Working Dogs

Just returned from 10 days in Scotland.  

What I most enjoyed were all the dogs.  They seem to be a big part of life there.

This is a shepherd who gave a sheepdog demonstration at Leault Working Farm, south of Inverness.  He is holding a 7 1/2 week old pup.

The white material on the field is wool.  Some of the puppies would play with or rest in it.

There were several adult dogs and several puppies.  The shepherd worked the adults 2 to 3 at a time.  The others mostly watched.  

Two of the older dogs stayed with the visitors, coaxing people to pet them.

The shepherd used whistling in addition to voice commands.

After the adult dogs demonstrated the basics, the shepherd put the 7 1/2 week old pup down (to the right of the flock).

He had learned all the commands just by watching the older dogs.

This 5 week old pup thought it looked pretty easy.  He spied a sheep that had separated from the flock while the shepherd was talking.

The sheep had no intention of being herded by a puppy and returned the chase.

The puppies resigned themselves to tackling a leash instead.