Yesterday our collie club held a “Duck Day” at a club member’s house. The purpose of the event was to introduce our collies to stock, and see what kind of instinct they had for herding. There were three rough tri-colored collies, and all three of them were very excited and did well herding the ducks in an x-pen. Because these rough girls were so excited, the ducks were kept safely contained in the pen, to avoid any accidental injury. The smooth collies also showed herding instinct, but they were not as excited by the ducks, so they were allowed to try herding the ducks outside of the x-pen.
Raven went first...
Then Amber...
Followed by Kyleigh
Miley's turn!
Then Zoe gave it a try!
My two girls were also there, Abby went first, and we thought she would be excited by herding ducks. She loved herding sheep when we took her for a herding instinct test, but the ducks weren't that interesting to her...
And then it was Kori's turn...
She was very focused!
They were all very good collies, and while Abby clearly prefers herding sheep to ducks, I was proud of how well both my girls did. So while the collies were doing what collies do...I'm sure the ducks thought they were up to nothing but mischief!
The ducks might have been happy to see you all go! What a great get-together!
ReplyDeleteFun for the dogs .....that is for sure
ReplyDeleteI'm pretty sure my guys would just chase them.
ReplyDeleteMy guy has showed some interest at the park when the ducks/geese make noise. Be interesting to see what he would do given the opportunity in a controlled situation. He didn't show much interest in sheep back in September, he was to concerned with "mom", LOL!!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fun time for the dogs! Even though we have herding dogs, I am not too sure that they would herd, more likely chase! Although, I think that deaf Azule would be good at it, she is very focused and likes to see everyone together.
ReplyDeleteIt's so cool to have that instinct. My instinct is to dig for things in the ground. I bet the ducks needed a rest after that!
ReplyDeleteNubbin wiggles,
Oskar
I would love to do that but I would chase them everywhere bawahhaaa
ReplyDeleteMollie and Alfie
I wanted to try something similar like that with Blueberry - but I can never seem to coordinate my schedule to make the long drive to the test.
ReplyDeleteI bet those ducks were a little nervous! Glad the dogs had fun - what a neat little thing for them to try out!
Oh dear, we don't think we would ever be given the opportunity to herd ducks even if they were in a pen.
ReplyDeleteCongrats to all those collies for their managed mischief:)
Woos – Phantom, Thunder, Ciara, and Lightning
Looks like a fun meeting!
ReplyDeleteI've hard of dogs herding ducks, but never actually watched it. I grew up with Border Collies and they would have excelled at it. I laugh every time I think about our GSDs herding anything, though!
ReplyDeleteLook at those ducks run! Sadly, my Australian Shepherd mixes do not herd our ducks. The ducks herd them. My drakes bite the crap out of the dogs, chasing them all over the yard. It's actually pretty hilarious, but I try not to let it happen too often. Bullying is frowned upon here. :)
ReplyDeletewww.dogtreatweb.com
This is my first Monday Mischief blog hop and I am SO happy to meet you!!! I LOVE collies!! Thank you for the great herding pics.
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