Month: January 2019

You know that saying, “stay calm and carry on?” Well, there may be no accident that Border Collies and other herding breeds trace their ancestry to the UK. Yes, I know that Border Collies are known by most Americans as being hyper. But those hyper Border Collies are not dogs who have work to do, usually. So,  useful and productive Border Collies for goose control work and or on the farm, do their work quietly and with a steady and confident purpose. And more often than not, they will be happy and confident in their off time.

How do you get a steady and confident dog is a matter of the human’s experience and of course mindset. But, I’m here to say you should handle your Border Collie while working quietly and with a level head. Border Collies respond better, much better when directed, interacted with, calmly and clearly. And, they are not bred to just go out on a golf course, playing field, farm field, by themselves and get the geese chased off or sheep into the barn, by themselves. It takes the relationship, partnership of human and dog to get the jobs done. Experienced Border Collies can actually work independently but only after working with very experienced and knowledgeable handlers.

I often talk about the novel “Far From the Madding Crowd” by Thomas Hardy written about rural England life, oh about 100 years ago. The novel opens with the scene of Farmer Oke’s ill-trained Collie going off one night and driving all the sheep over a cliff and killing them. We do several herding demonstrations a year, and I bring the above scene up to underscore a point. It is essential to know what you are doing with these intelligent and active working herding breeds, such as Border Collies and Kelpies and Aussies. So, go take some lessons, watch sheep dog trails, maybe do some, just some social networking and be careful with online videos. Finding a local reputable, experienced Border Collie mentor or two is best.

I think this advice may be simple but easy to shrug off as it runs counter to the modern American way of loving dogs. But it does not mean not to love, care, respect your dog in any way, it means to understand an ancient relationship of human and dog and whatever your working with, geese, sheep, cattle. Your Border Collie will be happier for your understanding and proper guidance, and your work will go much more smoothly, and fewer problems will occur. Safety, of course, is job number one. So, your attention to practice will keep you out of trouble.

I say all this because I had to learn it myself. I was raised in the suburbs of New Jersey, was not around dogs much until I was an adult. It took me a while after buying our first Border Collie to learn how little I knew. But I, fortunately, came around and started taking monthly lessons and watching then participating in Sheep Dog Trials. You don’t have to be as serious about training as we are at Wild Goose Chase NE, but please take lessons and spend a good amount of time reading and or watching accurate examples.

I can help you with that, give me a call. I and my sons, Sam and Caleb and our dogs, Skye, Jim, Blade, Tara, Nash, and Moses, will be happy to help, whether you are in Eastern New York or Western Massachusetts or Western Connecticut.

For us, there is a goose control season. We are located just enough North that the geese leave our area for the Winter. Just to our South thirty to forty minutes or so, it seems geese can live year round. You may not be aware, but many geese don’t really migrate, migrate down South that is. What are called resident geese stay in a small geographic area moving from place to place as they need to. As Spring arrives this far North, the geese will arrive with the first thaw of ice and melt of snow. The flocks will disperse to different properties, and pairs of geese will set up nesting sites. It is best to be ready to deter flocks form settling comfortably and pairs from doing their thing. There has been some thought that geese should be left alone until after they have nested, but this has been shown to lead to habitual patterns on properties that escalate into big problems.

So to be ready for the goose control work of the Spring with your Border Collies calls for keeping the dogs happy during Winter. It also means, they should be fit, well trained and you should be too. What could be more healthy and fulfilling than being out and about with your Border Collies, as it is with any dogs, exercising in the beauty of Winter?! We take our Border Collies, young and old, our mix breed too, on trips to socialize and to get exercise in parks and wild lands. We have cross-country skied along with the dogs and snowshoed as well. Winter is a great time to train with your Border Collies for the upcoming goose control season. Herding training is what the Border Collies instincts were designed for and what brings deep satisfaction to these herding breeds.

At the very end of last December, I participated in my first Open Sheep Dog trail with the two Border Collies I run in trails, Skye and Blade. Caleb runs our two-year-old Border Collie, Tara in novice classes in sheepdog trials. The trail was in nearby Western Massachusetts. I had run Skye and Blade in the highest level class of the Novice Trails until this Open Trail. I felt it was time to try our hand at the highest skills these sheepdog trails offer and against the best sheepdog handlers in the North East. Skye and Blade did not win any ribbons in this trial, but I think we made a good show of ourselves, and we will keep practicing for the sheepdog trials which will make our goose control and farm work better, as well.