Sheep herding puppy's first day on the job

[Nevilledog]

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[wendyb-NC]

1. He's fearless

Seems to catch on really fast. Very cute.

[wnylib]

2. What a coincidence. Earlier today I was thinking about

the border collie that I had decades ago when I was in my 20s. He was a household pet in the city, not a working dog. We had a fenced in yard where he could get some daily exercise and a large flat where there was plenty of room for him.

Typical border collie, he was very active and smart. Learned "tricks" and words easily and quickly. He loved the stimulation of playing games and learning new things and I was young enough to keep up with his activity level.

In spring, summer and fall, we took him out to the countryside where he could run free and jump into creeks for a swim or to retrieve sticks.

Never had a problem with him trying to herd other animals or children, like some people complain about with border collies as pets. But the instinct was in him, which he proved when we were at a park and he saw a toddler wander from her parents toward a 12 foot drop off at the juncture of a creek with Lake Erie. He barked an alarm and when I saw why, I let go of his leash. He ran to the child before any human could reach her, gently knocked her down on the lawn, and stood over her until her father got there. Nobody gave him a command. Nobody noticed it until the dog drew our attention to the situation. He made his own assessment of danger and decision on what to do.

An amazing breed of dog.

Unlike most border collies who are black and white, ours was sable and white.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

4. Thank you for sharing that. I could see it while reading it.

I've only seen a few of the sable and white ones. Been amazed by every border collie I've ever met.

[Bev54]

6. We had a border collie (back and white) when I was young as well. He spent the days chasing dirt

that my younger brother (with Down's Syndrome) would throw with his little shovel. He was very protective of my brother and we had a large yard that was fenced with a chain link. My brother one day decided to bend the fence enough that he could climb and get over it. The dog dug under the fence so as to go with him. We lived in a logging community and my brother and the dog walked to the cookhouse to get treats. Mom didn't know they were gone until both he and the dog walked in the front door with their bag of goodies. He was an exception dog.

[soldierant]

15. Well, I learned something today.

I was only familiar with the word "sable" in heraldry, where it means black. I'm not into furs as clothing, and I'm far mor into cats than dogs, so I just hadn't coem across ti. thanks.

[wnylib]

17. The sable color in border collies and "regular" collies

is a reddish color, usually with some black ticking on some of the hairs around the shoulders and face. It's Lassie's color. So we named our dog Laddie.

I used to have pictures of him swimming, or standing still eagerly waiting for us to toss a stick, etc. But I lost them over the years. I found a picture on Pinterest that looks just like Laddie and tried to link it in my post but the url was humongous and would not work.

[soldierant]

20. Yes, they do some URLs that way, I assume to protect copyright.

They wonlt post unless they end woth .jpeg, .jpg, .png, or .gif - at least thpse are the four most common - there may be others. But if you can find one (I never have) that has one of those in it, with a ? after it, and you delete the ? and everything after it, it should work. Just for future reference. I used DuckDuckGo, and they always throw some pictures in if you're searching for anything which can be seen. So I get the idea. But thatks!

[wnylib]

22. Ok. i found a link to the Pinterest pic that works.

Takes a minute to open up. The dog at the top of the page is nearly identical looking to the one that I had. The only difference is that mine had just a little less of the black ticking. Face, ears, and body look the same.

https://images.app.goo.gl/wJJHX15MrhgdAXxF7

[soldierant]

23. He is gorgeous.

[wnylib]

24. That's what everyone said when they saw Laddie.

Last edited Mon Jul 29, 2024, 10:34 PM - Edit history (1)

The vets at the practice where we took him were enamored of him.

Laddie greeted them with a lick on the hand. Soon as he saw the vet pick up the nail clippers, he held out a paw, then another paw when the vet finished the first one. Totally relaxed and cooperative about it.

[Delmette2.0]

25. My Sandy loved her two boys.

She would break up their fights when they were teenagers by helping the one who was losing.
She also got a big kick in winter. When we shoveled the sidewalk the snow had to go into the yard...over the fence.
Sandy would jump up into the burst of snow and love every minute.

[wnylib]

28. Laddie's first snowfall was both funny and cute.

He leaped up on his hind legs to catch snowflakes in his mouth. He was having such a great time. Obviously overjoyed.

We later got a hound that was half beagle and half bassett. My husband thought he would train it for hunting, but I don't know why he thought that since the dog was at least 2 years old and had been picked up by the Humane Society as a stray. We named him Beau.

Beau turned out to be gun shy, so we figured he'd just be a pet and company for Laddie.

But Beau could not be housebroken. I was forever cleaning up after him. Laddie's attitude toward Beau was that Beau was an uncivilized clod who didn't know proper behavior. So Laddie tattled on Beau. We'd be in the living room watching TV and Laddie would come up to us, bark once, and head for the kitchen, looking back to be sure that we followed him. In the kitchen, Laddie would stand next to a puddle that Beau had left and look at it pointedly, like, "Can you believe what this guy did?"

At Thanksgiving, we were eating in the dining room with my in-laws when Laddie ran into the room barking anxiously at us. We followed him to the kitchen to find that Beau had grabbed the remainder of the turkey carcass out of the roasting pan and was under the table eating it. Laddie was so good about waiting for leftovers to be put in his dish that we overlooked the fact that Beau wasn't so trustworthy with us out of the room.

So Laddie tried to help us get Beau properly trained but it was a losing battle. We finally found a guy who lived in the country to take Beau. The guy had a large, well-enclosed pen and runway outdoors with a couple other dogs to keep Beau company.

[Delmette2.0]

29. Laddie sounds so intelligent.

We could share stories with other border collie families all week.

[wnylib]

30. Yes, I've read and heard some remarkable things about

border collies. People who have them are amazed by their intelligence. I certainly was. It was almost spooky the way that Laddie understood so many things and let us know when something wasn't quite right.

[Amaryllis]

12. THat story is worth its own post.

[llmart]

14. I love your story.

Dogs are so amazing and this breed is especially smart. Did you ever read any of Jon Katz's books about his border collie?

[wnylib]

16. No, I have not read any of his books.

Had not heard of him until your post.

[llmart]

18. I'm a dog lover so when it came out I just had to read it.

He has several but his first one was "A Dog Year". I think they even made a movie about it later, but I enjoyed the book and learned a lot about border collies.

[wnylib]

19. I knew nothing about border collies when we got ours.

We got him the from the Humane Society when he was two months old. The staff did not tell us anything about him. I loved his coloring and his face resembled a collie, except that the muzzle was shorter and wider. So I thought he was a mix of collie and some other breed.

As he grew, the muzzle did, too, but was not the long, narrow muzzle of a classic collie. As a puppy, his amazing intelligence showed itself early. He learned words rapidly, was eager to please, and could be taught almost anything.

When he was full grown, I was walking him on a leash when a woman said, "What a beautiful border collie." She told me a bit about the breed and I looked them up in books on dog breeds. Sure enough, our Laddie was definitely a border collie with no other mix. He had the blaze on the face, the body shape, the height, temperament, intelligence, everything. He looked exactly like a typical black and white border collie except that his coloring was sable instead of black. Sable is one of the border collie colors, but less common than the black and white ones.

I wondered how he ended up at the Humane Society since he was obviously a purebred, but without registration papers. It was our good luck that we chose him without knowing what we were getting and ended up learning about the amazing border collie breed.

[Biophilic]

3. lol. That one's going far.

[Warpy]

5. No kidding, that little pup got the point right away

It's fun watching sheep dogs that don't get the point right away and get sold to pet owners try to herd pigeons, squirrels, children, and even cats (who discourage them in no uncertain terms).

[Figarosmom]

7. I thought you meant the

Sheep were going to heard the puppies. Now that would be funny

[70sEraVet]

8. My border collie (probably part mutt) tried to herd EVERYTHING.

Scariest was when i took him to the beach in RI, and he tried to herd the seagulls! I had a helluva time getting him to abandon the task, and swim back to shore.
But they are amazing dogs. Their intelligence, combined with their ability to work out exactly what we expect of them, make them a really unique breed.

[barbtries]

9. border collies are amazing.

this is just a baby. they are the smartest dogs and they live to work.

[chouchou]

10. I can't stand it. I'm glad I wasn't there to see it.

I'd just melt all over the ground and never be the same..

[Wild blueberry]

11. Good dog!

That'll do.

[FormerOstrich]

13. Aww...love the border collies

I had a Molly a Border Collie/Something else (maybe Akita) and MoJo (Jo) a Border Collie/Australian Cattle dog (Mom&Dad were breeders they just weren't supposed to breed with each other...so I called her my love child). Molly was the smartest dog I have ever been around.

Molly would not let children or other small animals near the pool or any stairs. She would alert me if I was burning dinner while in the other room. When she started telling me something I paid attention.

Jo on the other hand lived to P L A Y. She was smart, too. Most thought she was smarter than Molly because she would engage you. She would put the ball in your hand/lap and harass you to throw it. She trained me to throw her ball in my sleep. She also had a habit of herding everyone or everything. I assumed she thought we were all cows since she hadn't ever met one.

One day there was someone out walking. Jo immediately started trying to heard her (even though she was on leash). I told the woman...I apologize...she thinks you are a cow. I can't begin to describe the look she gave me...Geez sometimes I shouldn't blurt things out without thinking them through.

[Bayard]

26. It's all about attitude!

And this little guy is a winner.

We have a Scottish Collie. She looks like a Border Collie. The breeder who gave her to us said the difference is that they're not quite as intense as Border Collies. She's one of the best dogs we've ever had, although she wants nothing to do with herding the goats, or anything else. Very smart, loving, and HAPPY all the time.

[Duppers]

27. My childhood dog was a B.C.

She stole my heart, so I got another one not too many yrs ago.

[LetMyPeopleVote]

31. Herding dogs are amazing

We have bearded collies and we used to compete in herding competitions. I love watching these dogs work

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