Blade came running back toward me, during a recent goose control visit. We were at a park, alongside a pond and he had helped herd-chase fourty geese to fly away. This was just before the molt, when geese lose their flight feathers was going to start. I really like to get geese to leave a clients property before the molt begins. If you do not get geese to fly at that time, you are stuck with them for a month.
Blade and his teammates for this trip, Skye and Tara had to work hard to get the job just right. We make every effort to be effective to get the geese to leave a property every trip if we can. At times it is too disruptive to the setting we are in to get the geese to leave. Some visits we fall back to Plan B which is just getting into the geese heads a bit more, so they will consider being at a property less or eventually, not at all. The factors we consider with each visit can happen in a split second and have to be reconsidered as events unfold, such as, if a car shows up where it may cause a danger to dogs or geese or if a dog walker enters where we are working, and so on.
As Blade came toward me, I could tell he was unsure of himself or maybe even upset. He is a talented young male Border Collie but can be emotional. He perhaps thought things on this visit went a bit wrong, even though we did get the geese to fly off safely. I raised the tone of my voice to a happy pitch and smiled at him.
Blade heard and saw this, and this brought a spring into his steps, and a big smile came to his face as well. He gave a little happy bark and sprang toward the pond to jump in and cool off. Soon Skye and Tara were in the water enjoying a Border Collie after work party, splashing and enjoying each other. I gave a command, and they all were out of the water and headed back to our vehicle as a dog walker came our way. I did not want to disturb the dog walker and his dog with our off-leash working dogs.
Upon reflection, I realized why Blade got worried. Goose control can be a serious business. Our name and logo are meant to lighten up the mood. Property owners and or managers of parks, schools and golf courses can take a lot of flack from people who want geese gone or those people who want them left alone. A misstep can put you, and your dogs in danger and the geese always need to be taken into consideration. Being on top of your game, sometimes for hours a day can make you tired or tense. And being tense can reflect on how you interact with the Border Collies. If a dog is living a tense life its life can turn unhealthy.
The important lesson here is that dogs do not do well with human angst. They don’t do well, conversely, with human hyper happy either. Dogs greatly appreciate a calmer middle ground with their interactions and can turn away from “issues” on a dime, be in the moment. I often consider that dogs get bewildered when humans chew on a stressor as we humans do. So I work really hard at not getting worked up. It makes me happier, and the Border Collies happier too. As we drove away from that visit, Blade, Skye, and Tara had on their happy faces, the not stressed, happy ones. Soon they were sound asleep, hopefully, processing useful takeaways. It is so much better when you relax into your work.
Enjoy.