Thanks to their heart, skill, and dedication, dogs are still essential to farmers and ranchers.
Since the beginning of farming, there have been farm dogs. From the Romans to the Saxons to the Scots, people have considered farm and ranch dogs a vital part of daily life. Their main task, though, is herding. These wranglers will herd anything, including sheep, cattle, goats, reindeer, and poultry, and perform a few other odd jobs, too.
“Gathering stock at a distance is one of the most important jobs a dog can do on many ranches,” says Mary Bowsher, who runs about 200 sheep on her 100-acre ranch in Texas. She explains that collecting the livestock is the first task before any other work — checking health, sorting, and shipping — can be done.
Want to read the full story? Pick up the July 2007 issue of DOG FANCY today, or subscribe to get 12 months of articles just like this.