Adventures in Sheep Herding

A dog is not just a companion. He can be a hobby as well. There is a whole world of doggy things you can do for both his entertainment and yours. After having finally sorted out our initial problems, my beloved Toby and I started having major fun. After plunging into both conformation and obedience trials, for one brief glorious moment in time we put our toes into the world of sheep herding.

My beloved Toby was a Belgian Terverun, which is a herding breed. While I owned him, I was actively involved with the Belgian Shepherd Dog Club of Canada. A few of us around the Ottawa area who owned Belgians got together and actually started the Eastern Ontario Section of that organization. We had picnics and other fun outings and gave input to the National Club and Canadian Kennel Club on the Breed Standard. It was probably through this that I heard about a Herding Instinct Test clinic taking place somewhere within driving distance.

We lived in a suburban row house. There was zero chance that I would ever be striding across the manicured suburban lawns, crook in hand, whistle to lips, giving Toby directions about herding sheep or cows or even our neighbour’s children through the wilds of the cul-de-sacs and crescent streets, past the looming danger of the bike paths, across the highway to Walmart.

Still. Who could resist the opportunity to see if their herding dog had a herding instinct?

The General and I piled Toby, Mac (our mixed breed rescue), and Shoe our German Shepherd Guide Dog puppy foster into the trusty van, and off we went. We arrived at the designated farm, where a couple of dozen people and their dogs were milling around. A Border Collie who was not under command was in a paddock where five or six sheep were doing manoeuvres at the whim of the dog. He was clearly alleviating his boredom by practicing moves on an imaginary terrain, presumably with imaginary rocks and streams and maybe even an imaginary wolf or two. He paid no attention whatsoever to the rest of us and our motley collection of dogs.

Amateurs were beneath his professional notice.

The event was open to any dog in the Herding Group, as long as they had a modicum of basic obedience training and would respond more or less reliably to commands like ‘down’ and ‘stay’. We thought this was for the safety of the livestock. We found out the real reason later.

There were a few Collies, both rough and smooth coated, little Shetland Sheepdogs, a handful of German Shepherds, one Old English Sheepdog, a couple of Bouviers and some Australian Shepherds. And Toby, the sole Belgian Sheepdog.

From the start of the proceedings, it seemed pretty clear that most of us were neophytes there out of sheer curiosity and for an entertaining day out with our dog.

Donald McCaig in “Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men”  talks about the moment a novice Border Collie first “sees the sheep”. In that moment they undergo “…a brilliant transformation from dog to sheepdog”.

This is what happened with my beloved Toby. The second he caught sight of the sheep, his world came into crystal sharp focus. It was as if he suddenly realized what he had been born to do. All the while we waited, his eyes never left the sheep.

Someone called the meeting to order and introduced the lady who would be doing the test. It was her Border Collie who was in the paddock with the sheep. We were all seriously awed by that dog, who obviously knew what he was doing.

We would be called into the paddock, one by one, with our dogs on leash. The tester would ask us about our dogs and what experience they had with sheep and, if they had made contact with sheep, what their reaction had been. The tester would affix a long length of nylon rope to our dog’s collar. We would put our dog into a ‘down stay’ and take our leash off. The tester would then take control of handling the dog. She would approach the sheep with our dog until one of the sheep looked at them. She would let the dog loose on the long rope. Then we would see what we would see.

An ideal candidate for training as a herding dog would immediately leave the handler’s side and run around to the back of the flock, who would move away from the dog, towards the handler. The handler then would then walk around the paddock, hoping the dog would force the sheep to follow along. Finally, the handler would go to a corner of the paddock and stop. She would call the dog and the test would be over over.

I am told this actually happens, most frequently with Border Collies from working dog lines.

I had the prong collar on Toby and that was the only reason why I was able to control him enough to get his attention and drop him into the down when we entered the paddock. He was practically frantic to get to the sheep. When he was let him go, he raced directly towards the sheep, instead of around them.

He then proceeded to run around the paddock chasing the sheep. Once or twice, his form was so good that he could have been mistaken for a sheepdog.

That’s my booted foot in the right corner.

The Border Collie was quivering with the desire to get into the act. I think he was willing Toby to fail, so he could show how it was done.

Toby didn’t bark, which was good, but he did show a tendency to grip, which is a fault in a sheepdog.

Or was he sniffing?

Sometimes dogs are called for gripping when they really hadn’t done it. That could be it. Sure.

I was asked to recall him. On about the third try, much to my surprise and gratification, he actually came.

This, in the opinion of the tester, was enough to show that he was trainable. There was no question that he had the working drive. He had passed!

Why did he have to show he was trainable? Why were only dogs who were trained in basic commands allowed in the trial?

It’s essential that the dog be focussed on the sheep. But if he is so engrossed with the sheep that he will not heed his handler, he will do what he wants and not what the handler commands him to do. He is useless as a working dog.

I have spoken elsewhere of my difficulties in getting Toby’s attention. He was off leash and so focussed on the sheep, I was sure he would pay no attention to me. It was thanks to the trainer who suggested I try a prong collar that Toby learned to mind me, where ever I was and no matter how great the distractions .

I remember being told at a sled dog demonstration in Alaska that it takes two minutes to teach them to go and two years to teach them to “whoa”. It’s the same sort of thing with herding dogs who have a very strong instinct. They are doing what they were born to do. Commanding their attention long enough to teach them how you want them to do it, is the trick.

Donald McCaig tells us that many of the herding breeds “…have been taken up by show breeders, and like Rough Collies and Shetland Sheepdogs, are virtually useless for herding stock.”

Shelties don’t care. Shelties decided to specialize in cuteness anyway. So there.

His rather brutal assessment was born out that afternoon. Of the dozens of dogs there, representing a whole diversity of herding breeds, Toby and two Australian Shepherds were the only ones to pass the test.

The German Shepherds were more interested in patrolling the fence, or sticking close to their owners than in the sheep. The Old English Sheepdog found the whole thing immensely boring. A sheep was carried over to him and thrust in his face. He recoiled with every evidence of shock and disgust. The Bouviers tried hard to understand what was wanted of them, but the light bulb never came on.

In fairness, the Bouvier and Old English Sheepdog breeds were actually drovers more than herders. Such dogs were used to drive the sheep or cattle down the roads and highways to market, not to round them up from the hills and pastures.

Those of us who passed the test were invite to sign up for sheep tending training, a different style from what we in North America would envision when we think of sheep herding. Toby and I decided to give it a go.

Herding dogs are used where the sheep are out on their own, in huge unfenced areas. The dog runs out a long distance from his handler, gathers the sheep up and chases them back to the handler. The dog gets in front of the flock and uses a strong ‘eye’ to stare them down and turn them in the direction he wants them to go. The herding dog will also be adept at cutting out certain sheep from the flock, at shepherding them into smaller enclosures, and alerting the shepherd that a sheep is in difficulty, where for example, a sheep has rolled over into its back and can’t get up. Some dogs are even able to help that sheep.

The sheep tending style developed in smaller European countries, where flocks are led out daily to an unfenced grazing area along the road.

That area could be adjacent to freshly planted unfenced fields. The trip to the grazing area might require the dogs to keep the sheep out of gardens and front porches. In ‘tending’, the dog functions as a sort of living fence, keeping the flock together on its own pasturage.

In this style of sheep movement management, the dogs are actively encourage to ‘grip’ the sheep, something that would disqualify them from a herding trial.

Sniffing. He’s sniffing, not gripping dammit!

In this sense, it is closer to what drover dogs do. Bouviers, Corgis or Australian Cattle Dogs nip the heels of their animals to stop them straying.

Belgian Shepherds, interestingly, were originally tenders and not herders.

The first thing we learned about tending is that the sheep have to be trained to follow the handler, who walks along in front of the flock. I spent a long time trudging around a field, rattling feed around in a plastic pail, trying to get the sheep to follow me. Toby’s job was to roam up and down on either side of the flock, keeping them together in an orderly fashion. He had to learn the necessary commands, and more importantly to “delay gratification” as McCaig terms it. He wanted to be amongst those sheep. Oh how he wanted it. My task was to get him to give part of that laser like focus to my commands.

We managed the first part, barely. Toby came away from the day with a certificate that said he had passed the first leg of his sheep tending training.

Alas, we still had no sheep in the suburban fastnesses where we resided. The trainer had suggested we could get some ducks and practise with them, but this was vetoed by the other inhabitants of the house, so Tony had to confine his interactions with sheep to his dreams.

If you are interested in what makes a herding dog, or even in watching pure instinct in action and ever get the chance to attend such a test, I urge you to go. It was a fascinating afternoon.