Herding Instinct Test - Page 1

Renofan-

Where was the HIT? I just heard that a female I bred participated in some herding event in Lower Macungie, PA recently and am wondering if its the same one you were at? The female's name is Peggy. She is dark black & brown, almost a bi-color. She belongs to the Dreisbach family. SHe is a full-sister to Portia out of Pallo x Connie.

 Did you see her there per chance?

Thanks,

SS 

Shelly:

It was held at Rasberry Ridge Farm in Bangor, PA - near Stroudsburg.  The Lehigh Valley GSD Club sponsored the event.  There was one bi color the participated - and did very well.  I wonder if that was our dog.  I did not get to talk to the dogs owner, but she was the other dog who did really well.  We were in the afternoon session, so I did not see the 10 dogs that participated in the morning.  It is definately something I would like to try again as Libby really enjoyed herself.  She is getting older - so I was really something to see her so energized again.  She was so full of herself for days after. 

I am off to Bethany Beach for some vacation.  I hope I will be able to access a computer so LMH, if you get back to me for questions and I don't answer for a few days it is because I could not get to a computer.

C

Yes it is alot of fun and I find the people in herding to be very welcoming and willing to part with information.  I have done the AKC HIT and the AHDA HIT.  I prefer the AHDA test over the AKC test because of the time the dog has with the sheep.  It is only a little certificate you receive but it sure brings people out to try to do this with their dogs. 

You may find that the next time you go out, Molly will suddenly understand why she is out there and everything will click for her too.   Thanks for sharing your experiences. 

Bun bun: No pretraining required.  It tests your dogs natural instincts.  The evaulator asks if you think your dog will hurt the sheep, will your dog come if called, etc.  They also test your dogs responsiveness to their handler as you are asked to down your dog in the middle and end of the exercise.

Sunshine: I also found the evaluator very willing to help and made it a really great experience for both the dogs and their handlers.  I will definately try Molly again.  Hopefully she will enjoy it as much as Libby did.  I am looking into training classes to take Libby because she was so fired up for days after the test, so I think the experience was really somthing good for her.  Since she just turned 6, I want to find something she enjoys doing.  I take her swimming sometimes, but I have to tell her to get into the pool.  In herding, I just had to let her off the leash and she was off an running.