Cumberland Sheepdog

The Cumberland sheepdog was a northern English working sheepdog associated with Cumberland, now part of Cumbria, and the Border country. It is usually described as an old collie type rather than a modern kennel club breed: medium sized, athletic, commonly black and white, and valued for gathering and driving sheep over rough hills. Accounts of the dog overlap with the development of the Border Collie, and the Cumberland name is now best treated as a historical regional landrace or extinct strain.

Because no stable living registry population is generally available, the name is most useful for historians, rare-breed researchers, and people tracing farm collie ancestry. Anyone seeking a similar working dog should look at proven herding lines, not just color or old breed labels. Practical care would have centered on stamina, biddability, foot soundness, weatherproof coat, and enough work to satisfy a keen stock dog on upland farms.

Colors: Albino, Apricot, Bicolor, Black, Black and Tan, Black and White, Black Mask, Blue, Blue and Tan, Blue Merle, Blue Roan, Blue Tick, Brindle, Brown, Brown and Tan, Brown and White, Chocolate, Cream, Dapple, Domino, Fawn, Fawn and White, Gold, Gray, Grey, Harlequin, Irish Marked, Leucistic, Liver, Liver Mask, Mantle, Mask, Melanistic, Merle, Mottled, Parti-Color, Piebald, Red, Red and White, Red Merle, Red Roan, Red Tick, Reverse Brindle, Roan, Sable, Saddle, Silver, Speckled, Spotted, Tan, Ticked, Tricolor, Tuxedo, White, Yellow