john landry Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 Attended a three-day clinic last month. Even though this man trains exclusively for stock work – and my dogs are not working dogs – he finally accepted to help me improve my training approach. We worked together with my two dogs every day in a fenced-in part of his property. After spending some time with me, the trainer would work his stock dogs in another part of his property but in full view of my dogs… (Yep, you probably can see it coming…). To make a long story short, the first time my nearly 3-year old Alice cast her eyes on the sheep, you could literally hear her whisper “OH wow!” When the trainer’s dogs were brought in to work the sheep, well Alice cranked up a few decibels – “Hey guys, let me in!”. The trainer had previously informed me that he would not let my dogs get a taste (metaphorically speaking!) of sheep since I had no intention of going in that direction – I totally agreed with him then and still do. BUT… the next day, the trainer made a single, huge mistake: he freed the sheep without checking if my dogs were leashed down. Alice was not! Alice spotted the sheep, jumped the fence, and with zest and glee, went “herding” on her own! We finally got her back to this side of the fence after a few, long, and admittedly satisfying minutes – for Alice and for myself! My ego was sinfully puffed up the size of Grand Canyon (although it has no merit at all in what Alice did – instinct). Seeing the Cheshire cat smile on my face (DW had a hard time hiding her own grin of satisfaction!) while calling Alice away from the sheep, the trainer grudgingly joined the party: “Yep, she has great instinct!”. Now, that does not change anything – I do not have sheep, will not have sheep, nobody around here has sheep… Yet, I believe that deep down, most of us who adopted non working Border Collies have wondered, more often than not, if our dogs had “the” instinct. To get a albeit very incomplete answer to the question is extremely satisfying (and very childish, I admit). john landry PS. Throughout the 3 days, my other dog, Lili, never even gave the sheep a second look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbc1963 Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 I took my dog to see sheep once. The Scottish sheep guru running the workshop said, "Yer dog's not werkin'. Yer dog's playin'." Well, it was good to let me know that I'm not depriving him of any great evolutionary calling. More than one person has ended up buying a sheep farm for their BC. Mary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malvie Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 Attended a three-day clinic last month. Even though this man trains exclusively for stock work – and my dogs are not working dogs – he finally accepted to help me improve my training approach. We worked together with my two dogs every day in a fenced-in part of his property. After spending some time with me, the trainer would work his stock dogs in another part of his property but in full view of my dogs… (Yep, you probably can see it coming…). To make a long story short, the first time my nearly 3-year old Alice cast her eyes on the sheep, you could literally hear her whisper “OH wow!” When the trainer’s dogs were brought in to work the sheep, well Alice cranked up a few decibels – “Hey guys, let me in!”. The trainer had previously informed me that he would not let my dogs get a taste (metaphorically speaking!) of sheep since I had no intention of going in that direction – I totally agreed with him then and still do. BUT… the next day, the trainer made a single, huge mistake: he freed the sheep without checking if my dogs were leashed down. Alice was not! Alice spotted the sheep, jumped the fence, and with zest and glee, went “herding” on her own! We finally got her back to this side of the fence after a few, long, and admittedly satisfying minutes – for Alice and for myself! My ego was sinfully puffed up the size of Grand Canyon (although it has no merit at all in what Alice did – instinct). Seeing the Cheshire cat smile on my face (DW had a hard time hiding her own grin of satisfaction!) while calling Alice away from the sheep, the trainer grudgingly joined the party: “Yep, she has great instinct!”. Now, that does not change anything – I do not have sheep, will not have sheep, nobody around here has sheep… Yet, I believe that deep down, most of us who adopted non working Border Collies have wondered, more often than not, if our dogs had “the” instinct. To get a albeit very incomplete answer to the question is extremely satisfying (and very childish, I admit). john landry PS. Throughout the 3 days, my other dog, Lili, never even gave the sheep a second look. My sister had cows on her ranch at one point (can't have them right now; worst drought since the 50's, nothing for them to eat). First time I took my dogs, Lucy ran around barking as usual (she's half "regular" collie, and she doesn't have much herding behavior). (this was before Bessie). Ethel, however, FROZE. She stared intently at the cattle, lowered into a stance, and gave them the "eye". She didn't know what she was doing; she didn't know what those big things were, but she DID know they needed herding! ;-) I've always wondered what she'd do if I showed her sheep.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertranger Posted July 26, 2009 Report Share Posted July 26, 2009 You're entitled. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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