The Herding Instinct in Dogs

People say that Heelers have a latent herding instinct, and that with no livestock to push around, they'll often try to herd their humans, other dogs in the family, or even the cat. I've even heard of this breed nipping at their humans' heels to get them moving in the right direction.

Pepper has never done any of that. His greatest interest in life has always been little kids - and lately, old people. He just loves to snuggle.

He's seen a lot of cows - but from a distance. Since our neighbors turn their cows out in the pasture next to our property, he sees them all summer.

But a couple of nights ago we went for a walk and the cows were right up by the gate.

Pepper stopped and stared at them, and then walked under the gate to get closer. His whole body seemed to snap to attention while he stood absolutely still and just stared.

I felt like I could hear him thinking "There's something I know about these creatures. I know I'm supposed to do something about them, but I don't know what. What am I supposed to do here??"

The other dogs and I stood and waited for a while, watching to see what Pepper would do, but he stood there like a statue until I called him to come along.

Anyone else had a similar experience?

Another rescued dog finds a home...

I just got off the phone with the animal coordinator at our local shelter, and she told me one of my favorite dogs just found a home - and the other one has a good possibility of being adopted tomorrow. That makes my whole evening brighter.

Both of these two were adult dogs, and so loving and kind. Both prefer being with people and will follow the shelter workers around, begging them to stop cleaning for a minute and rub a belly. Both had beautiful manners. So why were they there?

Poppy lost her home because she chased horses. Well, she's part Heeler, of course she would chase livestock! But her humans didn't want to take the time to teach her when to chase and when not to, so they turned her in to the shelter. My own little Pepper would have been more than happy to "herd" my horses, but we taught him that wasn't the thing to do. We humans actually had a little help on that score from a horse and a well-placed hoof - which thankfully didn't break anything.

My other favorite was Sally - a Siberian Husky who came in with 5 puppies after being found running down a highway. What was her story? Did someone dump her and the puppies and drive off, so she was trying to follow? Or had she been dumped long before and given birth to her puppies in the woods? She was certainly skinny enough to have been going without good meals for quite a while.

We'll never know of course. Thankfully, neither she nor her babies will be having any more babies, and all 6 are now in homes. We can only hope the homes are good ones and that the 5 pups don't turn up later as the unruly teens we talked about last time.

Here's to loving dogs,

Marte

P.S. Remember - if you'd like me to list your rescue on this sidebar and on my rescue page at www.doyoulovedogs, all you have to do is comment here or send me a note at writer@marte-cliff.com