Certifiable?

Last weekend held new opportunities for owners of dogs that do not regularly get to interact with livestock or experience sights and sounds they might encounter on a farm.  The Texas Herding Association hosted a Farm Dog Certification event at Destiny Farm near Bertram.

A number of dogs from various herding breeds participated…in fact, you might have been at Westminister if it weren’t for the livestock.   The biggest, by far, was Esme the Mastiff, going through a section of the course and demonstrating that she can get her some 180 pounds up onto a hay bale.

Another of the big guys was this young Leonberger, who when full-grown could weigh 170 pounds.  His name is derived from the city of Leonberg in Germany.  This breed is usually classified as a working or guardian dog.

Marty the Briard is a big boy, as well, but more slender.  Briard males can weigh up to 100 pounds.  (I wonder how much of that is fur?)  He comes from an ancient French herding breed.

Among the other dogs represented were the Border Collie, Australian Shepherd, Doberman, German Shepherd Dog, Belgian Shepherd, Rough Collie, an English Pointer named Pete, and some “All- American” dogs. 

 

There was also a Pembroke Welsh Corgi, bred to herd cattle, who could have taken the prize for the shortest legs and perhaps “most enthusiastic.”  

And a Puli…we admired her curls and we know she has eyes, they are just hard to see!

All in all, it was a wonderful day.  The dogs showed their ability to remain calm and obedient in spite of the presence of unusual surfaces and objects, some very anxious sheep and a very noisy tractor as they walked through the course with their handlers and the judges.

They also had to show that they could be calm when their handlers performed an "examination" to check for burrs, foreign objects, etc.

Colt and Rue spend almost half their time on our farm, so they were not seeking a certification.  They were just glad to be able to help.  Here they are waiting for their turn to "work."

The dogs getting their certification had to show that they were able to remain calm when a “friendly dog” in the person (I’m not sure how else to say it) of Colt or Rue walked near them, and when they had to pass near a stranger (sitting under a very large, flapping umbrella due to the brisk winds).

All the dogs received their certifications and it was a great day for everyone.