Everyone help yourself to a piece (or two). And thanks so much for the good wishes.

I had a very nice day yesterday, and was able to let it overlap into today. My daughter and grandkids and I went to lunch at a lovely little restaurant yesterday, and then my daughter and I (without grandkids) got to go up to one of the Salt Lake Olympics (2002) venues in the mountains where we watched border collies compete in an international sheepdog trials event. Totally awesome! And it was a great day for it--heavy overcast with occasional sprinkles--love it!

We also got to watch some younger dogs (and non-border collie breeds--though the sheepdog trials aren't limited to border collies, they're just the ones who make the internationals, I guess) practice herding ducks. That was lots of fun after watching the real sheepdog trials.

Today is my and my husband's 34th wedding anniversary, by the way, and we're going out to dinner tonight to celebrate (and maybe a movie, if we can fit it in).

Watching ducks getting herded must have been fun. Gives me a smile just thinking about it. Hmmmmm, I wonder if watching that display made you want to name some of those duckys.

I wonder who would be the duck that tried to bite the dog herding them and was grabbed by the handler. They said that duck would not be used for herding again.

Then we watched the last half of the BYU-Oklahoma game, and then went to a wedding reception and had to-die-for chocolate cake (there was room because our stomachs had had time to digest).

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I wonder who would be the duck that tried to bite the dog herding them and was grabbed by the handler. They said that duck would not be used for herding again.

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By the way, I liked the sheepdog trials so much, I went back this morning to watch some of the finals. I've got to figure out how to use that stuff in a story.

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I've had both of my dogs (Cardigan Welsh Corgis) herding instinct tested. (Both passed) It's a lot of fun to watch a dog "turn on" to sheep. Of course, the dogs you watched were a lot further along than that. And border collies herd very differently than corgis.

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Meredith, how do they test dogs for herding instinct?

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Well, I've only been to two herding instinct tests. But, basically:

Someone who knows what they're doing and what they're looking for goes into the pen with you. In my case, this was Judy Vanderford, who is a judge and also owns the sheep we were using. Generally, there are only three or four sheep, who've been herded by dogs before. ("dog broke".)

Usually, you start with the dog on leash. You lead the dog around, following the sheep. Often, it takes a few minutes for the dog to get the idea and gain confidence. (Micah went in all set to go and was taken off leash immediately.) When the judge tells you, you take off the leash and see what happens. Sometimes, they keep the dog on a long lead.

A dog that "turns on" will start to move the sheep. It's more than just chasing them. Usually, their instinct is to bring the sheep to you. Which is where it gets dodgy for me, since I don't seem to have sufficient instinct to stay out of their way.

Different breeds of dog herd differently. Border collies and corgis are actually almost at opposite ends of the spectrum. As you probably saw, border collies are what are called "hard-eyed". They stare at the sheep as if they're seeing lamb chops. They often look like they're stalking the sheep when they work. And border collies often work silently.

Corgis are "loose-eyed". Often, they don't even appear to be looking at the sheep. But they know exactly where those sheep are. There's usually more actual chasing going on when corgis work and a lot more barking. Also, because corgis were originally bred to herd cattle, they have a tendency to nip at the heels.

Somewhere, I have some video of Aliza herding sheep. But since I can't find it right now, here's a youtube link that's pretty similar to our experience. But imagine it with a red and white dog, instead of a tri.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXh3BJtJfbI

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You got a husband for your birthday?

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Must'a been difficult to wrap.

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I'm just guessing but I bet was lots of fun to unwrap.

The one of the big challenges for the border collies at the sheepdog competition was that the sheep were "range" sheep and had never been herded by dogs, so they were particularly uncooperative.

I asked lots of questions at the herding demonstration, and one of the things they talked about was how sheep are quite fragile, compared to cattle, so they can't have dogs that nip do the herding of the sheep.

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Thanks, Meredith. One of the dogs doing the duck herding was actually jumping up and down along with the barking (it looked a little like a pomeranian, but I'm sure that wasn't what it was).

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You're quite welcome. As a former boss of mine used to say, "Be careful what you ask a dog owner. You're liable to find out more than you wanted to."

Pomeranian? Not that I've ever heard. Maybe a sheltie. They look like miniature collies. Or it could have been a fluffy (long-haired, incorrect coat) corgi of either variety.

I'm always interested in finding out stuff. (My brothers and sisters learned to not ask me about anything, because they always felt I told them more than they really wanted to know.)

Now that I've seen the handlers (as they were called at the competition) use whistles to communicate with the sheepdogs in moving the sheep around, I can better appreciate what would go into such a display.

The whistles are made of metal and fit inside the handler's mouths, and there are some generally standard commands that tell the sheepdog to go around the sheep in a clockwise direction or in a counter-clockwise direction, to stop and lie down near the sheep (to hold them in place), to go toward the sheep, to turn around and go get more sheep, and so on.

Happy Belated Birthday, Kathleen.