This a continuation of the article that starts at https://www.oldtimefarmshepherd.org/2010/09/20/otfs-pilgrimage/.
Today I had my scanner working and scan I did. I now have photos of 3 of the 4 littermates of the last of the Old Bobtail Line, unfortunately one thing I had hoped for, another picture of Ole Shep, was not found, but I do now have pictures of Little Bit and Rover. Keppie, the forth littermate, was owned by Richard McDuffie and was hit by a car and died, this is the only littermate whose picture I do not have. I also have pictures of Maggie, the half sister to this litter, she was obtained by Strunk from David Carr. Rover spent most of his life in North Georgia and came to Stunk’s place late in life where he was used breeding up until the time he died. McDuffie didn’t use Rover in breeding because Rover was bob-tailed and he wanted full-tailed dogs, Little Bit was also bob-tailed. When Mr. Strunk first obtained Little Bit from McDuffie, Carr told Mrs. Allison that one of the 4 was back in the state of Tennessee, it was reported that she was so moved that she cried. One last fact about the fab-four, their birthday, I had never been able to find that anywhere, it is listed as 11-1-1993.
It seems that David Carr knew quite a bit about the early history of these dogs, but as far as Mr. Strunk knows he never got around to writing it down before he died. He told me that the dogs had come from Mrs. Allison’s family and although Mr. Allison had worked at breeding and selling the dogs, it was Mrs. Allison who had brought the dogs when they were married. I plan on spending some time tracking down the Allison family to see if I can learn more about the early history of this line of dogs.
That is all I can think of sharing with you. If you can think of any questions I should have asked, just post them in the comment section below and I will endeavor to get an answer. I will be updating my article outlining the history of the OTFS in the coming days, that article is here https://www.oldtimefarmshepherd.org/2009/09/19/dunrovins-ole-shep-and-the-otfs-legacy/
Related Images:
I grew up in eastern Utah and most of the ranches used the old collies, Ours was named Jip our neighbors dog was Bob. I wondered what happened to them as I haven’t seen the type in some time.
I live in Montana on a ranch and would love to acquire some good collies. Would love to hear from anyone that has good collies and knows the breed.
I’m also a Sculptor and this motivate me to do some old time collie sculptures.
Thanks
Lyle