For the rare breed aficionado

[TheSandgroper]

These sound like fun

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-01-31/how-the-smithfield-breed-became-tasmanias-working-dog/103399840

An interesting article. There are so many dog types that face extinction due to changes in the way we work and live.

But they sound like your typical working dog. Intelligent & high energy.
I don't think that they would make good pets. But I bet they'd give the popular BC a run for their money in K9 sports!

Don’t they look very like a clipped Old English Sheepdog?

I keep a very rare breed, many years there have been fewer than 50 puppies newly registered with the Kennel Club. One year one of my bitches had one of only two litters registered that year. Luckily they seem to be a tiny bit more popular in Sweden & America which is useful for the gene pool

I liked the video in the article. Friends of ours have a huntaway who helps to shift their cattle - another one of those working landraces bred for the job and not the look.

I know a farm nearby where you regularly see a herd of cattle being herded along the ( narrow) main road by a lone, tiny Jack Russell 😂. He’s brilliant, keeps them all in order.

Thank you OP, I'd never heard of them before. Beautiful looking beasts but when besotted owners say they bark a little too much 😱

That video reminded me of a toddler running in and around a flock of city pigeons. Nobody knows what is supposed to be happening 😂