Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
SHEPHERD STORY REVISITED
Betty Levin's Help
W
HEN I STARTED CONTACTING FOLKS
I'd interviewed
for the previous edition, I was wondering if I would fi nd Betty Levin,
as she was in her 70s the last time I spoke with her. But I was happy to catch
up with her and learn that she still raises Border Leicesters and Border col-
lies in Lincoln, Massachusetts — once a farming area but now a bedroom
community for Boston. She has slowed down just a bit: “I stopped breed-
ing dogs,” she said. But she still has 33 Border Leicesters and a few Scottish
Blackface.
“I had major surgery not long ago,” she said, “and a choir member volun-
teered to help with the sheep. As I watched her I quickly realized that had she
not had the dogs, who knew the routine, she would have totally lost control.”
For example, Betty's sheep still graze small pastures around neighbors'
homes: “I take them over the road, and with just two dogs I can keep them
on the road and keep them from wandering into neighbors' front yards.”
I asked Betty what advice she has for folks interested in starting with
herding dogs, and she said, “For farm dogs, the younger they are when you
get them, the better, because they learn more easily what's needed. If you
get an inexperienced dog, it should fi rst be worked with experienced sheep
because those sheep will respond quickly to the dog. If the sheep and the dog
are both inexperienced, it is much, much tougher to train the dog.”
Betty paused for a second and then added, “And by all means, join the
Border Collie Association and go to some clinics and training sessions. You
can learn so much by watching experienced handlers and dogs, and most of
the people involved with these events love to share their knowledge.”
As well as keeping sheep and Border collies, Betty has been a noted
writer of children's and young-adult topics, and three of her topics are about
Moss, a Border collie. Though the topics are no longer in print, they are
available through used markets.
watched. Such a dog, unrestrained by hundreds of years of selective breeding,
may be motivated solely by a predatory instinct and could become a threat
to the sheep. Indeed, any dog that's encouraged to work the sheep has been
given permission by the owner to interact with them and should be super-
vised or restrained when not working. In many breeds, there is very little
separation among the instincts to chase and play, hunt the livestock, and herd
the livestock.
