Month: October 2019

Several times a year someone will ask me how long it takes to train a Border Collie. This question pops up on goose control client visits, herding demonstrations or at sheepdog trials. I usually say something like, the length of time depends on the dog and the handler. Then I grin and say something like, now that I know more it takes less time, I don’t have to go back and fix so many mistakes. But the rule of thumb is you start working with Border Collies when they are a few months old on the basics and by the time they are 3 or 4 years old they may be considered fully trained. This usually stops a few people short who ask that question. Any pup to dog is a huge investment in time or should be. Dogs we partner in work with probably take a bit more time to teach and build a relationship with. Herding is a simple concept but to get it right, there are a lot of complexities.

Getting the training and work right with Border Collies, whether it is working wild geese or sheep, means understanding the relationships. A handler needs to know how the dogs thinks and reacts and that goes for the sheep or geese as well. Each Border Collie has his or her own personality, so that’s a variable too. Wild Canada Geese seem to be somewhat similar to each other by nature. But Border Collies have been breed for hundreds of years, lets say, to accommodate different farmers’ needs. Some farmers, shepherds, may want a quiet dog, others a more active dog. Sheep breeds vary in nature and the terrain of a farm plus other factors can play on a farmer’s mind when it comes to what type of dog will do.

A handler learns with time, as does a maturing Border Collie just the right way to work with sheep and or wild geese. The object is to get the job done with no harm but without taking undue time. The watchword may well be , go carefully. This allows the Shepard to work with any stage of the goose control or farm year, including the all-important lambing time, handling mother sheep and their young lambs on pastures and in barns. And for goose control handlers to work families with young, which can make a big a big habitual mess of properties. Herding or herd-chasing geese does come down to how much space is in between the dog and the sheep/geese. Get too close and the sheep get too worried about being moved by a dog. Get too far away from geese or sheep and the job can not be done.The distance, flight distance, depends on how “strong” the dog is, the speed of the dog and how wary the sheep/geese are.

Yes, different sheep, breeds of sheep have different flight distances and geese will act more wary as the hazing process progresses. We actually do not herd-chase families of geese with young, but herd as we do ewes with young lambs. This means that the speed of the dog slows a bit while working but the distance between dog and ewes with lambs and families of geese, at first is closer than normal. This is because of the mother’s tendency to stay still  very close to their young. But as the fast growing lambs and gooslings  mature, in a matter of a few weeks good respect on both ends is established.

Distance and time while herding or herd-chasing is varable depending on the situation,sheep,geese, individaul dog,dogs and handeler. A good herding dog understands what time to take and the space to work in, with. And a good handler “gets” how to adjust depending on the dog’s experience or individual skill according to the situation.

……is be kind to sheep.” Oops sorry, that’s for sheep herding with Border Collies. John Atkinson a very experienced sheep farmer in the UK and sheep dog trial handeler, posted that “rule”on Face Book. My Family and I have a small farm with sheep and poultry and the Border Collies move the “livestock” from pasture to their houses or other pastures safely and as gently and quietly as possible.
The culture of working with livestock, sheep, runs long and deep, you have to go back to ancient times, Roman times, to find the earliest relationship of farmers with farm, stock, dogs. The Romans brought their dogs to Britan and eventually the Collies, then Border Collies were developed by farmers over hundreds of years.

The history of the Border Collie is to have a dog that kindly works the sheep. If the farmer, shepherd does not “get this” or practice farming sheep and other livestock with dogs in this way, Border Collies actually can go “haywire”. Of course, farmers should treat their animals well, its only “right”. But if sheep are not “well-tended” they will not be very productive. Imagine if milk cows were treated “rudely”, they would not give very much milk. And if the cows did not produce a good amount of milk , sheep produce wool or meat, the farmers and Farm Families would go broke. In fact, farmers who use livestock dogs rely on them to get the work done efficiently and effectively. There is the phrase “good stockmanship” and this applies to what I’m talking about.

Here with our Family on our farm and with our wild goose control service we apply this simple rule every day,every time, every minute we are with our dogs and livestock and working with goose control clients. “Every day” is what farming is, no days off, but goose control is seasonal in the North East. I can stop here, and address that everyone does not agree that farm animals should be used for “products”, milk, wool, eggs, meat. But that is a discussion not covered here. I can also mention that not everyone thinks that hazing wildlife, geese, is a good option for “living with wildlife.” I have addressed “hazing” as an option, what I call herd-chasing” when we do it. You will find the subject of “hazing” adressed in previous blogs.

Actually, “how we work with our Border Collies” is a subject that fills volumes of books. And that’s just it, the subject fills the thoughts and study of our family day after day, as it does many a farm family. Actually, in the UK there are farm families that have lived with dogs and sheep for many generations. Some of these Familes and thier living rural traditions go back to Medievial Times.(‘The Shepard’s Life”,James Rebanks)

Here in America, most people have little idea how this relationship works or usually works. That’s why sometimes people “freak” when they see us herd-chasing geese for a client who has an overpopulation issue. Overpopulation of geese takes many forms, polluted waters and fields, male geese who will not let people walk across parking lots or into buildings, kids playing on fields with wall to wall poo. Of course to make this “work” the way it should, “you” need to be kind to your dogs. How can your dogs have the right head for herding or herd-chasing if they are not treated and handeld with love, compassion and wisdom?

All I can say is, we treat the wild geese as we treat our sheep and chickens and ducks, which we also herd with our Border Collies. We can then truthfully say this is an effective and humane alternative to lethal means. There are a lot of people out there who would just as soon want to see the geese shot if “something” is not done about an “overpopulation” situation.

Farm based goose control handelers can even work families of geese with young as we do every year when the ewes, female sheep, have their lambs. The most important time of the shepherds year is when lambs arrive. And farms that use collie dogs use them yearly to gently move mothers and lambs to the safety of good pasture. Lambs go to pasture within hours if not days after they are born, as the grass based tradional breeds of sheep were developed for hardy lambs.( “The Sheep Dog”, Tim Longton and Edward Hart)

So, consider the option or options. Border Collies and other herding breeds and guard stock dog breeds are a great asset to local, grass-based farming. This is also true for goose control, as long as the service you are using or practice you are individually employing is knowledgeable. There are some wild goose control services out there that are ignorant of how to work with Border Collies. For further information, please contact me.