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persephone

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Posts posted by persephone

  1. "before there were motorbikes and quads, there were sheepdogs".....
    There are STILL sheepdogs. 
    Motorbikes and quads are noisy, riders who do NOT understand/care for the sheep tend to go fast  and stress the sheep, and accidents can be fatal.
    Dogs are quiet - they can read the sheep and act accordingly. With 2 dogs on a reasonable mob of sheep one can be at the lead slowing them down and leading them..and one can be at the rear/sides, keeping them together and moving .
    Sheepmen know that the speed of a mob is that of the slowest sheep . Sheep,en also know that there is often an old ewe who will try and break away from the mob/lead them in another direction.Dogs know this too- and can act independent of the stockman to keep the mob together and at speed.
    I hate seeing young folks roaring around sheep on wheels....the sheep often get confused, get away from moving as a mob, and need frequent correcting by a roaring bike/quad.
    Waeching good dogs handle large mobs of sheep is wonderful.

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  2. Retractable leads should only be used after owners are taught HOW . Unfortunately, their use reminds me of dog park use- a lot of people just use them to give their dog more freedom....and have no idea of otherwise controlling their dog .(or ABOUT their dog's behaviour generally) When training guide dogs we used to use these  , and I still use them on youngsters as a training aid .I still have my original, from the 80's!

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