Third Sheep Herding Practice

Today, 7 of us from the Border Collie Dernegi went sheep herding. This was only the third sheep herding practice in Turkish history. This time, we went to the farm next door to the farm we had used in April. The new farm had unbroke sheep and NO fences, but it was faaaaar from any roads, and it was hot enough the sheep wouldn't run far.

I worked Savvy with the sheep, and they were very well behaved and docile. It helped that we worked the whole flock of 24 sheep, as sheep prefer big groups. Savvy did a super job and really listened to his commands.

I also worked Tag, the 2008 #3 Nursery dog in Wales. Tag also did a nice job, though I couldn't get him to stop for me. I knew he didn't "down," so I kept yelling "stand" at him. As it turns out, he stops on a "stay" command! Oops... No wonder he was ignoring me. :-)

Here are Savvy and Tag herding sheep as a brace.



I also took this photo of one of the three Border Collie / Kangal puppies at the farm. They look exactly like Border Collies, and are the same size, though they're only about 5-6 months old right now. Here is Haldun--owner of the Border Collie sire--with one of the puppies.


They are super friendly, but the owner says they have started killing chickens and taking chicken eggs. No wonder, as I found out that he only feeds his dozen or so dogs STALE BREAD in milk. That's their only food. No wonder they're desparate for protein.

After a successful morning of sheep herding, Haldun treated to a great lunch at a local road stop.