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ALL THE DOGS ON THIS PAGE ARE MINIATURE AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERDS
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THE GREAT HERD MOVE A Place Apart's Black Bart & Hoffman's Cinnamon Stick are on the job here. |
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These mini Aussies are moving some gentle horses from one pasture to another. During this move, the horses are relaxed and moving along at a quiet steady pace with the dogs following alongside and behind them. A Place Apart's Black Bart is moving behind to push a horse that has stopped to graze.
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 Enlarged insert of Hoffman's Cinnamon Stick,
"Sticker" as she shows her teeth and gives |
 "Sticker" decides they're just to close to the
woods |
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"Sticker" on the right, keeps horses next to a fence coming up
on the left side. She is followed by 6 month old puppy, Taycin's Rojo Resplendor,
who is learning by example how to take directions from the handler and how not to rush or
excite the stock. "Bart" follows along behind making sure the horses keep moving at a steady pace. |
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| Sticker, Bart & Rojo are very pleased with themselves after a morning's job well done. While Rojo plays with a bug, Both Sticker and Bart seem to be saying, "We did good, didn't we Mom"? |  |
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Hoffman's Cinnamon Stick working APA's Bright Joker Eyes. Actually Sticker wasn't supposed to be working
this 15.3 HD. 1300 LB stallion. I was trying to get an action shot of him and had
driven him off at a run. Sticker moved to turn him back toward me and away from the
woods. She put him into a flying lead change, from left to right which gave me
a great picture. I would not have knowingly let her work a stallion but didn't even
realize she was there until after the picture was taken. |
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In all of the morning's herd move, no barking or gripping was done.
| In each instance the dog moved into position and eyed the horse
into going on in the right direction. Should it become necessary for a dog to grip
(place his teeth on the heel of the animal being moved) he should by instinct, go for the
foot on the ground, giving him time to drop flat before the horse or cow can position that
foot to kick. Thus, the kick will pass over the head of the prone dog, missing him.
Aussies should remain quiet when herding stock. A few barks are occasionally
warranted but never when combined with gripping. Barking will allow the horse or cow
to pinpoint the exact position of the dog and kick it before the dog can grip and drop.
Dogs that bark while attempting to grip have been kicked and killed. Horses
can be very dangerous to work. Dogs should not be permitted to savage the stock. They should respond to basic commands, such as "come off", "come by me", and "get back", before being allowed to approach any kind of stock. Teaching the combination of voice and hand signals will prevent confusion in a running dog that doesn't hear a command. If the dog will not heed commands when around stock, he should be kept on a longline until willing to obey, or not used in herding at all. Some dogs are simply too aggressive with any kind of stock. |
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