Good Dog U

Training any animal to do a job is hard work. You tend to get out of them what you put into them, whether a horse, dog, cat...wait a minute. Scratch cats off the list. They put a lot of work into training us ;-).

Last weekend - boy this week flew by - I got to go watch some stockdog trainers practice with their dogs at a beautiful farm just outside North Middletown.



Here the "local" dog is moving a group of sheep up to the practice field. The commute.



This is Debbie Bailey's Huck. Huck of the huge sheep in the wool house fame. Check out the horses watching sheep tv up on the hill. They'd watch awhile, graze awhile, check back in for the next dog... I could do an entire post just on them.



A kind word for the dog holding the small groups of sheep up on the hill, waiting for the running dog to come pick them up and bring them down.



I love the concentration between the dog and sheep in this picture.



I'm pretty sure this is Camp.



And this is her young dog Nick.



He was getting in a little trouble that morning, but that's why you go to school.



These are "hair sheep" by the way. They are shedding.

I love to watch these dogs work. I love listening to the owners whistle their commands. While I have no desire to have a competitive trial dog, some day I'd like to have a good herding* dog to help me at home. And then I'd have to go back to school too :-).

*Hank is obviously the best dog ever...