Q & A: Kathleen Kane — Herding 101

I have always done some kind of “performance” activities with my dogs, and since herding is what my dogs were bred to do, it seemed like a logical activity to pursue. I love seeing dogs do naturally what they were bred to do.
 

Before I ever got into formal herding training I had some pygmy goats at home, and even though I never set out to “train” the Corgi I had at the time to work them. I realized one day he had figured out on his own what I needed help with, and he just did it. It was an eye opening experience for me.  When I got the opportunity to go to a trainer and learn more, I jumped on it. Which brings us to how I actually started my dogs. I did go to a professional herding instructor for lessons. I tried to go every week so that we didn’t go too long between sessions. Once I was comfortable with the lessons we were working on, I started going on my own to practice.

To start the dog, most people take the dog into a small area with some very dog-broke (trained) sheep that will stick with the handler. The dog is turned loose on the stock and allowed to use their instinct to gather the sheep. Most dogs like to fetch, which means they want to bring the sheep to the handler. So the dog will circle the sheep to try to keep them together and with the handler. The handler’s job is to direct and guide the dog to where they want them to go, then learn to change directions on command, stop in a particular place on command, and eventually learn to modify the circling behavior when the dog is at “balance” to keep the sheep headed to the handler.

Once a handler and dog learn together and have a good partnership, the dog learns to work against his instinct to bring sheep and works on driving, or moving the sheep away, from the handler — in whatever direction the handler asks of the dog.

There are several fairly big challenges in herding that most people have. First off, it can be difficult to find a facility and trainer within a reasonable distance of where you live.

Because herding isn’t an inexpensive sport, it’s sometimes it’s hard to go frequently — which makes it harder to advance in your training and skills. Another challenge is that if you are not familiar with how stock behave and how to work around them even without a dog, it’s very difficult to tell your dog how to work them! Both the handler AND the dog are often learning a lot of new skills. Also, you ARE always working with three different types of beings. It’s not like agility or obedience where you only work the dog.  You have to think about the livestock and how they are going to behave as well. The other challenge is that you do have to get to the point that your dog needs to work against what their instinct is telling them in order to do what the handler asks. That is a difficult thing to deal with. Herding is typically an outdoor sport as well, so you go herding no matter what the weather. My Corgi has had to slog through mud halfway up his sides, and has actually even had to swim some deep puddles in a pasture while working sheep!

The rewards are incredible. I feel like my dogs and I have a stronger bond and better understanding of each other because of herding. It’s a beautiful sight to see your dog actually working sheep or cattle or whatever stock, doing what they were bred to do. And when you work so hard at an activity and it all goes right, there is no better high. I have done multiple dog sports, and can say that herding is the hardest, most frustrating thing I’ve EVER done with my dogs, but it is also the most fun and the most rewarding thing I’ve ever done.

In addition to all that, I have also made close friends in the herding world. We spend time as a group helping out at the herding facility we train at. So I spend more time outdoors and get to help care for livestock, and my dog gets to do “real” farm work! Working livestock also gives the dog a genuine sense of accomplishment and self worth, which gives them confidence in all walks of life.

Because of herding, my dogs are much more tuned into working with me and reading my body. I believe that herding benefits doing other dog sports as well, since the dog is more tuned into working with me as a partner. The more training and herding I do with them, the more I feel connected and that we understand each other. We become a better team all the time.

 

Q:  What trials have you entered (and won?)
 

I haven’t trialed a lot. I typically don’t travel far for trials, but I have been trialing one of my dogs for several years, so that has given us a chance to earn some titles and awards. There are different organizations that hold trials, and different types or styles of herding that are simulated in trials. This gives all the different herding breeds a chance to work in the style that they were bred to do (i.e. Border Collie vs Corgi vs German Shepherd Dog all work in different styles by nature). My philosophy is to try and teach my dogs to learn as many different types of skills as possible, taking their size/stature into account, so we can be successful in multiple different venues and “courses”.

Vinnie is my six year-old who has LOTS of drive and has been gung-ho to work sheep since he first saw them at 14 weeks old! He didn’t get to start his formal training until he was over a year old, mature enough mentally and physically to handle the job. He has been trialing for about four years now. I think he has done well and I’m extremely proud of how far he has come. He has so far earned multiple beginning and intermediate level titles in AKC, ASCA, and AHBA, working on multiple different courses. He is the first and only Pembroke Welsh Corgi to have earned titles on all three courses AKC offers. Each course requires very different skills and style of working, so not many dogs train and compete on all three courses.

Vinnie has worked small groups of three sheep and larger groups of 25-30 sheep. He’s worked ducks as well. Some of the courses are in arenas, some are in open fields, some are in large pastures, and some are on a working farm in barns, fields and/or pens.

During those trials Vinnie has earned placements many times. He’s been High-Scoring Corgi at all-breed trials on several occasions, and once he was Reserve High-Scoring Dog in an all-breed trial. His official name, with titles, is: Sagefox Quantum Leap HSAsd, HSBd, HSCs, STDsd, HTAD I, HRD II, NJP, OFP, NW1.

Q:  How does a trial work? Are there different types of trials?

There are multiple different venues/organizations that hold trials. AKC is probably the best known, but it is one of the newest to the herding scene. There is a Border Collie organization that holds trials that only have courses in huge open fields where dogs do very long outruns. They have to run out hundreds of yards to gather their sheep, then take them through a series of obstacles before bringing them back to the handler and going on with the rest of the course. There is also AHBA (American Herding Breed Association), and ASCA (Australian Shepherd Club of America), which have been putting on herding trials since before AKC has. All three of these organizations have different courses to showcase different styles and talents in herding.

Each organization awards a title once the dog has qualified on the same course, with the same stock, either two or three times (AKC – 3, AHBA & ASCA – 2). So you can actually earn separate titles on the same level of the same course on different stock. For instance, you can earn a Started (beginning trial level) Course A – sheep title and a Started Course A – duck title. There are 3 levels – beginning, intermediate and advanced on either cattle, sheep or ducks. Each level is more difficult in the skills required and the distance in which the dog has to work away from the handler.

Q:  Do Corgis herd differently from other breeds — for example, Border Collies?

In general, herding dogs are categorized into two main types: Strong-eyed breeds and loose-eyed (or upright) breeds. The strong-eyed breeds tend to work in a crouch and stare at the stock to move them. They generally stay farther away, but use their mesmerizing stare to put “pressure” on the stock to move them. Loose-eyed breeds don’t generally stare at the stock or work in a crouch. They tend to work closer and use their presence and movement to put pressure on the stock to move. They will also bite or ‘grip’ heels to make recalcitrant stock move.

Whether strong or loose eyed, each breed also has a typical style of working. Not all loose-eyed breeds work the same way! Each different herding breed was developed for specific types of herding, or “jobs”. For instance, a Border Collie needs to go great distances away from the handler in large areas to gather up the grazing sheep. Often those sheep were on uneven terrain, and even out of sight from where the dog started. The sheep were flighty and not used to dogs working close. So a dog was needed that ran wide, could cover a lot of ground, and control large numbers of sheep from a distance. As a result, the Border Collie generally works wide around the sheep and uses their “eye” to move the sheep from a greater distance.

The Corgi, on the other hand, was used as a more all-around farm dog in Wales, particularly to work cattle. They would help drive the cattle to town or to grazing pastures as needed. Since grazing pastures were generally not fenced, the Corgi would also “guard” their own pasture and stock and drive/chase off any cows that wandered in from the neighboring farms. They also were the farm “ratters”, in addition to alerting the family to strangers by barking. The farmers, being poor, wanted a dog that was easy to keep and didn’t eat much. Knowledge of the traits necessary in developing the Corgi explains a lot about their personalities. They needed to be pushy and tough to work cows; smart yet independent; alert and vocal. This developed a dog that tends to work very close to the heels of their stock and are “pushy”, often using their bark or nipping to help move the stock. The biggest challenge of modern day herding with Corgis — especially when working sheep — is to get them to back off and not be so pushy.

Q:  What changes have you seen in your dog(s) since they became involved in herding?  Do they have more energy, are they more (or less) vocal at home? How has herding positively impacted their lives — and yours?

The biggest change I’ve seen in my dogs is the bond and partnership that we develop as we work together. I don’t feel that they are any more or less vocal or energetic. They do get good exercise (as do I) and stay in better shape if they go herding regularly.

I do think there is a very positive effect on the level of “control” that a person gets over their dog AND the level of self-control the dog gets from herding. The dog learns to listen to and work with the person in the face of a GREAT prey (chase) drive! And they also learn to have more self-control around all kinds of “critters” (geese, bunnies, etc). Once they have been training in herding for awhile, they learn how to work in a controlled and more relaxed state. They stop thinking about “chasing” animals and learn that there is a time to work and a time to ignore them. I feel that if a person can get a dog to listen and stop working livestock on a verbal command, then they should be able to get them to listen in just about any distracting environment!

TERMINOLOGY/BASIC COMMANDS

General Terms:

Balance: When the dog is in position to bring the stock in a straight line to the handler. As the handler’s position shifts, the dog should reposition accordingly.

Cross Drive: When the dog is taking the livestock across the field in a straight line in front of the handler.

Drive: Any time the dog takes the stock in a direction away from the handler.

Eye: An inherent characteristic of working dogs which allows the dog to control the livestock. Too much eye in a dog can have a hypnotic effect on the dog and adversely affect his/her ability to move stock.

Fetch: Any time the dog is bringing the livestock in a straight line toward the handler.

Flank: From the dog’s perspective in relation to the stock, a circular movement either clockwise or counter-clockwise around the stock.

Flight Zone: The invisible area around a group of stock that, when crossed by an ‘outsider’, causes movement in the bunch. The flight zone changes under different circumstances, such as the power or ‘presence’ of an individual dog.

Grip: When the dog bites the stock. For both sheep and cattle, an “acceptable” grip is either on the nose or low on the heel or hock, and is usually done at the handler’s command.

Heading: Generally, when stock are leaving or trying to “escape,” the dog will run in an arc to their heads and come up in front of them to stop them.

Heeling: When the dog bites the stock on the hock or low on the heel to make them move. Done more often with cattle than sheep.

Hold: The dog holds the livestock in a stopped position.

Instinct: The inherent ability in a stock dog to work livestock. We cannot teach a dog to work if it does not have instinct.

Lift: The moment when, after the outrun, the dog first comes in close enough to the stock to influence them and move them. The very first movement of the stock.

Outrun: When the dog leaves the handler’s side, runs out in an arc to either the right or left, and comes up behind the livestock to gather them.

Pen: When the dog and handler, in a joint effort, put the livestock into an enclosed area.

Pressure: The influence on the stock by the dog’s presence and inherent “power” — the amount of which will determine the behavior of the stock and their flight zone for that particular dog.

Shed: Separating 2 or 3 head from the rest of the flock and preventing them from regrouping.

Sort: Sorting livestock. To put certain individuals into different areas, usually done with gates and pens.

Walkabout: When the handler just walks around the field, often making either S curves or very square turns, with the stock behind him/her, and the dog behind the stock, bringing the stock toward the handler. The turns are to teach the dog to reposition so as to always be in balance with the handler. An exercise generally done with young dogs.

photo:  Bruce Allert