Dog Breeds in the Herding Group

Herding on this page is a breed group, meaning the classification recorded for each breed in the breed records. Every breed shown is classed in the Herding group on file, and breeds classed in other groups appear under those groups instead, even when their histories overlap in places. Group membership is therefore a matter of recorded classification, applied consistently, rather than a test of whether an individual dog will gather, chase, or move other animals today. The group name reflects the traditional work associated with the category, but the page itself only asserts what the records hold. Use it to browse the recorded group as a set, then open individual breed pages for their own separate details and scores.

Five members are pulled out here, and every one of them is chosen by a fixed rule rather than by opinion: the lightest and heaviest by mid range weight, the longest lived by mid range lifespan, the shortest at the shoulder, and one member of the family that appears most often in this set. First by rule, the lightest: the Lancashire Heeler, weighing in at 6 to 13 lb. The Caucasian Shepherd Dog tops the weight table, 99 to 170 lb in the records. By mid range lifespan the Australian Cattle Dog leads the set, recorded at 12 to 16 years. The shortest member at the shoulder is the Lancashire Heeler, recorded at 10 to 12 inches. The Australian Cattle Dog represents the working and guardian breeds, the family with the most members in this set at 50 of 53.