Category: Connections to Dogs

Goose Control with Border Collies or other herding breeds can have its down times. We have periods of the year when our Border Collies have little work to do. We are very busy in the Spring with goose control, and Summer can be quieter for goose control visits and of course here in New York State, there is Winter. If we have rid our clients of their geese, or most of them, by repeated visits using the herd chase method our dogs can have little work to do until geese come back, if they do, or we pick up new clients.

Border Collies and other herding breeds were developed from dogs which had been around farms and villages, into specialists, breeds that do one thing well, like herding or guarding. Herding breeds had their intelligence and socialization breed to work with their handlers, the farmers, shepherds. Also, stamina was developed as well as all around athleticism so the dogs could and can work the long farm days. These dogs made it possible and still make it practical to work farm animals on grass-based farms, nonconfinement farms.

The attributes Border Collies have as a breed make them ideal goose control dogs, as long as training for handler and dog has been in place. But what to do with energetic highly motivated dogs when there is little work to be done? First, it is essential to know that what we call “working breeds” want to have a sense of purpose. Racing breeds love to run, hunting breeds love to hunt, farm breeds, herding and guarding to do their “work”. The satisfaction of “work” gives the dogs a sense of belonging and well being, as in “this is what I do to survive” that goes hand and hand with the dog’s social life. Many people love working breeds even if they don’t have “work” which their breed was made for, because the nature of these breeds allows us to help find our way in the world, maybe even clue into our “purpose” or understanding of what it takes to survive and be happy.

There are many things you can do with the Border Collies’ energy if you don’t have work for them or are temporarily short of work. We have always maintained a small farm, a homestead and even though it’s not a lot of work for our Border Collies it gives them something they find deeply satisfying to do every day, herd sheep and poultry. Walks in our woods and neighbors pastures bring great pleasure and bonding experiences for us and our dogs. We have not tried agility or frisbee sports or other sports, but some find that great fun. We have tried sniffer training as some Border Collies do have more developed nose orientation than others.

Last month in Massachusetts I was on a goose control client visit with the team of Skye and Blade. There were not any geese that morning on the edge of a lake, so I kept looking for them on far shores from my clients property. Skye and Blade had helped me with that, and so they decided there were none around and started sniffing around for wildlife in the brush and tall grass. Soon Blade brought me a stick to play with, and Skye joined in. Just after we started playing, geese flew noisily into the shallow water near our client’s beech! There must have been 100 of them. Blade and Skye eminently drooped the play and ran to the lake’s edge to get a good look at the geese and then turned toward me for coordination, my guidance into what would come next. They knew their job was to send geese away and were very much looking forward to it. With their ears up, eyes entirely focused and bodies up with the pleasure of it all, we set to “work.”

We work for various clients from Winter’s end to the next Winter’s beginning. Different clients will have different needs and use our service at different times of the year. Spring is the busiest time of the year for us. We control nesting pairs and migratory flocks and flocks of local population geese. Many clients don’t want geese to nest on their properties and or we will addle eggs in nests with the necessary permit. Summer brings other clients on board who are on lakefronts. These clients will want relief from the large collective groups of families of geese which will go to grassy lawns to feed growing young.

Fall again brings the migratory flocks to our client’s properties. They move in to were we have kept the local populations at bay or to low numbers. Where we had seen just small numbers of geese now large flocks or collective flocks can appear. The flocks are often multiple families of geese. You can tell the young by their higher pitch calls. They no longer have distinguishably smaller bodies or different coloration. It is hard to tell when looking at these large collected flocks of geese whether they are just migratory or a mix of migratory and local flocks. Whatever they are, they are a lot of geese at times on clients properties, as there are on nearby farmers fields.

Earlier in the week my team of Border Collies, Tara and Nash and I were patrolling a school’s playing field in New York on a goose control trip. These are large fields backed by large wetlands. Tara trotted toward one end of the football field and stoped as a large flock of geese took off from the wetlands. The geese overnight in the wetlands. She stopped, looked up and with a word from me ran an out run under the geese letting them know she and Nash were there. The geese in their fight saw the forms of the dogs running under them and started to honk a warning and changed their flight to away from the school. Visits like this have cut down on the number of geese which, if they do, visit the school’s fields to graze.

The Native peoples and farmers on the very land that school is on most probably lived and had to make a living by farming and hunting. One way to keep wildlife from ruining crops and the food supply was, is, with lethal means. The other was, is, by chasing off dear, rabbit and yes, even geese with dogs. People have always had dogs to guard themselves, farm animals and property, fields. There is nothing new about living with wildlife, what is new is our modern lifestyle and what we bring with it. It’s how we employ the culture we bring with us and its knowledge, that matters.

Goose Control dogs, usually, Border Collies need to be good at moving about their environment. The dogs can be lead to a field were geese are but when sent to herd-chase the geese, the dog’s brain needs to make decisions on how to best move around or at the geese to do an effective and safe job. It is not always or completely up to the handler to command the Border Collie and is best if the dog can make at least some decisions on its own.

How is it able for a dog to “learn” how to make good decisions in any environment? I think the basis of a wise dog is early learning as a pup. Any working dog or dog that is out and about needs to be able to to get outside at a young age and under supervision allowed to sniff and run about. Without this early exploring, I do not think a pup will have an easy time in developing its Brain GPS. Recent research into the human brain has shown a link between the Brains GPS and memory.

Ask your vet or a dog professional if you don’t know, how much exposure your pup should have outside at a young age. But you can imagine a toddler not being allowed to move about or a youngster not getting outside and not learning to use his or her legs and mind, to start to learn about and interact with the world. Well, maybe you can, we do live in today’s sedentary world. Young dogs that explore become confident in the outside world, whether it is on the street or the field. They become much happier and fulfilled dogs for it.

We all have heard about dogs who are afraid of certain types of floors and can’t negotiate stairs. It has been shown that dogs and pups who have been kenneled and not let out are susceptible to these problems. Just like people who are afraid of things through lack of experience, dogs are the same.

Every day, on our Homestead, we let our poultry free range in our fields and woods. We do the same with our sheep. But the poultry can find themselves in bushes and in thick woods. It is our Border Collies job to herd the poultry, chickens, and ducks back to the poultry yards when asked. There are predators that might want to snatch a plumb hen or even a lamb. Last week our young hens called pullets did get into a thick woods but also found themselves climbing on some fallen trees getting up as high as 10 feet. I sent Blade on an outrun to herd the pullets back home. Not only did he have to run wide and behind all the pullets but he had to look through trees on a dead run to do so. It was not easy, the pullets then, played hide and seak with Blade a bit, and I had to direct him to look up at those in the fallen trees. When Blade did see all of them he carefully herded all the pullets back to the poultry runs, going through trees and even through the edge of a swamp.” Good job, Blade!”

This herding on a farm will make a sound goose control dog. All our dogs work on our homestead at herding. This helps goose control herd-chasing when we have obstacles like sports teams at schools, golfers and roads to negotiate when actively working for clients. Of course, there are trees too, as well as walls and water to make on the fly decisions with when the dogs are on a full run. Having your dogs Brain GPS developed and tuned up makes for a happy and fulfilled dog as well as for productive work.

Tara and her teammate for that morning’s goose control visits, Jim were checking out the shoreline of the Mohawk River. There were not any geese to herd-chase for the municipal client in Saratoga Country New York. But in sniffing around, Tara came trotting from the River’s edge with something in her mouth. Our dogs will find parts of fish, leftover bate from fisherpeople. I had no idea what Tara had so I told her to drop what she had, and I scooped it up. To my horror, it was a long decaying piece of fish surrounded by three fishing hooks! Thank goodness Tara did not try to eat it.

Too often we find fishing hooks and line by rivers, ponds, and lakes. Years ago I had a hook stuck in the pad of a foot of one of our dogs. Fishing line can tangle with our Border Collies, but it can be a disaster if it wraps around a bird. We have over the years found fishing line wrapped tightly around geese legs and other body parts. This often is a death sentence for the poor goose.

As I walked with Tara and Jim away from the River we came to a road we had to cross to check out the Erie Canal for any geese. Just then a car came around a corner a bit too fast. I was happy to see that both Border Collies remembered to stay by my side near a road, but just in case I was ready to give a command to keep things safe. The Border Collies and I crossed safely and neared a small park by the Canal. As we approached the park, a man walking a dog and pushing a baby carriage appeared at the other end of the park. You never know, if we continued on the path we were on toward the man and his baby and dog all could go well. But, safety first, so we stayed clear, as we always try to do of any situation that seems it may become a potential issue. As Tara and Jim and I walked down the other side of the park, both dogs stopped and looked at the man’s dog for a short while. The man and I waved at each other, and we proceed on to see if there were any geese to chase at the other end of the park.

And, there were a few geese to chase off for the municipal client. Both Tara and Jim saw them immediately and wanted to get to work. I told them to wait with a command to see if any cars were coming into the nearby parking lot. Both dogs know about the parking lot as we train our dogs to stay away or off roads and parking lots when they are herd-chasing. I sent Tara around to the left side of the geese, Jim to the right. The geese sensing the Border Collies presence by their movement and fearing predators had suddenly arrived, took off in flight with a lot of honking. I called the dogs to a stop and since there were no cars around allowed them to relax with the command, ” that will do.” And I added ” Good dogs!” They smiled back at me and began sniffing around the park.

Timing is everything they say. And indeed, if you are going to be successful chasing or as we do, herd-chasing geese with success, timing is so important. That means you and your dogs if you have them, are where you need to be when the geese show up. That means in some cases, early mornings, or it means, being ready when the geese first show up in the Spring. Sometimes timing with goose control means you and your Border Collies need to be prepared as soon as the geese show up for the day. Timing and the type of scare can mean the difference between success and failure.

But there is another type of timing as in time and time and space. Without understanding how geese think and react and if you’re using herding breeds of dogs, like Border Collies, all the time in the world is not as important as timing. There is a debate that time and space are not real at all, the way we understand it. But if you’re on the same page, so to speak with your Border Collies and sheep on the farm and wild geese you may want to control, you need to have a relationship with your dog or dogs, understand each other and each other’s perceptions.

To keep it simple, space is the distance you need to position your dog from the sheep or geese. Time is how long the sheep or geese think they have until the Border Collie gets too close for comfort. You can say it’s time management or time and space management when working Border Collies. How fast the Border Collie is traveling calculating in the distance between the dog and sheep or geese is part of your job. How “nervous” you want to make the sheep or geese is another thing. Typically on the farm, we shepherds want our sheep low stress, so we keep things quiet and calm. We don’t let the Border Collies intrude too much into the sheep’s flight distance. Wild geese flight/flight distance is another thing.

One day last Spring I was practicing herding with our most experienced Border Collie, Skye. We were getting ready for a sheepdog trial in Massachusets. These trials are not only fun and challenging but increase our skill for the goose control. Skye is now seven years old, but she still has an issue rushing her herding with sheep and over working at goose control. Therefore I was practicing with her on her timing with the sheep that day. It was about taking her time, not rushing so much. I was trying to let her know she could do a great job without moving so fast with her herding and sending the sheep in an undesired direction, in the space we had in that field. She could do this by slowing down and leaving more space between her and the sheep.

Skye is learning to see and feel space and time a bit differently. But she still at times rushes things. Space and time are individually perceived after all in dogs and humans I guess. I make allowances for Skye’s individual perception and way of doing things as I, we, do with all our dogs. Individual sheep and different sheep breeds have individual notions of what is comfortable, what is not. You can see this in geese but not as readily. In the end, we are teammates with our dogs, and we work together on the farm and with goose control.” Good dog, Skye!”

Tara had just herd-chased off a large flock of geese from a school ball field in New York. She stopped running as the flock had flown out of sight. As Tara turned and looked at me and then her teammate Skye, who was in the opposite side of the field, she reached over and sniffed the dog decoy that was in the field.

This school uses our services with the Border Collies to herd-chase geese three times a week as needed, which is standard procedure for us. The school also feels that the dog decoys have some effect since we started showing up with Border Collies that persist in making the geese feel uncomfortable enough to leave with each visit. The idea is to visit enough, for an agreed and effective package of visits so the geese will “give up” or most will, and go to feed on someone else’s grass. This school also uses fencing between its fields and the large swamp behind to stop geese from walking in during the time of year they can not fly.

People with geese population problems can use flare guns, lasers and even chase geese themselves of course.These methods are not always effective by themselves. To be successful, a property owner should use a variety, an integrated approach. It is important to understand when chasing geese, that the job is done inside regulations not to hurt or touch the geese but is also alarming enough to the geese. Without triggering geese pray instincts the hopes for success are low. We have a client we have worked with for years, but now we visit a handful of visits a year, as the Spring sets in. We herd-chase the arriving geese, keep them from nesting and the client and his crew concertedly and relentlessly chase any geese that appear after that, or between our visits. In his case, the crews’ golf carts are employed emphatically but carefully enough. This works, because the Border Collies have raised the alarm, and the geese become wary.

The next day, Border Collie Blade and our mix breed Nash were on a goose control visit in Connecticut at a corporate client. I parked the vehicle and sent Blade around the large pond in one direction and Nash to run the opposite side. The geese in the pond were alarmed at the sight of the dogs. They had seen us before. After a few seconds, the geese all took flight and flew off the property. Nash stopped and since he is not a Border Collie, but has worked hard to learn goose control, started sniffing along the shore for wild animals that had been there. Blade came running back to me when called and happily stood at my side while we gave Nash some time to enjoy himself. In the case of this corporate client in Connecticut, we are the only means of geese control. Sometimes that works very well too. The trick is to convince the geese that they should not be on a property not to just casually keep chasing them off.
( I have discussed lethal means of goose control in previous blog posts)

We have rehomed several dogs and lived and worked with working line Border Collies for 25 years. Some of these Border Collies we have raised from pups, some we have gotten as young adults. These dogs are members of our family, and they are also our four-legged goose control crew. It makes a difference, whether a dog has been in one home or not. People do care and raise their Border Collies like all dogs differently. But no matter if they have been in our home all their lives or gotten to us as adults, it’s a long road together, to work and grow as a team and family.

One thing should be emphasized, it takes a lot of work and time to bring a pup, a dog to be a well-balanced family member and also a working dog. Unless an owner or handler is willing to put in the time to gain skill in training dogs, Border Collies for goose control, or on the farm, the results will be mixed at best. I have heard two sad stories this summer of people who have tried to start goose control services, bought as franchises, and the Border Collies they got just are not working out at all.

When we started bringing Border Collies into our human family, we had a rocky start. I even contemplated giving up on Border Collies altogether. But I then committed to take monthly lessons, go to Sheep Dog Trials to watch the handlers and their dogs and gave our selves plenty of time to bond and learn and work together with our dogs. Border Collies love to be with their people, and a have great desire and love of movement and work, and especially herding. I believe the Border Collies herding instincts is the basis for what the breed was developed for and this should be the backbone of how goose control dogs are handled.

One interesting fact is that working breeds such as Border Collies are not selectively bred for juvenile characteristics. Many breeds of dogs in America today are breed to be good companion animals and thus stay in a state of neoteny, never develop into mature adults. This is great for a pet dog but for working dogs growing and becoming mature dramatically enhances their ability to problem solve and deal with adverse situations they may face. I know I rely on the maturity of our Border Collies and our mix breed in the many environments we work.

Earlier this summer our older rehomed Border Collie Jim and our one and half year old pup Tara were standing in a school playing field. Jim came to us from a rehab home which in turn had gotten him off, Craigs List. He had not gotten much training, never got to experience the world in his first six years. The woman who rehabbed him, Tam Morse did a great job socializing him as it was challenging for him to be around people and other dogs and had learned nothing about herding. Now Jim was on one of his many goose control visits with us. He and Tara who came to us as a weaned pup, thoughtfully breed to be a healthy and talented working Border Collie, had both confidently and without stress to themselves or the geese, had sent off a flock into the sky. They both looked very pleased with their work, happy and content. I called Jim and Tara back to me, and they both came quickly toward me. This old Border Collie has done well in now his third home and Tara we hope will be with us for a long, long time. We love and rely on them both as we do all our dogs.

Border Collies are the most common breed of dog used for goose control, despite the availability of other breeds and mix breeds. The reason to use Border Collies is that they are one of the few breeds available that still retain strong working instincts, herding instincts. We are living at a point in time that most people are looking for companion dogs, of course. Very few Americans want to live and work with dogs day in and out even in the country. Fortunately, there are still people who do value the ancient relationship between human and dog to protect, hunt, farm. Some of these breeds became specialists, one being the herding breeds such as the Border Collies.

Initially, dogs were descendants of wolves. These dogs would do a variety of activities in human settlements. When people started, farming dogs were selected to guard and herd the farm animals. The Rottweiler and German Shepard can be included in these dogs that eventually over time became multipurpose breeds of farm dogs. The Rough Coated Collie also can be considered in its ancestry to have been a multi-purpose guarding and herding dog.

There were many forms of collies types isolated in various places, The English Collie, and collies from Scotland, Ireland, and Wales. Border Collies were imported into Austraila in the 1800s and the Kelpie breed was developed to adapt to the hot temperatures, nature of the terrain and large amounts of sheep. The Aussie breed and Australian Cattle dog, also known as the Blue Healer was also developed for certain types of farm work and so their personality and instincts talents were formed. This is all very important when considering a dog breed. Blue Healers can be bolder than say, Border Collies and The Old English Sheep Dog, listed often as a herding breed, has its organs as a droving dog. Droving is moving farm animals in a line, say down a road, to a marketplace or directly into a barn. The Corgie was developed to drive cattle. Herding is the ability to move farm animals in different directions and fetch the animals and bring them to the handler. This is just a very quick look at herding breeds from the UK and The Republic of Ireland and does not touch on the many herding breeds from Continental Europe and around the World.

You want a dog that listens well to its handler when doing geese removal as it can be called, a dog that the geese think or feel will want to do something with them, not just play. Having a dog that does not get distracted when on a job, such as a Border Collie or Kelpie is essential for many reasons. We use Border Collies because there are still gene pools in the breed that have strong working instincts, as does the Kellie. The Aussie has working lines as well, but there are many companion lines as well. So herd-chasing geese with herding dogs or mixing in a mix breed that can adapt its instincts to the work in a constructive way dramatically helps with goose control no matter where you live, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut or anywhere else.

Jim turned toward the house and sulked his way to the door. Everything seemed well with him, it was a lovely summer afternoon, and I was out with all our dogs in the gardens. The Border Collies were resting from goose control, Blade and Skye from a weekend of sheepdog trialing and I was gathering sunflowers for sale. But Jim turned toward me, and he had that wide-eyed look of discomfort if not fear, it could mean one thing.I knew a storm was out there in the distance.

Many dogs do not like thunder, and many don’t like loud noises like gunshots and fireworks. Jim is our one dog out of our five who has an issue with those abrupt sounds. As a matter of fact, here in the State, we live in, New York, many of my dog and Border Collie friends report more and more issues with dogs, theirs and others due to more frequent fireworks going off this summer. This increase in fireworks may well be due to New Yorks charge in law to allow what are called “sparkling devises” as of 2015. This is dependent on local, county, and city. Sparkling devices don’t have the pop of their bigger brethren but tell that to some dogs. The local fireman I know will tell you the genie is out of the bottle.

Many people don’t realize that the natural world operates in part by sound. Birds, whales and other beings of the sea and mammals on earth came along before things got amped up. Scientific studies have been underway on the human noise toll on the natural world. Songbirds, of course, are easy to understand why their lives would be disrupted and put under stress from “noise pollution’. But whales and elephants and a famous study on Prairie Dogs are animals which as examples are significantly affected by noise.

Roads are considered one of the major sources of “noise pollution” impacting nature. Plants are affected because insects are even affected by overwhelming noise pollution. Farm animals are also affected. Flocks of chickens and ducks and sheep, goats and cattle and horses all communicate with one another, and when the environment becomes unnaturally noisy, I am sure there is stress. Farmers do communicate with their animals, calling them as farmers have traditionally called to their cows or other animals for thousands of years. People and working dogs have been living and working together for Ten of Thousands of years. It is so important that communication is clear when working with Border Collies, that herding whistles were invented. All this can be interrupted and drowned out as say a large group of Harleys passes by a sheepdog trail field while a competitor and his or her dog lose track of what they are doing, herding sheep during their run in the competition. The soundscape would now be overwhelmed.

The next day, all the storm had passed. I and Jim and Skye were together for some goose control visits. The two Border Collies hopped out of the goose mobile, a Honda Element, and I called them to my side as I had seen geese on our client’s pond. I sent Skye to the right around the pond and Jim to the left. As both Border Collies reached the opposite ends of the pond I pulled out my herding whistle as they were far away enough that my voice might not carry. Just then a drone flew nearby over the rooftops of nearby homes. Its noisy motor was taking up all the soundscape. Fortunately, it was gone in less than a minute, and the dogs stood patiently were I had asked them to, some fifty yards each from me.

Skye and Jim and I were able to work those geese on our clients property without many more pitfalls; all was safely done. There were not any undue distractions after the drone flew off. Being safe is an integral part of goose control and farm work, a lot can go wrong if everyone is not on the same page. Skye and Jim came back around that pond as the geese flew off with big dog smiles on their faces. We all knew it was a job well done.

A flotilla of geese slowly swam across the small lake toward the beech. They make their rounds feeding the young geese. I counted 85 in all. Geese travel around the lake to various properties, the privet homes, the summer camps and the town beach. Soon all those geese would have been up on our clients’ beech and the grassy lawn, feeding. It would only take a few minutes for goose poop to be all over the place from that number of geese. But as that large number of geese appeared close to shore, I set Jim and Skye into the water to herd-chase them past the beech. The two Border Collies leaped into the water and swam toward the geese, turning the flotilla slowly away. As I recalled Jim and Skye, the geese decided to head toward a nearby summer camp were nobody was onshore and try their luck there. These geese were the most unwary I almost have ever seen in our 16 years of goose control service. Another time I would take our kayak with Skye in it with me and chase the geese further away into the lake, but for now, the geese were too near the camp. In a few minutes, I saw a camp counselor slowly move at the geese from a camp building on a bike, make a few turns towards the geese as they were eating and get the geese to walk off and swim a few yards up the lake, slowly.

Being chased off in summer from property to property is not unique to these geese, we have seen it over and over at a number of lakes. Of course, the converse is true, people do get aggressive with the chasing of geese, and there is legal hunting and property owners can contact US Fish and Wildlife for capture and kill service. Also, in New York State farmers and beach managers can contact State DEC for lethal permission, time of year dependent. But with nonlethal means as in chasing or herd-chasing, I have a few tips that seem to work better than arm waving and shouting. Geese are smart enough to wait out the presence of someone or dogs on a property. There is something I call “awaken the geese pray instinct.”

I describe it this way,”what is the difference between riding a merry go round and a roller coaster.” One is more exhilarating than the other; it is the difference between a form fear and a ride around a ring. Geese are prey animals, birds. That means they are in the natural world food for predators like fox, coyotes, and wolves. People, of course, have been hunting and eating geese and other waterfowl since probably Native Peoples, First Persons were doing so 1,000s of years ago in The Americas. Today with fewer predators around and less hunting the geese get used to going about unwary or with no need for the “look out for danger” attitude of a prey animal, bird. Interestingly, we herd our livestock, sheep, and poultry at home and we herd-chase wild geese.

The next stop on our morning of goose control visits took Skye and Jim and me to another lake in Western Massachusets. We stopped on a private properties lakeside lawn and beach. There was a small group of geese there eating the grass. No sooner than when I set Skye on an outrun to the left and Jim to the right the geese started moving quickly to the lake not far away. Before the dogs had finished their circular runs around were the geese were, the geese were quickly swimming across the lake. I also had the Border Collies jump in and swim after for a short distance and then took out the kayak, Skye with me and “gave chase” a quarter of the way across the lake, soon the geese were practically out of sight. We have patrolled this property for three years now. The first year geese were regular feeding there, now it’s just once in a while. The thing is, we are the only ones chasing the geese off this property with a herd-chase method.

My advice is,” A gentle scare is worse than no scare at all, geese get resilient.”Repeated visits of dogs that look like they mean business but have the disposition not to hurt anything helps a lot with humane goose control. It helps to have good dogs, but we have clients who use golf carts and ATVs to good advantage, or, in addition, use their own dogs. Fencing and decoys and other nonlethal means can help but only help. The best practice to keeping geese under control with nonlethal methods is to “awaken their pray instinct,” give them a roller coaster ride and then repeat and repeat, soon you will find they will move off and may even stay away. Of course, per Federal guidelines directed from the Migratory Bird Act, it is illegal to hit, hurt geese without a hunting permit or permission in classified situations. When chasing geese you can be held responsible if you throw objects and separate families,of geese.