Work Woolies!

[Bayoucorgi]

Yesteday Mike and I took Liam to the Houston Area Herding Association (HAHA) Fun Day. Liam got to do an instinct test. He was so excited. He went right in to the sheep and moved them. He was very confident and thrilled to do it. He had only been introduced to sheep once before. The trainer said he is an intense dog. And she called him the "drift racer" because he was moving around the group so fast and low to the ground that his rear end was sliding as his front end was runnning.

It was very, very cool. I expected dear husband Mike to take some pictures but he was so amazed at how well Liam was doing that he just sat and watched. So no photographic evidence. I'm bitten. I'm going to try to get an HT or PT on this little guy.

[Fluffypants]

Hooray for Liam! And good luck to you! I was bitten by the bug last fall, when Jackie took her instinct test. It's really amazing to watch them work! Ihope you have easier access to sheep than I do!

[Chip's Mom]

I would love to try that with Chip. He herds Jasmine and Lady to their food bowl every night. He leaves his own food until they are in their places. Do they bark while they are herding?

[Fluffypants]

Jackie doesn't, but that probably depends on the dog and their personal "style".

[Cheetah]

How does one take a herding instinct test? I'm tempted. Does the dog have to be intact or does it matter? What are the requirements?

[turkeylegs]

May be silly question, but, do the sheep kick the dogs? They could probably knock a corgi around right?

[Fluffypants]

hmmm - if you lived closer to me, I could give you the link to the farm where Jackie took her test. But you can get info on the AKC website. They could probably point you in the right direction to find a nearby test site. The dogs don't have to be intact. They just put you in a pen with some sheep and evaluate the dog based on what he/she does. Basically, they look to see if the dog has an acceptable level of interest in the sheep, and whether or not they can sustain that interest for a period of time. Check out the AKC website for more info. Or maybe some members who live in your area might have suggestions?

[Fluffypants]

Originally Posted by turkeylegs

May be silly question, but, do the sheep kick the dogs? They could probably knock a corgi around right?

Jackie never got close enough to get kicked - she seemed to know the perfect distance to keep . . . close enough to get them moving, but far enough so they wouldn't panic and / or kick her. It's really amazing. I was worried about her getting hurt, but I just kept reminding myself that's why she's so short!

[Chip's Mom]

Where do you find the testing sites?

[disraeli]

That's cool about Liam. I thought the HAHA meeting wasn't until February? Did you contact them ahead of time or just show up? Was it in Hempstead? I really want to take Rhys.

[Dillydoodle]

Deleted my post

[tandemgal]

Good job Liam! Way to show what your made of!

Hubby and I have talked about taking the girls to a herding evaluation too. Seems like it would be lots of fun

[Chip's Mom]

I just had a vision of Chip's million dollar mouth possibly getting kicked. I guess I will pass.

[Delilah]

Is there an age limit on herding tests? In other words, how old before you should test them? I would really like to know if Delilah has that instinct. I will look into it now if she is not too young.

[Fluffypants]

It's never too early to research!!! (my personal motto)

Not sure about the answer to your question, but if you look into testing, you should be able to find that answer somewhere.