Information on working terriers, dogs, natural history, hunting, and the environment, with occasional political commentary as I see fit. This web log is associated with the Terrierman.com web site.
the other confounding factor here is the breed of sheep: these are not the typical British breeds of sheep, who flock perfectly and are afraid of dogs, and the look or stare of a dog... these are instead of the Northern Short-tailed Sheep breeds--specifically, they look to be Icelandic Sheep.
Not only do they have very little flocking instinct, but they are also independent-minded and have little to no fear of dogs. (There are no sheep predators in Iceland, and haven't been for many many years). they tried to kill my APBT when first introduced to only two Icelandic ewes in a field! my dog of course tried to submit by rolling over, but i had to intervene because they were going to stomp his insides out...
it is said that many a young Border Collie has been ruined by Icelandics...
it's not that they can't be herded, they can. but cattle dog types do better because they are less intimidated and are more emphatic in their ''corrections''. i imagine a well-trained terrier or bull terrier type might do very well too, but that would require a good dog and a good trainer that has experience with 'hard-dog' herding work.
the other confounding factor here is the breed of sheep: these are not the typical British breeds of sheep, who flock perfectly and are afraid of dogs, and the look or stare of a dog... these are instead of the Northern Short-tailed Sheep breeds--specifically, they look to be Icelandic Sheep.
ReplyDeleteNot only do they have very little flocking instinct, but they are also independent-minded and have little to no fear of dogs. (There are no sheep predators in Iceland, and haven't been for many many years). they tried to kill my APBT when first introduced to only two Icelandic ewes in a field! my dog of course tried to submit by rolling over, but i had to intervene because they were going to stomp his insides out...
it is said that many a young Border Collie has been ruined by Icelandics...
it's not that they can't be herded, they can. but cattle dog types do better because they are less intimidated and are more emphatic in their ''corrections''. i imagine a well-trained terrier or bull terrier type might do very well too, but that would require a good dog and a good trainer that has experience with 'hard-dog' herding work.