TENDING THE FLOCK Many beautiful artworks portray the
shepherd or
shepherdess and their flocks and shepherd dogs
by Linda Rorem
From the beginning of their domestication sheep have been watched over by
shepherds or shepherdesses as they grazed. The animals were encouraged to
feed in particular areas considered to be the most suitable, or on ground
left to them after parts of the land were taken up for other uses; they were
moved to fresh grazing grounds, and protected from predators. Over the
centuries, dogs have aided in this work. Earlier on, dogs performed more of
a guardian role rather than being actively involved in the controlling the
movement of the sheep. Eventually, more active herding dogs were developed
that played a more direct part in controlling the movements and placement of
the flock. In some regions, a larger guardian dog continued to be used in
conjunction with a smaller, more active herding dog. Tending livestock
didn’t necessarily involve a dog. Children were often set to the task. But
if Little Boy Blue had had a dog to help him, maybe the sheep wouldn’t have
gotten into the meadow or the cows in the corn.
Sheep, goats, cattle, geese and pigs could be seen grazing in open areas
under the supervision of their shepherd, goatherd, cowherd, gosherd or
swineherd.
Herdsman with Cows, in the Distance, a Village,
Johann Friedrich Voltz, 19th century
Tending geese, by Otto Weber, 1832-1888
In his “The German Shepherd Dog in Word and Picture”, 1925, Capt. Max von Stephanitz wrote that in eastern Germany:
. . . they [shepherd dogs] are also used for tending large
flocks of geese. The dog for such work must be carefully
selected, for a goose is very short-tempered and has a very
good idea about how to use its beak, but it cannot stand any
grip. In former times when the geese in large flocks waddled
from Posen to the Berlin market, shepherd dogs generally
trotted along with them to drive them.
Some years ago when I was doing some training with my Shelties and ducks
in a large open area on the Stanford University campus, a lady who was
walking by stopped and asked me if I was training the dogs to herd sheep.
When I answered that yes, I was, she related that when she was a young girl
in Germany and spent a 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 she said that they
worked much like she saw my Shelties working.
Sheep and goats were often to be found in the same flock, and at times a
mixed group would include other types of farm animals as well.
Painting by Paulus Potter, 1651, Holland
Conditions weren’t the same in every region,
nor were they static over time.
Practices varied from region to
region and in different periods as agricultural practices changed.
In continental Europe, it was common practice for the shepherd to lead
the flock, as a traveler from England visiting France related in the
Sporting Magazine
in 1828:
Early in the morning, or in evening's dusk, you see
la mere and her famille
carelessly lounging at the head of their flock, perhaps three
hundred, and they trotting after in perfect order. She now and then turns
round and gives an inviting look, or a sort of chirp, and they scamper to
the signal— Monsieur Le Chien
bringing up the rear with the skill of an
Adjutant. In all France the sheep follow the shepherd, not he the sheep.
Travelers in Germany observed:
Every village has its geese-herd, swineherd and shepherd. Every morning
these respective functionaries blow their horns along the street, when
geese, swine and sheep come running out of every gateway and alley, each to
join its kind, to be led on a common village pasture. Long lines of gabbling
geese run through narrow fenceless footpaths, without daring to touch a
single blade not their own. The shepherds sometimes remain on the
neighboring hills for whole weeks. At night they commit their flocks to
their dogs. These animals, not very unlike sheep in color and hair, possess
a remarkable intelligence and faithfulness. I have seen the shepherd walking
carelessly ahead of his flock, while the dogs would run guard on each side.
The hungry sheep were tempted to browse among the rank wayside grass, while
the faithful dog would check the slightest attempt at depredation.
"Ramblings along the Rhine and in Switzerland," from
The Guardian,
publication of the Reformed Church in the United States, Sept. 1875
A Scotch shepherd, with his dog, walks behind his flocks in removing them
from one place to another; a Saxon shepherd walks before his sheep; and
these instinctively following, are kept together by the dog, which saunters
observingly in the rear.
From "Green Vaults of Dresden" (in Chambers’ Journal,)
Living Age,
1848
Return of the
Flock, Jean-François Millet, France
A Shepherd and His Flock, Armand Guéry, 1910, France
On The Way Home,
Félix-Saturnin Brissot de Warville, France
Leading the flock was not an invariable continental practice,
however, just as there were shepherds in Britain and the U.S. who
led their sheep rather than driving them. Many European paintings
show the shepherd beside or behind the flock. Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton in his Instructions Pour Les Bergers discussed
both driving and leading the flock:
Q. How ought the shepherd to manage his flock, when
driving it? A. He ought to prevent any animal from
separating from the flock, by running before, remaining behind, or
straying to the right or left.
Q. How can a shepherd do all that ? A. By the aid of his whip, his
crook, and his dogs; when he makes his flock go before him, he
drives the sheep behind, with his whip: the dog is before, and
restrains the sheep from going forward too fast: the shepherd
menaces those that stray to the right or left, to make them return
to the flock, or if he has a dog behind him, he sends him after the
sheep, which stray, to bring them back, or makes them return, by
throwing a little dirt at them, so as never to touch their bodies,
which is improper.
Q. How does he set the flock forward again ? A.
He speaks to the dog, which is
before, to let them advance, and then drives forward the hinder
sheep; he can make them go forward, or return by speaking to them in
different tones, to which he accustoms them.
Q. Can a shepherd
conduct his flock by going before ? A. Yes, if he has at least one dog, on
which he can depend, to prevent any part of the flock straying
behind, or on the sides. The flock follows the shepherd even better
than the dog, but it is necessary he should have regard to the
sheep, behind.
Instructions Pour Les Bergers,
by Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton, 1782
Von Stephanitz noted that practices varied according to local
conditions, and that in Germany:
As a rule, the sheep there [Northern Germany] are always
accompanied by two dogs at least, while to the South of the Main one
is generally sufficient. In this part, flocks of 200 sheep are
already considered large, while in the North the average flock
numbers 300 head and sometimes from 5-600 head . . . in Southern
Germany the shepherd always goes ahead of his flock when on the
road; while in the North, the shepherd always walks about two-thirds
of the way down the flock, so that he can oversee such a large
number. This is very necessary, because the pilfering sheep are
easily tempted to loiter, and the shepherd dog ("halben-hund")
cannot be everywhere at the same time. It is also necessary, because
it would be only too easy, when driving through the narrow turnings
in a village, for a sheep to be stolen from the long procession.
From The German
Shepherd Dog in Word and Picture, by Capt.
Max von Stephanitz, 1925
With the smaller flocks of the Low Countries, the shepherd often
walked among, behind, or beside the sheep.
Return of the Flock,
Anton Mauve, Holland
Return of the Flock
Cornelis van Leemputten, Belgium
Shepherd and Flock,
Cornelis Westerbeek, Holland
A Shepherd With His Flock, Frans de Beul, Belgium
Anton Mauve, Holland
On the road to and from the grazing fields, the dog would keep
the sheep on the path, working the sides, front, and rear. They did
not merely escort the sheep, but actively controlled their movement,
taking any position around the flock as the situation called for.
Q.
How do dogs serve to direct the course of a flock? A.
When a shepherd drives his flock before him, he can greatly hasten
its speed, and that of the sheep, which remain behind; but he cannot
prevent it from going too quick, nor the sheep from running forward
too fast, or straying to the right or left; it is necessary, he
should have the aid of dogs, to place round the flock, to send
forward, or to restrain such as go too fast, to bring up those which
remain behind, or stray to the right or left. Q.
How can a shepherd make his dog perform these different manoeuvres? A. He must train them from their youth, and accustom
them to obey his voice. The dog goes on all sides; before the flock
to stop it; behind it, to make it go forward; on the sides, to
prevent it from straying: he remains at his post, or returns to the
shepherd, according to signs given him, which he understands.
Instructions Pour Les Bergers,
by Louis-Jean-Marie Daubenton, 1782
A Shepherd With a Flock of Sheep,
Charles-Emile Jacque, France
Jean-Henri Fabre wrote in
Our Humble Helpers,
1918:
I should like above all things to have
you see him on duty when the flock is on the road, going to market
or changing pastures. He walks behind, absorbed in his grave duties.
Dogs from the neighboring farms come to meet him, and they pay him
the polite attentions customary at the meeting of comrades. 'Go
away,' he seems to say to them; 'you see that I have no time to
exchange civilities with you.' And without glancing at them he
continues his watchful following of the flock. It is wise of him,
for already some sheep have stopped to crop the grass at the side of
the road. To make them rejoin the flock takes but a minute. At this
spot the hedge is open, and through the gap a part of the flock
reaches a field of green wheat. To follow these undisciplined ones
by the same breach would betray a lack of skill; the sheep, driven
from behind, would only stray still farther into the forbidden
field. But the wily keeper will not commit this fault; he makes a
rapid detour, jumps over the hedge as best he can, and presents
himself suddenly in front of the flock, which hastily retreats by
the way it came, not without leaving some tufts of wool on the
bushes.
Now the flock meets another. A mixing up, a confusion of
mine and thine, must be prevented. The dog thoroughly understands
the gravity of the situation. Along the flanks of the two bleating
flocks he maneuvers busily, running from one end to the other, back
and forth, to check at the outset any attempt at desertion from one
to the other flock.
Beauceron moving alongside the flock Going down a road; from the magazine Le Bas Rouge, Sept. 1988
Beauceron moving at the rear of the flock crossing a field; from Le Bas Rouge, Sept. 1988
Out on the pasture, local conditions determined the kind
of work the dog might be required to perform. In the
mountain regions and other less populated areas, it was
desirable for the sheep to spread out more while grazing.
There was less danger of the sheep trespassing on crops than
was the case in more cultivated areas, although the dog
would keep the sheep in a particular area as needed. The dog
needed to be alert to control the flock, but often remained
fairly stationary, watching the flock from a position near
the shepherd or some other vantage point.
The Shepherd,
Julien Dupré, France
Engraving by J. Gauchard Brunier,
1876 or earlier, France
Shepherds on stilts in the marshy Landes region
of France, 1891; while watching over
their flocks, they knitted
Le Berger et la Mer, 1885, France
Where large flocks were grazed in more cultivated areas,
active work was required. One of the dog’s most important jobs
was to keep the sheep from trespassing on neighboring crops.
Frequently more than one dog was used, with the more experienced
dog working the side of the flock farther away from the
shepherd, another dog remaining closer to the shepherd.
Initiative and independence were needed for the dog to be
efficient in covering the side of the flock where the sheep
might try to step out of bounds.
The Way Side Meeting, Cornelis van Leemputten, Belgium
Chicoré dans la Plaine de Chailly, Jean-Ferdinand Chaigneau le père, France
On the plains of France, boundary work was customary and
frequently noted in travel accounts:
Soon after leaving Paris, our traveler, for the first time,
saw a shepherd, with his flock. Between the center of the main
roads, in France, and the fields usually is a grass-plot, some
two rods wide, upon which the sheep feed. The intelligence of
the shepherds’ dogs, which tend them, is surprising. A dog will
allow the sheep to nibble within a yard of the grain, but the
instant anything like trespass appears, he will, of his own
accord, drive off the meek-eyed intruder by a good-natured snap.
Cattle are also similarly watched by these dogs, which are of a
peculiar breed.
"An American in France," in
Travels and Adventure of
Celebrated Travellers, by Henry Howe, 1854
Often a field would be grazed in sections, so that the plants
in the designated area would be thoroughly grazed down before
the flock was shifted to the next area, a practice referred to
as "grazing to the square":
We went straightway to see the flock of Dishley-Merino sheep
for which Gonzangrez is famous. Out in the stubble-fields they
were in care of the old shepherd, with his two dogs, a young one
that he was training and kept close to him with a string, and an
old Beauce dog that loved to work and did it willingly. It is no
less than marvelous what the shepherds and dogs of France do
with sheep. For instance, the shepherd will walk through the
alfalfa, telling the dog that the sheep may come thus far and no
farther-- the dog will patrol that line and not permit a sheep
to step beyond it, thus making them eat the alfalfa clean as
they go. The dogs seem to be absolutely tireless, always going up and down the line and
never barking. If a sheep is unusually rebellious they give it a
gentle nip as a warning to be good. The shepherd often carries a
chair with him and sits out on the plain, or stands and watches
his feeding flock. On the stubble-fields they moved slowly
forward, picking up the the fallen heads, the little weeds and
the blades of grass.
In Foreign Fields by Joseph E. Wing, 1913
Flock of Sheep in a Field after the Harvest, Camille Pissarro, France
Shepherdess With Her Flock, Jean-François Millet , 1863, France
Even in the cultivated plains regions of France, however, the dog
didn’t necessarily keep up an active patrolling all the time, but in
suitable circumstances also kept watch in a more relaxed manner,
while staying on the alert and ready to go into action as needed.
While the master rests in the shade or amuses
himself playing on his box-tree flute, the dog, posted on a
neighboring rise, keeps the flock under his eye and watches that
none wander beyond the limits of the pasture. He knows that on this
side grows a field of clover where browsing is expressly forbidden.
If some sheep goes near, he runs up and with harmless snappings
turns the animal back to the allotted place. He knows that the rural
guard would prosecute with all the rigors of the law if the flock
should stray to the other side, newly planted with young oats. They
must not attempt it; if they do, he comes threatening and insists
upon a hasty retreat. Are the scattered sheep to be gathered
together? On a sign from his master he is off. He makes the circuit
of the flock, barking here, worrying there, and drives before him,
from the circumference to the center, the straying throng, which in
a few moments becomes a compact group. His mission ended, he returns
to the shepherd for fresh orders—a word, a gesture, a simple look.
Our Humble Helpers,
by Jean-Henri Fabre, 1918
In some cases, this
type was preferred. An article in the 1893 French revue
La Terre et La Vie
quotes Felix Villeroy, author of the
Manual of the breeder of wool
animals, 1893, who describes the shepherd
dogs supervising the grazing sheep and divides their way of working
into two types:
The runner, he says, is an
ardent dog, going and retracing his steps, and running continuously
on the sides of the herd. If the flock grazing on an empty field
near another field that is prohibited, the runner continues to walk
the line that animals can not cross. And yet he inspires little fear
to the animals, often immediately after the dog passed, they will graze the forbidden fruit. Runners impose on
themselves an extraordinary fatigue which they do not stand long,
and they are not among the good sheepdogs.
The pointer, however,
lies at the feet of the shepherd or the line of field, beasts that
cannot exceed. Eyes half-closed, he seems to be asleep. But the
shepherd says his name and gives a sign, or he sees a beast of the
field exceed the pasture, then he soars like an arrow and offenders
are promptly returned to order. These dogs are respected without
worrying beasts unnecessarily: they tire much less than the previous
ones, last longer and are definitely the best. Their intelligence is
truly admirable, and I often wonder, seeing as they understand a
word, a wave or just the head, or a shepherd's whistle.
If things were quiet, the dog might spend some time
sitting or lying down. Numerous artworks and accounts show the flock
being tended, even in the more cultivated areas, by a shepherd whose
dog moved only as needed to control the flock.
A Shepherd and His Dog Guarding a Flock of Sheep, Cornelis van Leemputten, Belgium
A Shepherdess Watching Over Her Flock, Julien Dupré, France
Tending the Flock, Charles-Emile Jacque, France
In Germany, the use of active boundary dogs was particularly
important in areas where large flocks of sheep were taken to graze
through intensely cultivated and densely populated areas. Von
Stephanitz described this work in his book on the German Shepherd
Dog. While dogs in many countries were used to tend sheep,
supervising the flocks as they grazed in unfenced areas – he said
that the collie, for instance, was the "tending dog in England," Von
Stephanitz noted that a significant part of the work of the German
dogs was "warding off," or patrolling the edge of the grazing area
to keep the sheep from trespassing on neighboring crops. This kind
of work was of great importance in the agricultural conditions
prevalent in Germany, with grazing areas closely interspersed among
cultivated but unfenced fields. The shepherd would be fined for
damage to the crops done by the sheep. A dog tending a flock in a
less populated or heavily cultivated area would not be required to
work with the same attention to boundary patrolling.
Dogs that have
been bred with an emphasis on boundary work tend to be very keen,
active dogs. They are readily guided into moving along a demarcated
field edge, roadside, etc., to keep the flock contained. Those that
have the true genetics for active boundary work will, with
experience, pick up very subtle boundaries and can even make their
own when shown a line to take – they will go out on the indicated
direction, return along the same path, and then continue patrolling
on that path.
From The German Shepherd Dog in Word and Picture,by Capt. Max von
Stephanitz, 1925
From Kamerad Hund, published in Munich in 1952,
featuring collectible cards of various breeds of dogs
Nicky (Alf von Fafnerhaus), a herding-bred German Shepherd Dog
working on a farm in upstate New York, painted by Linda Shaw
Along with describing the typical warding-off work required of
the dogs in Germany, Von Stephanitz wrote of other tasks:
"If for any reason whatever, the pasturing flock must
be quickly gathered together, the shepherd calls to the sheep and
gives a short sharp whistle; then the dog, racing around the flock,
gathers them up." A 19th century account stated:
[A] well-trained sheep dog is so very essential to
the shepherd and has so much to share with him in leading and
guiding the flock . . . With our pasture conditions sheep dogs are
indispensable; the more fragmented the marked-off field, the more
necessary they are. In the movement of the flock to the pasture and
back, to the sheep market and so forth, the dogs are already
extremely necessary, if the shepherd doesn’t want at any time to get
into a conflict with the street warden and the existing street laws.
The sheep dog should quietly go in front, beside or behind the
flock, as the shepherd instructs him, and respect the boundary line
that the flock must not step over. This shouldn’t be done by wild
barking, or even by biting and tearing, whereby the sheep, which are
naturally timid and fearful would be easily agitated and damaged,
especially pregnant ewes.
Praktisches Lehrbuch für Schäfer, by P.
Fritz, 1866
In Germany, as in other countries,
it was also common for the dog to remain fairly static if the
situation did not call for greater activity. Janet Larson wrote that
when she was stationed with the U.S. Army in Germany in the early
1990s:
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 streets, and out to his grazing area,
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, 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 stock-working dogs
she saw in the Gelnhausen area and in Hohenfels were large black
shaggy sheepdogs – Sheep Poodles or perhaps Bergamascos, Briards,
Pyrenean Sheepdogs and Belgian Laekenois. She related that the
practical farmers’ dogs "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 larger dogs would ram into
the shoulders of the sheep to turn them back, and gripped as a last
resort, and the Pyreneans sometimes barked.
I asked German master
shepherd Manfred Heyne (who won the national HGH trial more times
than any other shepherd) about this account of the shepherd who
worked at Coleman Kaserne. It turned out that Manfred Heyne knew
this shepherd very well and had even worked his dogs on this
shepherd’s sheep. When I asked him his view of the manner in which
the other shepherd’s dogs worked, his reply was that it was fine
with him: "Some do it one way, some do it another.
Larry Sisson, who lived in the
Eifel region of Germany for about
six years, related:
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 . . . which belonged to one of
the club members. Across the road
was a corn field and barley field
also which was split it two by a
dirt path which led to the back side
of the village where I lived. Every
Sunday the local shepherd would
bring approximately 150-200 sheep
here to graze. I was amazed how
these dogs (which were Briards)
worked so smoothly . . . . 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,
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 a
tree, leaving the other dog at the
rear of the flock. He then joined 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 cornfield. 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 too fast.
Additionally, I did see him use the
dogs to block traffic, and keep the
sheep in graze areas.
In this old postcard of a shepherd with his flock in a park in
Munich, it can be seen that his dog is lying down, and the sheep are
still grazing in close proximity. Sheep grow
accustomed to how they are handled by the dog, patrolling or not
patrolling. What sheep do not become accustomed to, and which was
frowned upon by shepherds, was the dog that would hide itself from
the sheep, watch them approach the forbidden area, then spring out
suddenly, startling them.
While most of the tending work in America has not involved the
kind of practices seen in the HGH, in the 19th century there were
German immigrant
applied his traditional management
practices in the new land. In the 1850s an American sheep breeder in
Virginia, S. S. Bradford, imported Silesian Merino sheep and brought
over an experienced shepherd to manage them:
Mr. S. S. Bradford . . . rarely has less than a thousand fine
wools in a flock. His German shepherd seldom leaves them out of his
sight for more than an hour. In good weather he hurdles them nightly
on the poorer spots of the field in which they graze, and gun in
hand, to punish intruding dogs, he sleeps in a box or house on
wheels, which is rolled wherever his charge is penned for the night.
In rainy weather they are invariably housed day and night; as during
intensely cold weather. He feeds them daily about a bushel of oats
to 100 head. In the grazing season they require no other such feed;
when housed in the day time they get corn fodder to pick, in
addition to their oats. The shepherd has them so completely under
his control, as that with the assistance of a single sheep dog he
manages them as easily as though not more than half a dozen in
number.— His well known whistle and a wave of the hand, will turn
the flock in any direction, even from too near vicinity to an
unfenced patch of wheat or better grass than that on which it is
desired to graze them. If a single sheep is obstinate or stupid, the
dog is despatched to teach him his place. He performs his task with
wonderful sagacity indeed, relieving his master from the care of
watching for hours. He comprehends what is forbidden ground for
sheep, and will not permit one or more to stray from the rest;
always promptly driving those so inclined back to their proper
position. When with the flock in the day time, the shepherd, though
keeping them in sight, usually relies almost entirely on the
watchfulness and intelligence of his canine companion, and employs
himself in cutting or grubbing briars, making baskets, or something
of the sort.
American Farmer, Dec. 1858
By and large, however, this form of closely supervised grazing
was not needed in American conditions, and the practice fell by the
wayside in the U.S. as the newcomers adapted to local conditions.
Transhumance has been practiced in many areas – regular seasonal
movement of very large flocks and herds of sheep, goats and cattle
between winter and summer pastures. Much of this now takes place
using trucks, but there are still areas where it is practiced the
traditional way on foot, with the guardian dogs and smaller herding
dogs accompanying several shepherds on the trek. Usually several
shepherds are involved. Some lead the flock, some walk partway down
the sides, while others bring up the rear. The 1956 French book,
On the Road to Pastures New, recounts the three-week journey of a
flock of 2,000 Merino sheep in Provence from their winter home to
summer grazing land. The 2009 documentary Sweetgrass
portrays the last journey of one American
flock to and from summer pasture in the Absaroka-Beartooth Mountains
of Montana.
Large flock on the move during the transhumance in Provence;
the guardian dog finds a shady spot under the basket of the donkey. Return of the Flock,
Eugène Burnand, 1890, France
In both
Europe and America, sheep were grazed in
public parks
to keep the grass trimmed. A flock was kept at New
York City's Central Park from the 1860s into the
1930s; the field where they were taken for their
daily grazing is still called the Sheep Meadow. In
Franklin Park in Boston in 1903:
Almost before the dew has vanished from the fresh, green grass,
the entire flock begins the procession from Franklin Field to the
park. Through the streets the dogs keep a watchful eye out for
stragglers and "bolters" and do not relax their vigilance for an
instant until the tiniest little lamb has been driven onto the golf
course. It requires a good deal of judgment, even for a human being,
to keep the sheep off the private lawns and flower beds on the
streets through which the flock passes on its way from field to the
park, but the dogs seem to know as well as their master what is
expected of them.
A 1910 Boston Globe article
said of the Franklin Park flock of 250:
It is a refreshing, restful sight to
see, without the confines of a big city, the pastoral picture of a
flock of sheep grazing, attended by the shepherd and his dogs. It is
as if a bit of peaceful country life had been infused into the
hustle of the busy metropolis.
The intelligence of Scotch collies is
proverbial. A whistle from the shepherd and an indication with his
stick in the direction of some stragglers from the flock and the
dogs are off like a flash to bring back the wanderers. Usually,
however, even this is not necessary, as the dogs patrol sentry-like
around the sheep or post themselves in an advantageous position
where they can command a good view of the whole flock, and while
they do not pack the sheep close together unless ordered to do so,
they nevertheless do not allow stragglers to wander very far.
A shepherd and dogs tending sheep in a public park in Brussels, Belgium, 1906
Very like his counterpart in Druid Hill Park, Baltimore,
Maryland, 1910
In the east it was not unusual for a flock to be taken out for
supervised grazing in various unfenced areas. In addition to the city
park flocks, on the estates of the wealthy there were flocks taken out
to graze the big lawns of owners who wanted a naturally trimmed look.
John D. Rockefeller in 1913 decided to use a shepherd and flock to keep
the grass mowed around his country mansion after determining that it
could be done cheaper by sheep than by the mowing machines of the day.
Shepherd Cecil Fawkes and his wife with collie at John D. Rockefeller's Pocantico Hills,
NY estate; from Country Life in America, Aug. 1918
Shepherd Archie Fawkes at William Rockefeller's Rockwood estate near Tarrytown, NY,
with Old English sheepdog; from Country Life in America
On farms, use might be made of open fields or even roadsides. One
task of farm children was to go out with the farm dog and a flock of
sheep or some cows and watch over the animals while they grazed in
unfenced areas.
Left: A Flock of Sheep, Winslow Homer, USA
Below: photo from
Country Life in America, 1903
In the American West, huge flocks were (and still are) tended from
horseback with the assistance of sheepdogs, as is also the case in the
Patagonian region of South America.
In Britain, too, sheep were tended in earlier days. In Scotland and
Northern England this generally took place on open, hilly land, but in
southern England sheep would be grazed among fields of crops, where the
shepherd and his dog or dogs would be required to keep the sheep out of
the crops. One of the first books to cover the training of sheepdogs,
The Shepherd’s Sure Guide,
written in England in 1749, describes the jobs
required of the shepherd’s dog. It would vary according to the local
conditions, but a "nimble Shepherd and his nimble Dog" were needed:
. . . in an open champaign Country that lies in common Fields . .
.because, in an open Country, most of their Acre and Half-acre Ridge
Lands, that are always plow'd one Way, lie in many Places intermixt one
Man's with another's; and in most Parts have only a narrow Cart Way
between their growing Crops of Corn. Now, as many thousands of Acres lie
in narrow Roads, Lanes, HeadLands,
&c. in
such open Countries that are not above a Pole, or a Pole and Half wide;
and which serve as common Grass Ground to feed the neighbouring Flocks
of Sheep on, a Shepherd and his Dog had need be here of the nimble Sort,
to feed them in Safety, free of their biting, and getting among the
green Corn that thus grows on each side of them; else Pounding
[trespassing sheep would be impounded] and Restitution of Damage must be
the Recompence: For which Purpose, vigilant Howards are in many Parts
and Vales, and other open Countries, appointed to watch, and take the
Advantage of such Breaches. So that a Farmer may be presently brought
under a considerable Damage, if he has not a nimble careful Shepherd,
and a Dog of the right Sort; for if they both had more Legs than they
have, they would be sometimes wanted, to run and prevent Sheeps straying
and doing Mischief.
A century and a half later,
flocks in England continued to be taken out to graze unfenced fields:
In England and other portions of Europe, when
cattle and sheep are pastured where there are no fences, a shepherd is
employed to take charge of them, who, with the assistance of a
well-trained dog, will keep large flocks and herds under perfect
control, and as strictly confined to prescribed limits as though there
were fences for this purpose. This practice of employing shepherds is
based upon the principle that it is less expensive to take care of the
herds than to keep up the fences.
American Farming and Stock Raising,
by Charles Louis Flint, 1892
Above: Shepherd's Dog,
William Daniell, 1807
Right:
Return of the Flock,
Walter Frederick Osborne, 1885, England
(note the shepherd's hut in the
background)
Watching The Flock, by
George Vicat Cole, 1867, England
A number of paintings portray the dog watching over sheep or cattle
apparently on its own, in Scottish settings often resting on a
shepherd's plaid. This seems a bit romanticized, but there are a few
written references to dogs watching over livestock by themselves. A
letter to the Dog Fancier
magazine in 1912 related, "My friend at Clinton, Okla., owned a Collie that would
drive the cattle to the stalk field, herd them all day and never miss
bringing them in the evening, promptly at five o'clock." In
The German Shepherd Dog in Word and
Picture, Max von Stephanitz wrote, contrasting the tending work of the shepherd
dog in Scotland with that of the shepherd dog in highly cultivated and
populated areas of Germany, "The collie often works alone, tending
without supervision; wider pasture lands are available for the sheep and
it is not necessary to ward them off allotments." John Meyrick, in
House Dogs and Sporting Dogs,
1861, wrote:
I
once saw a collie, in the Highlands of Scotland, left in solitary charge
of a sheep which were feeding in a field separated only by a ruined
wall, full of wide gaps, from a field of young corn. I watched the dog
for some time: he had taken his stand upon a hillock, from whence he
could overlook the whole field and check the slightest attempt to make
free on the part of the sheep. I was told by the person who accompanied
me that the dog remained patiently and watchfully at his post from the
earliest dawn until nightfall, and brought the flock home in the evening
on hearing the shrill whistle of his master who lived nearly a mile
away. What extraordinary intelligence, and what a very strict sense of
duty, must this dog have possessed.
As related in the book
Kelly of the Triune,
an account of a sheepdog who worked with large flocks of range sheep in
the 1920s/1930s in Nevada, at times Kelley was left overnight with a
small band of ewes and lambs to watch watch over them, the sheepherder's
coat being used to indicate that he was to stay with the sheep in that
area.
More typically, accounts of a dog working without supervision
involve a dog going out on its own and bringing back livestock a great
distance, whether on home fields or on the roads to and from market.
In Charge, John Barker
Dog Guarding His Flock, Eugene Verboeckhoven, 1860
Over time, with the enclosure movements in
England in the late 18th/early19th centuries and the
modernization of agriculture, fences came into more
general use in southern England and the practice of
supervised grazing declined. The use of fencing for
sheep is growing on the Continent, with portable net
fencing often used nowadays. Portable net fencing is
also used by the shepherds who graze large flocks of
goats in California for brush-control near urban
areas.
The practice of supervised grazing continues
in many areas in Europe and North America and other
regions of the world. In Canada, cut-block grazing is used in forestry,
where flocks are taken into areas where tree
seedlings are planted, the task of the sheep being
to cut down on the number of weeds. During the
grazing period, the shepherds camp out with the
flock. Large-scale grazing with the use of dogs
continues in the American west, South America, and
other regions. And on small farms here and there,
people sometimes take their sheep out to graze an
unfenced field on their own or a neighbor’s
property. Local conditions led to the practices that
were most suitable for the area, which is as true of
tending the flocks and herds as of any other
agricultural practice.
Mowing the lawn at Iowa State University, Ames,
Iowa. 1905 photo by Elmer S. Gardener, the
photographer for the Experiment Station, 1904-1907.
Courtesy of the University Archives, Iowa State
University Library
For additional background information, see the
following articles: