Border Collie Sees Sheep For First Time

[Truitt]

My wife signed our Border Collie up for a "herding aptitude evaluation", and I tagged along to see how it would go. Little did I know I would be participating I would have worn different shoes!

The quality is pretty poor, but here is a link to a short video clip proving Izzy has herding instincts and proving I was wearing a kilt.

https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=589150277857331

Izzy is seven years old and has never seen a sheep before. She did great! The sheep immediately grouped together as soon as she entered the pen. And Izzy knew right away which ewe lead the flock...the brown one she went after in the video. I was impressed, but now I may have to take up a new hobby

[unixken]

"That'll do!"

[Father Bill]

You need to be so very proud of your wonderful pup! Looking good!

[KiltedKnome]

Aren't herding dogs just so cool! And Truitt, you looked pretty good in your outfit!

[GrainReaper]

Izzy did great! I love herding dogs, I currently have 3 shelties, my oldest boy is an exceptional herder the younger boy is so-so, and the sweet little girl has crickets in her head... It's good that she is cute!

[Tarheel]

She seems a natural. I once saw a young pup of two years in age try to herd children at a park (my son of three was one of them). The lad that owned the dog apologized and explained to the frightened parents. My son and I wanted to see more. The young pup was also good at tackling when my son took off in a run.

[Truitt]

Aren't herding dogs just so cool! And Truitt, you looked pretty good in your outfit!

Yep, herding dogs are great! And thanks, even thought the video quality is too poor to see my outfit very well. It is pretty much my Kilt Kamp outfit...the kilt I made at Kilt Kamp and the tweed jacket & waistcoat I bought at Kilt Kamp.

[Stitchwiz]

Watching Izzy brought tears to my eyes - she looks and moves just like Fax. Fax was a Border Collie who came to us with that name. Fax was my husband's shadow and loved to hop into his lap when he invited her to cuddle after a busy day. Fax was always ready to go to work. Several times we saw her playing with a frisbee, but as soon as she saw us, the frisbee ceased exist in her world anymore.
Fax would herd anything! She brought in our ducks and chickens every night. She even herded our nephews, they would end up playing together because, in their words, "Fax wanted them to". Our cattle moved quietly anywhere she took them. The only time we ever heard her make a noise was when a cow would not go down the chute to the head gate - she didn't like her annual fall checkup any more than we do! The cow turned very quickly as we used a squeeze gate to direct her to the chute. When she spun, she rolled Fax over. Fax grabbed the cow's tail in her mouth, gave it a shake and let out a low growl. The cow headed right down the chute. We checked the tail expecting to find blood, but couldn't find a so much as a mark nor a drop of saliva!
Fax was the most intelligent dog that we have ever had the joy of sharing our lives with - she was a member of our family for 12 years, It was the hardest thing we ever had to do when we had to put her to sleep. She developed a cancer which exploded in a matter of 2 weeks from a pea size lump beside her nipple to a mass that doubled her weight. We had a Jack Russell who tried to be her shadow, except when Fax was working the cattle - he seemed to know better than to interrupt her when she worked. I don't know who missed her more, my husband or JC (short for Jumping Canine - just kidding - but he would jump 4' high for a piece of banana!).
Talk about opposites in so many ways, and yet they were buddies.
I’m sure Izzy will make an excellent working dog and she will LOVE every minute of it! You are encouraging her do what is instinctive to her - her DNA has herding built right into it. She will settle into being a better dog because of the work. You will become a team and come to rely on each other intuitively. Enjoy the process! It’s amazing and wonderful!