Blade romped through the two-foot water, from the shore to the small island thirty yards into the partly drained reservoir. Well, it once was a reservoir, but now it’s used as a lake for multiple summer camps and homes. Geese love the lake and its grassy shoreline. There are several geese families on the lake every summer which leave piles of goose droppings on beaches and lawns. It’s our job to keep them away from one camp as much as possible. We do that by utilizing the instincts of our Border Collies and the training we have with our Border Collies. The Border Collies’ herding instincts go into herd-chase mode when we actively work with Canadian Geese. Geeting rid of them requires a series of visits to effectively and humanely impact any nuisance population of geese.
Blade dashed or actually bounded through the water and reached the island quickly. He actually bounds almost like a rabbit when going through tall grass or water. He really seems to enjoy his work, as if it were a game. When Blade reached the island, I blew on my herding whistle. I blew the notes combination for stop. He did that and looked at me expectantly for the next command. I could see in the lake not far from the island four pairs of geese at serval points. I then blew the go to your right command and off Blade went happily running that way on the islands shore. The geese pairs all stopped swimming and looked at Blade. I then blew the stop command.Blade came to a quick and agile halt. After a moment I blew the go to your left command, and off Blade went merrily running the other way on the island shore. The geese started to honk and seemingly wanted to swim off. They were thinking Blade may be a predator but they were not going to leave so easily.
This procedure went on for a few minutes; I was trying to show the geese that this area of the reservoir was not safe for them. All the while Blade’s teammate, Nash was moving around near me on the shore letting the geese know he was there too. I then blew the recall command, and Blade quickly came back through the water to me. The geese seemed somewhat impressed but not quite enough. It was time to get the kayak into action. I carried it from our goose chase mobile to the water. Nash and I got in and off we paddled to chase the geese far away from our client’s property, basically like drawing a line in the sand. In this case, drawing a line in the water. Blade waited for us, it didn’t take long, the geese had become wary of the dogs. It’s all a convincing show from the Borer Collies to get the geese to leave. Herd-Chasing is a technique to make the geese think that predators are about without doing harm.
That evening at home I decided to use Blade to put our sheep safely into their house for the night. Sheep are susceptible to attack from coyotes, stray dogs and increasingly, bears. It is our practice to put our sheep and poultry in their houses before dark. The sheep were standing near their home so Blade made a short outrun, wide enough not to startle the sheep but get their attention. I blew the stop command on my herding whistle. I waited a moment and then blew the walk-in command and Blade moved toward the sheep, quietly herding them into the sheep house. As I was standing by the sheep house door when the sheep and Blade approached, I used the verbal voice command for Blade to stop,”lie down.” The sheep walked quietly into their house. I closed the sheep in, shutting the door, and Blade and I walked through cool early June evening air back to our human and dog shared house. There, Blade joined the other Border Collies and mix breed Nash for the restful evening.