What is the best breed of cow dog

[Judith]

What is the best breed of cow dog? Looking for something that can run all day and real turn a cow. will be working one cowboy to average 30-40 pair of cattle. I personally have never worked with a dog so I have no clue. But when you tell me your favorite breed please ad comments on why you like them.

[james dilley]

You might want to see what others near you are using. That said you have A wide range to choose from. I thing the Ausies are A good choice, But then again so is A good WORKING collie dog too.

[linn]

We like Australian Shepherds and Blue Heelers; but one of the best working dogs we ever had was a Collie/Aussie mix.

[tbishop]

There's a guy in Iowa who breeds his olde english bulldogges to work his cattle. American bulldogs are supposed to be utility dogs on the farm. I'd like to try it out someday. But I got the dogs first.

Tim B.

[tyusclan]

A lot depends on what exactly you need the dogs to do. All the types of cattle dogs have different working styles for different purposes.

The shepherds, English shepherd, border collie, etc., keep the animals grouped and move them together, usually by commands from the handler.

The heelers, Australian shepherd, Australian cattle dog(blue or red heeler), drive the animals by nipping the heels.

The curs, Catahoula leopard, Lacy, Black Mouth Cur, are best for finding and holding a group of rough stock while the handler works them or helps to drive them where you want them to go.

My suggestion, based on what you said in your post, would probably be one of the curs, but do some more research on the dogs' working styles, and pick a dog based on what you need the dog to do.

[Tango]

Originally Posted by tyusclan

The curs, Catahoula leopard, Lacy, Black Mouth Cur, are best for finding and holding a group of rough stock while the handler works them or helps to drive them where you want them to go.

My Catahoula holds a cow back (if it were a pig it would be called baying) instinctually but won't drive them - this is for another thread. Ironic that I found his thread when I was about to post on cow dog training.

[mpillow]

Our Border Collie is out of a "Cow Collie" line here in Maine....Fred Eames in Winslow is the breeder....Our dog is very instinctual herder and fearless

She has made grooves in the lawn around the house...into the woods and around the fenced pasture....she is always circling and does well with chickens and goats....but not children under 4yo....

[Judith]

Sounds like maybe a cow bred border AND and an aussie. Might be to complicated for one dog.They will need to drive and bunch. some of those mommas get REALLY stubborn if they have new babies. Get really hard to move from pasture to pasture.

Who is the best trainer you know?
I need them brought in trained.

[woodspirit]

Border Collies just seem to show up at sisters farm once in awhile, go figure. They learn really fast and can distinguish each cow by name and bring them down out of the mountains when needed. They also learn when and where to bring them every day. They aren't trained so much as told and they learn very quickly what you want. They've been working that way for centuries as a breed and are great family dogs when not working. They need a job. It's the only thing that makes them happy.