What is the relationship like between herding dogs and the flock? Does the flock fear and dislike the dog, or do they like it? Do they ever just chill together when they’re both off the clock, so to speak?
I honestly have no idea. I would assume it’s based on at least tolerance (because a dog the animals fear couldn’t protect them successfully – it has to stay near them) but I don’t have any experience with working herding dogs. @animalsustainability probably knows folk who can answer this for us!
So first of all there is a misconception to clear up. People with livestock have two different kinds of dogs – herding dogs and Livestock Guardian Dogs (LGDs). The LGD is the one that protects the sheep – that’s 100% of it’s job. The herding dog, on the other hand, doesn’t protect the flock – it’s job is to move the flock where the human says so. That is 100% of it’s job. And they rely on two very different skillsets – while crosses do happen by accident (I know a lovely collie/pyrenees cross but he was very much unplanned), they’re bred to do two very different jobs and behave very differently. Pyrenees/Maremmas/Caucasian Shepherds (basically dogs of the big fluffy white variety) are LGDs. Collies, Australian Shepherds, Blue Heelers, etc – all herding breeds.
The LGD pretty much lives with the flock – if the dog is chill, the sheep are chill, and the sheep also sometimes use the LGD as a way of deciding if something is a threat or not. It is socialized to be around the livestock first, and view them as its to protect, against humans or other threats. They are always on duty for their flock and will not be friendly to strangers. They don’t really go off the clock, but I’ve seen them sleeping in the middle of a bunch of sheep on more than one occasion.
Photo: Case in point – here we have a LGD chilling with his sheep. He later got bored watching us silly humans and napped. Such fluff. Much chill. Wow. Photo credit: H.C. Dougherty (me)
Conversely, the herding dogs are often kept away from the sheep until it’s time to herd them. If they aren’t needed, they either chill with their people or with other herding dogs or in a kennel – they only interact with livestock when it’s time to herd something. So no, off the clock chilling doesn’t happen – it’s contrary to goals. However, the sheep aren’t supposed to be happy to see the herding dog either – the dog is supposed to be something annoying or mildly threatening to move away from in a controlled manner.
This is because the herding dog is a positive pressure to get the animals to move away from the dog and towards where the shepherd wants. As I heard a producer say at the most recent sheep festival, “If I don’t want the sheep to go somewhere, I put a dog there”. Because the sheep want to stay away from the dog, you use the dog as a way of getting the sheep to move somewhere else. This relies on using dogs to safely mimic predator behavior in a controlled environment – the sheep recognize the dog as something to avoid.
Image: A diagram explaining the flight zone of an animal and where you should move as a human to get animals to move one way or another. Dogs can apply similar pressure. Photo credit: Temple Grandin
Every animal has a flight zone – a bubble of personal space that if breached by an unfamiliar animal or human, they move away. Herding relies on using a dog to manipulate the flight zones to get the animals to move in a certain way – by making it so they want to move away from the dog or human. Flight zone is a function of familiarity – that’s why sheep are chill with LGDs – they see them daily. Herding dogs need to not be around the sheep as much so that they can be pressure on that flight zone.
A well-trained dog/human pair (or dog/human combo in general) knows how to apply and release positive pressure of the dog and human to get the sheep to go someplace with minimal fuss. The dog applies pressure to get the sheep to move, which is relieved when the sheep move. Repeat as necessary to get the job done. Ever heard a person say “that’ll do” to a dog? That’s the signal for ‘ok, ease off on the pressure’.
You can see herding dogs moving in ways that would be like how you’d see wild canids stare at, stalk, and chase their prey – except in this case, we’ve trained the dogs away from the final ‘and then kill’ part of it, and just to move in such a way that they put pressure on the flight zone to get the sheep to move where we want them to. We’re basically faking a wolf going after them, but in a positive manner – sheep respond to a herding dog like they would to a wolf and that’s what we want. That’s also why the herding dogs aren’t kept with the sheep – so that response stays in place. We’re also playing off the dog’s natural instincts here.
The dogs are also trained for years to do this – starting young. I saw a 2 year old collie at the festival who was still very much a newbie. We use experienced dogs to train the newbies, and a lot of shepherds use multiple dogs as well. But it is a tough job and the dogs are trained well and rewarded well for it. When they’re off the job, they are happy cuddlebugs like any other dog would be. I’ve given many an off-duty collie some tummy rubs.
I won’t deny, the sheep are stressed by the dog’s presence and activities. But moving animals is always going to cause stress – the goal is to minimize the stress but still get the job done, and proper use of flight zones and pressure is the best way to do it. And “dog-broke” livestock, aka ones used to being herded by dogs, will respond with less stress than ones not used to it – there’s even a genetic basis for ease of herding that can and has been selected for, and lambs learn from their mothers. So the sheep can get used to it but it will still be effective as a method to move sheep into pens for vet checks/between paddocks/etc.
Fact of the matter is, herders need their dogs to effectively move their sheep in as low-stress a manner as possible, and it’s a work of art to see trained herding dogs do their job. With a well trained dog, the sheep are more annoyed than stressed, but know it’s part of the deal, and the dog and human work together like a visual symphony. If you have the chance to see sheepdog competitions – I seriously recommend you go. They’re visual art and so magnificent to see, and I love them so.
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