|
Trainer gives housebound herding
dogs an outlet By LESLIE PARRILLA... The
Press-Enterprise
Jerry Stewart plucks a long
Misty cigarette from his mouth while standing in the midst of several
acres of flat land offering little more than flocks of sheep, some
fencing and rows of eucalyptus.
But for him and other herding dog trainers, the Perris property is near
paradise.
From under a fatigued black cowboy hat, the grizzled trainer calls out
commands in a low, calm voice -- away to me, go bye, walk up -- coupled
with indistinguishable sounds -- "chka, chka, chu" -- to make the young
border collie move the flock of sheep where he wants.
"We're not fast enough or clever enough to do it, but the dog is," said
Stewart, 59. "It's their instinct. It's part of them as much as their
tail and their feet."
With industrialization, however, dogs bred to herd have been pulled off
ranches and put in backyards, Stewart said.
"You have dogs with that instinct, but now they're stuck in the city,"
said Stewart, who has been involved in the sport of herding since 1986.
Some large farming operations still do use the dogs, Stewart said.
But those whose dogs are pets can foster the herding instinct at a
handful of training facilities in the Inland area. They include the
Perris facility at Stonewall Ranch and ranches in Victorville and Norco.
About 90 percent of people who train herding dogs in the United States
do it for sport, said Peggy Richter, board member for the American
Herding Breed Association. That number has remained steady over recent
years, Richter said. The only change has been that more breeds of dogs
are being trained. Border collies and Australian shepherds are
traditional herding breeds, but less active dogs that make better
companions also are being trained.
Richter, a herding trials judge, said about 100 herding events a year
are held throughout California.
|
At Stonewall Ranch, Julie and Bill McMillan
watched Stewart, a champion trainer, coax their 2-year-old Australian
shepherd into herding a flock of sheep. The couple says they are students
just as much as their dog. Their half-acre property is not large enough for
their herding dog, they said.
"We walk him twice a day but it's still not enough to burn off all his
energy," said Bill McMillan.
So they drive from Claremont to the ranch each week.
To a lay person, the
ranch seems little more
than five fenced-in
areas. But it's a
premiere training
facility.
Each area is designed
for a different level of
skill. The more advanced
the dog, the larger the
working area and the
more obstacles to move
the livestock around.
A long shepherd's crook,
shaped like an oversized
candy cane, sits close
by Stewart. He holds it
out with his right hand
to demonstrate how it's
used for beginner dogs
to block them from the
stock.
"This exaggerates the
body language so there's
little doubt in the
dog's mind what we're
asking the dog to do,"
said Stewart.
But herding involves far
more than training a dog
where to go, Stewart
said. It's about the
dog's relationship with
the livestock -- how the
dog reads each animal
and how the animal reads
the dog.
It's part movement, part
staring and part balance
-- maneuvering from a
distance with
mathematical precision
that makes the livestock
aware of boundaries
drawn by the dog.
"There's a metaphysical
aspect to it -- how much
personality they project
in their stare," said
Stewart, standing in the
intermediate pen as his
year-old border collie,
Pic, ran to and fro
herding a flock of
sheep. "The sheep read
the dog's intent."
(continues on page 4 )
|