Some people call it a "woolly dog", but that's more a description of what it's like. That's not its name. And it's not a "sheepdog" or "sheep dog", like a border collie.
Before I go any further into the nomenclature of canines, I want to recognize that they're all the same species: Canis lupus familiaris. No matter what their size, shape, coloration, or behavior, from the chihuahua to the great dane, they are all the same species: Canis lupus familiaris. It's only their breed that is different. That is to say, they are bred to enhance different characteristics and to emphasize diverse traits.
Conversely, there are thousands of different species of birds. It has always puzzled me why there is only one species of dog, but thousands of species of birds (upwards of 10,000), but I'm sure that somebody on Language Log will have the precise answer. Is it that dogs are selectively bred by humans, whereas birds do their own thing?
The dog I'm talking about here — although extinct now — was raised for thousands of years for its wool! It was carefully kept apart from other types of dogs to enhance its wool-bearing capability. Like a sheep. That's why I like to call it a sheep-dog, albeit somewhat jocularly. It's a dog, but it has the wool producing characteristics of a sheep.
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