Stacy's Wag'N'Train
San Jose, CA

Since Flip is (probably) a Border Collie mix, I thought it would be fun to see how he was with sheep.  Through friends I found out about Linda Rorem and Willowside Ranch in Pescadero, who offers herding-instinct tests and training sessions.  On Friday, May 4 2001 we went out for a test with Vici Whisner of KVK9 and Vici's sister Peg. (Vici and Peg took all of the pictures, using Vici's Sony Mavica FD90 digital camera. Thanks, for the great pics!)

Here we are starting out.  Flip doesn't really understand yet what's going on.  Linda is trying to show him that the sheep "don't eat little dogs", and she's trying to get me to walk towards the sheep to get him started.  The sheep are really calm ones who tend to bunch up around the person they're with (as opposed to running every which way, or standing their ground and challenging a novice dog!).

Now Flip has caught on!  Here Linda's using the staff to make sure there's some distance between him and the sheep, and to make sure he doesn't try to bite them (he never did).  She can also encourage him to go around the sheep one way or the other, with the staff. (Don't ask what I'm doing - I think I'm just trying to keep out of their way!).

Here's Linda leaving us on our own in the field (though she stayed in the paddock and called out helpful if incomprehensible instructions).  Now I have the sheep starting to crowd around me - I'm very grateful that they're "padded"!

Pictures with borders around them are "thumbnail" versions, meaning that if you click on them you can see a larger version.

This one might be from just after I accidentally bonked Flip on the head with the staff (it's a very light-weight PVC-pipe with a plastic water bottle on the end)

That'll do!