Sheep….
Ewe
In November we organized another instinct test so that some local herding dogs could answer their “call of the wooled”. It’s always so fun to see all the dogs and their different styles as they see sheep for the first time. It’s almost as much fun to see the people react when they see herding dogs’ instincts kick in.
This batch of dogs consisted of 2 Border Collies, 4 Border Collie mixes, one deaf Australian Cattle dog, 2 mini-aussies, one Australian Shepherd mix and 1 dog rescued from Thailand.
There were some surprises that day, for sure!
Lucy, ready for sheep!
One of the fun surprises of the day was Lucy, a BC mix who some thought looked a lot more like a spaniel mix at first. While she was timid at first and her owner had to come in, once she found her farm paws it was lovely to see! One of the few dogs of the day to naturally find balance, she changed direction well and responded perfectly to any pressure. Her appearance was less like a Border Collie compared to the other BC mixes, but she moved most like a real working dog.
KIva, naturally circling the sheep.
Kiva is an older BC (I can’t remember the exact age but at least 8) who was recently adopted from a family that never did any of the favorite Border Collie pastimes with her. She popped into the pen like she’d been herding sheep all her life. So glad her new mom gave her the chance to see sheep!
Nike, very interested in following up with sheep in the future!
Pickles’ friend Nike was also present at the test! Like most of the dogs that day she needed her owner to be in the pen with her to gain some confidence to approach the sheep, but once she realized it was ok she made the most of it. Nike was very animated. The trainer told her owner that she showed instinct but there was a lot be work to be done. See Nike, like many dogs that have had advanced obedience or agility work, kept checking in with her owner, as opposed to independently moving the sheep around. So yeah, some instinct was there, but it was almost like she was way too obedient to really move them around easily at first.
Again, all the dogs were so different, some were just driving, some were chasing, some had some nice natural ability. It was a long morning, very exhausting for the trainers and the handlers to test that many dogs, but the sheep were plentiful and everyone seemed to really enjoy their day at the sheep farm.
Frank worked occassionally, moving fresh sheep into the pen, while Pickles mingled with the dogs after her lesson (which I can’t wait to tell you about!) and whined jealously at times when she couldn’t be in the pen with the sheep.
