McNab Shepherd

[near horse]

Anyone have experience with the McNab Shepherd? A friend of mine has some pups (and mom) and swears these are great dogs.

[Jean]

Never even heard of them, but would like to see some pictures.

[Claddagh Farms]

Are these English Shepherds? The name sounds familiar, like it is a specific line of the English. I have 2 and a Border. The ES is a generalist while the Border is a specialist…..Borders are very focused on one thing and one thing only. English Shepherds are noted for their traits of Herding, Hunting & Guarding. They should do all equally well, but some have stronger points than others.

The stories of these dogs going back to the 1800’s are amazing at what they can and will do. From experience, my dogs have saved me a lot of grief from vermin & livestock loss. They will work the animals, herd if necessary, keep track of lost chickens or rats under the barn and warn off coyotes.

Often my bitch will disappear for a time and return to get me. She usually shows up a chicken or goose caught in the fence or a pig in trouble. I can trust her around all the stock. Our male is an excellent guard dog, tame around the animals, but his hunting drive is stronger than anything. He once tracked pigs for hours for us when some escaped.

[Kevin Cunningham]

McNabs are more common out west. I think the main thing to consider is what you want to do with a dog. Border Collies are great for sheep, but I don’t know anyone with a McNab that herds sheep. They are all “cow dogs” which mostly means they get to ride in the truck when the farmer goes out to feed hay in the winter, and sleeps on the back porch. Now that doesn’t mean that they can’t be trained to be excellent herders but I am just noticing what happens around here.

[Kyle]

We have a dog that we believe is a McNab cross. He is a rescued stray from an area with a lot of mcnabs and resembles the pictures we have seen of mcnabs but he is smaller (kinda looks like a mcnab beagle cross?!). From what I understand they were imported from scotland by the mcnab family. They are believed to be descended primarily from short haired border collies. I noticed the herding ability of ours well before I knew what a mcnab was. Especially around the horses and cows. I believe the mcnabs imported them to herd sheep but ours seems to prefer cows. heres more info: http://flyballdogs.com/personal/mcnab.html

[Kyle]

i should also add that ours is just a pet. I’d love to put him to work but don’t know enough about herding dogs. But from the first time he was introduced to the cows and horses it was obvious he wanted to work them. I’ve even thought he has enough grit to work pigs if someone trained him from a pup.

[Does’ Leap]

Kyle:

You should be able to train a dog that possesses good instincts at any age. I have trained 2 adult border collies and two pups. They all work(ed) well. A good book on herding should get you started if you are interested in training the dog.

George

[Kyle]

As you can tell I haven’t had much time to get on the forums! I definitely anticipate herding dogs as part of my farming future. One of our older dogs is a border collie mix. She had no formal herding training. When we first started rotating our goats between pastures we would lead out front with grain and she would take up the rear and flank the sides rounding up stragglers without any instruction. After a few weeks of this she ran to the front one day turn and faced the goats and barked, sending them scattering in the opposite directions. We quickly responded with a firm “no”. After that day she never wanted to participate again even when we encouraged her. As a result I have been hesitant to have the new pup participate without formal training from someone experienced. I suppose a book or video could be a good stepping off point though.

[J-L]

I know of a few McNabs out here (in Wyo). They seem to work just like the Border Collies. By the way, you see more Border Collies than anything working cattle in my area. There are some BC dogs that are ‘sheep’ or ‘trial’ type dogs that sometimes don’t have enough power to work cattle. There are Border Collie dogs here that have been bred to work cattle.
By the way, the McNabs that my cousin used have a lot of run. He uses them out on the open range moving cattle and they can cover many, many miles in a day (just like the Border Collie). So you need room and work for them.

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