<A statement like Cali's is like saying if a human is blonde or beautiful, she must therefore by stupid, and not be capable of doing anything but prance around looking nice. Puh-leese.>

No not all, I will disagree. Dogs are a product of their ancestory. If dogs are not tested at their skill, such as herding, then the breeders have no idea what the dog is like or what it is passing on to it's offspring. If I wanted a show dog I would not go to the local BYB and buy one that had no show dogs in the pedigree and was not bred by someone evaluating the parents for the intended purpose of a show dog....If I wanted a working sheep dog I would not go to a show lines or buy from parents that had not work sheep for generations.

<three bearded collies we groom have advanced herding titles, as well as being excellent conformation dogs. >

Beardies in the UK that are now being bred again to work sheep are not doing Kennel Club herding. They are doing ISDS herding. The level of skill between KC any bred can do it herding compared to ISDS is not even on the same page. KC titles are earned on dog broke sheep in little arenas. ISDS trials are worked in huge fields at great distences and on difficult sheep and terrain.

<Of course you won't find the working beardie with the coat of a showing beardie- that would be ridiculous seeing how it would get dirty and matted in a matter of minutes.

And why would a breed dog be changed to have a coat that was impractical for the purpose of the dog, I thought form followed function?

<WHO CARES ABOUT THE DIFFERENCES IN WORKING AND SHOWING DOGS! THEY ARE ALL THE SAME INSIDE!>

Are they same inside...how long can you not breed for a certain trait such as herding which is on the inside and instead focus breeding for traits on the outside such as an extremely long impractical coat for a herding dog ...and not alter what the dog is?
Is herding talent so easy to obtain that no effort needs to be given to improve it or even to maintain it?

If you do not beleive that working talents such as herding have value ...then you will never understand. But I do not demean show dogs and all the effort put into getting a dog to look just a certain way. I know people work very hard at obtaining it. And good for them, if that is what they want.

But for some reason people seem to think that a good working dog just falls off the tree, that there is no need to put effort into the breeding programs and that any old dog, bred for any old reason could do it. People place great value on boo boo herding the cat or the neighbors kids...??? Really is this all there is to a good herding dog? That is a very demaning attitude towards the people and their dogs that spend their lifetimes attempting to obtain and maintain good working dogs. But as I said if you do not value the work then you do not value the people or their dogs.

Suit yourself, but you are closing your mind to some wonderful dogs that may be very very different from what you think they are. So different you may not even recogonize them as the breed they are.


Thanks for sharing the pic's BTW, there is a geat deal of effort going on today to revive the working beardie and it is nice that people are hearing about it and getting to see some pic's of these lovely dogs.
Deb Kelly