Sheep Herding, Ireland (Friday, July 26th, 2019)

Sheep herding is a very integral part of life for the sheep farmers of Ireland.  It is how they retrieve their sheep from the mountains after the summer grazing.  Sheep farmer generally use three working dogs.  One for the left side, one for the right side and one for the rear.  Sheep naturally stay in groups for protection, so with three dogs a herd can easily be moved.

Each dog has four voice commands and four whistle commands.  Right, Left, Forward and Stop.  Using these commands, the dogs will move the to appropriate position to keep the sheep moving in the right direction.  Voice commands are used at close range, and whistle commands are used at far range.  Each dog has it's own unique commands so that the sheep farmer can direct the dogs separately.  

Only two dogs were used in our demonstration since the area they were herding was small.  When we got there, they were tied up, but excited to work!

When the farmer gave the command, one dog headed up the hill to collect the sheep, and the other dog remained in hiding in the foreground.

The sheep have a natural fear of dogs, so they run as soon as they are chased.

This particular farmer uses border collies for his herding, diving them commands the entire time they are coming down the hill.  It is important to allow the sheep to rest periodically, so the dog stops on command and keeps them together.

Once the sheep have  rested, the chase begins again.

As the sheep get near the bottom, the second dog joins in.

Sometimes it is necessary to separate some of the sheep from the herd, so the dogs work together until they have the selected sheep separated out.

As one dogs works, the other dog will often stay in hiding until it is needed.

This demonstration was incredibly impressive.  I have never seen such well trained and eager to work dogs.

When the demonstration was over, the farmer brought out all of his different breeds of sheep for us to see.

Each different kind of sheep has a different purpose.  Some are good for their wool, others are good for their meat.

This crazy looking sheep is called a Jacob.  Its four horns are natural to the breed.