Border Collies and Sheepdog Trials: Herding Abilities as a Competition Element
Every aspect of life can be used for competition, and sheepdog work is no exception. Owners issue commands, and the dogs must interpret them and complete the herding work according to those commands. Participating sheepdogs circle behind the flocks, driving the flocks forward to the owner's side. A blast of a whistle will scare the flocks apart, and the dogs must reorganize the flocks and lead them through the designated gate back to the track.
The owner will use a series of whistles to drive livestock from the mountain, through gates and another gate, across fields and finally back to the fence. Once the flocks are inside the fence, the dogs will use their experience and keen eyes to drive all the flocks back into the fence. The most common competitors are border collies.
Border collies are a breed with many fur textures and colors, and in the eyes of shepherds, they are veritable workaholics. You can see black, red, tricolor or white fur on them. As a working dog, it is invaluable to shepherds. Few other dogs have such dedication and talent.
While many breeds can herd livestock, none compare to the English and Scottish border collies in terms of their outstanding working ability. Without border collies, the cost of manual labor in herding would be very high. After border collies and Scottish people came to the United States, they provided a lot of help for the rapidly growing population.
Border collies manage sheep and bring them to the shepherds or drive them to their destination according to the shepherds' instructions. The direction of travel is obtained by recognizing whistles, other sounds or a combination of both, and the sheep move because the dogs force them to do so. The working dog must learn how and when to apply pressure to the flocks, fixing the moving trajectory of the sheep flocks. Too much pressure will make the sheep panic, and too little pressure will let the sheep run wild.
Over the years, breeders have trained border collies to develop a predatory behavior, which makes the sheep vigilant but never eaten by the dogs. In a herding experiment, these dogs had to demonstrate their skills in every component of their herding work, with the shepherd at least 270 meters away from the flock.
Starting from puppyhood, border collies are taught basic obedience commands. Under the praise of their owners, they will quickly master these commands. About 10 months old, it's the time to evaluate their work ability. Put a border collie and a sheep into a fence, a good working dog will circle around the sheep, guarding them. With just a few lessons, it can learn the tricks of herding, without running around, it can control the sheep flocks.
After training, the dogs can not only learn to control the flocks but also learn to listen to the owner's verbal commands, whistle commands, and body language commands. To reach an advanced level of work for a border collie, it takes at least two years of training. Each dog may face different problems, and the time may be different; the shepherd must understand its dog, understand its strengths and weaknesses.
As an excellent working dog, the border collie is welcomed by shepherds and farmers. Nowadays, it is also a family dog, bringing joy to people.
