Stock dogs usually want to do one thing: work.
At Ag in Motion 2025, there was a demonstration that showcased the herding ability of these dogs.
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Jared Epp of the Saskatchewan Stock Dog Association brought out his border collie, Dot, to show how the dogs herd animals.
While there are many different herding breeds — Border Collie, Australian Shepherd, Australian Kelpie, Red and Blue Heelers and Australian cattle dogs — the appearance and breed of the dog is less important than their instinct.
“The length of the hair, the colour of the coat, the colour of the eyes, has nothing to do with what makes a dog a useful stock dog,” Epp said.
“The most important part of this dog that allows it to be useful as a work dog is planted right in here, in its skull. It’s a brain.”
Dot was trained by Epp since she was a puppy and now can easily herd sheep through the ring, even with a crowd of people watching.
Epp said when it comes to a good stock dog, he doesn’t look for herding instinct at all — he looks for hunting instinct. Without hunting instinct, the dog will not be interested enough in the livestock.
Other traits he looks for are intelligence and intensity.
When a dog is fully trained, Epp expects it to be able to move 400 sheep by itself effectively.
“It’s always the sheep or the goats or the cows that tell us how much power is in a dog,” he said.
“If you’ve got one dog that walks into a flock of 400 and they all lift up their lambs and leave, that’s a dog I want to own, because he’s going to do a pile of work with very little effort.”
Look for a more in depth story from Glacier FarmMedia publications in the coming weeks.
