November 14, 2004 in City

Clinic helps sheepherding dogs sharpen skills

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Brian Plonka photo

Kasee gets in some work during a sheep dog clinic, Saturday, in Dover, Idaho. A dozen owners and their dogs took advantage of the expertise of champion trainer Scott Glenn of Alberta.
(Full-size photo)

Buck sprinted into the field like a sleek bolt of lightning, chasing circles around a flock of plump sheep and sending them running scared.

The young border collie couldn’t help himself. He couldn’t resist his true calling.

“It’s natural, they just have the instinct to herd,” said Marvin Haas, of Hayden, Idaho. Haas watched as Buck’s handler, Pat Bechtold, of Elk, Wash., tried to get her dog under control.

“Lie down!” Bechtold shouted from across the field near Sandpoint.

“It’s a challenge to get the dog to do what you want to do,” Haas said.

Haas’ dog Blue – because she has one blue eye and one brown – whined and shook with excitement nearby.

“She can’t wait to get out there, she’s nuts,” Hass said. “The first time we had her out with the sheep she wanted to grab a hunk of wool.”

Hass and Bechtold joined about a dozen dog handlers from all over the region Saturday for a sheepherding clinic.

They gathered on a hillside near U.S. Highway 2 about three miles west of Sandpoint, near the home of Randy Curless, who has been helping people train their dogs to herd for about seven years.

Curless invited the handlers to the weekend clinic to train with Scott Glen, national sheepdog champion from Alberta, Canada.

Glen won first and second places at the United States Border Collie Handlers’ Association National Sheepdog Championship in Sturgis, S.D., and will compete in the world championships in Ireland in June.

“You don’t get the opportunity to train with somebody like this very often,” Curless said.

Cattle dogs and sheepdogs have long been important in livestock industries throughout the world, but today there is an increase in the sport of herding by people who are not farmers – dog owners who want to work with their animals and help preserve the abilities of the breeds.

“It’s a growing sport – more and more people are getting into it,” Curless said. “I think people really like to have a team partnership with their animal.”

Many will travel all over the country to participate in sheepdog and cattle dog trials and competitions, he said.

But for some people, learning the skill of herding is more than a sport.

“I’m using my dogs to work at home on the farm,” said Jane St. Clair of Davenport, Wash. “I’d like to try some trials, but I really need a dog to help me with my work.”

St. Clair would use her dogs to stand between her and sheep or cattle for protection, instead of teaching the dog to go around the animals and herd them for her.

“Some of my sheep are aggressive,” she said. “Right now I have to go out in the pasture to gather my sheep by myself.”

Out in the field Saturday, the handlers practiced using common herding commands to control the dogs, as Glen looked on. A sound system was set up so that the handlers waiting their turns could hear as Glen instructed one person at a time.

Besides “lie down,” which tells the dog to temporarily stop working, other commands include “away to me,” which means to flank counterclockwise around the flock, or “come by,” which sends the dog clockwise around the stock.

Without any commands, border collies instinctively stalk the sheep silently from behind, much the same way a wild dog would hunt its prey. They also use eye contact to intimidate the sheep.

When out in the field, it seems the dogs never stop moving, running wide circles around the sheep.

“They are very smart,” Curless said. “And these dogs are workaholics. Sometimes they will work until they can’t go anymore.”

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