Ridgetop
Herd Master
So right! 
Opinions on breeding and buying puppies?
- Thread starter Carrosaur
- Start date
Bunnylady
Herd Master
Ummmmm . . . sorta. A Border Collie is taught to listen to the shepherd, and do exactly what he is told to do, at the moment that he is told to do it. The shepherd tells him to move stop, and then perhaps move up stop, ease up and stop again, and yet again stop, move a little stop, go to the left stop, left again stop, move up stop, that'll do (which is a different kind of stop). The dog is not allowed to act on his own with the animals, ever, because his innate prey drive has been honed through countless generations until it is an obsession that is only held in check by a constant stream of input from the shepherd. Even a well-trained herding dog needs to be supervised, or it may become destructive. There was an old, old tradition among sheep farmers that a dog that was no longer fit to work should be destroyed, and though that sounds ungrateful and unfair, in some cases, it wasn't, really - without a job to work off his energy and appropriate supervision to channel it, the dog might get out among someone's herds and kill, and kill, and kill. They are hardwired with a high prey drive, often well in excess of their wolf ancestors, and simply weren't safe to have around.
Sorry to hear about your irresponsible neighbor, BTW. Anyone who knew anything about Border Collies could have predicted the problem, and the law around here would have made him responsible for your damages/vet bills, in addition to fining him for allowing the dog to run loose (eventually he might even be given the option of surrendering the dog or facing jail time). Your dog, on your property, is a pet; your dog on my property is a menace, and reasonable laws allow/provide reasonable measures to be employed to protect livestock and property from those who don't respect the rights of their neighbors.
Ridgetop
Herd Master
Years ago, when we were just starting with our goats and sheep, an acquaintance (later friend) raised and trained Border Collies. She eventually became a herding trial judge. We had bought a small starter flock of old style Dorsets for our middle boy who was small for his age. I was interested in getting an older trained Border Collie she knew of up for adoption, thinking it might make a good farm dog. My friend advised me not to unless I wanted to keep the dog kenneled whenever it was not working. She said that Border Collies, especially ones that had a high work instinct were known for sneaking into the flock and driving them back and forth when they were not working! The sheep were not injured but lost weight and became nervous because the dog kept them moving unable to relax and graze! She said we did not have enough work for them on our (then) 1.6 acres and 10 sheep that were tame and trained to a bucket of grain. We eventually got an Australian Shepherd from working stock. The Aussie was partially trained to herd (all we needed) and was a terrific farm dog and house dog, super obedient and protective. I was glad I listened to my friend since it would have been an unhappy pairing of a highly trained working dog (no matter how elderly) and our ranch style.
The predator style approach to the flock is the reason these dogs are so clever at their work since the sheep retreat from then and obey them. HOWEVER, the flock needs to be trained to the dog too, since otherwise they just scatter in fear from what they perceive to be a PREDATOR. According to our herding dog friends over the years, goats are less able to be worked with dogs since they tend to react to a predator by bunching in a circle to defend the younger members of the herd. The bucks surround the herd with the older does next, yearlings next, and kids in the middle. They can don't run like sheep. I have witnessed this behavior myself.
The predator style approach to the flock is the reason these dogs are so clever at their work since the sheep retreat from then and obey them. HOWEVER, the flock needs to be trained to the dog too, since otherwise they just scatter in fear from what they perceive to be a PREDATOR. According to our herding dog friends over the years, goats are less able to be worked with dogs since they tend to react to a predator by bunching in a circle to defend the younger members of the herd. The bucks surround the herd with the older does next, yearlings next, and kids in the middle. They can don't run like sheep. I have witnessed this behavior myself.
