My colleague who has a Border Collie control service south of us told me a story the another night. It was about a major client of hers who decided to go with a well-known pest control company last year instead of her service. As late Spring arrived she got a call from the client saying please come with her Border Collies. When she arrived at the corporate park she saw tens of Coyotee Decoys all over the parking lots and lawns. The thing is, there were hundreds of geese all over the parking lots and lawns too. Some of the geese were resting right next to those coyote decoys, that never happened when she had the contract. She was hired back as soon as the paperwork could be completed.
What is the difference between goose control with Border Collies and other methods of goose control? Border Collies get the job done. Coyote decoys, shotgun blats and flares and other methods have very mixed results. Of course, there is hunting if that can be done on a property. But geese can not get around the fact that Border Collies are “real” and can not come to realize that the Border Collies are not really well, “coyotes”. Its a big mind game and is effective if the Border Collie is well trained and handled properly.
I highly recommend if you have a Border Collie which you want to work with, that you get good advice, lessons and all. This means that since Border Collies, working line Border Collies, want to herd, mostly sheep. Ours also herd poultry here at our home. And I handle my goose control jobs as if the geese were sheep. And that means we treat the geese “right”. Taking care is the bases of sheep farming with Border Collies, not being rough on the sheep at all. It, of course, is counterproductive to treat farm animals poorly and Border Collies can not stay emotionally balanced if that is not the case. And, yes, that is the case without question with how I herd-chase wild geese. We have all heard the stories about hyper Border Collies which can not calm down and herd anything, the kids, the ants in the sidewalk, cars!
The poor Border Collie needs its real work, whether its sheep or, say ducks and translate that to goose control. I’m not saying you need a farm to keep working line Border Collies happy but finding somewhere to work, herd will keep your smart, driven friend happy and you, retain your sanity. Working with these dogs is a beautiful thing. But it takes a lot of time to learn the basis and more time to acquire real skill. The reward for all that hard work is like stepping into another realm. It’s a place where people and dogs have been together for tens of thousands of years. It can be magic, but it has to be every day and you need to find a good teacher or teachers, not just watch videos.