[Jacob-list] herding dogs

[MView16 at aol.com]

I agree completely with Ed and Joan about herding dogs with strong instinct!  
If you want one to work, they have to have unyielding instinct, but that 
instinct makes them VERY FOCUSED on work and not cuddly pets.  I think my 
Border, Blue, was smarter than I was.  He was very well trained but wanted to 
herd everything that moved...including real motorboats and remote-controlled 
toys and cats and cows and...  I mentioned before that children and he never 
saw eye-to-eye.  He wanted the kids rounded up in a neat package; the kids 
did not like their legs nipped when they failed to obey.  If I didn't let 
Blue work, he could be quite naughty.  I imagine that there are Borders who 
are more petlike, but I also imagine that they might not be very good at 
herding Jacobs and Shetlands.  My Shetlands were actually more difficult than 
the Jacobs.  With 120 acres and 70 sheep, I needed a herding dog...even with 
my friendly (but wary) animals.  Living with Blue...plus a very willful, 
rodent-killing Jack Russell...definitely took the romanticism out of pet 
ownership (and sometimes made dog-rescue agencies seem very attractive) even 
though I loved these devils dearly for the many years of their lives.

Jeanne Massey
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