Birchtree Farm

Very soon now we will have a new addition to the farm. We are getting an English Shepherd puppy from the Blacksheep Homestead Farm in Rock Stream, NY and are *very* excited. The English Shepherd (ES) is a type of old-time farm collie. More about farm collies can be seen at the American Working Farmcollie Association website. If you look under the link for Registered Dogs, you will see Blacksheep Kermit's Flame (known as "Piggy") listed. This is the mother to the litter that our pup is coming from. The PRGN registration is a working registration, not based on a standard of looks, like the AKC would use, but based on a dog's abilities in three areas: herding, guarding, and hunting.

From the AWFA website: "The American Working Farmcollie, also known as the Old Farm Shepherd, (Old Shep) was once the most popular dog in the country. As descendants of the Old Scotch Collie, the farmcollies were versatile dogs, indispensable to farmers in the 19th and early twentieth centuries. During that period, it was this dog that most Americans thought of as a “collie”, although they were quite different from the AKC collies of today. The Farmcollie in this country quite likely also carried the blood of other types of herding and shepherd dogs that were brought here from Europe, but he remained a dog that clearly showed his Scotch Collie heritage."

Tish Toren of the Blacksheep Homestead Farm has selected her dogs to be good all-around farm dogs, which is exactly what we need. Piggy's description on the AWFA website says it all. Tish has selected a pup for us that she believes will work well with our Icelandic sheep, which as a breed is more independent-minded and not strongly flocking. He will also be able to keep the poultry from roaming where they shouldn't, guard against predators, and of course, be a wonderful companion.