Grey, a border collie, tucked himself low to the ground. With directions from shepherd Nancy Starkey, he darted around three sheep and herded them in circles, lying down whenever Starkey commanded and keeping his eyes on the trio.
“That’ll do,” Starkey told Grey after a few minutes. The border collie then darted back to a shaded tent and leapt into a tub of water to cool down.
Grey and four other border collies showed off their herding expertise alongside shepherds Starkey and AJ Husketh-Tutton at the Howard County Fair on Monday evening. They corralled three sheep from Starkey’s farm in circles, through a makeshift bridge, into a fence and around the shepherds as commanded.
Starkey, who has worked with working border collies — different from “Barbie collies,” her term for the show dogs — since 1990, said she collaborates with the dogs to “control the motion” of sheep and other animals on a farm. Most border collies love being able to work, Husketh-Tutton added, and it’s not as though the shepherds force the dogs to herd. Instead, she said, it’s about managing when the dogs do herd animals.
“If I don’t pay attention to [my border collies] if I’m out in the field, they will run 70 sheep over my head,” Husketh-Tutton said. “I’ll be fixing a fence, and the next thing you know, you have 70 sheep parked on your back because you took your eyes off the border collie for 30 seconds. And they’re like, ‘Did you want this?””
Starkey and Husketh-Tutton keep at least three herding dogs with them on their farms — one older dog, like 10-year-old Grey, to serve as a role model; a dog in its prime, such as Puck, to manage heavy tasks; and a puppy to follow in the footsteps of the older dogs. Husketh-Tutton also keeps guardian dogs on her property that stay with the livestock at all times. Each border collie is taught commands to stay still, slowly walk up to a herd, move clockwise and counterclockwise, and most important, as Starkey said in her demonstration, to stop.
Because sheep are very reactive to a herding dog, being able to manage their reactions and interactions with a border collie, who strives to follow motion and gain control, is crucial, Starkey said in her demonstration. Regardless of the distance, if the dog won’t stop, neither will the sheep, she added. Husketh-Tutton said border collies are “completely neurotic” in searching for continued control over a herd.
Husketh-Tutton, who is from Winchester, England, and runs the Flying Circus Farm in West Friendship, said working with the dogs also takes a lot of trust. Neither Starkey, of Mount Airy, nor Husketh-Tutton use shock collars or other devices to get their dogs to listen, Husketh-Tutton said, because working with the border collies is a “team effort.”
“It takes a lot for them to not only trust us that when we’re giving them a command, we’re giving them the right command, but they also have to know it’s a partnership, not just ‘you go work and I’ll stand here,’” Husketh-Tutton said. “They know from the time they’re little puppies and from the time they first start, that if something’s gone wrong, my butt’s going to be booking it across that field and I’m going to be right there with them and help them.”
Much of training the dogs revolves around building their confidence and trust with the shepherds, Husketh-Tutton added. But like humans, every single dog works differently, she said, and another part of the job is knowing how to meet each dog where they are — even if there are slip ups along the way, such as when Kel proudly herded a group of deer after mistaking them for sheep.
For Ben Walsh and Stephen Apple, two Howard County residents, dog lovers and demonstration attendees, the joy of the performance didn’t just come from watching the dogs herd the sheep — they enjoyed watching them leap into the tub of water after completing their tasks.
“The dogs are so cute. I liked how focused they are and how the entire time, they’re just so laser-focused on the sheep,” Apple said. “I have some experience training my own dog before, and it’s very challenging.”
But between performances and herding animals, Husketh-Tutton and Starkey enjoy spending time with the dogs. Grey, who used to work on the Flying Circus Farm and now stays with Starkey, enjoys dancing to rap music and putting his paws up when he hears “Boots with the Fur” in “Low” by Flo Rida and T-Pain at Husketh-Tutton’s house. He’s also a fan of “Temperature” by Sean Paul, Husketh-Tutton added, and will wag his tail and dance together with her in the kitchen.
After each dog finished their task on Monday night, they ran next to Starkey, keeping their bodies low to the ground. Each time, she petted their head and praised them.
“Well done,” she told one border collie, Rynn, after a successful demonstration. “Well done.”
Starkey and Husketh-Tutton will perform again with Grey, Rynn, Puck, Kel and Brie on Thursday at 5 and 7 p.m. The Howard County Fair will run until Saturday. For more information, visit howardcountyfairmd.com.
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