SSCGD Herding Clinic 2001

Gwen, Peri and I attended the SSC of Greater Detroit's Herding Clinic May 06, 2001 and.....drum roll please....Gwen passed her herding instinct test under instructor/judge Denise Teal! Gwen took her time sniffing around the pen and eyeing the ducks; but once she got started, she did a nice job of moving her ducks in a quiet, controlled manner. Pam Moore was sitting at ringside with her postop knee elevated on a pillow taking digital photos of all the dogs participating (thank you Pam!). Here are some of those photos:

I am sorry to say that Peri did not fare as well as Gwen did. He is very happy to "help" me with the sheep at home, but wanted absolutely nothing to do with those ducks. He followed me about the ring in perfect heel position as I herded the ducks for him (he has not been formally obedience trained yet either). It was interesting to watch the differing reactions the ducks had to the dogs. The ducks would walk right up to Peri and force him to move out of their way to avoid the pressure I was putting on them from behind. When Gwen was working, they would run through my feet to escape her even though she was a good 6 to 10 feet away. Another interesting note, Peri refused to make eye contact with the ducks, made a point of turning his head away. Gwen on the other hand maintained a fairly consistent eye contact with her ducks. This is not to be confused with "eye" as applied to a border collie's working style. Border collies have an almost mezmerizing effect on their stock. Shelties generally have a more "loose eyed" herding style. Here is Peri trying his best to ignore the ducks:

Ducks? What ducks? I don't see any ducks.