Sheep herding

[Karen]

Tia & I had a great time yesterday at the Duck, Sheep & Cattle Herding Championships. As part of the event there are Herding Instinct tests held on sheep in one of the pens so Tia & I tried our luck. Much to a number of people's surprise she soon started to get the hang of what was wanted although she is very vocal about it. She seems to think the sheep will respond better if she tells them she wants them to come off the fence & actually move in a desired direction & so on. Needless to say she tackled the whole thing with typical poodle elan & tail wagging as she did what was wanted & was duly praised.
Paul, the property owner & very well known Kelpie breeder & trainer has invited us to come along to the beginners training weekend in December.

[zefi]

What fun!!! I'd love to see photos of Tia herding sheep!

[Karen]

Hopefully we will be able to get some. Paul said he would be willing to host a Poodle Day at his property if there are enough folk interested. The breeder of my pup to be wants to bring three of her dogs along to give it a try too. At the moment I am waiting to catch up with Paul & talk to him further about it as well as hopefully get some photos to go with the article I have written about Tia & her herding (she has been working on cattle since shortly after I got her) for the next Poodle Patter magazine. It would have been great to have some photos of her with the sheep but I was in the pen with her at the time & didn't have enough hands or time to get the camera out