In a Tale That Wags Dog Owners, They Rent Flocks for Bored Collies

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704681804576017731348653642.html?KEYWORDS=border+collie+phillips

by J3L2404 • 16 years ago

17 25 16 years ago

online.wsj.com

doorty• 16 years ago

I have a border collie, and I've heard this story many times by other border collie owners. If I didn't love the urban lifestyle, I would get some sheep too. It would certainly be easier that trying to tire him out each day by going on walks and taking him to the dog park.

troutwine• 16 years ago

I'm able to keep my two Collies in happy style without renting sheep. We play for two hours a day with a herding ball, have miles long walks and I referee indoor rope tug fights while I work. Back from our morning run/hike, both dogs are now sleeping peacefully on their day bed.

A wonderful breed, if you're physically strong and dedicated enough for them.

joshu3• 16 years ago

I wonder if there are equivalents for other breeds of dog. I don't think our pup wants to herd, since she is a terrier.

philwelch4• 16 years ago

If you have a Golden or Labrador retriever you can hunt for ducks and the retriever will go retrieve them for you. But I think you have to train the retriever first. Most people find it easier to just play fetch.

jws• 16 years ago

We play a little game called: Get the mouse! Get the mouse!

Great fun. Fortunately she is rubbish at actually catching the mice. Eventually they fall for peanut butter in a live trap where they are lovingly relocated to the railroad right of way where they either freeze to death or are eaten by foxes.

joshu3• 16 years ago

Hmm. We don't have any mice that I've seen here.

We did have skunks in the backyard. The pup spent quite a bit of time huffing and puffing at the back door ("I'll take care of this!") but we never let her out.

Obligatory puppy picture: http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshu/5128408411/

noidi7• 16 years ago

How about sharing a bit of the empathy reserved for the bored dog with the sheep, which are essentially reduced from living, thinking, feeling beings to just toys for the dog? This kind of speciesism sickens me.

noidi7• 16 years ago

To the downvoters: Do the sheep find being herded by dogs a pleasant experience as well? If not (as I assume), how can you morally justify increasing their suffering in order to reduce that of a dog?

iron_ball• 16 years ago

Peremptory answer: Dogs are our pets. Sheep are our dinner.

Peremptory answer redacted for inherent biases: Dogs are our slaves. Sheep are our murder victims.

Somewhat sympathetic answer: Sheep naturally flock together. The dogs just reshape and redirect the flock. "Dog-broke" sheep, as mentioned in the article, are used to the dogs and know they are not to be feared.

Sympathy-trumping counter-answer: given the steady destruction of sustainable farming practices in the face of agribusiness hegemony, why begrudge the local shepherds any extra source of income? At least these sheep aren't growing up in a tiny stall in a factory farm.

alexgartrell• 16 years ago

To be absolutely honest, I can't imagine that being herded by dogs is any worse than being herded by humans. Especially when you consider that the dogs are unlikely to then flip them over and castrate them, give them injections, etc.

I think you're being downvoted because you're being overly sensitive to an imaginary problem. From reading the article, it sounds like the dogs are more likely to be harmed than the sheep.

philwelch4• 16 years ago

The moral justification in my mind is simple: morality is a universal social contract between all beings capable of reciprocating moral obligations; sheep aren't capable of reciprocating moral obligations, hence we have no moral obligations to them.

This isn't a popular viewpoint, and it's counterintuitive to people who have been raised to be affectionate towards animals (myself included), but you asked for a moral justification, not an emotional justification.

araneae• 16 years ago

The dogs are to keep any stray sheep from escaping. Before that, they used behavioral methods on the sheep. If a lamb wandered off, the shepherd broke the lamb's legs and then carried it around until it healed.

I think the sheep probably prefer getting herded to getting their legs broken. They probably also prefer it to getting eaten by a coyote, a not uncommon fate of lost sheep.

Mz2• 16 years ago

Serious question: How do you feel about the way plants are treated?

I'm an environmental studies major. I've read stuff that indicates that plants "scream" when harmed (emit a pulse which humans can't detect but which other plants can) and they also communicate to other plants about dangers in the area (such as insects chewing on them and harming them).

Curious as to how far you think we should take this stand against "speciesism". (EDIT: I mean, for example, should we protest that the sheep are stepping on and eating the grass? I'm sure the grass doesn't much appreciate it -- and, no, I am not being facetious.)

noidi7• 16 years ago

Here's a blog post about this issue that you should find interesting. http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/tinted-lenses/200912/scr...

My personal point of view is that I do not want to cause any suffering when I can avoid doing so (i.e. when my survival does not depend on it). Only a conscious being can suffer, and, as far as I know, plants are not conscious. There are organisms of all levels of complexity between single-cell organisms and homo sapiens, and no-one knows for sure where true consciousness begins, but the line between things and beings needs to be drawn somewhere. I have personally drawn the line between plants and animals, just to be on the safe side. It may be too far, and there's a risk that I'm not using some things for fear of causing suffering to a conscious being, but I'm OK with that.

burgerbrain• 16 years ago

I wonder what they would say if I tried to get a pet pig to herd sheep.

"That'll do pig. That'll do."

In a Tale That Wags Dog Owners, They Rent Flocks for Bored Collies

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