Saturday, April 14, 2012

Herding Instinct Test

Early this morning Wendy & I hit the road for Okotoks to do a Herding Instinct Test, & Wendy took pictures as well. I was confident Kort would do well, but my confidence lessened after seeing a bunch of dogs fail before me, including 2 border collies, which I just assumed would know what to do.
When it was Kort's turn Louanne asked me if he was soft or hard, of course I had no clue what she was talking about! But then I said, do you mean sensitive? Yes, that is what she meant. I of course said yes, he is VERY sensitive.

Kort didn't start out so well, he sniffed the ground, looked at the sheep in the pen next to him, & came running back to me a couple of times :) Louanne had me come into the pen & he was off like a bat out of hell! After about 5 minutes Louanne turns to me & says, "by the way, he in NOT soft " who knew!! Then she said I was done & to go back out of the way. I was very proud of Kort, he does love his sheepies.
Kort is only the 2nd collie that Louanne has ever passed !
Some people think a Herding Instinct test is just a waste of time, or very easy to pass, but I saw today that it is not the case. Not every dog will sustain interest for very long, or will not bat an eyelash at the flag thudding down in front of them so they will keep their distance from the sheep. Also not every dog will work sheep in both directions.

I learned alot today & saw a lot of breeds I didn't expect to see. There was a Boxer, 2 Bernese Mt Dogs, a Bouvier, 3 Rottweilers, & even a Dalmation/Husky X
Kort is very tired now & sleeping soundly. I am looking at him & all his furnishing covered in muck & sand :)but that's ok, Kort had a good time & that's all that matters.

The Dog, aka Kort ♥



The Certificate, isn't it purdy :)



The Evaluation....
It's too hard to read so I will tell you the results :)

For Style , Approach, Eye, Wearing/ Kort received a check under "Gathering"
For Bark, Temperament,Interest , Power/ he got a check under "Very Keen Interest", & "Sustains Barking" , no surprise there !
For Responsiveness/Control, Group of Stock, Balance, Position/ Kort got a check under "Keeps stock grouped/regrouped



What a Good Boy :) :)

7 comments:

WigglyZack said...

congratulations - Super

Squishy said...

How cool is this????!!! Yeah for you and Kort and for finding out he's not soft!! Going in both directions is huge and I think I'd rather have a dog that I'd have to get hard on, than one that's tooo sensitive. Too easy to upset them, then they don't want to work. I've had a few.....

K-Koira said...

That sounds like a really cool day. I would love to see Pallo with sheep sometime- he loves horses, just hanging out with them.

Dianne SS said...

That's something--to find out that he's hard, not soft!! I'm so happy for you and Kort!! Wish I could have been there!!Are there going to be more pictures or maybe a video?

Jenny Glen said...

Oh, Kort! I never doubted you'd kick butt!

KEY WEST COLLIES said...

Congrats, we are very proud of Kort. I wonder how Essex would do on the test. I know that she is very focused on her fence patrol.

Dog Dad

It's Kelley! said...

I'm so glad I found this post! A friend of mine convinced me to enter my German shepherd in a herding instinct test. I did -- and now I'm scared to death. What was I thinking?! Anyway, your post has given me a little more confidence. I hope I have similarly good news next weekend.