Old Welsh Grey Sheepdog

The Welsh Grey or Old Welsh Grey was a breed of sheepdog native to Wales. It is probably now extinct, although it may have contributed to the makeup of the Welsh Sheepdog.

Welsh Greys were shaggy, long-haired dogs, similar in appearance to working strains of the Scottish Bearded Collie or to the ancestors of the Old English Sheepdog,[1] and the breeds probably have a common heritage.[2] Like the Bearded Collie, the Welsh Grey worked in a "loose-eyed", noisy manner very different from the Border and other collie types, with a distinctive short bark.[3] As well as being used by shepherds, the breed was also popular with the drovers who took livestock to England.[4]

All types of Welsh sheepdog declined in numbers from the early 20th century due to the increasing use of the Border Collie for herding. Dogs of the Welsh Grey type were still found on Welsh hill farms in the upper Towy valley as late as the 1980s, but the breed is likely now extinct.[1]

Specimens of the Welsh Grey are thought to have accompanied Welsh settlers to Patagonia.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Carpenter, B. The Shepherd's Dogge, Fall 1994: see Welsh Sheep Dog, The Border Collie Museum
  2. ↑ Hubbard, C. L. Working Dogs of the World, 1947, p.154
  3. ↑ Holmes, J. The Farmer's Dog, Random House, 1995, p.61
  4. 1 2 Davies, Jenkins and Baines (eds) The Welsh Academy encyclopaedia of Wales, UWP, 2008, p.220
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