SHEEP HERDING

 While in the Lake District, we were treated to a sheep herding demonstration.  It sounded so-so, but it was actually great.  Our group visited a working sheep farm run by a husband and wife and a team of border collies.  And clearly the real stars of the show were the collies. While the wife was providing narrative explanation of the process, her husband was giving signals to the collies employing a high pitched whistle and a series of short and long sounds, which the collies obviously understood.  What struck me most about the collies was their absolute focus on their work, whether it was general herding or, working with another collie, splitting the herd into two smaller groups.

This was not an opportunity for artistic photography, so I tried to focus on just documenting the action.  Here are some of the shots that I got.

These are sheep raised for meat, not wool.

The shot below of one of the collies shows some of their intensity and focus. 

Here's a shot of the herd being "managed" by one of the collies (far right).

As said, the farmer uses a series of high pitched whistles to instruct the collies as to what he wants them to do.

John.