Teaching Dogs to Herd


Think your dog is a natural shepherd? I recently met up with Ted Ondrak of SoCal Herding. He's a real-life shepherd, and when he's not busy competing or working at herding events, he teaches dogs to herd.

As it turns out, not every breed of dog is up to the challenge. To make it work, breeds have to be in the herding group, and then the individual dog has to have the instinct to go towards the livestock. If a dog makes it that far, then he or she can be taught how to follow commands and herd.

And why do it? Because the dogs love it. Ted says that for working dogs with a herding instinct, this is what they were bred for, and there's nothing they (or he) would rather do.