I think that many of us who have seen herding trials or demonstrations on tv or in person have seen Border Collies working sheep.
I found this great video of a Cardi moving a herd of cows. This is no trial; from what I can see it's a working farm dog. Check out about a minute or so in when the back cow starts kicking and turns around to face down the dog!
So the next time your Corgi sits down and back-sasses you, or plants his feet and won't move, smile and think of the cows.
Permalink Reply by Beth on December 5, 2009 at 10:48am
I can imagine.
Even the BC trials; I've seen sheep-dog trials in person, and they often involve moving a couple sheep through some gates and stuff like that.
I have an old book lying around that I picked up at a library book sale, all about working Border Collies on the big sheep farms in the original "border" area of Scotland/England. They talk about having bad weather coming and sending the dog out to gather all the sheep from the big pastures.... and the dog and sheep coming back together an hour or two later. (Just looked for the book and I've misplaced it). Anyway, you could probably set up a trial of some sort to mimic that, but it would take days! LOL
My aunt had an Arabian horse she used to whip-in from fox-hunting. Great horse, but he would never pin in even the most rudimentary of horse shows judging "hunters" as he lacked the fashionable style. He was sound, safe and sane and could gallop and jump cross-country with no problem. Everyone loved him.
Trials, shows, etc are wonderful and fun and a great experience, but they are just a snapshot! This was the first time I'd ever seen a Corgi actually moving a large herd of cattle up a lane.
Such a great movie! I found this same trait in my corgis when we advanced from pen work to driving stock down a lane. The corgi is a drover and that attitude maintains control. My female corgi "talks" while herding too!
Permalink Reply by Beth on December 17, 2009 at 9:08pm
Ok, I think we got a little off-topic, to a point. :-) I hope people enjoy the video. My first thought when I watched it was that it really helps me understand the Corgi personality a lot more!
That little guy is sooo proud and happy!!!!! I had a good feeling the whole time I was watching. I think I saw some heel nipping going on a couple of times!
That's pretty amazing. What a determined little dog. of course his barking set off my Corgi who was lounging in the kitchen. She's a pretty good herder at the dog park if the other dogs start running. She runs along the outside barking and trying to keep them together. Fun stuff! Thanks for the video.