Pet Lovers

[NorskyGal]

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@Desertdi wrote:

My grandpa had a border collie on the farm

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I'm wondering about the coat consistency tho--it was wavy. I've seen pics of Border Collies with curly fur but Duke's was not curly--it was wavy. But it's a possibility....

[NorskyGal]

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@colliegirls wrote:

My first thought is Australian Shepherd or a Bernese Mountain dog.

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Australian Shepherd...possible. But can they have wavy fur? And it def. wasn't a Bernese Mountain dog--I know those dogs.

[colliegirls]

https://www.google.com/#q=herding+dog+representative+species&stick=H4sIAAAAAAAAAONgFuLUz9U3MMpONq5QQ...

Did it look like any of these??

[NorskyGal]

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@DKNJ wrote:

I take it there are no pics of him as that would probably nail it down for you by anyone who knows dog breeds.  By the way, he sounds like one fabulous dog.

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Yes...I really need to find a pic, scan it & post it. And you're right--he was a fabulous dog. So friendly & sweet. I just loved him!

[colliegirls]

My husband's family had Border Collies and they had black and white wavy coats.  They have tails however, the Australian Shepherd usually doesn't.

[CamilleP]

Almost guaranteed that he was an Australian Shepherd Dog.  Which is, of course, a misnomer, because the breed was developed right here in the US by Basque shepherds who brought some of their ancestors over from Spain, and then bred them with local collie-type dogs and farm dogs here in the US, always selecting dogs who were good herding dogs to breed from.  Most of the breed's members today exhibit merle coloration patterns, but occasional throwbacks to tricolors probably always occurred, Duke was probably one of them.  The breed retains the soft, silky, slightly wavy double coat, somewhat lighter than the very heavy double coats of the Rough Collie and Sheltie, but softer and longer than most German Shepherd Dogs.  Today the breed is also bred in a miniature size as more of a convenient companion animal, and both sizes are registered with the AKC.  If you go to the AKC website, you can find links to the breed's parent club website, and that will give you breeder referral information, as well as lots of photos, I am sure.  One of those photos might well look just like your childhood pal Duke.  Please post again to let me know if you find those pictures, I hope you do!

[ScarletDove]

If you know the breeders name (although no longer in businesss) and are willing/able to put it out there, perhaps someone will have known this particular breeder, or someone in the business over the years would know these individuals due to their location.  You might also go to the AKC for information about breeder if they produced pure-bred dogs.

[MillieMilan]

Pyrenean Shepherd?

[colliegirls]

An English Shepherd looks a lot like a collie or border collie. Their coat can be wavy.

[AnikaBrodie]

Could it be a tri color Australian Shepherd?  They come in a number of different tri and merle colors.  Beautiful dog.