dogs herding us?
[email protected]
Kelly, Shelley, any other dog-wise people here,
Our dog Gudrun, a five year old or so Australian cattle dog, has been outside
with us in the presence of fireworks since she was a little lap puppy and we
took turns holding her so she wouldn't be scared her first year.
The other night it was just me, Marty and Holly out in the cul-de-sac with a
few fireworks. (We're saving half for Tim's visit, Brenda!) Because this
year for the first time there is a fireworks tent out behind us (in the same big
vacant business-zoned lot my neighbor was insulting his children in), there
were extra many fireworks around our house this year.
At one point the three of us were all squatted around the stash with a
flashlight sorting things and deciding which lighter or matches or what we were
going to use. We had already thrown a few little bouncy things that spit sparks
as they hop around in one place. But the dog came and strted running tight
circles around us, about a nine foot diameter.
Was she trying to keep us in that squatting position instead of scattered
out? It was interesting. Was she just afraid of the stuff we had and wanted to
see it or smell it but was afraid to get closer?
I don't know if the diameter of the circle was based on her keeping her
distance from the pile of fireworks, or whether it was based on our proximity to
each other and she was keeping the 4th of July outside out.
Sandra
Our dog Gudrun, a five year old or so Australian cattle dog, has been outside
with us in the presence of fireworks since she was a little lap puppy and we
took turns holding her so she wouldn't be scared her first year.
The other night it was just me, Marty and Holly out in the cul-de-sac with a
few fireworks. (We're saving half for Tim's visit, Brenda!) Because this
year for the first time there is a fireworks tent out behind us (in the same big
vacant business-zoned lot my neighbor was insulting his children in), there
were extra many fireworks around our house this year.
At one point the three of us were all squatted around the stash with a
flashlight sorting things and deciding which lighter or matches or what we were
going to use. We had already thrown a few little bouncy things that spit sparks
as they hop around in one place. But the dog came and strted running tight
circles around us, about a nine foot diameter.
Was she trying to keep us in that squatting position instead of scattered
out? It was interesting. Was she just afraid of the stuff we had and wanted to
see it or smell it but was afraid to get closer?
I don't know if the diameter of the circle was based on her keeping her
distance from the pile of fireworks, or whether it was based on our proximity to
each other and she was keeping the 4th of July outside out.
Sandra
Shelley & Donald Wurst
Sandra, we play a game with our dogs when we're visiting friends -- we'll all go into the host's back yard and then one by one we try to walk out without whichever dog is with us seeing us. Their drive to keep us all together in one place is amazing -- as soon as one person starts to "stray" from the "flock", the dog is out and around them and trying to persuade them to turn back where it's "safe".
In a stressful situation (like the fireworks) I can certainly see where a dog that is hard-wired for herding (as the vast majority of ACDs are) would try to keep you all in as tight a bunch as possible, so that might explain the behavior. I'm not sure whether it's motivated out of a protective instinct or out of nervousness (and hence desire to control the situation) -- I'm guessing the latter would usually be the case.
In a serious lapse of judgement, we had our sheep up grazing the front yard on the night of the 4th. (That's usually where we have them at night, it didn't occur to us to do any differently until it was too late.) Two sets of neighbors started setting off bottle rockets and roman candles and a variety of other noisy, exploding fireworks. The sheep actually did a good job of ignoring most of it (picture that scene from Babe where the sheep are watching the Christmas fireworks, LOL). The problems happened when we sent our Border Collie, Summer, out to gather them to put them in the barn for the night. We chose Summer because he is our oldest, best-trained, most reliable dog. But even he couldn't work competently under the stress of the fireworks display (and this is not a dog that is particularly sensitive to sounds or anything else). His lack of confidence in the situation was easily translated by the sheep, and we had a real mess on our hands -- sheep bolting here and there, and Summer running frantically about trying to control everything, but with such urgency that he was just making things worse. I finally called him to me and put him on leash -- once he figured I had control of the situation, he settled down, and together we drove the sheep to the barn.
Makes me marvel at military dogs -- keeping their cool under fire is an incredible feat!
--Shelley, Mommy to Jacob (2 1/2 yrs) and Gabriel (4 mos)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harvest Moon -- harvest.moon@...
Working Rough and Smooth Collies
www.geocities.com/harvestmooncollies
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
In a stressful situation (like the fireworks) I can certainly see where a dog that is hard-wired for herding (as the vast majority of ACDs are) would try to keep you all in as tight a bunch as possible, so that might explain the behavior. I'm not sure whether it's motivated out of a protective instinct or out of nervousness (and hence desire to control the situation) -- I'm guessing the latter would usually be the case.
In a serious lapse of judgement, we had our sheep up grazing the front yard on the night of the 4th. (That's usually where we have them at night, it didn't occur to us to do any differently until it was too late.) Two sets of neighbors started setting off bottle rockets and roman candles and a variety of other noisy, exploding fireworks. The sheep actually did a good job of ignoring most of it (picture that scene from Babe where the sheep are watching the Christmas fireworks, LOL). The problems happened when we sent our Border Collie, Summer, out to gather them to put them in the barn for the night. We chose Summer because he is our oldest, best-trained, most reliable dog. But even he couldn't work competently under the stress of the fireworks display (and this is not a dog that is particularly sensitive to sounds or anything else). His lack of confidence in the situation was easily translated by the sheep, and we had a real mess on our hands -- sheep bolting here and there, and Summer running frantically about trying to control everything, but with such urgency that he was just making things worse. I finally called him to me and put him on leash -- once he figured I had control of the situation, he settled down, and together we drove the sheep to the barn.
Makes me marvel at military dogs -- keeping their cool under fire is an incredible feat!
--Shelley, Mommy to Jacob (2 1/2 yrs) and Gabriel (4 mos)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Harvest Moon -- harvest.moon@...
Working Rough and Smooth Collies
www.geocities.com/harvestmooncollies
------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
[email protected]
In a message dated 7/7/2003 12:23:37 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
SandraDodd@... writes:
would think it could be a little of both. The fireworks might make HER anxious
(being unfamiliar to her and all), so in her anxiety, she would naturally want
YOU all close together.
I would think that there is a certain distance each breed (generally) or dog
(specifically) keeps from its herd (some work closer; some, further away).
That could have been "her" distance. And then there's an innate fear of fire...
Shelley?
~Kelly
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
SandraDodd@... writes:
> Was she trying to keep us in that squatting position instead of scatteredI'll defer to the expert, Shelley. I'm sure she'll be here directly. But I
> out? It was interesting. Was she just afraid of the stuff we had and
> wanted to
> see it or smell it but was afraid to get closer?
>
> I don't know if the diameter of the circle was based on her keeping her
> distance from the pile of fireworks, or whether it was based on our
> proximity to
> each other and she was keeping the 4th of July outside out.
would think it could be a little of both. The fireworks might make HER anxious
(being unfamiliar to her and all), so in her anxiety, she would naturally want
YOU all close together.
I would think that there is a certain distance each breed (generally) or dog
(specifically) keeps from its herd (some work closer; some, further away).
That could have been "her" distance. And then there's an innate fear of fire...
Shelley?
~Kelly
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Alan & Brenda Leonard
7/7/03 22:33:
Germany, but he's never stayed up late enough. He was too little for the
Fourth of July fireworks when we left the states, still scared of the noise.
brenda
> The other night it was just me, Marty and Holly out in the cul-de-sac with aCool!!!! He's never lit fireworks. They're big at New Year's here in
> few fireworks. (We're saving half for Tim's visit, Brenda!)
Germany, but he's never stayed up late enough. He was too little for the
Fourth of July fireworks when we left the states, still scared of the noise.
brenda