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.