The Shepherd's Best Friend

Border Collies Get The Job Done

"When people watch a sheepdog trial and see the sheep all moving together going around gates and such, they think, 'Gee, those sheep are trained real well,"' said Roger Deschambeault laughing. "Well, sheep are the dumbest animal God ever created—you can't train 'em to do anything."

What Roger is trying to say may seem obvious to most—it's the dog that's trained and never the sheep. "You never know the sheep your dog is going to get at a trial," said the East Conway resident, "and it wouldn't make any difference anyway because sheep don't learn or remember anything."

Those wanting to see some "well-trained sheep" will have the opportunity this Sunday, Sept. 28, when Fryeburg Fair presents the sheepdog trials at the fairground race track at 9 a.m. Although they arc called sheepdog trials, it's not the breed of dog known as sheepdogs who compete in them, but rather border collies.

East Conway's Roger Deschambeault proudly stands next to two of his prized border collies (left and right) Sue and Daisy.

Border collies are sheepdogs—they have been helping man herd and keep track of their domesticated animals since before Biblical times. Throughout its history, the dog has been bred primarily as a working dog, and it has been the border collie, and only the border collie, which has served as the shepherds' helper from the beginning to the present day.

"They've been around for centuries," said Roger, a proud owner of five border collies, "but it's only been

in the last 50 years or so that people in this country have gotten to know them and know what they can do."

What they can do is herd just about anything—sheep, cattle, pigs, geese, ducks, chickens, even children, if you happen to have a whole brood of them. "I've seen even eight-week-old pups go out and try to round up a bunch of sheep," said Roger. "Their instinct is to go around anything and try and bring it back.

"To me they are just amazing animals," added Roger, who was a dairy farmer until last year. "I first got one of the dogs 20 years ago to help me with the cows," he explained. "I only got into bringing them to trials six years ago."

Border collies were first brought over to this country by Scotsmen who went out west to help herd the cattle and sheep at the big ranches there. It was the Scottish shepherds who carefully bred the border collie to retain its herding instincts and have brought the breed to the skillful and brainy level that it is today. Although border collies are not a breed recognized by the American Kennel Club, they are nonetheless registered. "They are not bred to conform to a strict standard of appearance," said Roger's sister, Gabrielle Merrill, who owns three border collies, "but strictly for their working ability. They can be short-haired, long-haired, even real shaggy, and they come in all sizes," she added, "although most of the time they are not a real big dog."

Intelligent, obedient, faithful, loving, and relatively quiet--what more can you ask for in a dog? Not much according to anyone who owns one. "I definitely think they are more intelligent than other dogs," said Roger's daughter, Lynn, who has five border collies of her own. "It may be because people expect so much more of them."

Any dog who knows his right from his left has to have something on the ball as there are plenty of people who are still working on acquiring that skill. "They respond to both voice and whistle commands," explained Roger, as he instructed his champion dog Sue with varying bursts on a high-pitched whistle to move some sheep down the center of his practice field. "I can stop or start her at any time."

Sue was methodical in her work and it was a delight to watch. She would crouch down and listen for the commands and just move from side to side, rarely running or even going fast, forcing the group of about 10 to 12 sheep to move to where her master wanted them. "The name of the game is control," explained Roger. "Ideally a dog should just walk the course. You don't want the dog to move the sheep fast because out on the range, that would just take the fat off of them."

The most remarkable feature of the dogs is their, to use an almost Californian term, eye contact. It's not just a casual catching of the eye, however, but more like a crazed Rasputin stare. It can even be a bit disconcerting to a person, but it works wonders with the sheep. "It's their stare that moves the sheep," said Gabrielle. "You want a dog with a 'strong' eye."

While Sue was out in the field going through her paces, a few of Roger's other dogs were sitting obediently by the fence, but they were making sure they didn't miss any moves those sheep made. If a person inadvertently blocked a dog's view, the animal quickly changed position so that it could once again fix its intent stare on the woolly beasts in the field.

With total control being such an important factor, training the dogs must be a long and arduous task. Not so, says Roger. "It does take time—about a year for a trial dog," he explained, "but most of these dogs are very sensitive. Their aim is to please you and they know when they are doing it."

The verbal commands for border collies are traditional, left over from their many years of helping Scottish shepherds. "Away to me" means go right (the dog's right), "come by" means go left, and "that'll do" tells the dog to leave the sheep and come back to its master.

Dog and trainer need to be very much in tune and have compatible personalities. "I'm the trainer for one of Lynn's dogs because he responds better to my deeper voice," said Roger, "and she trains one of mine because the dog likes her manner better."

Training border collies is made even easier because they happen to love what they are being trained to do. In contrast to other dogs, there is no need to reward a border collie with a special treat after it has properly completed a request. "Their reward is working," explained Roger. "People have to be careful because the dogs love working so much that they will just keep at it until they fall over."

At a trial, the dogs are not judged on their coloring, form, or on how strong their "eye" is. They are judged solely on what they can accomplish. Can they move the sheep in a straight line? Can they efficiently move them through a gate and prevent them from heading back through it? Can they cull an individual sheep from the herd? Can they do all this without nipping at the sheep unless it is absolutely necessary? These are some of the important things the trial judges will be looking for Sunday at the fair. "They've got to be perfect if they are going to be competitive," said Roger, who should know, since his dog Daisy was the Fryeburg and Northeast champion last year.

Roger, Lynn, and Gabrielle are all planning to enter their dogs in the competition, which should feature approximately 40 to 50 dogs from around New England. "Competing is getting to be much more popular," said Roger, who travels to shows all over the East. "There used to be only 10 to 15 dogs at a trial and now we sometimes get more than 75."

Spending a great deal of time training his dogs and getting them ready for trials, Roger has developed some of his own methods. One of his more successful tacks is to take the dogs out to work with the sheep in huge fields. "That makes working in anything smaller a piece of cake," he said.

In addition to being tireless and intelligent working dogs, border collies are also reputed to make wonderful pets. "After having one of these dogs," said Roger, who treats all of his dogs like members of the family, "I wouldn't want to have any other kind."

Saying that she would really recommend a border collie as a pet, Gabrielle jokingly added a warning, "People who have border collies have a popular saying—no one can have just one—and we've certainly found it to be true."