He PASSED!!!!

Well well well.  GUESS who passed his Herding Instinct Test?!  Yup.  The FG is interested in sheep.  

He and my human left the house EARLY yesterday morning and drove a bit over an hour to a farm near Lunenburg.  There were 20 dogs booked for the Instinct Test – 10 in the morning and 10 in the afternoon.  They were in the morning group.  Before the testing began, the evaluator instructed the participants that this was just single “snapshot” of how a dog would be with sheep. Remember my “snapshot”?   No action shot there.  It was more like a still life painting.  And that’s all my human could think about.  

My human kept the FG in his crate in Ludwig until just before it was their turn to go in.  The evaluator said she never saw a Picard with sheep before.  Great.  Even more pressure.  He was now representing the entire breed.  Before he even got IN the ring, he discovered my favourite part of Herding.  The snacks.  Those delectable morsels left all over the ground by the sheep.  Déjà vu my human thought.   Here we go again.

This test was a bit different from the one that Einstein and I did.  The evaluator took each dog by the lead and introduced the dog to the sheep.  Not really a formal introduction by names, but she walked to dog toward the sheep.  And the FG was very interested.  And pretty responsive  to feedback  - he didn’t pull the evaluator onto her knees.  It was the first time my human ever saw the FG stay interested in something for more than 3 seconds.  He really thought the sheep were cool.

After the session was over, the evaluator told my human that the FG has potential to become a real herding dog.  She really liked him. My human got so excited, she almost started crying.  I would hate to see what happens to her if she won something like an Academy Award!  Seriously.  And remember it was a “snapshot.”  The full length film could be a whole other story!   But for now we KNOW that the FG IS interested in sheep which is a great starting point and he DID pass the test!  So he GOT a certificate and everything.  Good job little brother.  Good job.

Now.  When are we getting some sheep?

Have a good one.  Peace and paws up!