If you have ever read Humphrey and Warner, they say a herding dog is
naturally suspicious and for good reason. Their job is to contain and then
protect the sheep from the evil intruders. This suspicion is to a greater or
lesser degree depending on the dog. They are a rules group of dogs wanting
to make sure the sheep safely stay within the rules. And that rule will
be increased when the dog is actually herding. This carries over to other
parts of their life depending on the drives that dog owns. Generally they
do not appreciate intruders that do not approach with the due amount of
respect.
I have some really fun games to play on people to show we have the same
drives. Even knowing the games, I find it hard to resist when someone does
them to me. It is a natural response.
Lissa
In a message dated 7/19/2015 4:49:19 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time,
stormy435@xxxxxxxxx writes:
I think ‘newby” dog owners have to go through a learning process. At the
time I took my dogs there, I was a newby GSD owner and had volunteer to
evaluate dog parks for an obedience club. I never went back again after a
few weeks. But the article wasn’t so much talking about dog parks as the
natural tendency for herding breeds to “turn off’ other dogs approaching them.
I know our own dogs play and tussle with each other, but are the
accepting of other herding breeds or is it just to all other breeds that they
tell
to “move on?”
Storm
