Agriculture Reference
In-Depth Information
TERMINOLOGY
Folks who work with herding dogs have their own lexicon. Here are
some of the terms you may hear when attending trials or visiting
with trainers:
■
Balance. The place the dog needs to be in relation to the fl ock in
order to control its movement.
■
Distance. How far off the sheep the dog is working; this varies
greatly from dog to dog and fl ock to fl ock; it is a part of
balance.
■
Driving. Moving the sheep in any direction except toward the
handler.
■
Eye. Herding dogs can be divided into two general types: dogs
with “eye” and dogs without “eye”; eye is how a dog “stares
down” the stock — most Border collies and some kelpies have
eye and work their stock from a distance by stalking.
■
Fetching. Bringing the sheep to the handler.
■
Gathering. Going out and fi nding the sheep, gathering them into
a fl ock, and fetching them to the handler; three related terms
are
outrun, lift,
and
fetch.
■
Lift. The dog's fi rst contact with the sheep on a gather, when the
sheep determine how they will react to the dog.
■
Outrun. The dog leaving the shepherd and running out around a
fl ock of sheep; the outrun should be wide enough to fi nd all the
sheep the dog needs to retrieve without chasing any away but
not so wide that time and energy are wasted.
■
Power. The amount of infl uence the dog has over the sheep with-
out physical contact; some dogs are more intimidating to sheep
than others.
■
Style. How the dog moves; stylish dogs seem to be stalking —
they keep their head down low and their eyes focused but main-
tain the speed needed to keep on the sheep if they try to break.
■
Unbroken sheep. Sheep that have never been worked with a dog;
such sheep may run away in panic or attempt to stand and fi ght
the dog.
■
Wearing. Fetching sheep to the handler while the handler walks
away — a sort of parade of handler-sheep-dog; this is a useful
exercise for training young dogs and for moving sheep around
the farm, as the sheep readily learn to follow the shepherd in
response to the presence of the dog.
