by Hill-loving lady » Thu Feb 20, 2014 12:16 pm
What fantastic news.
Bearded collies are reknowned for their homing instincts...in the past, the cattle drovers used them to take their highland cattle from the north and the islands down to the markets in Edinburgh. and when the drovers returned by boat, the bearded collies were left to find their own way home - brilliant skill to have!
I found this little bit on the web...interesting I thought.
There were probably originally two types of Bearded Collie. One was smaller and lighter boned and was used for herding flocks in the Highlands and for huntaways. Huntaways involved the dog and the shepherd working behind the sheep and having the dog work back and forth, barking continuously. This drove out the lost or hiding flock members. The other version of the Beardie was a heavier boned dog with a solid black coat. This type of Beardie was used for droving in the Lowlands. The modern Bearded Collie is believed to be an amalgamation of these two versions of herding dog. The history of the Bearded Collie is not clearly defined. There are records of Beardie type dogs droving cattle from the north and west Highlands to market in the 18th and 19th centuries. 'Dogs of Scotland' by DJ Thomas Gray, written in 1891, lists the Bearded Collie and describes it '... with a coat not unlike a doormat'.