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As “chore dogs” if you are lucky enough to have a place to help
out and just MOVE stock around I have found the Beardies to be
as efficient and understanding as they come.
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Deb Thomas with Emma moving stock from a
pen into a work area.
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They teach me (the city gal) a lot about stock movement and behavior. Moving
stock from pen to pen, from pen to field, through gates teaches
both handler and dog about pace, flight zones, bubbles, when to
push and when to fetch.
Having a dog that will save you steps and be a partner for
you, a tool that is at hand is invaluable. It speaks of a
marvelous communication and relationship with ones dog.
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To get the communication going, to learn as much as our dogs know,
many of us take lessons. Much of the time the lessons and the learning
are for us humans. The dogs work with the instinct and we work to
channel that instinct into a three-way communication between the
stock, the handler and the dog. It’s at these lessons that we learn
the language of herding, both verbally and physically. We learn to
label vocally and identify much of what the dog is already doing and
we learn that a dog’s first language is body language. As one learns
about body language, the observant will learn about pressure and
release, which is a fundamental of herding.
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