Old English Sheepdog

The Old English Sheepdog is a large dog that emerged in England from early types of herding dog. It is known at once by its long, shaggy gray-and-white coat, which falls over the face and eyes. Its nickname, Bobtail, comes from the old custom of docking its tail.

History

The breed comes from the pastoral dogs of England. Some believe that a small drop-eared dog in a 1771 painting by Gainsborough shows an early form of it. In the early 19th century a bobtailed drover’s dog was noted in the southwestern counties of England and may have been an ancestor. Most fanciers agree that the Bearded Collie was part of the original stock.

The dog was first called the Shepherd’s Dog and was first shown in Birmingham in 1873. The breed went on to become a popular show dog. It reached the United States in the 1880s, and by about 1900 five of the ten wealthiest American families bred and showed it.

Since 1961 the breed has been the mascot of Dulux paint, and in the countries where the advertisements run it is often simply called the Dulux dog.

Appearance

Males stand at least 61 cm (24 in) at the withers and weigh 36 to 46 kg (79 to 101 lb). Females stand at least 56 cm (22 in) and weigh 30 to 40 kg (66 to 88 lb). The body is short and compact with a deep chest. The dog stands lower at the shoulder than at the loin and walks with a rolling, bear-like gait. The ears lie flat to the head.

The double coat may be any shade of gray, grizzle, black, blue or blue merle, with or without white markings, and the undercoat resists water. Puppies are born black and white, and the gray or silver hair comes in after the puppy coat is shed.

Many countries have banned docking, so dogs with tails are now common. An undocked tail is set low, hangs down and carries long hair. The British and Australian standards accept docked and undocked dogs alike. The American Kennel Club standard still calls for a tail docked close to the body unless the dog is born bobtailed.

Temperament

The Old English Sheepdog competes in agility, obedience, rally obedience, Schutzhund, flyball, tracking and herding events, and dogs that show a basic herding instinct can be trained for herding trials.

Care and health

A 2024 study in the United Kingdom found a life expectancy of 12.1 years, close to the average for purebred dogs.

The breed is predisposed to allergic skin disease and demodicosis, to hip dysplasia and to gastric dilatation volvulus. A British survey put 7 percent of deaths in the breed down to the last of these. The breed is one of those more often affected by a mutation in the MDR1 gene, which makes a dog sensitive to some common drugs, including ivermectin and doramectin, at doses that are safe for other dogs.

Facts on this page were checked against Wikipedia and may have changed since.