Anybody ever heard of MacNab dogs??

[Nite Hawk]

Alot of years ago we got our hands on some "bob tailed border collies". Actually the father was a "bob tailed border collie" and the mother was a Norwegian elk hound. Even though they were cross bred with basically a non herding breed, they were decent cattle dogs, although one was a bit bull headed, I think that may have came from the elk hound side. The father was a great cattle dog, would heel or head, and when done would calmly drop back beside the horse and rider and continue on his way.Also he was basically a friendly and a nice dog.
I knew the father came out of the States, down southern Idaho way, but often wondered where the bob tail came in from. He was NOT an Aussie Sheppard, definitely looked Pure Border collie with a natural bob tail.
The dogs we had would definitely give semi-wild rough range cattle a real hard time if needed, even though they were not too big, about 40-45 pounds.
Not too long ago, I was poking around on the web, and lo and behold there was "bob tailed border collies" "MacNabs" they called them. Came out of the Idaho / Oregon / northern California area.
I took a look, and said to myself--"That's what the neighbor and we had years ago."
Am wondering if anyone else out there ever crossed paths with the bob tailed border collies, and if there are very many of them out there..

 

[Son of Butch]

Nope.... but I've seen McGruff the crime dog on tv.

 

[Nite Hawk]

ha ha, I don't watch TV so had to look it up- LOL
Really, our TV is for videos, no time to look at "brain drain" LOL

 

[cow pollinater]

I've had a few of them. If I could still get them from the same place where I was buying them that's all I'd have. Easy to train, tougher than a border collie, will gather or drive naturally, works both ends, great with your family but very good watch dogs. Quite a few of them are pretty scrawny but if you locate some of the big blocky types they are a formidable cow dog. The good ones remind me of a cross between a heeler and a border collie.

 

[Nite Hawk]

cow pollinator-
The neighbors dog ( father of ours) was a great cow dog, Would walk along cool as anything, but the instance the owner spoke that cow was in trouble.
The owner spoke again and instantly he was again cool as could be.
"Nick" was average in build not scrawny or overly blocky. Ours were crossed with the elk hound and were built like a brick building.
The one was better than the other, and he preferred to heel, but would head too. If a cow was on the fight, he would eat her heels for supper, and if she turned it would be her nose. remember these cattle were semi wild, not your normal pasture raised animals, and could get real nasty.
This was years ago, and I can't say I have ever seen a bob tailed border ( macnab) since..
Being north of the 49th parallel, I am not sure where one would find a Macnab, what are the numbers like in the USA?

 

[cow pollinater]

cow pollinator-
The neighbors dog ( father of ours) was a great cow dog, Would walk along cool as anything, but the instance the owner spoke that cow was in trouble.
The owner spoke again and instantly he was again cool as could be.
"Nick" was average in build not scrawny or overly blocky. Ours were crossed with the elk hound and were built like a brick building.
The one was better than the other, and he preferred to heel, but would head too. If a cow was on the fight, he would eat her heels for supper, and if she turned it would be her nose. remember these cattle were semi wild, not your normal pasture raised animals, and could get real nasty.
This was years ago, and I can't say I have ever seen a bob tailed border ( macnab) since..
Being north of the 49th parallel, I am not sure where one would find a Macnab, what are the numbers like in the USA?

There's not very many here but they originated in California so I was around some of the best of them when I lived there. That was always one of the big attractions for me, they could be as rank as you needed them to be but never really felt the need to be that way all the time the way some dogs do. CA is mostly big country cattle and some were wild as a march hare but not all of them are and the mcnabbs did fine either way. all but one were just as happy using eye on calves as they were hanging on a rank one but when you needed a dog to hang on one they all had that in them.

 

[Dusty Britches]

On FB cowdog pages, those McNabs seem real popular. I don't care for the BC, though.

 

[76 Bar]

http://stockmanship.com/?p=313
Common in Mendocino and adjacent counties. Mine were from Doug Lane. Wiggin's ranch was adjacent to a place I leased.