My dog's Border collie heritage
Aug. 8th, 2009 10:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
crysania4There's always a ton of debate over what Dahlia IS as far as breed mixture. I have some people who say "oh definitely BC" (including three vets who have seen her and a handful of BC people) and then a group who says "I don't see BC in her at all" (which also includes some BC people). But then there are moments when she shows that she MUST have some border collie heritage.
This morning we went down to the park and what did I discover in the soccer fields. Two groups of geese. Dahlia loves chasing the geese and ducks at the pond but she never gets to do much of it as they fly back into the pond and I don't want her going into it (it is ICKY). So she stays on leash, which doesn't give her much room for running.
But in the soccer field? She's free to go. So I released her and she sat at my side. I squatted down and pointed at the geese, saying "Dahlia...look..." She was instantly alert. I stood back up and shouted "Go get 'em!" And she was off like a shot. Straight at the geese? Nope. She ran out and around to the left in an imitation of an outrun (she probably should have arced another 5-10 feet out to really make it a good one). Alas, she wasn't able to get behind them or anything as they flew off as soon as they saw her coming. But it does make me happy to see her attempts at herding! So she has no control, but it's still fun to see.
I let her go after a second group further down and she showed a bit more control with getting closer to them, but then they flew away when she got too close again. But boy was she a happy dog!
This morning we went down to the park and what did I discover in the soccer fields. Two groups of geese. Dahlia loves chasing the geese and ducks at the pond but she never gets to do much of it as they fly back into the pond and I don't want her going into it (it is ICKY). So she stays on leash, which doesn't give her much room for running.
But in the soccer field? She's free to go. So I released her and she sat at my side. I squatted down and pointed at the geese, saying "Dahlia...look..." She was instantly alert. I stood back up and shouted "Go get 'em!" And she was off like a shot. Straight at the geese? Nope. She ran out and around to the left in an imitation of an outrun (she probably should have arced another 5-10 feet out to really make it a good one). Alas, she wasn't able to get behind them or anything as they flew off as soon as they saw her coming. But it does make me happy to see her attempts at herding! So she has no control, but it's still fun to see.
I let her go after a second group further down and she showed a bit more control with getting closer to them, but then they flew away when she got too close again. But boy was she a happy dog!