Old-fashioned Black and Tan English Shepherd Association
I recently saw a post in a Facebook group where an individual adamantly stated that English Shepherds don’t have black on their tongues. I didn’t jump to correct the individual because I understand the nature of cognitive bias. The availability heuristic, also known as availability bias, is a mental shortcut that relies on immediate examples … Read more
Through effort and expenditure, we know the genetic signatures for several of the Blankenships’ dogs. By testing our current dogs, we can determine their congruency to the ancestral line bred by the Blankenships and their co-breeders. In our effort to preserve the genetics of those dogs, we emphasize the objective over the subjective. We do … Read more
The price of hay has really gone up. My local Farmer’s COOP says it’s going to stay that way as long as fertilizer is so expensive. Normally, I’d feed my goats hay through the winter, but it was always a thorn in my side because I have plenty of good grassland that isn’t fenced-in. My … Read more
The problem [with High Volume Breeding] is the accelerated loss of genetic diversity. When you have a high volume breeder using short generation times that loss stands the potential of having a dramatic impact on the breed as a whole – if you’ve seen ICB’s “extinction vortex”, the combination of high volume breeding at short … Read more
Since at least as early as the nineteenth century, hunters in Appalachia, the Ohio River Valley, and the South were using Old-fashioned black and tan English shepherds to tree small game, bay larger game, track wounded game, and catch wild boar hogs. As life in America has urbanized and some would say become emasculated, our … Read more
Dear Mr. Dawson, With a heavy heart, I am writing to inform you that your son Lewis was killed by a bear. I was his companion and his friend. Some of us were hunting and a few others cooking, and a couple of men had gone off picking some grapes. Suddenly, a gun was fired … Read more
Young Shep and I were out in the woods this morning looking for some oak to turn in the lathe. What I love about Shep is his even-headedness. Hiking in the woods, putting away goats, dealing with a stubborn nanny or encountering wild game, Shep keeps his wits about himself. He is the kind of … Read more
Today is litter day 38. Yesterday we did our first Parvo vaccination. For Parvo, I use NEOPAR by NEOTECH, LLC: Early Age Protection Stimulates antibody production in the presence of existing maternal antibodies First Dose Protection Antibody production begins after the first dose. Other canine parvovirus vaccines require two or three doses to stimulate an … Read more
