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Interestingly, for the last several months I have been receiving emails, phone calls, etc. involving BEHAVIORAL issues w/ dogs.
I have been expecting this for quite awhile.
Thanks to internet and many publications about various dog breeds, people are doing research before getting a dog. This is a good thing.
However, everybody wants a SMART dog, thinking it would be easier to train and play with. What breeds are among the “smartest” that people are acquiring??
HERDING DOGS!
The dogs bred for work NEEDED intelligence to be able to sort out the tasks and challenges of a herding dog. Some had to use barking, biting, shoving, eye to accomplish this. They also have to react QUICKLY as livestock are unpredictable and need a dog that can be in two places at once. Great on a farm or ranch.
Lousy in Dog Park.
Now dog owners have dogs w/ these incredible herding behaviors that are destructive in a social situation. The more the dog attempts to “herd” other dogs, the likelihood of a dog fight ensues. After all, what dog wants another to nip it’s heels, grab at it’s face or force it into a circle w/ other dogs. This carries over into behavior on people, too. Many have told me of the holes in their sock and pants from puppies grabbing them. Of course, don’t forget the dog that wants ALL the children in the swimming pool, even nipping ones getting out.
So I get the unhappy owners who can’t take their dogs anywhere calling me for help. But does herding actually solve this problem?
Herding does two important things:
It gives the dog an outlet to vent this pent up need to keep animals together in a constructive and INstructive environment.
It also allows the owner to learn how to control this behavior. Herding is about discipline and obedience while they dog is in full drive. If owners can control their dogs on sheep, the dog park dogs are EASY!
So if you have a herding breed that is driving you CRAZY, train the dog to drive SHEEP instead!
Great post, Terry! I’m sure this will help a lot of people trying to figure out how to balance having a pet with also having a keen herding dog with a strong instinct.
Herding commands do come in very handy when you live with a herding breed. My male GSD loves to hang out when the farrier is working on the horses. Horse hoof clippings make good chew toys but to have a 100 pound GSD under the horse waiting for treats can be rather annoying to the ferrier (not to mention dangerous for all involved). So I place him in a specific spot on the lawn and the ferrier throws pieces to him. If he gets up and tries to get closer I use “get outs” and flanks to place him back in the exact same spot each time. I don’t have to interupt the ferrier by letting go of the horse to physically place him back on his spot. I send him back to the same spot each time so that he is being obiedient to me instead of chosing his own place to be and gradually getting closer and closer to his target (the horse).
The “lay down” command is also very helpful with GSDs that like to race to the fence to bark at anything going by. One command from me no matter where I am on the property and he stops which then allows me to recall him without having to yell at him to get his attention off what ever is going by the fence.
He doesn’t have much ranch work to do at home so anytime I can use his herding commands at home to get him to be more compliant it pays off when we are actually working livestock.
[...] Here is a blog post from my instructor and Scot’s breeder, Terry Parrish on “A New Reason for Herding.” [...]