Herding

Yesterday we took the dogs herding for the first time.  I've always wanted to try it just to see what the dogs did, but there was never a convenient time or place (even this place was an hour and a half away!)  I figured Bentley would really love it (he used to try to gather up all the dogs at the dog park when he was younger), and I thought Lexi might be scared of the sheep, but enjoy herding ducks.

The first thing we did was a sheep "meet and greet" where the shepherd caught one of the sheep and held it while each dog took a turn smelling the sheep. Bentley walked right up, gave the sheep butt a couple sniffs, and was like "okay I got this!"  Lexi was really worried (as I thought she might be), especially when the sheep stomped his legs.  I thought she would be too scared to herd (thought she might like ducks, though, since she has chased geese before).

Enjoying the sun

Watching the ducks

Bentley was a natural!  He really only wanted to turn clockwise (come bye), but I guess it's common for dogs to prefer one side over the other.  The woman kept calling the pups "super shelties" :)  At one point she turned to the other seminar participants and said, "it's not about size!  Do you think this little dog has control of these sheep?  YES!"

Lexi herded the way she does everything else--with reckless abandon.  She definitely put less thought into it! I don't know if you can hear me, but I told the shepherd "I can't tell if she's herding the sheep or trying to play with them!" And she said "the sheep don't think she's playing!"

It looked like this duck was herding the sheep!