Chopper did her herding instinct test on Saturday at Make ‘n It EZ ranch in Hopkins, MI. She was the fifth GSD in a row to be tested. I let her watch the test before hers and she was pretty locked in on the sheep from our side of the gate. She went right in at them and the judge eventually tapped her with a little rake she was using as a stick. Then she knew not to run straight into them but took a little while to get enough confidence to run around them close enough to move them. She did it eventually though and the judge said she is very “fit” and “heady” which I understand means she focuses on the sheep and is not distracted and also can predict which way they will turn. If we did lessons we are supposed to work on her confidence in moving out ahead of me because she is wanting to “check in” with me and isn’t used to being out in front or way off to the side.

Here is a video, if it doesn’t work hopefully Julie can fix it

Herding Instinct Test from Lies Rosema on Vimeo