Recently in sheepherding Category

I haven't seen this film, but would like to. One of the trainers at the Long Beach sheep herding facility sent the link to me about this documentary, Sweetgrass.

It's billed as "an unsentimental elegy to the American West, (following) the last sheepherders to trail their flocks up into Montana's Beartooth mountains for summer pasture."

Attention all local dog trainers: We need to get a class going in this in the South Bay, no?

South Bay Pets friend "josh's sister" (you'll see her dog Sherman featured in Josh's post below) also took Sherman herding recently at a place Robin on the Lamb. (This is really Sherman's day on the blog!)

I've wanted to take Tess & Cowboy herding ever since I've had them, but haven't had the opportunity yet. Maybe later this fall. Any other herding experiences out there?

Here's a video from the facility:

See Pepper run.

See Pepper run and herd the sheep.

See Pepper fulfill her destiny.

Pepper, a San Pedro Australian shepherd, was introduced to sheepherding last weekend. She'll probably never be the same.

Pepper took to it like a pro, from the looks of it, probably because she comes from a champion line of herding dogs.

But most of the time, Pepper is content to romp with other dogs at San Pedro's dog park or play at home with her own sheep -- that would be the stuffed toy variety.

She's shown here at the L.A. County 4-H Ranch in Long Beach learning herding techniques with some Barbados Blackbelly sheep (which have hair instead of wool). The sheep aren't harmed, Pepper's owner, Paul, a marine biologist, assures us.

Pepper's probably one of the happiest dogs at the dog park. "She is a friend to all dogs and people and goes to the dog park to visit with the owners as much as the dogs," Paul wrote about her general good nature. 

"She loves to rough-house with her dog friends who share the feeling, and respects the ones who don't. She loves to share in my food, especially nuts and some fruits such as cherries and blueberries. She has a 5-gallon bucket of stuffed toys which she can empty in minutes, to find just the right one with which to play tug-o-war and fetch."

If you have a herding breed and would like to try sheepherding, there are a few ranch facilities not too far away that offer lessons. One recommended to me once was Action K9 Sports at the 605 near Valley View.

I took one of my former Australian shepherds, Mercy, herding at a place in Lomita 10 years ago, but that's no longer there. It's great fun to see your working dog do what he or she was bred to do. But the lessons can get a bit pricey over time. Fetch is a lot cheaper. Or you can buy some ducks.

There's lots of good general information about herding dogs at Herding on the Web.

By the way, the 4H ranch shown in the photo above doesn't offer public herding lessons. But they do have lots of great activities for kids and their parents. Contact the Los Angeles County Extension Office.