Old Time Scotch Collies being taken in as Border Collies by rescue groups

After seeing a very OTSC looking dog being called a Border Collie on the Border Collie Museum site, I hypothesized that OTSC could be found in Border Collie rescues that serve rural areas of the US and possibly Canada. As far as I know, most BC rescues don't test herding style. Therefore, our dogs might be funneled into the Border Collie bucket for lack of a more appropriate category.

Testing my hypothesis
1. I made a short list of Border Collie rescue websites based in my region (Midwest USA).
2. I searched those websites for photographs of collies they have placed.
3. I picked out the ones that reminded me of Scotch Collies.

Here are the Midwest Border Collie rescue sites I checked.

http://www.greatlakesbcrescue.org
https://www.mokanbcrescue.org/
http://www.buckeyebcrescue.org/
http://www.wibordercollierescue.com/
https://www.mwbcr.org/
https://www.comebyebcrescue.org/
http://barkindogs.org/
http://bcrofmn.org/
www.nbcrescue.org

Not every website I checked had a history page for adopted dogs. And only two of the sites above ended up having dogs that I thought were worth mentioning. Those were:

http://www.greatlakesbcrescue.org
https://www.comebyebcrescue.org/

My selection criteria were as follows, roughly in this order of priority:

1. Facial structure - I looked for either a spitzy face, or one similar to the Top Hill registered OTSCs.
2. Expression - I tried to rule out any dog that was clearly showing a cross-eyed obsessive expression, or that looked unintelligent.
3. Coat type - I looked for feathering on the ears and face, or a thicker dual layer wavy coat. I ignored any dog with a smooth coat.
4. Body structure - I looked for a sturdy build with shorter legs.
5. Color - I paid closer attention if the dog was sable, black and tan, or piebald. (As it turns out, all of the ones I thought looked most like an OTSC fell into one or more of these categories.)
6. Temperament - I dismissed some otherwise interesting dogs based on reports of questionable temperament, such as "high energy", "all border collie", "not good with children" etc.

Here are my selections.

"Border collies" placed by Come Bye Rescue

These were taken from https://www.comebyebcrescue.org/animals/stories. The dogs' initial listings have been removed.

"Demi" ~Part of her description reads, "She's not interested in the same things as most border collies. What she likes is a soft comfy bed, car rides, treats and food. She will sit outside on the deck and just keep an eye on things. She will do that for hours."

"Dori"

"Letty"

"Honey"

"Lucy"

"Border collies" placed by Great Lakes BC Rescue

Their adoption history page reads, "If you have news or questions about a specific dog, please do not hesitate to contact us."

More photos on his page at http://www.greatlakesbcrescue.org/happytails/2005/yoshi/yoshi2005.html

No other information or photos available, from http://www.greatlakesbcrescue.org/happytails/2007/wren/wren2007.html

More photos at http://www.greatlakesbcrescue.org/happytails/2017/mahi2017/mahi2017.html

More photos and information at http://www.greatlakesbcrescue.org/happytails/2017/mabel2016/mabel2016.html

Conclusion

I believe it is in the OTSCA's best interest to start collaborating with Border Collie rescue groups.

Imagine if we could make these groups work for us, to have them think of us whenever a possible OTSC is brought in, BEFORE they neutered him or her...

Next steps

Some suggestions for how we could make this a reality...

Compile a complete list of ALL Border Collie rescue groups in the US and Canada
Create a breed awareness packet to be sent to each group, with instructions on how to identify a possible OTSC intake, and who to call.
Make working with the OTSCA beneficial for these groups by offering a financial reward for OTSC kept intact, which could be a reserve fund, or crowdfunded case-by-case.
Work the Scotch Collie vs Border Collie angle more heavily in publications

What do you think?

-- Cel