Herding Fun Day

I have always thought it was special to see an animal do something that came so naturally.  Having two dogs from herding breed backgrounds, I have always been curious what would happen if they came face to face with sheep.  Being a dog park goer, I hear people say all the time that "that dog is very herdy" or "my dog herds my kids/other dogs/whatever".  But does that really mean that they would excel at the sport at herding?

Today I had the privilege of testing Breeze on some sheep.  The Border Collie Rescue of MN puts on a yearly herding fun day and this year, it worked out in our schedule to attend.  I have to admit that I was pretty nervous that Breeze would just stand there and harass the sheep to death.  Remember the watermelon episode??  Breeze doesn't always react the greatest to foreign things.  But, to my relief, she did just fine!

The small ring was set up with three sheep.  The instructor puts a long line on the dogs and lets them investigate at a safe distance.  When Breeze entered the ring, the first thing she identified was dad (thanks, Chad!).  So she promptly ran under the bars out of the ring to greet him.  Seeing that she might need some redirection, I went in the ring with her and she then saw the sheep.  She then proceeded to chase the sheep.  Thankfully, she didn't nip or bark much, but she was definitely interested in making them move.  In typical Breeze fashion, she went all out at the beginning, exhausting herself before she even got the hang of it.  But soon she figured out that, "Hey, the sheep move when I move...even a little."  And so she got to run around and see what she could do.  After a little while, she started to tire out and she actually started to listen to the instructor, who was trying to guide her movements.  All of a sudden, she started to stay back and be patient.  It was really great to see her listening when I thought her head would just about explode.

So below you can see the short version of the video highlighting her progress in just the 7 short minutes she was out there.  Would I do it again?  Absolutely!  Too bad we don't have a permanent sheep job for her, but I have other ways of keeping her busy.  Maybe we will go out for a real lesson sometime - I think we both would learn a lot.  As for Zoe, she had to sit this one out.  For one thing, the session was full, but someday I may test her on sheep.  I am not sure she has the guts for it, but I am curious how she would react.  I think she would probably surprise me.