Herding Dog Names

Introduction

Humans have been utilizing the skills of the canine species to help protect and guide their livestock since before recorded history. Dumuzid’s Dream, a Sumerian manuscript that was written prior to 2900 BC, is the first to specifically mention a shepherd’s dog, although many of the first shepherding dogs are believed to be more livestock guardians than today’s traditional herding dog. Herding breeds are developed not only for their herding instincts, but also for their obedience and trainability, their protective nature, and their ability to think independently when the situation calls for it. If you have herds of livestock to wrangle and are planning on making your new pup your canine coworker as well as your canine companion, this list should provide ample inspiration.

Herding Dog Names in Pop Culture

Featured Famous Dog with a Herding Dog Name

Sheila

Dog breeds that are categorized as herding breeds have a strong instinct to gather things together and are typically known for both their obedience and their ability to think independently, traits that are required for a dog that is expected to drive livestock much larger than themselves, without getting hurt and without losing track of any of their charges. The drive of the herding dog to find and gather things makes them excellent not only at herding livestock, but they also make exceptional search and rescue dogs, even when they aren’t specifically trained for the task.

In December of 1944, a group of airplanes were sent out on a bombing mission but were called back to England due to adverse weather conditions. Due to a combination of poor visibility and interference from German transmissions, one of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses from the U.S. Eighth Air Force became separated from the other airplanes. The pilot descended down below three thousand feet, looking for a hole in the thick clouds; instead, he found the Cheviot Hills which stand at the border of England and Scotland. He was unable to steer away from the mountainside that suddenly loomed in front of him and the bomber, still carrying a full payload of bombs, crashed. The plane skidded off of the mountain and landed partially in a peat bog, and caught on fire. Three of the men on the plane died instantly and the cockpit crew made their way down the hills to a farmhouse, broken, bloodied, and unaware that there were still men alive in the back of the plane. The men in the rear of the plane attempted to put out the fire, but ultimately had to settle for getting to safety, and they took shelter in a ditch about a hundred yards from their still smoldering plane.

Shepherds John Dagg and Frank Moscrop heard the crash and began to search for survivors, but the blizzard severely impacted the visibility on the mountain. Fortunately, Dagg had thought to bring along his dog, a Border Collie by the name of Sheila, and after several hours of searching, she found the four men nearly buried by the snow. She then led the crewmen and the shepherds home to Daggs cottage. Just as they reached the cottage, the bombs on the plane exploded with enough force to blow out the windows in the cottage. Sheila had gotten them home just in time.

For her bravery, Sheila became the first non-military canine to earn a Dickin Medal, the animal equivalent of the Victoria’s Cross, and her owner was awarded a British Empire Medal.

Herding Dog Name Considerations

There are several ways to choose an appropriate name for your herding dog or dogs. There are many names on the list that literally mean herder or shepherd, names such as Artzai, from the Basque culture, Gopika, from India, or Calvert, from England, and the translation of the word "herd" in other languages can yield pleasant sounding names as well such as Stado, Kundi, or Manada. Some people may prefer to choose a name that honors a notable herding dog before them, such as Bluey, an Australian Cattle dog that is the longest-lived dog to date, or Irma, in honor of the German Shepherd known as Crumstone Irma, a dog that saved many lives during World War II. Mythological names are also a popular source of inspiration and can be tailored to fit the dog's purpose, using names like Aristaios, Sirtur, or Brigid for a sheep herding dog, or Bubona, Veles, or Sarama for a dog that will be specializing in cattle. Another option is to base the name of the dog on a personality trait that is preferred for herding dogs, names like Zippy, Hayden, or Kassidy, or to employ words that describe parts of the dog's job as a herder, such as Cutter, Tracker, or Blitz.

Male Herding Dog Names

Votes	Name	Vote
1	Dodger Herding dogs often have to dodge the hooves of the animals that they are herding
0	Agni The Vedic god of fire who was partial to both rams and goats
0	Agnus Agnus Dei refers to the Lamb of God in the Christian Holy Communion
0	Ahbhu Ahbhu was a herding dog known as a Puli who was featured in the 1975 novelette “The Deathbird”, by Harlan Ellison
0	Aristaios The Greek god of shepherds and beekeepers
0	Artzai A Basque name that means shepherd
0	Barker A name from England that means shepherd
0	Bluey The longest lived dog to date, Bluey, was a working Australian Cattle dog who was 29 years and 5 months old when he died in 1939
0	Bobbie A Scottish Collie who travelled 2,551 miles to get home after he got separated from his family on a family trip
0	Calvert An English name that means cowboy or cowherd
0	Cutter Cattle and sheep are often cut from the herd for one-on-one attention
0	Hayden An English name that means strong, independent, and loving
0	Hewitt An English name that means little smart one
0	Khnum The Egyptian god Khnum, the source of the Nile, was depicted with the head of a ram
0	MacGregor A Scottish name meaning son of a shepherd
0	Mercury This name can refer to the innermost planet of the solar system, a metalic liquid also known as quicksilver, or the speedy Greek messenger to the gods
0	Nandi Shiva’s steed is a bull named Nandi
0	Orbit Dogs often circle their herds in their attempts to control them
0	Ovidio A Spanish name that means shepherd
0	Pan The Greek god of the wilds and of flocks of sheep and goats, with the horns and hindquarters of a goat himself
0	Pastor The word pastor means shepherd in several languages, including Catalan, Latin, Portuguese, and Spanish
0	Puzzle Herding dogs are highly intelligent and enjoy figuring out puzzles
0	Shipley An English name meaning from the sheep’s meadow
0	Simon A Hebrew name that means obedient
0	Stado The Bosnian word for herd
0	Strongheart The first German Shepherd with name-above-the-title billing in a film
0	Suru The Turkish word for herd
0	Tracker A good herding dog is often able to track down livestock if they wander away from the herd
0	Veles A major god of Slavic mythology, a dark, wooly god associated with the harvest, cattle, wealth, and magic
0	Drover The practice of moving livestock over long distances by guiding them forward is called droving

Female Herding Dog Names

Votes	Name	Vote
1	Bubona A Roman goddess who protects cattle
1	Crook Shepherds often used crooks, or long sturdy sticks with a hook at the end, in order to help control their herds of sheep
1	Fidelity A name that refers to the loyalty that most herding dogs possess
0	Bailey An English name which means courtyard within castle walls or steward
0	Bata An ancient cow goddess associated with Upper Egypt
0	Blitz Herding dogs often use energetic and concerted efforts, sometimes referred to as blitzes
0	Brigid The Irish goddess of poetry and husbandry, Brigid, was the owner of Cirb, the king of all sheep in Ireland
0	Chaser The dog with the largest verified vocabulary of 1,022 words, Chaser is a Border Collie
0	Csorda The Hungarian word for herd
0	Gabi A German Shepherd guard dog at the Belgrade Zoo that defeated an escaped jaguar in the course of her duties
0	Goloka The eternal abode of Lord Krishna and Radha, also known as the world of cows
0	Gopika A name referring to cowherd girls in India
0	Heidrun The Nordic goat that is said to eat the leaves from the world tree, Yggdrasil
0	Irma German Shepherd Irma, also known as Crumstone Irma, assisted in the rescue of 191 people trapped under bombed out buildings during World War II
0	Jet The speed at which these dogs can organize their herds is amazing
0	Kari The Estonian word that means herd
0	Kassidy An Irish name that means clever or intelligent
0	Kundi The Swahili word for herd
0	Lauma The Finnish word for herd
0	Manada The Spanish word for herd
0	Mouflon Geneticists believe that most varieties of sheep are the descendants of Asiatic Mouflons
0	Pastore A feminine version of Pastor from Germany
0	Sami The Sami people of Scandinavia used herding dogs to help control herds of reindeer
0	Sarama Sarama is a Hindu deity that is given the title of mother of Wolves as well as helping to recover god-king Indra’s cattle when they were stolen
0	Sheila A Border Collie from the Cheviot Hills who was the first civilian canine to earn a Dickin Medal
0	Sirtur A goddess of sheep in Sumerian, Babylonian, and Akkadian cultures
0	Surabhi A divine bovine goddess from Hindu religion
0	Thalia The ancient Greek muse who presided over comedy and short poetry was often depicted carrying a shepherd's crook
0	Velcro Many herding dogs are known to be Velcro dogs, who are always at their owner’s side
0	Zippy To be zippy is to be fast and energetic, traits that are beneficial in a herding dog