Dutch Shepherd Forum

There is one guy- has a great little dog- who works our rodeo, and I've seen this dog literally leap over the head and run down the bulls back to avoid the horns, then right back for more! Sometimes will run the top rail of the fencing to get into position to turn the bulls. He's saved lots of the guys, and the horses from getting seriously hurt at these events.

oh righty then, Odin will just have to pass on the herding thing

The sheep will be enamoured with Marco's looks - no worries.

I know some Cattle dogs can make some K9's looks like sunday school class. Tough, tough tough.

Only a couple more sleeps to see how Marco does! Scared yet?

You're gonna have lots of fun really. Herding with the dogs is one of my most favorite dog sports/jobs. It is like a long distance dance due to the finesse and coordination of efforts between you, the dog (s) and the stock. Yet with control of the dog too. Make sense?

vneerland wrote:I know some Cattle dogs can make some K9's looks like sunday school class. Tough, tough tough.

The thing I notice about Cattle dogs is that they operate in stealth mode, quiet yet forceful. Very observant.

Here's my little ACD, Bindi, her first time on sheep. She was a humane society rescue who never left. The BC belongs to the friend pictured; triple herding champion BC, friend is a herding judge.

I am happy to report no sheep got hurt, everybody survived and Marco had the time of his life!

Beside him there were one Border Collie and an Aussie. Every dog got worked three times for about 15 minutes. They were all impressed how well Marco was doing considering he never had seen sheep before and his first time getting up and close to them. The trainer was so impressed with Marco that he took him in the last sesson out to the big field with the sheep, worked with him to separate some sheep and also let him herd back a single sheep that he put for him on the field which he said is very dangerous if a dog comes too close and scares the sheep they just run into the fence and hurt themselves. He said he never ever did this with a dog who was the first time there. Since I never did shepherding before either, I didn't know how awsome Marco did. For me it was already a success that the sheep didn't get hurt.

Since they all had never heard or seen a Dutch Shepherd, Marco represented the breed very well.

But enough of words, here are some pics but I did mostly videos (with my ancient camera who only does 20 sec clips) and I posted it on youtube for you. It shows very nicely the progress Marco made from session to session. What I understand so far, the objective is to keep a certain distance to the sheep and the dog has to stay behind them. In the first session the trainer had a rake to make Marco understand the distance, the second a herding stick (with a curved end) and in the third a stick that looked like the one the blind use. Here is the link: http://youtu.be/ABDDjCwAGV8

Eva, Marco is a natural! He did absolutely wonderful from the video. I had the best time watching him and will again here. You could tell he was in his element and having loads of fun. The sheep worked perfect too without splitting or flighting, great for a starter dog. Please continue to keep us up on this venture.

Thanks! I already signed him up for another class in two weeks (next week was already booked, the trainer only takes up to four dogs in the morning and afternoon)

Too bad the memory card was already full when he took Marco out to the big field and when Marco brought the single sheep back. He was flying in lightning speed. They couldn't believe how fast a DS can be.

We definetly found his 'calling'. There is a herder in the Hollandse Herder! It is awesome to see them in their element and their genes kicking in and doing things they didn't know about before. No yelling, not much correcting, no treats to lure them to do things. They just do what comes naturally. Amazing to watch!

That is super! Looks like so much fun! Was he all pooped out afterwards?

Wow! He did absolutely amazing! I hope some day with maturity Xena can show that much restraint.

It is rather addictive. I keep looking around for a place to keep sheep!

Wonderful, natural, instinctive--All the words that came to my mind--looks like he has a career started!

Standing ovation! Sooooo cool!
I know that I don't have many dogs that would be like him. Maybe one or two who are gentle enough, the rest way too roudy and yeah, bad for the sheep. It is cool to see the gentler side of the brindle breed.

Great job Marco!!! Loved the video. He looked so good herding -

vneerland wrote: Standing ovation! Sooooo cool!
I know that I don't have many dogs that would be like him. Maybe one or two who are gentle enough, the rest way too roudy and yeah, bad for the sheep. It is cool to see the gentler side of the brindle breed.

Based on how crazy Marco gets when he sees cats and squirrels, I never would have thought he would do so well with the sheep.

I don't know much about it, but I think the sheep bring out a different side of a DS. It's like a switch is turned on and his mind is set on herding, genes are taking over or something. It's really great to see them 'on purpose'. But I have to say the trainer is excellent. Marco and him bonded right away. He has his way with dogs.

Just a little side note.... The lady who owns the farm has rescued all animals there. Sheep, goats, horses, pigs. And the sheep herding lessons support the feeding of the animals. So we have fun AND do something good.

Schlussdibusti wrote:Just a little side note.... The lady who owns the farm has rescued all animals there. Sheep, goats, horses, pigs. And the sheep herding lessons support the feeding of the animals. So we have fun AND do something good.

That's great!

Have fun, and don't worry about the sheep. An experienced trainer rarely lets the dog get that close until certain it won't "attack" instead of herd. ( I had a Border Collie, Baaad on sheep, great on Cattle)
Kella the maybe DS mix wanted to run from the sheep when first introduced . Havn't had time to go back due to family issues, but plan on trying again(along with other activities) in a few weeks time.