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Herding Was Great!


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Wow, that looks like fun! I just adore Banjo's ever-floppy left ear :thumbsup:

And love the spectators in many of those shots :thumbsup:

So none of the dogs that had never seen sheep showed any fear or aggression toward them?

I'd love to take Jack to a herding workshop but I have no idea how he would react. He saw his first horse a few weeks back and froze, then pointed! I think he thought it was a fecking huge dog in its blankie and all ... he chases birds, bunnies and would chase a cat if he could get near one so I'd be a bit worried. Hmm, it might be worth a try some time ...

Anyway, thanks for sharing the wonderful shots from your day. Still waiting for Sky's pics, too, right?

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Moop, as Nat said, Eb wasnt interested and was a bit worried about the sheep. A few dogs David and Geoff managed to get interested in no time. They really tried hard with Eb, went and caught one sheep, brought it over to her etc etc, but nup, the 'queen' had decided it was all beneath her totally beautiful self. :thumbsup:

They did say that if she came another day with Reilly Nat could give her another try and that sometimes it took dogs a few goes to get the idea. :banghead:

They were also very good with any dogs that were too keen. There were muzzles to use if needed, but none of the dogs there yesterday had to wear one. They said some dogs start off barky and snappy, but usually get the hang of things. If not, they'll put one of their dogs in the yard with it, to help it along and give it some direction......

They had an answer for everything! ;) Honestly, if you'd like to give Jack a go, find a herding day. Trust me though, after making us all take turns being the 'dog' to see just how hard it is to keep those *bleep* sheep in line, you'll need a comfy bed to come home too. :D (you could come down to Melb, spend the weekend with all of us and go herding too? :thumbsup: )

I had no idea the skill involved in this sort of work. Even if Mr floppy ear hadnt had such a fun day, I am just so happy I went and got to learn what I did. It wanst just a 'herding for the city dog' day, it was a 'herding for the city gal day' for me. :banghead:

Here is a couple of pics of gorgeous Rosie out in the big paddock. To watch her work for her dad Geoff, was just a delight for me. So clever, what a team.

Here she is holding the mob yet again, waiting for one of those silly city dogs to turn up and ruin her good work :rofl:

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And here is the star one more time...... one sheep got away, and he was off like a shot, turned it round and brought it back. (and this is a dog who had never seen a sheep before) Hmmm, looks and brains maybe after all? :thumbsup: Only bad part of the day was the paddocks were so nice and dry, so there is STILL no pics of Nats dogs looking anything but totally powder puffed. DOH! (I will get some though...... one day...... :thumbsup: )

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Guest Tess32

Yep I'd say the learning curve with herding is mostly to do with US not the dogs :thumbsup: It's very hard to think while you're doing it...even with a savvy dog like Rosie helping you.

Ebony wasn't very afraid of the sheep, just not interested and slightly "yeah, don't bring them over here!". but she is still coming out of her shell at home and just started to play with toys etc, so who knows what'll happen in the future ;) She was barking and supporting her favourite boy :thumbsup:

I think all the dogs did very well. It's quite amazing to see your own dog, who has never seen a sheep, start herding them!

I'd also never seen Banjo like that before - he seemed so confident and was like a different dog. His second time was fantastic...you could see each time he got it more and more.

Nat

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We wanna see Ebony pics, I was really hoping for that!!

Not sure its something we would try now I see they use rakes (my Rosie HATES rakes or brooms being waved near her). She might take to sheep but hate the rake instead LOL.

Did anyone get any really good action Kelpie shots? I just think theres nothing quite like a good Aussie Kelpie doing what its made for!

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Guest Tess32

I think there is one of Ebony *looking* like she was doing it but really wasn't :D

You think the dog will be scared of the rake (we all thought Banj would be), but if they get into it, they are so into prey drive that normal things don't bother them.

The rake is only if you need control when they first go in the small yards. Out in the paddock, you've got no chance using a rake to control a dog and 30 sheep!

Either way, I think it's something (if people are interested in the first place) that you have to try with your dog, cos the dog never ends up responding how you think it will! If they take to it, I'd be betting it's the most rewarding thing for that dog it'll ever do.

Nat

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I never thought i would be interested in herding, but since i started i have had a blast and bodie has been such a joy to live with, i mean he has never been a problem the the adolescent stage was shaping up to be a doozy, once we started herding he has matured really nicely

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lol i would love that!! :) can rarely get any good herding pics of bodie, as i'm working him, and trying to listen and learn when it is not my turn :p and my Sis who takes a lot of pics wont come all the way to herding :D

i will tell you when we fianally work out a day :)

but boxing day holiday (the monday and tuesday) lancefield have herding trials both days & champ show, also not far from hanging rock so plenty of phot op's lol that is if you have not submitted to the the herding bug and entered Reilly!!!! :clap:

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Sounds like we have a few herding converts now.

Hope to see Reilly and Banjo at some instincts tests....let us know when so we can watch.

Now to persuade my own dog to be interested once more in sheep and not harrassing the rake :D

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:D :):clap: ...I'm so, so jealous! Sounds like you all had a really great time, loved looking at the photos. And you had that many goes? At the one workshop I went to, I only just got four goes with each dog over the whole weekend and Hope (who thinks only ducks are herdable) only just discovered sheep in the last 3 seconds of her last go. Now I'm worried if it's a while till my next workshop, Hope will forget and I'll have to spend another weekend trying to get her to acknowledge the sheep!

chezzyr; you'll be interested to know Fox is petrified of plastic bags and the herding instructer at the workshop used one attatched to the end of a stick in place of a rake. I was quite worried, but though his ears went back and his tail went lower, he was so excited by the sheep he soon began to ignore it and after a few goes he tollerated the bag being run over his body with just a flick of his ear! He hasn't learnt to ignore plastic bags at home though, it was just the excitement for the sheep was stronger than the fear.

Waiting for more photos!

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