So pastoral with people out in the field, the sun is shining, bonding with their herding dogs. A beautiful Australian Shepherd is moving around the field gathering sheep to a proud handler patiently waiting. The fields are green, the dog perfection, the handler is calm and quiet working the dog with whistles. I must admit I was one who envisioned this picture and on occasion had actually seen it performed this way. When experienced handlers told me to expect at least four years of training, I scoffed at the remark. I said to myself. Why should it take that long to train a dog to do what it has been bred to do? The dogs that I had been training, while they were great at other tasks, had very little herding instinct. Little did I know what was to come.

THEN ALONG CAME LEVI!
Suddenly the pictures in my head of herding changed drastically. I have endured the bad weather, the lousy days when training did not go well and dealing my own ineptitude. Not to mention sheep that seems to be not all that smart, but are. Challenging is putting it mildly. Fortunately for me Levi is very talented and has made herding an exciting endeavor but nonetheless the Big Hats in herding were right. Herding is every bit as difficult as I had been told but it is so worth it. The partnership that works between handler and dog is indescribable and occasionally... pastoral.

Herding Links:

• www.azherding.com
• www.ahba-herding.org
• www.herdingontheweb.com/

Herding Instruction:
Craig & Carrie Pottinger
Cp Ranch Training Kennels
15 Duquesne Road
Nogales, AZ 85621
(520) 287-8674
An amazing amount of information on numerous dog related activities, training, tricks, games and dog sports: www.geocities.com/black_dog_farm/right.html#games

Here is a sheep game to try your hand at herding:

• www.david-lewis.com/sheepgame/