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Could you tell me why she would suit herding? Do any of her relatives have herding titles (not test titles) here or overseas?

This a question that has probably been discussed elsewhere, but I would love to hear peoples opinions and rationales behind hip scores. Many of the medium to large size breeds, think Shepherds, Labs, Rotties, Pointers and so on have large litters, 6 - 10 at a time being normal. Generally it seems that only a minority, 2 or 3 in most litters will be hip and elbow scored. How useful to the breeder and to people who may wish to use these progeny is the score; if less than 50% of the offsprings hip status is known? While the scored dogs may have great hips, the majority which weren't scored may be atrocious. Indicating that the low scoring ones could be carrying genes which cause poor hips. Conversely, if only one pup out of 10 is scored and he has a really bad score of say 40, the assumption is that the rest could be similar, while it is possible they all have perfect 0 0 hips. I suppose I'm querying some dog owners/breeders who get really excited about 0 0 hip scores for their dogs. Does this mean anything if the dog's litter siblings scores aren't displayed alongside it to give people an idea on what's in the family?

Hi Jesomil, pleased to help. You can find the ankc herding rules here: http://www.badsa.org.au/herding.html There is also an Advanced C level course which really has no parallels with Australian style sheepwork. This is boundary herding, where the dog is a 'living fence' keeping grazing (therefore calm, not stressed) sheep within a certain area. The dog also moves the stock along a road over a bridge and into and out of a pen. Why would people preserve instinct in their lines? The fact is that those instincts are part of their breed, why it was developed and no doubt, an integral part of their breeds temperament and nature. Breeding a European herding breed to increase its working behaviour wouldn't turn it into a border collie or kelpie. These dogs are bred to do a different job under different conditions. If people wanted to do 3 sheep trialling they'd be mad to get a show bred belgian shepherd, aussie shepherd or even an ACD; they'd get a dog bred to do specifically 3 sheep work. As has been mentioned before, a dog bred specifically to do 3 sheep trials is often not the dog you actually want to work with on commercial sheep station. Through ankc trialling, I suppose that the aim is to get a dog that can perform and succeed within those particular rules. I'm pretty sure that no-one in the ankc herding world is trying to say that their dogs are equivalent to Australian multi-generation purpose bred breeds and that people should consider buying one of theirs to work on a sheepstation. And yes to your final question a number of working bred dogs (by that I mean nsw sheepdog workers inc. registered border collies and wkc kelpies) do compete in ankc herding events.

Hi Dasha, you mention herding being a 'new craze'. While not as established as some of the other sheepdog trials in Australia, it has been going for over 4 years, I wouldn't have thought that such a thing was a 'new craze'? Your concerns seem to largely be with dogs biting, and rightly so. The herding rules clearly state that dogs which do grip abusively without purpose shall be immediately excused. Where acceptable gripping is allowed (probably similarly to 3 sheep trialling) it must not break the skin. A dog which is excused twice for unacceptable gripping will no longer be elligible for entry into ankc events. After 6 months that dog can be re-evaluated 3 times by judges. Any excusals there will see it permanently ineligble for entry in ankc herding events. The ankc has no control or authority over private trainers. Many of these trainers are probably not members of the ankc and would have no interest or inclination in reporting biting dogs to them. Should they also report biting registered working border collies, kelpies and so on? Should they report these dogs to their owners 'main' body such as the sheepdog workers association or the yard dog association? I think that it's really unfortunate people can ignore an injured and stressed animal and just focus on the enjoyment their dog had chasing (herding?) sheep. Maybe as mjk05 says, if the herding instinct certificate is removed, we'll start seeing more controlled behaviour from the dogs and less stress and mayhem. Jesomil, I think it was mjk05 again who said that some show bred dogs can herd. No they haven't been selectively bred for that behaviour, but the genetic component is still there, creating a dog that has sheep working ability. I don't think that such a dog will ever be equivalent to a working dog selectively bred for such a thing, but it's fantastic when there's instinct to be found. This is what the ankc herding program is designed to do. Not to allow every ankc group 5 dog the ability to get its herding title. But to demonstrate which ones retained instinct and help preserve that within breeding programs. Jesomil, you said that you I dont believe a title after a name means a great deal. Have you looked at the ankc herding rules and the title requirements. You might find that they are more involved than many think. For the advanced level, in A and B courses, a dog must have a reasonable cast (B course up to 180 metres), lift, fetch, balance, drive, pen and hold. Surely enough to demonstrate that the dog has some level or instinct? I agree that novice handlers can frustrate and create situations where almost any dog will bite stock. Working stock with a dog is involved and takes months/years of concerted effort for many people to work out what's going on. I think that more education of handlers new to the sport which would include stock awareness and some basic husbandry wouldn't go astray. Unfortunately people only remember and discuss the negative incidents. It would be great to see some recognition of the positive things coming out of the ankc herding program. Positives such as an increased awareness and appreciation of the Australian working dogs and their handlers, more understanding of sheep husbandry, dogs with more control and better relationship with handler due to working stock, and finally ankc show dogs which actually can work stock producing better offspring with increased herding instinct due to the program. I understand how alarming dogs biting and damaging stock is and hope that no one of any sheepdog/herding persuasion thinks that such behaviour is acceptable. It certainly isn't under the ankc rules.