Herding

Reyna’s definitely enjoying her herding lessons, and she’s picking it up really quickly. We’ve moved up to the front graze, which means Reyna has four sides to patrol and the sheep tend to move around a lot more. She’s very good about figuring out where the borders are, but she has to test them occasionally. She’s excellent about watching all of the sheep, even if they split into multiple groups, and she doesn’t pay much attention to me at all. Reyna is amazingly good about letting a sheep graze right up to the edge of the graze, but not over. A couple of Claire’s sheep like to push the limits with Reyna, and she’s been wonderful about controlling her responses. During our last two sessions, she’s only lunged once. And last time, she was able to walk right up to the sheep and do nothing more than stick out her tongue (I gotta start carrying Benadryl with me, just in case she ever gets a mouthful of wool). Its really fun to watch her stalk the sheep when they get too close to the border. When she can’t see them because the brush is too high, I can see her air scenting. Reyna’s learning that she doesn’t need to spin constantly or bark incessantly. She’s figured out that simply turning her back on the sheep and sitting down is an excellent way to take the pressure off (and when that’s not enough, a little spinning and snacking on some grass is okay).

Our sessions have been starting at 7pm, so a couple of the pictures I took Sunday are a bit dark…

Here's Reyna straining against the leash, desperate to get to the sheep that Claire was moving into the graze. The look on her face was pitiful...


Minding the border, watching her sheep.


Coming towards a sheep who is getting dangerously close to the border.


Watching her sheep from the far side of the graze.




Coming around the corner, ready to correct the problem.


Encouraging the sheep back into the graze.


Everyone's relaxed.


She may look like she's taking a break, but she knows exactly where her sheep are.


A nice finish to the evening.