From Kelly Malone who will doing our herding clinic Saturday May 5th from 9 to 4. You can register HERE

Farmers developed the different herding breeds to help them with the chores of moving livestock to pasture, ministering to them and getting them to market. Herding is all about the quiet, calm, efficient movement of livestock. A farmer needs an assistant that can move livestock with a minimum of muss and fuss. A dog that runs stock, making them loose weight, or needless bites and ruins the meat is NO help.

Herding is controlling the movement of livestock. The common types of livestock that dogs are asked to herd are sheep, goats, ducks, geese and cattle. A dog needs to be evaluated on each type of stock to know whether they can and are willing to herd them.

A herding evaluation is essentially a series of questions asked of the dog. “Do you see the stock? Are you interested in them?” If the answer is no, there’s not much you can do. you can’t MAKE a dog herd.

“Are you scared/excited/happy to be around them?” It’s normal for a dog to be excessively emotional about stock in the beginning. The learning process will help the dog learn to be calmer and more in control of himself. During the evaluation, we are simply looking to see what the dog’s first, gut level reaction is to stock.
This information will help us develop a teaching regimen that will help the individual dog learn.

The pen and stock need to be tailored to the dog. Puppies need a pen that is smaller, say 50×50 so that they do not over-run their joints attempting to keep up with the sheep. They need steady stock that won’t be too flighty and scare them or not let them get to the right place to control the sheep. On the other hand, the sheep can’t be so non-reactive that they don’t move when the puppies come up and push on them, or fight the puppy.

Healthy, confident dogs should be evaluated in a larger pen. This gives them the chance to genuinely stay out of the fight/flight zone of the sheep. I generally use “lighter” or more reactive sheep when teaching or evaluating new dogs. If the dog lacks power or confidence then the lighter sheep are more likely to move for the dog. If the dog is energetically powerful or confident, then he learns to back it down and not shove the sheep. Teaching a “pushy” dog on heavy sheep just encourages them to push more!

All dogs are evaluated and taught, in the beginning, on a long line. A long line is NOT a rein, its not a guidance system, it merely prevents a wrong answer. If the dog wants to dive into the sheep, the long line stops him. If the dog wants to take off and leave the pen, the long line stops him. If the dog is trying to control his livestock, the line is quiet and LOOSE in your hand.

Since the herding environment is new, you first let the dog explore the environment. Learning can not occur if the prospective student is scared or distracted by their surroundings. Once the dog has had the chance to get a little bored with the pen, the dog is brought out and the sheep brought in.

The evaluation starts as soon as the dog gets out of the car. How does he handle a new environment? How well does he listen and give to the commands of his owner? The evaluation continues as he approaches the sheep. Again, does he see them? What’s he think about what he see?

When the dog comes into the pen, the dog is walked around the pen, not straight into a confrontation with the sheep. When the dog signals that he is ready to explore meeting the sheep. Some but certainly not all of the questions that are asked of the dog during this period are: do you go right at them, or do you try to circle around them? Which way do you circle? Do you focus on the heads or tails of the stock? Are you willing to hold pressure, or do you want/need to flip off?

There aren’t really right or wrong answers to these questions. There is no right or wrong answer to whether the dog wants to circle clock-wise or counter-clock wise….the same as there is no right or wrong answer to whether someone is right or left handed. It’s just an information gathering session regarding a dog and this one type of stock.

Because a dog will herd sheep….doesn’t mean he’ll work cattle. Just because a dog will herd cows, doesn’t mean he’ll herd ducks. You need to evaluate each dog on each species.

There is no predictor on whether a dog will work stock. “My dog chases balls/squirrels/kids.” Doesn’t mean a thing.

“My dog is shy/scared/a bully/ a clown/friendly.” Doesn’t mean anything regarding livestock.

“My dog’s daddy was a herding Champion.” It still doesn’t really mean anything. It raises the odds that your dog will herd. But it’s no guarantee if the instinct and talent are there or how MUCH is there.

Dog’s can be evaluated at most any age. I first evaluate my German Shepherd and Border Collie puppies at 8 weeks. This evaluation helps me determine which puppy will be staying with me. Of course, the evaluation on a puppy this young is going to be maybe two minutes long!

You don’t need to bring much for the evaluation. You need to bring a healthy sound dog. A dog that is lame or having any muscle or spine issues can not be fairly evaluated. You need a collar to hook the long line to. That’s it.

The evaluation’s questions are really just the beginning definitions and movements of herding. The ideal herding evaluation is your dog’s first glimpse into a fascinating world and his first lesson.

Herding Clinic Schedule:

9a.m. introductions

Demonstrations–puppy starting out on long line
started dog working on skills
dog working ducks
Advanced sheep work

Participants instinct evaluations

LUNCH

Handling skills—working with ducks—people only

People work their own dogs.

End around 4 pm.