Sheep dogs are still a big part of the business on this central Massachusetts farm
A farm in central Massachusetts is doing things the old-fashioned way by using dogs to herd sheep, instead of ATVs.
It's at Little Brook Farm in Sunderland where 6-year-old sheepdog Bett does her job.
"She's waiting for me to give that command that says 'go get the sheep,'" said farm owner Kristen Whittle.
Training a sheepdog for herding
Whittle says it's about the relationships that the dogs form, not only with the owner, but also with the sheep.
"People think sheep are stupid. Sheep are smart, they read the dogs too," Whittle said.
She began training Bett as a puppy, building on her already advanced natural instincts to herd.
"Sheepdogs work better than any other tool for this particular job because they have something that's bred into them, border collies are a fetching breed, so their instinct tells them to get out around the livestock and bring it back to you," Whittle explained.
Whittle said that Bett is a confident dog with a natural feel for the sheep. But there's a lot of training that goes into getting the dog ready to herd. They are trained as tamed predators, like a wolf, which means there is a lot of eye contact involved in the process.
"Border collies are unique in how they move sheep and livestock because they use eyes. So they drop down, and you'll see them get very intense, and they move them by staring at them, not with bark or bite," Whittle explained.
There are a few basic commands that the dogs need to know to be able to do their job.
"The basic commands are come by, which is circle clockwise, so always to the dog's left. And away to me, which is a circle counterclockwise, always to the dog's right. And then we have walk in, which is walk straight into the sheep from wherever that dog is," Whittle said.
Not a dog for everyone
Whittle also breeds the dogs. Bett's daughter, 9-month-old Gaia, is also being trained to herd sheep on the farm.
But Whittle said that while the dogs are sweet and intelligent, people should think hard before getting them as pets.
"I talk more people out of border collies than into them because border collies are, it's like having all precocious children," Whittle said.
The dogs do get to enjoy their time off and be just like any other dog, but they prefer to be working. Whittle said that, if given the opportunity, the dogs would work until they passed out because it's what they want to be doing..
