#54 - Sheepdog Trials

If you follow my newsletter, you know that last week I attended the sheepdog trials at the Fryeburg Fair in Maine. I thought I'd delve a little deeper into just what that means.

Yorkshire Working Dogs

Last year, when we were hiking in Yorkshire, we watched a sheepdog demonstration. It was a cold and drizzling evening...and the dogs didn't care in the least. Twenty sheep were scattered over a wide, Yorkshire-steep pasture bounded by tall stone walls. Two sheep dogs were commanded to round them up.

One raced along the high stone wall, the other shot through the gaps among the 50 people who had gathered to watch and shot off along the lower wall. They arced in a great pear shape with the handler standing by the pen as the tip, the dogs tracing the rounded sides, and the sheep rapidly gathered into a herd at the middle then driven back toward the handler. The dogs never got within twenty meters of the sheep, often more. They would shift, and lie down, causing the herd of sheep to shy one way. Then they'd shift again and lie down, coaxing the sheep into another angle.

It was all done with few words, only a couple of whistles, and gestures with the long shepherd's hook. The handler only moved to open and close the gate of the pen that the sheep were driven into. This is what working sheepdogs do in the real world.

Fryeburg Herding Competition

This was rather different. Rather than the cold drizzle on rough terrain, we spent a sunny morning on the perfectly flat midfield of a horse-racing track. Four sheep are gathered at one end. At the other stand the dog and handler. In between lie three obstacles. Roughly like this diagram.

1. The dog races away in the long loop to gather the four sheep that their owner has enticed to gather on the field with a small bucket of feed.
2. The dog breaks the sheep loose and drives them together.
3. He guides them through a gate (at Fryeburg, a pair of orange cones)
4. The sheep are driven around the handler (who can wave their shepherd's hook but can't move otherwise). And through another two gates (at Fryeburg, a V-shaped entry into a narrow handling chute shaped like a small, humped walking bridge over a stream, and then through a gap in a pair of fences).
5. Across the field and through a final gate.
6. Before getting all four to enter a pen opened by the handler.

The commands are almost exclusively high whistles and shouts of "Lie Down" (which actually means "Stop." The dog will choose whether to remain standing or lie down at the command.) Five minutes, get it done.

If only it was so simple. It went more like this:

Here's the dog ready to go:

The shepherd at the far end of the course signals that his sheep are ready:

The dogs live for this next moment as they race wide down the field to get the sheep moving...fast:

For each time the sheep run up the field, the dog probably covers the ground five or more times, racing to be in the right position to guide the sheep into just the right angle of approach to the next obstacle. Also, sheep tend to stay in herds, but sometimes one gets an idea to go off on its own. The dog now has to run a great deal to gather it back with the others and head them off toward the next obstacle.

Over the little bridge:

Through the final gate:

And into the pen:

If Only It Was That Simple

There's a five-minute time limit. Dogs only get one shot at each obstacle. Tourist helicopter rides (to go see the amazing fall colors) sound loud overhead, sometimes two or three at a time. Crowds line the whole fence. They applaud loudly for each challenge achieved and groan as if in pain at the near misses (the complete misses get silence except for the shrill whistles by the handler). There are sheep in holding pens at the very base of the course and past the final pen--terribly distracting. 

These dogs are incredibly eager and can literally run for hours if needed. One young dog was so eager that he ran right into the small herd and nipped the leg of one sheep who wasn't moving fast enough for him. He was instantly disqualified and received a severe verbal reprimand from his handler.

Fryeburg Sheepdog Trials is a qualifying ground for the national level competitions. These challenges get far more complex. There will be two batches of sheep, well separated at the start. All must be gathered and run through the obstacles together...mostly. Half of the sheep will be wearing wide collars. At one point, the dog must separate the collared and uncollared sheep, without spooking them into running off. If you've seen the movie Babe, it never happens like that.

Curiously, the most successful dogs never came close to the sheep. They would race from position to position, but moved toward the sheep slowly, herding gently rather than driving them at a stampede pace. They'd often leap to their feet, shift a few steps sideways, and lie back down, convincing the sheep to change their course ever so slightly.

The Commands

The Basics include:

• Cast: Go around and get those sheep moving
• Come bye: circle the sheep clockwise (a distinct whistle)
• Away to me: circle them anti-clockwise (a different whistle)
• Lie Down: stop 
• Steady: approach slowly (a low, steady whistle)
• Walk Up: move toward the sheep (short series of whistles)
• Look Back: turn around to gather more flock or look at me (a single long whistle)
• Find: go look for strays
• That'll do: job is done

The Training

It takes 6-12 months to fully train a sheepdog (probably more if they're going to compete). But they can work at peak efficiency for 5-8 years and many work for 10-15 years. These are hard-working, driven dogs who just don't know the meaning of stop. Yet when off-task, I've found them to be exceptionally friendly and sociable.

Just don't pick up a tennis ball or Frisbee, they'll never let you stop.