Quiet morning
It's a chilly 54F here and I've been sort of lazily watching Chief wander about the backyard, sniffing the bushes and trees, lolling about on his beloved patio tiles to scratch himself, etc. He's a pleasure to watch, as he so viscerally enjoys being outdoors. Being cooped up in that tiny kennel at the shelter must have been very hard on him.
While I was typing this, Radar managed to break out of the patio bunny pen and zip over under the patio table. Chief pranced over, his fluffy tail a pennant in the breeze, made a happy hooting noise, then herded Radar into the patio corner (our patio is L-shaped, to follow the line of our home) while I ran outside. By the time I got there, Radar was sequestered there while Chief held vigil. I was so impressed! Chief can HERD!
Generally speaking, Chief is your garden variety Golden Retriever. He's friendly, easy going, casual and lazy! The wheels are turning up there, but mostly the hamster is napping. That sort of thing. And while he has the occasional bout of cleverness and play, he's an old guy who is enjoying his retirement home. So we haven't worked on his training. He knows the basic commands and that's fine with us.
But this is pure German Shepherd herding behavior. GR's do not have herding instincts, for the most part. Our area isn't known for sheep, in any case. Nor ducks. So I may need to work with him a bit, as his low stamina allows. Frankly, I don't even know how much of an attention span the old boy has. :D
While I was typing this, Radar managed to break out of the patio bunny pen and zip over under the patio table. Chief pranced over, his fluffy tail a pennant in the breeze, made a happy hooting noise, then herded Radar into the patio corner (our patio is L-shaped, to follow the line of our home) while I ran outside. By the time I got there, Radar was sequestered there while Chief held vigil. I was so impressed! Chief can HERD!
Generally speaking, Chief is your garden variety Golden Retriever. He's friendly, easy going, casual and lazy! The wheels are turning up there, but mostly the hamster is napping. That sort of thing. And while he has the occasional bout of cleverness and play, he's an old guy who is enjoying his retirement home. So we haven't worked on his training. He knows the basic commands and that's fine with us.
But this is pure German Shepherd herding behavior. GR's do not have herding instincts, for the most part. Our area isn't known for sheep, in any case. Nor ducks. So I may need to work with him a bit, as his low stamina allows. Frankly, I don't even know how much of an attention span the old boy has. :D