The Ideal Picture

Herding instinct testers for AHBA (American Herding Breed Association) carry a mental picture of what the ideal herding dog’s introduction to livestock should be.

a)The handler -- with dog on leash -- approaches the flock until one of the sheep raises its head and looks very alert. The handler and dog stop, the handler asks the dog to lie down and removes the leash.

b) Once released, the dog leaves the handler’s side going wide around the flock and goes to the opposite side of the flock; the sheep -- (being well-schooled in this routine for most test situations) -- come immediately to the handler’s knees and the handler begins to walk in a serpentine pattern while the dog wears (changes direction of movement) to keep every member of the flock with the handler until the tester says he has seen enough of the dog’s work.

c) The handler walks into a corner of the pen; with the sheep following, the sheep stop, the dogis qued to lie down. The handler then walks to the dog, takes it by the collar and reports to the tester, thanks him.

The ideal does occasionally take place. Slight variances due to clumsiness on the part of the handler or excitement in the novice dog are often seen in an introduction to livestock. Handlers have to assist the dog to accomplish the task at this introductory level. Stopping the dog if it gets too excited, touching the dog occasionally, or giving “get out” or get back commands will help an excited dog who is working too close to the sheep or getting that “glazed-over” look in the eyes settle down.

Less Than Ideal, but Still Trainable
In a group of Novice dogs, find the most common reaction to sheep is the following:

a) The dog is led into the arena very excited, but controled. Because the dog’s excitement is affecting the sheep,.the handler cannot take the dog close to the sheep,

b) The tester tells the handler to drop the leash, allowing the dog to drag it. The dog flies directly toward the sheep, not circling the flock in the ideal manner. The sheep, since they are schooled in this routine, run directly to the knees of the handler anyway..

c) A game of chase-the-sheep-around-the-handler ensues, while the handler whirls in place, as the dog windmills the sheep around the handler several times. If the handler can walk a few yards and keep the dog from damaging the sheep in it's excitement, the dog is deemed to be showing working drive and trainability to it become a useful stockdog. This dog would probably earn a leg toward the Herding Capability certification.

Alternate Reactions to Introduction to Livestock

There is a variation to number (1) above, which often happens when the dog has a pedigree heavy in HGH titles:

a) The dog would be able to go into the pen off-lead, but is not allowed to, of course. The dog approaches this all in a rather matter-of-fact way, recognizes immediately that the sheep are its natural responsibility. But the leash can be removed after meeting the tester.

b) The dog will regard the stock intently, will approach it quietly and may be able to approach quite close.

c) When the dog approaches the standing stock, the handler starts moving away from dog and sheep. The dog will set the sheep in motion and they will come to the handler. At that point, the dog will run up and down alongside the flock. In this case, the handler should move to the fence line and let the dog patrol the open side of the flock while the handler moves up and down along the fence line.

There is another variation that is recognized as herding behavior. It will often happen when the flock is not very cooperative in coming to the handler.

a) The dog will approach the stock in its preferred manner, either directly toward the flock or by circling around the flock. But the flock will “double back” on the dog and go into a corner or just stand along the fence line. An inexperienced dog may simply patrol back and forth, holding the stock in position, awaiting help from the handler.

b) The handler should go to the dog, try to calm the dog’s frustration and if the sheep will not come out to the handler, allow the dog to continue to patrol along the open side of the flock while the handler stays between the dog and the flock, moving slowly along the fence line.

c) The sheep will move along with the handler, huddled on the fence line for safety as the dog either arcs or patrols in a straight line from front to rear of the flock in order to keep them in motion but not allow them to get away.

The two variations outlined above in this section (3) may or may not earn Herding Capability recognition. It depends very much upon the background of the tester.

The ABHA "instinct tests" are only the beginning of exposure to the livestock. s.