The new herding whistle hung around my neck on the old lanyard. It and two others like it had just arrived from the UK. I was told that these herding whistles work better than most. They are easier to use than some which can take a long time to learn how to make notes on. Herding whistles have been used by shepherds probably for hundreds of years if not longer to communicate with their dogs when working sheep. Herding dogs can work other livestock, farm animals as well, with the use of herding whistles or voice commands. Cows and poultry would be the most, “other” categories worked by herding dogs. Farmers working with dogs herding livestock is the original way grass-based agriculture, farming was and is practiced. A good team of human handler and herding dog can easily move sheep, cattle, and poultry from one pasture to the other with time-saving and stress saving skill.
Herding Whistles replace the voice commands for each move a Border Collie makes for farm work and goose control work. These commands make sense to the Border Collies and other herding breeds and have been in use for a long, long time. The commands for recall, stop, go left go right as examples have been bred into the collies over time, you can say. Most Americans think of Border Collies as hyper dogs that will herd anything that moves. But this is because most Border Collie owners don’t take the time to understand their dogs’ instincts and history. With a little background work and planning nonworking Border Collies can be made comfortable in their lives.
Soon after the new herding whistles arrived, I just had to try one out. I took Blade our talented three and half-year-old male and Skye our most experienced Border Collie outside to move our sheep to pasture. As Blade started to herd the sheep toward the pasture gate, Skye watched. I stated with a verbal command “walk in.” It is customary when the Border Collies are close to the handler to use a verbal command. When the dogs are further away from the handler, whistle commands are often used. I then blew on the whistle a, go to your left command to Blade, and he looked back at me a bit as if to say, that sounds different. But soon he and I were moving the sheep with my commands nicely with no issues at all; I like these new whistles. And it seems Blade and our other dogs do too; the tone is nice and clear. Herding whistle commands also have the benefit of not containing emotions the handler may be feeling.
The next day my dog team of Nash and Tara were on goose control trips in New York. One of our stops was at a large pond. The dogs and I got out of our goose mobile and saw several geese swimming. We could easily get the geese to fly away if I positioned the dogs in the right places around the pond. I verbally sent Tara running on what is called an out run to my left around the pond and I sent Nash to go directly to the ponds shore in front of me. When Tara got to a narrow part of the pond I blew the stop command. She did so and looked at the geese with what is called the Border Collie eye. Nash, though a mix breed eyed the geese from his position. Soon with a few moves from the dogs, the geese felt uncomfortable just enough that after some honking and Tara jumping into the water for a little swim, the geese flew off. I blew the recall command for Tara and yelled a verbal recall to Nash and both dogs soon made their way back to me.
Soon I was driving with both dogs to goose control visits in Massachusets. Both Nash and Tara rested comfortably in the goose mobile as we made our way down early morning roads and highways. Of course, there is a lot more to communicate with these dogs than verbal and whistle commands. There is understanding what you are doing with herding farm animals and herd-chasing geese. You need to understand the animals, birds, and dogs as well as “your self.”The relationship you have with your dog or dogs is essential. Good relationships gets work done stress-free. It’s a joy to be involved in these three species relationships.