The History of Working Dogs
There are many varying breeds of dog,(canis lupus familiaris) that fall into the group termed ‘working dogs,’from the loyal sheepdog assisting the farmer to the brave police dog working on the force.
If we take the dog right back through history the ancient canine considered to be the very first dog and indeed the ancestor of all dogs is Tomarctus.
As you can note from the picture, the rear end of the Tomarctus is a similar shape to that of a German shepherd, very low slung and the long snout is similar to a Bull terrier’s snout.
As packs roamed and inhabited different lands and areas, varying types of the Tomarctus were evolved through the adaptation process. Then further down the line as man and dog amalgamated certain ‘types,’ to be known later as ‘breeds,’ were formed.
Dogs have played a major role in man’s life since prior to history being recorded; man began to use dogs very early on during the relationship between the two.
The initial position dogs were designated to fulfil was that of guardians for people’s homes, there is no record written anywhere of dogs working with actual livestock until ‘The Book of Job’ this is in the ‘Old Testament’. This only refers to the dogs guarding the livestock though and not actually herding them as such.
In 1576 the first modern reference was made to a dog actually working the sheep in a similar approach to the modern day Border collie, it was made by Dr.John Caius who was a physician to Queen Elizabeth 1 this was written in his Treatise on ‘Englishe Dogges.’
The actual name ‘Collie’ is not mentioned until the year 1617 when a Scottish bishop’s habits were likened to that of a collie dog as he used to visit people on the chance that he would be invited to stay for a meal!
The strains that proved themselves to be the best suited to the work of herding the livestock were very highly prized dogs and eventually were selectively bred from. This in time produced the Border collie we know today.
The Border collie is a remarkable worker, they approach the sheep almost silently, never taking their gaze from them, this is termed ‘Collie eye’. If you have a ball mad Border collie you would of noticed that they become fixated on their ball, they never waiver from it, this is ‘Collie eye’.
To encourage the sheep to move on in the direction that they want them to move the dogs will occasionally nip at their ankles, this is a common behaviour trait in domesticated Border collies and can be one of the reasons that so many are disowned. People simply do not understand the breed.
German shepherds are the most popular breed used as police dogs as their size portrays them as menacing and they are reasonably easy to train and quick to learn.
Police dogs perform acts of bravery on a daily basis; to them it is just routine. They will leap into the line of fire to protect their handler/owner, bring down criminals on the run and keep marauding crowds under control.
Police dogs, very often termed K9’s, are raised from puppies by their handler who is also their owner. The dog will live as part of their family but be specifically trained for the police force. When the dog is deemed too elderly to work it will very often stay with the family as a retired police dog.
They are very highly respected as a very ‘real’ part of the police force and in some areas it is considered to be a crime if you intentionally harm a police dog. When a police dog is killed in the line of duty it will receive a full burial/funeral just as an officer of the law would.
