German Shepherds in Herding




We begin our grazing session by taking the sheep to a narrow, grassy roadside where the low branches of the locust trees tempt the sheep. Shobeq, a trained sheep-tending dog, patrols the boundary of the graze -- the edge of a country road. His patrolling action keeps the sheep off the road and out of the way of passing cars. Shobeq trots along the edge of the road so as not to interfere with traffic. Address comments to Ann Garner at Herdenhunde vom Weiher.



Shobeq stands on one side of a narrow gate while I and the Beihund, Fee, stand on the opposite side as the sheep go through. The textural quality of the photos is due to the fact that they were excerpted from a video of a working session of the herding dogs.



Here you can see the two dogs as the sheep settle on the wide grazing area in an unfenced meadow and Shobeq, the main dog (Haupthund), goes out to patrol the boundary of the graze where it connects with the neighborhood airstrip. Fee stays at my side until it is her turn to do the Haupthund work. Comments invited. Ann Garner at Herdenhunde vom Weiher.




The upper left of this photo shows the airstrip and hangars. Shobeq patrols a path that has been worn around the edge of the sheep's favorite wide grassy area. He patrols up and down along the edge of the airstrip and comes around the graze toward Fee and me just about to the point he now is. Then he turns and goes back along the airstrip and across the "top edge" of the flock, turns again and works along the edge of the airstrip, where we do not want the sheep to go.



Time to go home. Shobeq moves the sheep along the road to their home pen. Even after more than an hour of very active work, you can see the energy in his body. He loves his work and will tend sheep gladly all day long.

I invite your questions and comments.

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    Copyright 1997. Ann Garner. You are permitted to use the information on these pages for your personal benefit. Publication in hard copy for commercial purposes is NOT PERMITTED. Please cite this webpage as your source.

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