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Idaho Shag ?

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webfoot

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Question? Does anyone know what the breeding is on an Idaho Shag? I lost my good Border Collie a couple weeks ago. She was 14 and went every where with me. Today the neighbor comes over unannounced with a puppy. He has some real good Border Collies. He came to have a young shag bitch. Well she got bred by one of the Border Collies. So the pup is half Border Collie and half shag. I know that the shags have Airedale in them but not pure what else is there?
 
This is what Google said. The Idaho Shag or fuzzy dog originated in the eastern side of the Panhandle state, although its exact origins are blurry. It sounds like a breeding accident with a blend of Airedale terrier, border collie, kelpie, or heeler.

I think Faster Horses has mentioned them or somebody else has mentioned them here on ranchers.
 
Big Muddy rancher said:
This is what Google said. The Idaho Shag or fuzzy dog originated in the eastern side of the Panhandle state, although its exact origins are blurry. It sounds like a breeding accident with a blend of Airedale terrier, border collie, kelpie, or heeler.

I think Faster Horses has mentioned them or somebody else has mentioned them here on ranchers.
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I remembered some discussion here about them which is why I posted the question. Neighbor's son has one that sure isn't afraid to take hold of a cow. But that dog could certainly have used a little training. I think that is mainly the owner.
The young bitch that is the mother of this pup (teen pregnancy) is a daughter of that neighbor kids dog. Last summer the neighbors Border Collies put a young bear up a tree down by the river. He has video of this young bitch who was all of 7 months old at the time climbing up the tree trying to bite the bear. Last week a full sister to this bitch got hit by a train. B said the train was doing about 35 mph. The front of the engine hit the dog and blew it off the tracks. He went over expecting to pick up the pieces but there was the dog a little bruised but fine. They are tough.
I hope that this half shag/half Border Collie inherits the shag tough and Border Collie brain. If the shag is half Airedale and half Border Collie then this pup would be 3/4 Border Collie and 1/4 Airedale. I hope that is a good mix.
 
webfoot said:
I remembered some discussion here about them which is why I posted the question. Neighbor's son has one that sure isn't afraid to take hold of a cow. But that dog could certainly have used a little training. I think that is mainly the owner.
The young bitch that is the mother of this pup (teen pregnancy) is a daughter of that neighbor kids dog. Last summer the neighbors Border Collies put a young bear up a tree down by the river. He has video of this young bitch who was all of 7 months old at the time climbing up the tree trying to bite the bear. Last week a full sister to this bitch got hit by a train. B said the train was doing about 35 mph. The front of the engine hit the dog and blew it off the tracks. He went over expecting to pick up the pieces but there was the dog a little bruised but fine. They are tough.
I hope that this half shag/half Border Collie inherits the shag tough and Border Collie brain. If the shag is half Airedale and half Border Collie then this pup would be 3/4 Border Collie and 1/4 Airedale. I hope that is a good mix.
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I think I would like that mix. I've tried to get an Idaho Shag. Corey, that used to post here, got one and that was the first time I heard of those dogs.
I found an Airdale years ago, just a pup on one of the streets in town. It was raining and she was in the middle of the road so I stopped and picked her up and went knocking on the door of the houses in that area. No one knew who she belonged to, so I took her home. We kept her til one day the owner showed up and claimed her. We asked if we could buy her because we really had fallen in love with her. He wouldn't sell her. After that, I saw her running all over town. She got ran over and then had a cast on her leg. Fast forward to a year later....he came and asked if we still wanted her, but by then she had all those bad habits so we didn't take her. Darn it anyway. A year too late...
 
I think the neighbor still has a couple left. They won't be weaned for a couple more weeks. Of course you would have to drive to Eastern Oregon to pick it up. But you could meet me and Nicky doesn't live far from here.
 
webfoot said:
I think the neighbor still has a couple left. They won't be weaned for a couple more weeks. Of course you would have to drive to Eastern Oregon to pick it up. But you could meet me and Nicky doesn't live far from here.
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That would be good, what a nice invite. But Mr FH has an aversion to traffic and he doesn't think we should get a dog (although they are his favorite thing) because he says he doesn't have any work for them to do. I tell him that his dogs were always his best friends and that hasn't changed. So far, what I say doesn't seem to carry much influence. 😊
 
I agree with Mr FH on traffic. I lived mid way between Seattle and Portland about 5 miles from I-5. I know what traffic is. There is no traffic here. The only traffic between here and where you are is Boise. Given some time to think about it I can figure out a route that misses Boise. From all accounts these dogs don't need work. They will work when asked but are much more laid back than a straight Border Collie. They are fine being a loyal companion.
 
webfoot said:
I agree with Mr FH on traffic. I lived mid way between Seattle and Portland about 5 miles from I-5. I know what traffic is. There is no traffic here. The only traffic between here and where you are is Boise. Given some time to think about it I can figure out a route that misses Boise. From all accounts these dogs don't need work. They will work when asked but are much more laid back than a straight Border Collie. They are fine being a loyal companion.
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We have a friend in Battle Ground. He started hunting with Mr FH when they both were 20 years old. There were 4 guys that came pretty much every year. They followed us from Buffalo, Wy to SW Montana to SE Montana to hunt and turned out to be wonderful long-term friends. Now there is only one fellow left and his wife passed away last Friday. Both he and Mr FH are 76 years old now. We had been to see them a couple of times, but with us getting older and Mr FH having an aversion to traffic, our WA friend will have to come and visit us. Once we got caught in a traffic jam in Portland and WOW, that was the end of wanting to drive in traffic for him and he wasn't even the one driving!!😁
 
Faster horses said:
We have a friend in Battle Ground. He started hunting with Mr FH when they both were 20 years old. There were 4 guys that came pretty much every year. They followed us from Buffalo, Wy to SW Montana to SE Montana to hunt and turned out to be wonderful long-term friends. Now there is only one fellow left and his wife passed away last Friday. Both he and Mr FH are 76 years old now. We had been to see them a couple of times, but with us getting older and Mr FH having an aversion to traffic, our WA friend will have to come and visit us. Once we got caught in a traffic jam in Portland and WOW, that was the end of wanting to drive in traffic for him and he wasn't even the one driving!!😁
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I do understand. I lived about 90 miles north of Portland for a lot of years. I always avoided driving through Portland at all possible cost. Where I am now is 327 miles east of Portland and about 100 west of Boise. It is funny here that the people complain about the traffic in Boise. I am like you haven't seen traffic.
My kids still live up there just south of Olympia. When we drive over there to see them there are two choices. Take I-84 to Portland and then north on I-5. Or turn off I-84 and go up the Yakima Valley. Then over White Pass. Portland or a steep mountain pass..... I take the mountain pass every time.
 
This is Patty. She is my new cow dog pup. She is half Idaho Shag and half Border Collie. When she is being good we will know her as Peppermint Patty. When she is being a little turd we will call her Cow Patty. About 2 weeks after we had to put Bear down my neighbor came over with this puppy to introduce her to me. He never said a word about me taking her. He just knew I needed a companion dog and this was one that wasn't spoken for in a litter he had.
 

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I have heard nothing but good about the Idaho Shag. A veterinarian friend says the Shag has more natural herding ability than the Border Collie and a much better disposition around humans. They seem to distinguish between heeling cattle and heeling humans, something that many Border Collies fail to grasp. They seem to not require as much training and catch on to their job quicker for working cattle. It will be interesting to read updates as Webfoots Shag develops. It is interesting that they have Airedale in them. Every Airedale I have known is overprotective of its owner. I had one go for my throat once. I put my arm up in time and still sport a nasty scar.

I agree with Mr. FH that no reason to have a working dog if you have no work for them unless you take on an old retired one as a pet.
 
This pup is half Shag and half Border Collie. I have seen 4 generations back on the Shag side. They all work. The neighbor has some real good working BC's. They sell pups to big name working dog trainers. I have watched him ride across a hillside with 3 dogs up hill and 3 dogs down hill. Those dogs don't miss a cow. A couple times I have been on the two track on my quad with the main bunch in front of me. Pretty impressive how his dog brought me cows with no instruction. I don't have as much work for a dog as he does but I will still have some work. And Shags have no problem relaxing when there is no work to do.
 
,Did you get her from Siddoways? They had just got rid of the last of a litter when I was looking. From my research there is no set breeds. I would have preferred one with more border collie. I ended up with a very shaggy shag. She is the funniest and most entertaining dog we've every had. She wants to work like crazy, has no eye, and alot of bark right now. I got her in Montana from a young couple on a 99,000 acre ranch. I've not done too much with her yet as we've been calving. I know they say they are more laid back but mine is not. I do have high hopes for her.

Faster Horses, you can avoid Boise easily enough :)
 
Nicky said:
,Did you get her from Siddoways? They had just got rid of the last of a litter when I was looking. From my research there is no set breeds. I would have preferred one with more border collie. I ended up with a very shaggy shag. She is the funniest and most entertaining dog we've every had. She wants to work like crazy, has no eye, and alot of bark right now. I got her in Montana from a young couple on a 99,000 acre ranch. I've not done too much with her yet as we've been calving. I know they say they are more laid back but mine is not. I do have high hopes for her.

Faster Horses, you can avoid Boise easily enough :)
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Actually Matt's Shag is the grandfather to this pup. The mother is from that litter they had last spring. I got my pup from Levi. The dog that I said got hit by the train was right out in front of Bert when it happened. They were going across the tracks to the bull pasture to get out a bull I was hauling to the sale for them. He saw the train coming hollered for the dogs to stop. The shag is his daughters dog and never listens to him.
 

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