I decided to go see what all the fuss was about this “herding” thing. Apparently this has something to do with German Shepherds. Like we are just supposed to know that somehow. I got there on Saturday morning and there was Patti and Alta-Tollhaus “Fred” (blue collar boy from the X-litter) ready to go. Fred is now four-months old and was already showing the sheep who’s boss. It was a great experience to watch. The way Kelly handled Fred and her own dogs she made it look easy. It’s not. It is extremely mentally challenging for the dog and it’s like asking them to solve a constantly changing puzzle.
Fred and Patti waiting to take the stage
Fred knows where the camera is. I think all Julie's dogs do. He is quite the character!
Fred moving in...
Stay on target...
Move sheep!
Got them pinned in the corner!
Fred gets the "That'll Do!" command which means he's done and it's time to party.
Victory! Fred - 1, sheep - 0. Now where's mom?
Amazing!!!
I have been wanting to do this with Koda, I keep saying next weekend, next weekend…. again and again but it never happens. Boo me.
Maybe after the PSA trial.
Thanks for the pics Lee!
You should take Koda to at least one… I’ll bet he would do great and all the GSD’s seemed to love it!
I’ll get better pics next time. I don’t have a telephoto lens yet but will be buying one soon!
Thanks so much Lee for posting the pictures. It was so great to have an AT friend cheering us on! When we got home Fred was one tired boy,,slept for three hours!! Your “A” puppy can join in the fun soon!
That is amazing to see. I really knew very little about herding, but found myself looking into it when Dutch started to “herd” my grandchildren. They were in the surf but very close to shore. He kept placing himself between them and the big waves, and mouthing their ankles to make them move back on to the beach. He didn’t actually bite them, but the teeth of his open mouth occasionally pressed against their ankles. He easily moved them to shore, but they didn’t like it.
Sooo glad you went. Kelly is our herding and obedience instructor and she’s fantastic. She has the patience of a saint. Not so much with Roman, but with me. I have serious issues remembering which which is my left vs. right side :0
Thank you Rita for posting the information about this! I never would have known about it otherwise and it was so interesting to see. Kelly answered all of my questions and I will be seriously considering taking my future pup to one of her lessons for an evaluation!
Gorgeous puppy and great pictures. I would love to take Batman herding.
Batman would ROCK at herding! One caution about finding a place to try it out: You need to find someone like Rita’s instructor who likes GSDs. There are many Border Collie herding people out there. Border Collies herd differently than GSDs and some of the instructors hold that against our dogs.
Just curious, Carole: Can you describe those differences briefly? I am very interested, because our GSD behaviors often reflect their herding instinct. I read that there are GSD owners who can’t manage their drive to bite at the heels of people or other animals in an attempt to control their movements. I’ve seen some of that in Dutch, and have been able to eradicate most of the ankle grabbing, but he still tries to control their actions with his circling and blocking. He usually has his head down around feet as if he’d like to grab them, but is controlling himself. I love his “need” to be right next to us at all times!
Very nice pix, Lee. Thank you!!
Thanks for sharing the pictures Lee. It was great to see Fred with the sheep…and the one where he knows you are taking his picture!
Thank you Lee! These pictures are so much fun! did you have fun Patti?
Julie:
I don’t know who enjoyed it more, Fred or I ? Although, I can tell you Fred seemed to be having a bit too much fun munching on the sheep “chips”, until he discovered there were actually sheep in the pen with us!
We will be back out next month when Kelly has her next seminar.
Fred’s philosophy is “whatever the game, we’ll play”! (and I’m right with him!)