Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
4
SHEEP HAVE A RELATIVELY STRONG DESIRE to group together in
response to a threat, real or perceived, and that trait makes them well suited
to being worked with dogs. How useful a dog can be to a shepherd depends
on many things, especially these:
■
The quality and training of the dog
■
The suitability of the farm to a working dog: for example, how
paddocks, fencing, and handling facilities are arranged
■
The shepherd's understanding of the dog's ability
■
Most important, the shepherd's willingness to work with a dog
A well-trained stock dog can be an enormous help to you as a shepherd.
It can greatly reduce the amount of equipment required for sheep handling.
The dog can drive stock from one pasture to another, load one sheep (or hun-
dreds) into corrals or stock trailers, or work with you as you operate a squeeze
chute for pregnancy checking, shearing, or worming. A good dog can single
out one animal without moving the entire fl ock to a sorting facility. During
lambing, it can help bring in expectant mothers. A herding dog can also help
you count your livestock by fi ltering them along a fence, and help you at feed-
ing time by keeping them away from the feeders while you're spreading grain
or hay. And you will truly know the value of a herding dog when it comes to
escaped sheep — it regathers them easily, whereas without a dog you could
have serious trouble capturing the wayward sheep. In short, a good stock dog
can be more help than several human helpers, as the effect of the dog on the
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