300 head for a big cattle buyer for years, out in the middle of the Owyhees, and both the dogs are amazing cow dogs. This guy swings a 60 foot rope the size of a fishing line and never misses. The dogs round up the cows, and he catches the calves on nothing but open range.
The mother dog got lost in Boise after she weaned the litter, so he now has a sister to my pup. I don't know where he got his dogs, but he sure looks for the best. My family has always has good dogs, but his family has better ones, for sure.
He has 4 brothers who are also buckaroos, and they have about 9 dogs altogether. When the brothers come together to work cows, only one runs the dogs. All the dogs are commanded to lie down, and they all do it in unison and stay planted. Then, 2 at a time are allowed to get up and work the cows in turn. After their turn, the dogs go back to their place in line and wait again. When the day is done, they're released, and they all go jump in their own trucks on command.
I've never seen this in a group of different dogs, ever. Those guys are all exceptional dog men, and every one of their dogs has come from some real good working lines.
Incidentally, the Australian Shepherd originated as a breed right here in Idaho and Montana, in the ranches that lie along the Great Divide. No one knows for sure how they came about, but there was a sport that popped up who passed on his dominant physical qualities to all his offspring. Their bobbed tails are natural, as the blue and red merle coloring. All are recessive traits- most of the pups are either black or red, and about 1/2 have long tails, but they all share similar conformation.
We have a much more rare working breed out here too, one that hasn't ever become an AKA breed. They are similar to the Aussies, but are smaller and lighter. Apparently, they were bred on only a few ranches, by guys who all knew each other and swapped their best dogs around.
Old-timers have told me they were once a little more common than they are now. The breakup of the big old spreads probably caused the dogs to become scattered and out-bred with other working breeds.
They have a couple of different names for the same dog- I know them as Pannish, the name that was passed on to my family. We have owned 3 or 4 that came from a ranch in Great Falls.
They're often sable, black w/ brown points, or a solid blue-grey color. The blues have the same colored eyes and nose as their coats.
The last pure Pannish dog I've seen was at the Weiser Fiddle Contest. Her owner is a young girl who's from Great Falls, and knew nothing about the breed. Unfortunately, the dog was spayed. I sure would have liked to get one of her puppies!
They are real range dogs. Traveling 40 miles a day is nothing for them. They do it day after day, working cattle all the way. Incredibly tough and hard working, but they're more like the Border collie in disposition. They're usually only friendly to their owner and family, and always on the job. They're plenty smart too, but most don't have the cheerful and gregarious personality of an Aussie.
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