by Stacey Phetteplace
The dog stood frozen; eyes locked on his prey. The sheep knew she was there but uncertain of what to do, they stood still as well. Slowly they moved away from the dog. Like a dance, the dog slowly moved toward the sheep but flanked them and they responded by turning away from the dog. Throughout the dance, the dog stepped right and the animals moved left, or the dog moved left and they moved right. Gradually they were moved toward a gate and the dog drove the stock into the pen, guided by the farm owner. Dogs and ranches go together like bread and butter, and it’s a rare ranch or farm that doesn’t have at least two dogs, especially since a well-trained stock dog can take the place of two or even three people.
Stock dogs, also known as herding dogs, have a high prey drive but also have a high desire to please their owner or handler, and through training learn to control their desire to herd the stock and protect the animals. Although any dog with a strong prey drive, or the desire to hunt, can move stock, certain breeds have evolved to the next level. They seem to be able to read the mind of a sheep or cow. They try hard to keep the herd together and discipline those individuals who will try to leave the group or those who challenge the dog on his authority over the group. These special dogs can do chores like hold stock in a pen when the gate is open, or gently push a newborn lamb and her protective mother from a field into a barn, or retrieve aggressive bulls and territorial cows from deep brush. They have a strong work ethic and are protective of their family, and are known to be incredibly smart and easy to train. The most common herding breeds in the United States are the Border Collies, Australian Shepherds, and Australian Cattle Dogs. There are other lesser-known breeds such as Kelpies, Hanging Tree Cowdogs, French Beaucerons, Scottish Collies, French Berger Picard’s, French Briards, Belgian Shepherds, and German Shepherds and even the Catahoula Leopard Dog is considered a herding breed. With so many choices, how does one determine which will be the best fit for the work they need done and for their family? Most herding dogs do well with families as well as single people, so the dogs’ working traits are usually the deciding factors.
Herding dogs are known by four main working traits. Those traits are “eye”, sense of group, biddability, and presence. The first three traits can generally be assigned to particular breeds and the fourth is the individual, regardless of the breed. The amount of “eye” a dog has relates to how strongly they watch the stock. A strong-eyed dog rarely removes her focus or eyes from the stock. Border Collies are known for having a strong-eye and will rarely look at the handler. Almost all other dog breeds are known as “loose-eyed” dogs by comparison, which is to say they take their eyes off the stock to look at the handler for instructions and guidance.
Sense of group refers to how much instinct or desire the dog has to keep the herd together. A dog with a strong sense of group will become very upset if an individual leaves from the herd, which results in the dog also leaving the group to retrieve the one. She may be unlikely to do things to break the group apart, although some will deliberately break an individual out, just for the pleasure of returning it to the group. Some dogs, like the French Berger Picard and the Beauceron, were bred to be perimeter or “tending” dogs with the main job of keeping the group together while they graze, acting as a living fence. These large dogs are good guardians that are known for barking to alert the shepherd of danger or problems. On the other end of the spectrum are the driving and fetching dogs like Australian Cattle Dogs, Australian Shepherds, and Border Collies. These dogs can move stock from the pasture by pushing them ahead of the rancher or cowboy; however, they naturally want to fetch, or bring the stock to the person.
Biddability is how willing the dog is to do the handler’s bidding. This can be applied to all breeds. For example, terriers are known to have a mind of their own – they are smart and independent, but they are certainly not biddable. Herding dogs tend to be willing to do anything to make their owners happy, and therefore are known to be very biddable or accept training readily. However, even in herding breeds, there are some individuals that think they know best and ignore the trainer! Unfortunately, the biddability trait doesn’t reveal itself until herding training has started.
A dog’s presence determines how close the stock is willing to let a dog approach before they move away from him. A dog with little presence will have a difficult time moving stock because quite frankly, the stock aren’t afraid of him and he can even walk into the herd without affecting them. By contrast, a dog with a lot of presence finds it very easy to move stock. The difficulty he has is that he must run a circle twice as big in order to get ahead of the stock to turn them. Size and breeding have little to do with the dog’s presence. Like a bouncer in a bar, it comes down to the individual’s personality. A well-trained herding dog learns to control his presence so he can turn it up or down as the situation needs. When working inside close quarters or pens, less presence from the dog will keep the animals from panicking and running over each other, fences, gates, or even people. However, low presence is of little use when trying to move the herd to a new pasture. The herd ignores the dog and continues grazing. An experienced herding dog learns to control his presence, to keep it low when necessary and to ramp it up when faced with a difficult sheep, goat, or cow.
Anyone who decides to own a herding dog needs to be prepared for an “all day dog”, that is to say, a dog who needs to have a job to do all day, every day. These dogs are bred for stamina and drive. Spend any time around an experienced rancher, and he will tell you stories of a dog that worked until the day she died. They just don’t have “quit” in their vocabulary. If they aren’t kept busy physically and mentally, they will find ways on their own to stay active and what they like, you most certainly won’t! If you live in an apartment and like leisurely walks in your free time, herding breeds are not for you. If you need reliable help on the ranch, get yourself a stock dog.
