heheh oh boy that should be fun! ROFL the dog will be sitting there watching US herd the sheep..
But I see what you mean :) And yes I am sure we will be trying that. :)
In a message dated 3/19/2005 2:00:05 AM Central Standard Time, Nlduzan@aol.com writes:
Ombre's chicken herding is all instinct or her parents' training. The chickens are in their own pens, but if one flies out, we need only hold open the gate and she herds (not chases) it back in. I've never seen her touch a chicken, and she makes no aggressive moves. Of course, the chickens are afraid and flutter and squawk, but I've watched carefully and she shows no intention of doing them any harm.
One day the neighbor called and said she was "chasing chickens", but I watched out the window a bit before I went out. She was simply "holding" the chicken by herding it in the corner. As long as the chicken sat still, Ombre sat down. She only moved when the chicken tried to get out of the corner, and crowded it back.
She's only 15 months old, and we've not been totally unsuccessful so far in teaching her some of the people skills, but she seems to instinctively know the chicken skills. Of course we watch and try to supervise direct exposure, but she's proving herself trustworthy around them.
I suspect dogs are like people; some more talented than others in various aspects of their training, but the basic instincts should be there as soon as Lady understands what you want her to do. They're such copy cats, maybe you'll just have to herd sheep yourself for awhile and show her how to do it. :)
Nancy