Some notes on various herding practices in Germany
The area of Germany (Gelnhausen) I was stationed in was rural, with rolling hills, orchards, and patchwork fields with corn, safflower, cabbage, barley and grass. Farmers usually graze their cattle and sheep for a few days in one area, then move on to another. Often, the land they graze belongs to someone else, and has crops adjacent to it, so they cannot fence it, and need a good herding dog to stop the stock from straying into the land owners' crops.
At Coleman Kaserne ... we have a shepherd who has an open grazing permit, so sheep graze around the barracks, motorpool and other buildings. He has 600 head, so when he comes on post, the sheep clog the road until they are all through the gate and onto the grassy areas. He has three Border Collie type dogs, about 75-80 pounds. They have blunt muzzles and broad heads, and drop ears, one is black and white, one tricolor, the other blue merle. He calls them Schottische Colleys. The dogs 'wear' the sheep when he goes down the village strests, and out to his grazing areqa, and once there, he sits under a tree with the dogs, and watches them graze. If one strays toward the road, he nods his head in the direction of the stray, and one of the dogs will be off like a streak, and herd it back to the grazing area using "eye." When wearing, the dogs nip and run back and forth to keep the flock following after the shepherd.
Other local farmers I have seen in the Gelnhausen area, and also out in Graf and Hohenfels, have large, shaggy black Bergermeister Sheepdogs, Briards, Pyrenese Sheepdogs or Belgian Laekenois (wire coated Belgian). The only GSDs I saw herding were those trained for SV herding trials... the "patrolling" boundaries is not something I have seen in practical herding, at least not in the fashion seen at HGH trials.
The practical farmer's dogs on the other hand, seemed to have a strong gathering instinct, and moved flocks or herds by wearing, running back and forth behind the flock, nipping heels when needed to keep the animals moving. The cattle dogs would leap up and nip the noses of cows who refused to move, in addition to nipping heels. The large sheepherding dogs, Colleys, Briards, and Bergermeisters would ram into the shoulders of the sheep to turn them back, and gripped as a last resort. The Pyrenese Sheepdogs I saw on occasion barked.
--Janet Larson
Once when I was out working my Shelties with the ducks at the Stanford field, a lady walked by and stopped to watch. Then she asked me, "are you training the dogs to herd sheep?" I was a little surprised that she had realized this, and said yes, how did you know? She related that when she was a little girl in Germany and spent the summer on a cousin's farm, one of her jobs had been to take the geese out to graze with two young shepherd dogs. The dogs were practicing for their future career as sheepdogs, and worked much like she saw my Shelties working.
So apparently, as is also the case with some aspects of Border Collie herding trials, what the farmers actually do doesn't always coincide with what is seen at trials. And there's more than one way to herd a sheep. Whatever the situation requires.
--Linda Rorem
When I was in Germany a few years ago, I stopped on a 4-lane hiway, jumped out of the car and ran across the road to talk to a shepherd with a flock of several hundred sheep. The sheep weren't fenced - nothing separating them from this road where 50mph was considered SLOW (not an autobahn, but a main 4-laner). Nothing that is except one Briard! He immediately came over and visited with me but something startled the flock and he was instantly all business, watching the sheep to make sure they were not in any danger. What was the shepherd doing? Chatting with a friend who had ridden from town on his bike. Shepherd never once looked at the sheep. That was the dog's job. Really impressive. I came home and almost bought a Briard after watching him, but decided too much hair. That's why I now have a Malinois - short coat, no grooming! :)
--Jane Rothert
I lived in the Eifel region of Germany for about six years. During this time I was a member of the local SV Club (German Shepherd Club). Our club was in a beautiful location placed back in the woods with the only way in a small one lane road. Adjacent to the club was approximately a slightly rolling 10 acre field of wonderful pasture grass by anyones standards, which belonged to one of the club members. Across the road was a corn field and barley field also which was split in two by a dirt path which led to the back side of the village were I lived. Every Sunday the local shepherd would bring approx. 150-200 sheep here to graze. I was amazed how these dogs (which were Briards) worked so smoothly (for the lack of a better term). The shepherd would bring the sheep down the road and then into the pasture. One dog accompanied the handler, the other worked the flock from behind wearing covering the sheep by wearing keeping them moving forward. Once all the sheep were led to the graze the shepherd then walked up to the club house, tying his lead dog to tree, leaving the other dog at the rear of the flock. He then join us sitting outside sipping the local brew or two or three or four. The sheep would eat and graze very peacefully under the watchful eye of the loose dog who in fact only moved from his cool spot in the shade when the sheep tried to leave the graze. The dog would then herd them back to the grazing area away from the road and the barley and corn field. When it became time to move on the shepherd would call the dogs and the sheep were set in motion again off to another pasture. During this time I never saw either of his dogs constantly patrol, but they did work the sides of the flock when traveling adjacent to crops. The majority of the time the dog at the rear fetched the sheep toward the shepherd setting the pace as to not force the flock to move to fast. Additionally, I did see him use the dogs to block traffic, and keep the sheep in graze areas.
--Larry Sisson
The area of Germany (Gelnhausen) I was stationed in was rural, with rolling hills, orchards, and patchwork fields with corn, safflower, cabbage, barley and grass. Farmers usually graze their cattle and sheep for a few days in one area, then move on to another. Often, the land they graze belongs to someone else, and has crops adjacent to it, so they cannot fence it, and need a good herding dog to stop the stock from straying into the land owners' crops.
At Coleman Kaserne ... we have a shepherd who has an open grazing permit, so sheep graze around the barracks, motorpool and other buildings. He has 600 head, so when he comes on post, the sheep clog the road until they are all through the gate and onto the grassy areas. He has three Border Collie type dogs, about 75-80 pounds. They have blunt muzzles and broad heads, and drop ears, one is black and white, one tricolor, the other blue merle. He calls them Schottische Colleys. The dogs 'wear' the sheep when he goes down the village strests, and out to his grazing areqa, and once there, he sits under a tree with the dogs, and watches them graze. If one strays toward the road, he nods his head in the direction of the stray, and one of the dogs will be off like a streak, and herd it back to the grazing area using "eye." When wearing, the dogs nip and run back and forth to keep the flock following after the shepherd.
Other local farmers I have seen in the Gelnhausen area, and also out in Graf and Hohenfels, have large, shaggy black Bergermeister Sheepdogs, Briards, Pyrenese Sheepdogs or Belgian Laekenois (wire coated Belgian). The only GSDs I saw herding were those trained for SV herding trials... the "patrolling" boundaries is not something I have seen in practical herding, at least not in the fashion seen at HGH trials.
The practical farmer's dogs on the other hand, seemed to have a strong gathering instinct, and moved flocks or herds by wearing, running back and forth behind the flock, nipping heels when needed to keep the animals moving. The cattle dogs would leap up and nip the noses of cows who refused to move, in addition to nipping heels. The large sheepherding dogs, Colleys, Briards, and Bergermeisters would ram into the shoulders of the sheep to turn them back, and gripped as a last resort. The Pyrenese Sheepdogs I saw on occasion barked.
--Janet Larson
Once when I was out working my Shelties with the ducks at the Stanford field, a lady walked by and stopped to watch. Then she asked me, "are you training the dogs to herd sheep?" I was a little surprised that she had realized this, and said yes, how did you know? She related that when she was a little girl in Germany and spent the summer on a cousin's farm, one of her jobs had been to take the geese out to graze with two young shepherd dogs. The dogs were practicing for their future career as sheepdogs, and worked much like she saw my Shelties working.
So apparently, as is also the case with some aspects of Border Collie herding trials, what the farmers actually do doesn't always coincide with what is seen at trials. And there's more than one way to herd a sheep. Whatever the situation requires.
--Linda Rorem
When I was in Germany a few years ago, I stopped on a 4-lane hiway, jumped out of the car and ran across the road to talk to a shepherd with a flock of several hundred sheep. The sheep weren't fenced - nothing separating them from this road where 50mph was considered SLOW (not an autobahn, but a main 4-laner). Nothing that is except one Briard! He immediately came over and visited with me but something startled the flock and he was instantly all business, watching the sheep to make sure they were not in any danger. What was the shepherd doing? Chatting with a friend who had ridden from town on his bike. Shepherd never once looked at the sheep. That was the dog's job. Really impressive. I came home and almost bought a Briard after watching him, but decided too much hair. That's why I now have a Malinois - short coat, no grooming! :)
--Jane Rothert
I lived in the Eifel region of Germany for about six years. During this time I was a member of the local SV Club (German Shepherd Club). Our club was in a beautiful location placed back in the woods with the only way in a small one lane road. Adjacent to the club was approximately a slightly rolling 10 acre field of wonderful pasture grass by anyones standards, which belonged to one of the club members. Across the road was a corn field and barley field also which was split in two by a dirt path which led to the back side of the village were I lived. Every Sunday the local shepherd would bring approx. 150-200 sheep here to graze. I was amazed how these dogs (which were Briards) worked so smoothly (for the lack of a better term). The shepherd would bring the sheep down the road and then into the pasture. One dog accompanied the handler, the other worked the flock from behind wearing covering the sheep by wearing keeping them moving forward. Once all the sheep were led to the graze the shepherd then walked up to the club house, tying his lead dog to tree, leaving the other dog at the rear of the flock. He then join us sitting outside sipping the local brew or two or three or four. The sheep would eat and graze very peacefully under the watchful eye of the loose dog who in fact only moved from his cool spot in the shade when the sheep tried to leave the graze. The dog would then herd them back to the grazing area away from the road and the barley and corn field. When it became time to move on the shepherd would call the dogs and the sheep were set in motion again off to another pasture. During this time I never saw either of his dogs constantly patrol, but they did work the sides of the flock when traveling adjacent to crops. The majority of the time the dog at the rear fetched the sheep toward the shepherd setting the pace as to not force the flock to move to fast. Additionally, I did see him use the dogs to block traffic, and keep the sheep in graze areas.
--Larry Sisson