Teaching dogs to herd chickens

Last weekend was just so absolutely beautiful and fun.  Everything is green and flowers are blooming and some of us don't even have sleeves.

Truly, honestly, the only thing I wanted for Mother's Day was to spend a lazy day at home, soaking up the sun, not doing any chores, and drinking a beer whenever I pleased.  And guess what, friendy friends?  No, not "I have a drinking problem" (although sure, that might be an answer...but focus).  My wish came true!  And it was everything I hoped it could be (read: spectacular).

Of course, as you may have gathered or known already, relaxing is not relaxing for me.  Doing something interesting is relaxing for me (it's an illness, I know).  So on Sunday, because the chickens have just now started spending all their waking hours outdoors...

and the dogs have been behaving like this:

we decided it was high-time for our very first doggy herding lesson.

You see, we can't make three Australian Shepherds not interested in a flock of living creatures.  We just can't.  That would be like telling your brain not to say "collaborate and listen" every time someone hollers "stop!".  Just not gonna happen.  Instead, we're going to (please say a prayer) channel that energy into something that's useful for us: the dogs doing the work of moving the chickens so we can continue to do the not-work of drinking.  In the sun.  Leaning against things.

please note beer can in left hand

First of all, know that Tommy has been doing his due diligence.  Months ago he started reading Herding Dogs: Progressive Training and has since been obsessed with training our pups (all of them, including the old one that's not really a pup) to herd things (ideally sheep, but we make do sometimes).  I've humored this whole idea with the consolation that we might be able to put them work on the kids someday, which would be highly useful for me.  So with knowledge in brain and staff in hand, he got to work with dog number one.

Here's Chevy, a 10 month old Aussie shepherd/cattle dog cross.  This is her very first time working a herd of anything.  Notice her intense gaze but respectful distance off the birds.  (Does it make you feel uncomfortable when I talk fancy like that?) Alternate commentary: Notice how she and Tommy are perfecting their remarkable tandem dancing technique.  They're a shoe-in for first place in the Daddy/doggy Ballroom competition.

 

Most importantly, look at the birds.  They're in a group!  They're not scared!

 "Oh, my, god. Becky, look at her butt. It is so big"

I mean, really.  You don't have to know much about dogs or chickens to see what a good girl she is.  Technically she was even a little too submissive in terms of herding, but are we really trying to compete with this dog?  No.  We just want her to not eat our flock.  Success!

p.s. This was Cecilia's self-appointed chair during these shenanigans.  I swear, she is the quirkiest, most entertaining baby you will ever meet.  She's wearing a jacket because it had started raining earlier but she refused to come inside.  "A-side!  A-side!" she insisted.  Love...

After Chevy, it was Tuff's turn.  Now, Tuff is six years old and was not raised by us.  You know that thing about not teaching old dogs new tricks?  Well, we just got him back in August and although he is a "good" dog, he pretty much doesn't give a crap what we say if he has his eye on something.  Usually it's deer.  Sometimes it's a bagel.  On Sunday, it was these chickens.

Keep in mind that I'm not a very skilled photographer and I also spent a good portion of this segment running around the perimeter hollering (sounds attractive, huh?), but I'd just like you to note the state of the chickens.  Are they in a group?  Do they look calm and relaxed?  Does the dog look like he's "working"?  Correct, correct, and correct.  That's a big fat negatory on all three of those.

Here is an insider tip for all you herding dogs out there reading this: if your human has to physically carry your 55 lb. self back into the house after you try to make a snack out of one of their precious Barred Rock pullets whilst completely ignoring any and all commands from said handler, then you have received an F on your assignment.  No "Good Noodle" stars for you, mister!

Finally, it was time for Ranger to give it a try.  He's a full brother from the same litter as our female, Chevy and is a cuddly love-bug of a dog.  Again, it's a little hard to tell what's going on from the photos, but I can promise you that when this lesson was over, Ranger received no fewer than six thousand puppy treats, a fully body massage and a special love song composed and sung by my dear husband.

He was incredible.  Super-star dog.  Not only did he not try to eat the birds (and this dog is a HUGE fan of food, so this was a feat in and of itself), he actually moved them in a group around the yard as per Tommy's direction.

Of course, this is their first day ever, so Tommy is right there with him the whole time, but can you believe how cute that stocky little guy is?  And how he righted all the wrongs performed by Tuff?  He is the world's best dog.  Moments like this make me just a little sad that we did away with his pesky testicles.

So there it is folks- the most super countrified Mother's Day a person could possibly imagine.  And I loved every minute of it!