Herding Games For All Dogs?

Herding Games For All Dogs? by Kay Laurence Herding Games Herding People - right into the wrong net Herding: the activity of bringing animals together into a group and maintaining that group for care and management. It is also the process where people follow group thinking or decisions of others and is regularly used in marketing to promote product and brand success. We can do better. Knowledge is power. Herding Dogs The breed classification Herding , (in the UK: Pastoral) relates to the original occupation of the dogs. It is deliberately broad and unspecific and used as a simple description for dogs that move, protect and manage livestock: from sheep to geese, cattle to reindeers. Each herding breed of dog has been selectively refined for the: type of livestock : sheep, goats, cattle, llamas, pigs type of grazing land : mountain, fields, desert, prairies, wilderness function: gathering, cutting, driving, protection, sorting. Pyrenean Mountain dogs are a guarding breed unlikely to walk geese to market. Reindeer are not going to see the driving Corgis that may disappearing in the snow. Today's herding dogs living in a stock free world can flourish when able to enjoy the activities suited to the inherited functions of that individual breed. Generically recommended activities for herding dogs will be a poor fit for many of them. Guarding dogs are unlikely to be sucked into repetitive ball chasing. Border Collies and Working Sheepdogs are a popular subdivision who work in a specialised way using instincts nurtured through selective breeding. This selective process can often make them uncomfortable and quite unsuited for the biting, chasing, grabbing activities that are considered ideal for general herding breeds. Just because a dog appears to willingly participate in the activity does not make it a suitable or beneficial choice. It is an easy sell to lump similar breeds together to widen the sales potential. The grouping of gundog breeds often ignores their historic specialisation: Pointers are not known for diving into water and rarely attend retrieving clinics. Many farm dogs will roll up their sleeves and turn their hand to many different tasks: tractor companions, general purpose "move the ... chickens, cattle or sheep" and alert the neighbourhood when sales reps come to call. Specialised farms will need the exceptional dogs that can gather a mountain side (BC), shift 1000 head of sheep (Kelpies), drive 2000 cattle across plains (Aussies). To develop these specialists there can be a cost to the generalisation of farm work. “Games” As far as the dog is co

ncerned this is not a game, this is work. They will put their heart and soul into trying to succeed within the parameters of their instincts. We should be seeking activities that enable the dogs to experience their inherited skills in a way that is beneficial to their mental well-being and physical fitness. By labelling it a game there is a danger that if there are mistakes it will not matter since it is "only a game". Considering play and games as something frivolous is a human perception. The purpose of play is to prepare the young for their life skills: hunting, parenting, kill, chase, or shopping. Games can be destructive and harmful when played thoughtlessly. Dogs can become hyper-aroused, frustrated and physically damaged by the repetition of purposeless chasing and biting. Herding Games: Recommendations Widely gathered [chortle] by AI and his pal Google the top recommendation for herding dogs is Treibball or CollieBall. This is the activity that entertains people watching dogs pointlessly try to bite, grab, shove and move large inflated balls. Football for dogs. Big Money, no purpose. No livestock would ever be subjected to the abuse of biting, pulling and grabbing: sheep, goats, cattle, none of these would survive. Herding dogs would not have been bred for this function. Rip offs We have a band of people content to rip off content and reproduce semi-understood material as their own herding games. These come with a range of unimaginative labels and are marketed for your herding breed. Google cannot tell you whether this game is of any benefit to your dog it will just trawl for words; both good and bad. It is no more than marketing. This cost of this misinformation will hit your dog’s welfare as well as your pocket. With skilful training all types of dogs can learn to retrieve, protect, hunt, chase rabbits. All dogs can enjoy scenting and working their nose-skills. But when the learning of these activities conflicts with the instincts of that dog there is the potential for distress and the illusion of enjoyment. Here is Timmi, a rescue of unknown origins but a keen eye for escaping balls enjoying his SheepBall® activities, No stress, no expectation, just understanding and careful development aligned with his individual instincts. Does it matter? By gosh yes, it matters for the dogs and for the people that think these activities are suitable or beneficial. Any type of dog that considers a ball can be substitute prey can enjoy the activity: when played the right way . As much as any dog that enjoys retrieving can participate in disc dog, or those wit

h noses can learn to track or dive into water. We see the appeal of dogs fully engaged and engrossed in an activity but this does not give us a licence to ask our own dog to be in conflict with their instinct for our entertainment. Some dogs may enjoy licking food off plastic mats or sucking food from a rubber tube but not every dog; for some this has no attraction. Be wary of the hard marketing appealing to your desire to find the ultimate toy, game or sport. The interest is in income not development of your dog and the "game" salesmanship is playing on guilt to give your herding dog satisfying employment. No dog, especially but Border Collies, should be active in any herding games without a good understanding of what they are doing, how they are doing it and why . When misunderstood the dog is the one to pay the price. #herdinggames Resources to explore: Flock of Collies Learn more: their history, the real work, the Collie Brain, discover the delights of Sheepballs® Games and to Play Well. Learn how to find a balance with their Collieness and your lifestyle. NEXT SheepBalls® course: Do We Want Impulse Control? Teaching your Collie “impulse control” is the wrong way of thinking about their urges, and certainly an unhelpful way of dealing with them. Read More Not Today and Not for My Sheepdogs Standard protocols of extinction, impulse control, counterconditioning are quickly grabbed off the shelf as satisfactory solutions. These solutions are unlikely to help your collie, your sheepdog as the focus is heavily on suppression of who they are and why they live. Read More Herding Games For All Dogs? The wrong herding game is like trying to make a tennis player succeed at football Read More What We Get Right About Dogs We can learn from remarkable people who have worked with remarkable dogs: training and learning are not the same thing at all. Read More Any Dog But a Collie After deciding I wanted to live with a dog, the only dog I ruled out was a Border Collie. Read More Ear Myths There is a myth surrounding Border Collies that ear shape, coat colour or texture, and even eye colour are indicators of that dog’s personality,... Read More The Experienced Dog Knowing your dog has receive sufficient preparation does not mean every eventuality, but a range of different conditions so that when the unexpected happens they will draw on their skills and solve the issue. Read More Be-toothed Learning Machines The thing they don’t tell you is that raising a puppy is DANGED HARD WORK. Biting everything, peeing everywhere, eating anything; not for the faint hearted. Read

More A New Puppy. Oh Joy. Impulse buying the wrong sofa can be rectified if you swallow the expense. Impulse buying a puppy can result in personal grief for you and your family and quite possibly result in a very unhappy future or end the life of that puppy. Read More Dogs are Born To Learn We can build tremendous learners when we get beyond the idea that “dogs are trained”. Read More Surprising Puppy Surprising Puppy. With obnoxious moments. After introducing the obnoxious puppy as a youngster I am knocked over by the Delightful Young Man he is turning into…… Read More A Day of Learning A no-training day does not mean he gets a lazy day lying idly in the sun. Learning is still happening and this is significant and important for his development. Read More 1 Comment Sylvie Mazan on 27th November 2025 at 4:57 pm True expertise, generally going with honesty and humility -awareness of the limits of our knowledge-, should always be applauded. Thank you Kay. Reply Submit a Comment Cancel reply Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked * Comment * Name * Email * Website Δ