Category: dog training

Working with Border Collies to do anything practical, like herding sheep, takes a “quiet hand.” Oh, there is time for play, but when at work, on the farm or with goose control, it is best to “remain calm and herd on.” It is sometimes easier said than done, but the nature of nature requires it. You in fact are entering a more natural realm when working with a dog and with sheep or geese. Lots of body movement and yelling and heightened emotions are distracting if not distressing to animals. There is play, and there is work. But be careful because one informs the other.

When I am at my best at handling my Border Collies and one mix breed for farm for or goose control work, it is when I am awake and sensitive to what the dogs are doing and how they are reacting. Of course, you need to be aware and understanding of the farm animals or geese as well. It takes time to learn what to look for and discipline to be concentrating at a quiet but intense level all the time you are working. Your dogs will know when you drop off, are agitated and or unsure. Conversely, they will know when you are spot on. When I am confident and focused, I feel my dogs are too. And this clear and focused and quiet attitude translates to better work and is better for the sheep and geese.

The whole point of shepherding is to have healthy sheep. Wild goose control with Border Collies is about humane and effective work. This is an alternative to lethal measures and should be done with care through knowledge. Border Collies are an ideal breed of dog for this because they are breed to take care when herding sheep if not other farm animals and poultry. Knowledgable and practiced handling will guide the Border Collie or other good herding breeds through there work with care with minimal fuss. If they could the sheep would thank you for it, as would the geese. Actually, they do, by being healthy and staying safe. There is a lot that will harm farm animals and geese, like predators such as coyotes and fox to disease and harsh weather. It is our job to watch over and keep things as healthy and as safe as possible.

But what is the point of using the dogs for goose control? It basically is about “drawing lines in the sand. “With farm animals and poultry herding, you move, say, the sheep to the safety of a barn or to a new field for fresh grazing. With goose control, the hazing accomplished by herd-chasing creates a buffer zone between human space and the geese which have been considered intrusive. This is the case with other wildlife too. You can either fence for deer or haze, as is also the case with wildlife like bear and coyote that really should not be in our “space.” I do agree that these are wonderful animals, as are the birds and should definitely have a place in the world. But to allow geese to take over playing fields is like allowing bear near your home that may only end up doing damage if not threaten you or others, if not just create a big mess.

We hear about it from”both sides.” Controversy is Us in the present, so there seem to be two sides. Some people want the geese left alone and there are those who would just have them shot. That is not actually true; we meet more people who feel that the solution to this goose(wildlife) and human “problem” fall somewhere in between. It just seems that there are “two sides”. It seems hard to really see that geese should be “left alone” in some cases where geese are all over a property.  Geese can make what I call “wall to wall poop.” This can be disgusting, imagine goose feces all over grade schoolers shoes. Goose droppings can pollute the water at beaches. Male geese can be aggressive toward humans when their female is nesting or the young are being raised.

Of course, the geese did not ask for the development of their habit. But much of the “habitat” we are talking about is human contrived lawns and fields. Wild geese are dabblers, a type of waterfowl that eat off of the bottom of ponds and other water bodies. But geese have adapted with development or had to, like deer and coyote. The real solution, I think, to this problem with wild geese is to preserve adequate wild lands, but in many places that is not happening. I also believe that wildlife should be kept at arm’s length, so to speak. Not hazing deer, coyote, bear, and raccoon from your home can only lead to many issues. I believe animals should have a place in the world we live in; they all are wonderful animals, birds, etc and should be respected.

It can be hard to get people to agree on a solution or if there indeed is a “problem”. That is why municipalities, school districts, and other entities have management personnel to come up with solutions. It is rare that everyone in, say a town will agree if a solution is the correct one. This is probably not news to you. But I guess what I am saying is that goose control with Border Collies, is a solution that lies between killing the geese and leaving than alone.
Hazing geese or other wildlife is the word often used to deter wildlife, in a nonlethal way from a property. On our homestead, we haze rabbits from or near the gardens, as an example. Raptors, coyote and even bear can be hazed effectively to avoid human-wildlife conflict. Science is starting to show that the benefits of hazing may outweigh those of hunting and produce less “problem animals”.

There are other means to haze geese than using Border Collies of course. There are blanks, lasers, decoys( dogs and coyotes) and other herding breeds can be used. Herding breeds, mostly Border Collies are used because of their instincts. Geese understand that Border Collies, when working, have that stalking instinct and move away from it. Remember as in their farm work, herding sheep etc, this is all a “mind game” — this is a prey-predator relationship at work, in a controlled manner. Border Collies do not set out to hurt sheep on the farm; they just use that instinct enough to carefully move sheep, poultry, and cattle from place to place.

We apply the Border Collies’ training and instincts to working with families of geese if need be. This “need” we let the client determine. Imagine being a camp owner when fifty geese, adults and young show up on your beech every morning during the summer. That’s a lot of work hours to pick up the goose poo, and the potential to having your swimming water polluted is very real.

And remember that the most essential part of a farms Border Collies year is working with ewes and their lambs( mothers and young). Sheep go onto pasture not long after giving birth, or lambs are often born in the pastures and raised right there. So it has been for hundreds of years that shepherds and their dogs, herding breeds, have taken care by skillfully moving ewes and lambs from pasture to pasture to remain safe and well fed. For me, this is how we take care of families of geese by actually herding them from a property where they are not welcome.

So, it is Spring here in the North East. Actually, this year’s Spring is dragging in slow and seems to be reluctant. But, the usual suspects are showing up. Songbirds have arrived. Here in the hills of very eastern New York the buds are just starting to form on the bushes and trees. Peeper frogs are finally singing. Bears are showing up and even attacked a pony south of where we live. Why! really! Yes, the bears are a bit more hungry it seems after this last winter, bad food growth for them last year. Maybe blame it on the strange weather we have been having. We had very few overwintering songbirds over the winter. My best sources say that is due to the erratic weather patterns. And…the geese are just starting to nest, now, but they are taking their time doing that.

We have had wild geese show up early when spring has arrived early, in February. This started the goose control season early, giving the Border Collies and my Family a shorter winter break. We are thinking the pairs of geese will stager their nesting more so this year, because of the cool Spring weather. With some clients, we are finding some pairs of geese settling down to nest while it seems some pairs are nowhere near ready. It is hard to blame them, the cold, windy days we have had seem hardly springlike. Still, there have been some warm ones to get some pairs going as well as the frogs. It has been nice to see the Red Wing Blackbirds singing finally at some of the ponds and lakes we work at.

The weekend before I sat down to write this blog post, one of our sons, Caleb and I took three of our Border Collies to practice herding on sheep at a mentors farm. We compete in sheepdog trials with these three Border Collies, Skye, Blade, and Tara. The training and trailing very much increase our skill level and makes goose control that much more skilled. It was a wonderfully warm Spring day at our mentor’s farm! This farm is up on a plateau and in its own weather zone. Its real name is Taravale Farm and Kennel, but its nickname is Woolywinds. We had a good training season with the sheep there, even pup Moses got in on the act, learning the first parts of herding skills. ( I call what we do with our goose control work “herd-chasing”) It was great to be on the farm with just short sleeves and not much wind!

After the training, I got in the seventh goose control visit of the day, between Caleb and me. Caleb took off to do something related to his college major. The visit was at a school in New York State with a large wetland behind the playing fields. I had all four Border Collies. As the Border Collies and I  walked from the wetlands, we rounded out from a brushy path and came across a grazing pair of geese on the edge of a field. With a word from me the Border Collies flanked around the geese, Blade taking the lead to the right, Skye the lead to the left and off flew the pair, hopefully, a little less likely to bother anyone using that Schoolfield.

The weather from that warm weekend does not seem to want to last. And this week we are back to colder temps, and yes, wind. I will have a heavy jacket and wool cap and gloves and maybe winter boots packed away for the early morning start, the day after writing the draft of this blog! I am not sure the Border Collies will mind frosty conditions. I just hope the cold does not hurt any of newly opening buds on the trees. And I’m sure honey bees will want early spring flowers very soon, with their winter stores probably mostly used up. And just like farmers trying to figure out these new weather “patterns” so will the geese want Spring to really arrive. For now, I’m happy to have these Border Collies, and one mixed breed as working partners. These dogs seem to take everything in stride. They and my hard working Family are a team.
Happy Spring.

Problem populations of wild geese are a Human social issue. Oh, geese can take over an environment, shoving other birds and even animals out of the way. Wild geese can denude grass fields and golf courses and lawns as well as pollute waters. But the sight of all the poop they leave behind as well as the possibility of aggressive geese is why people want them sent off. The Human factor can lead to some raised emotions and strong opinions when it comes to decisions on what to do with “all those geese.” So, it is important to separate whoever is doing the chasing, or as I call what we do, “herd-chasing” from all that all too human angst. Dogs don’t do well with handlers who are emotional and even without dogs; it can be dangerous in any environment if you are not focused.

There, of course, are people out there who will yell at you while you are actively chasing,herd-chasing geese. This can be downright distracting if not dangerous. If you are working with dogs, every moment you’re handling them should be totally focused, to get the job done effectively and as stress-free as possible. But a person yelling, thinks they are protecting the geese from you and the dogs, without any realization of the bigger picture. We have been through these situations a few times, happens to us every year once or twice, so we maintain focus and a calm presence and have someone to call if need be. We ask every client who we should call if we are comforted by anyone with a phone number provided.

About being calm with dogs….It runs counter to most of our American thoughts on how to relate to dogs, but working with them; dogs really appreciate a calm person. Oh, socializing is one thing, we play and greet each other with lots of fun, but on the job as with wild dogs or their relatives, staying focused and being calm is very important. As a matter of fact, if you are not calm with your dog, Border Collie or another herding breed at a sheepdog trial, you do not do well, or can even be disqualified. Sheep and other farm animals do not like a lot of Human noise or fast exuberant movement. And so, the dogs that have been working with these farm animals for hundreds of years know how to act around their “livestock.” Its unknowing Humans who can mess things up.

The weekend before writing this blog post, I had two of our dogs in Connecticut for some goose control visits. My team was the talented four-year-old Border Collie Blade and the mix breed Nash. We were at an office park. It was quiet, few cars on the roads but as we arrived, I saw two people walking several dogs in our direction. I saw geese in the nearby ponds as I pulled in. Timing is critical with goose control, and these geese were in a right spot to herd-chase, waiting for the dog walkers to go past would mean the geese would swim off in the pond, making it difficult to send them flying.

I quickly parked and as calm as I could, got Blade and Nash out of the car. I made sure no cars were coming on the road we had to cross. And off we went to the pond where most of the geese were. I put a lead on Nash as he can go a little too fast in pressure situations and Blade moved calmly with purpose. The geese sensed the dogs moving toward them, started honking and I released Nash. Both dogs went on opposite sides of the small pond, and that was enough for the geese, they flew off. The dogs and I then walked to the other end of the pond to make sure all the geese had left. When we got back to our car, I noticed the dog walkers had passed us on that road and were moving far away. That worked, a quick decision, then a job done with focus and the skills and the knowledge we have. I think Blade and Nash made an impression on those geese and no real harm was done and our client does not have to worry about people worrying about those geese.

I strongly feel that the “job” of goose control should be done well. That means taking care of the dogs, geese, clients and anyone else who happens to be around. By “taking care” I mean the interest, health, and safety of all involved be considered. And lastly, the job at hand be performed well. And this all calls for skill formed and informed by practice, knowledgable study and lessons, and experience.

Talking about skill acquisition is all very easy to say and may seem like overkill, but harm has been caused by lack of skill. Dogs have gotten into trouble doing goose control, even drowned and geese have been hurt, needlessly, over frightened and the work to little effect. There is also a franchise out there that sells a fancy package to clients and sells its product to prospective franchise owners. I am told that these franchise owners are not supported with adequate training at all, so these poor people wind up not being able to function as goose control contractors. People spend a lot of time and money to no good result, and the poor Border Collies are ill-used.

I am not saying that everyone who uses dogs, preferably herding dogs like Border Collies needs skills that take years to acquire, but I am suggesting some time to gain knowledge of geese and these working dogs. When I was a young man, running an educational farm and got my first Border Collie, it took me a while to realize what I did not know about these intelligent but also very active and highly driven dogs. I usually tell people, please do not wait as long as I did to take lessons. Do it right from the start!

Of course, being professional means also skill and a good attitude with people too. The way we act, how reliable we are as well as having adequate skills with Border Collies and understanding geese and other wildlife are all part of the package of being professional. Having a plan at how to integrate your efforts with other means of keeping geese away will only help matters.

I took our two-year-old Border Collie Tara and eight-year-old Borer Collie Skye out on this year’s first goose control visits, recently. They had a great time. They were not exactly listening to me on our first stop. This was a school with big wide fields. Oh, they did their job effectively enough, running toward the geese when asked, just enough to make the geese fly quickly away. However, they did not take their flank “commands”, which set which direction I want them to go. It was all the excitement of the long Winter being over. With the third flock on the third field being herd-chased off, Tara and Skye were still doing a great job and were now taking my commands with no problem.

Even experienced goose control dogs like Tara and Skys need refreshers, even though we practice our herding skills at home with sheep and poultry. Our second visit that morning involved a client with a lake surrounded by roads and small parks. Geese were on the Lake, near shore, so we had to be careful about any cars on the roads. Tara and Skye were careful to listen, staying off the roads and stopping and coming back to me when I asked during the job. No matter how many of these goose control trips I do, I never take anything for granted. My description of professionalism may seem like stern stuff, but once you have it down, the reward of working properly with Border Collies out in nature is as rewarding as it gets.

In parts #1 to #3 I covered how to train and work with the Border Collies. Without knowing what you are doing with these dogs, all the effort will come to little but aggravation and a lot of wasted time and money. It is essential to do the leg work, the homework with Border Collies. Get experienced advice and take lessons and get the right direction.

As we move into this years goose control season, I realize I put more and more importance in coordination. I think that the clients we have that coordinate with us to a good end, get better results. We also now have prospective clients who are considering and one arranged group of clients that are putting multiple adjacent properties together in a “goose control plan”. I can not tell you how much this excites me. Geese don’t recognize property lines of course. So, getting neighbors to work together should produce even better results with goose control.

We do actually limit the presence of geese on the neighbor’s properties of our clients. It takes effort and knowledge to convince geese on say, a lawn way over there, that they should leave, without our Border Collies stepping foot on that property, but it can happen. Of course, goose control with Border Collies should be done with safety in mind. Parking lots, roads, bodies of water, fishermen, walkers, walkers with dogs, kids on bikes, baby carriages and on and on, these are all variables to take into account when chasing, or as I say, herd-chasing geese, when a job is first proposed it is good to ask a client about factors that will need to be worked around.

Property owners with nuisance geese populations may have tried, or you may have tried, different ways to keep geese off. And if you are considering the several different ways to do this, ask around on effectiveness. The internet is full of suggestions like natural barriers and fencing, spraying the grass, dog and coyote decoys and shooting blanks, as well as hunting and involving the US Fish and Wildlife to round up the geese during the molt. Some of these methods are effective, some only partly or work for a limited time frame. Of course, there is egg addling, for the nests, done with a legal government permit, this I recommend.

It is always a good idea to know what time of day the geese seem to most frequent a property. Very often the answer to this question is, “all the time.” But that will change with good herd-chasing and adjusting to changing behavior is important. Very often geese will show up when a property is quiet when not too many people about. Visiting with the dogs,  at dawn and or dusk, often shows good results.

We have clients who chase the geese they have when we are not active on their properties on our “off days”. We usually arrange to visit on a three days a week schedule. This schedule keeps costs down and usually is effective to get geese to greatly limit their presence on a property. Results can happen quicker with the clients personal helping. But, a big but, their efforts need to be convincing to the geese. There is nothing more damaging to goose control efforts than an effort that the geese do not respect. Effective goose control, of course, takes coordination.

Another important step to take with goose control is informing employees or residents of the effort. In some cases, there is a push back against goose control. Explaining the need and the process often is better than trying to go under the radar. Informing people in newsletters and a little effort to communicate one on one by the clients “managers” or personal and our handlers usually goes a long way to turning the tide of any negative views. There are those folk who think the only way is to blast the geese out of the sky. And there are those who think the geese should be left totally alone. But then, when a school playing field or playground ends up with fifty to hundred geese or more and the poop is “wall to wall,” and aggressive male geese start up in Spring, something has to be done.

In parts #1 and #2, I talked about the relationship you should work towards with your Border Collie or any herding breed during the early stages of training. I will now cover the practical approach to take when working with geese or even sheep and other farm animals and poultry. It is essential to understand the speed, the intensity of the work you do with these animals. Border Collies have been bred over a long time to work with sheep, calmly and productively.

Good farming requires handling animals well, whether the animal is a dog, a cat, sheep, cattle, poultry, lamas and so on. You may have an aversion to farming with animals from a postmodern perch, but farmers and people through the thousands of years before us could not have survived well without kindness toward their animals. Dogs and cats will not want to “work with” you and sheep, and other livestock will not thrive unless treated with compassion and understanding. And so, sheep are herded quietly with just enough “force” utilized by the people and dogs that move, handle them throughout the farming year. There is a lot of background and experience or at least lessons farmers have, or new farmers need to understand these relationships. Every breed of sheep is different, and individuals in the breed can be different too. Dogs are individuals, inside a breed like the Border Collie and a handler needs to be a good student of the animals and to partner with a dog.

Goose control with Border Collies is not as complicated. I have not found geese not as a variable in nature as sheep so that they can be worked about the same most of the time. There is the odd overly aggressive male during nesting time, but after a while, a new person to goose control can catch on well. There are different seasons to goose control to consider, and that requires handling your dog or approach with the geese differently. Always read the geese reaction to you and the dog and work with that. Don’t over scare the geese and don’t lay off your approach too much or you will not be effective. I call working wild goose, herd-chasing as opposed to herding. It’s herding but done with a bit more intensity. With sheep, you gently move them into, say, a barn, with wild geese, you are moving, herd-chasing them into the sky, for which you need to get your dog to work more enthusiastically.

Working with herding dogs, like Border Collies is implementing a modified predator-prey relationship. It’s a mind game. On the farms, sheep are just wary enough of the herding dogs to move to where a farmer needs them to go, peacefully and efficiently. Believe me, without a good system on a farm or a good dog lots of time and hardship, can be spent moving sheep or cattle or even pasture poultry.  Goose control can be very effectively done with the Border Collies. Geese can not become resilient with useful dogs working them. And if you make the geese nervous enough without overdoing it, you will cause them to think very seriously about coming back to the property you are working.

We have a banner we use for our herding demonstrations. It has a nice picture of a Border Collie herding sheep and our logo and the words, “Collie means useful in Galic.” There is good evidence that the name collie, as in collie dog and then Border Collie meant that a farmer had a useful dog. This means a farmer, or shepherd wanted and used a dog that was helpful on the farm, for herding. I can’t think of a better way to handle our sheep and poultry at home effectively and stress-free and to convince geese to leave clients properties. This is no matter where we work, New York, Massachusetts, and Connecticut. It would work for you too.

I covered in Part #1, the importance of staying calm and connected with a Border Collie. This post will cover early training — your relationship with either a pup or young or new dog to any handler/owner.

As our young pup, six months old Moses grows a bit more mature in body and mind/emotions; I am teaching him to respond to a few simple verbal “commands.” Moses seems like a “late bloomer” but six months is just about the age to start this training.  Some handlers start full out training on sheep or ducks at this age, but you need to be careful about that. The biggest thing to keep in mind when working livestock or even with goose control is what is called ” good stockmanship.” Yes, that’s an old term that should maybe be turned into “good stockpersonship.” But working with herding dogs, sheepherding is a heritage going back generations. Most importantly it is farmers treating their animals kindly, with respect, and we should do that with wild geese too, no matter who may be annoyed at them. Puppies even if they can actually herd, are too playful on livestock, scare the sheep or poultry too much.

Moses has been raised like any pup we have had. With Tara our two-year-old sweetheart of Border Collie it was the same, except every pup, every dog has its personality, its learning curve. The relationship you establish along with the love and security and confidence you nurture your pup within its first year is very important. You can, of course, suffocate the pup or young dog with love and not allow him or her to explore the world and learn about the animals it will work with, the environment it will live and work in. The pup also needs to learn about good social interaction with humans and members of his dog pack and dogs outside, as well.

The simple verbal  “commands,” I mentioned are the bases of you and your pups or adoptive herding dog’s relationship beyond the bond you share. The pup or dog’s name and a stop command “lie down” or “lie” and the recall ” come” or come here” should be thought and practiced until both you and your partner feel comfortable with the interactions. Having a Border Collie that ignores its name is a sign that you have a bad connection with your pup or dog. Border Collies are a very willing breed. And a goose dog or farm dog that does not stop when asked can lead to dangerous situations. A dog that can not learn how to handle his or her job with care and respect is not working at all properly. A  recall command will save you a lot of time and aggravation.

In his excellent book on working Border collies, ” The Sheep Dog”, David and Charles, 1976,  Tim Longton ( as written with Edward Hart) says that Border Collies were developed to save time and human resources on the farm. The breed was selected into a superior herding breed. And when the book was written it was getting harder to get farm hands or the ability to pay them in the UK. A tradition developed, that is how to handle these “collie dogs” and work with them. These herding techniques are time-saving with other efficient applications as well. All this applies to goose control. Border Collies are an effective, time-saving, human resources saving way to tackle  problem populations of wild geese. Good goose control practice does not matter what State you are in, New York or Connecticut or Massachusetts…to name the ones we operate. Above all, as Tim Longton underscores in his book, practical and caring practices with Border collies, go hand in hand. 

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.