2017 July August

Stockdog Corner
Terry Martin • Bryan, Texas
Thinking About Form and Function
This time the Stockdog Corner is going to be written for
the pet owner, the breeder, large and small, the competitor
in conformation or agility or any other doggy event. I am
in hopes that some who get the Aussie Times and who
are not working their Aussies will take the time to read this. It is
written for those of you who probably will never work a dog on
stock or may do it a few times at a clinic or fun day. It is written
for those of you who have an interest in just what the Breed Standard
is all about. Some knowledge of just what a real-life working Aussie
will be doing that proper structure will help it accomplish can only
be helpful to all of us.
The idea for this issue’s column came from a discussion on
Facebook that made me realize how many out there do not
understand what Aussies out in the livestock world really do or
what they structurally need to be able to do. And before some of
you say or think, “Aussies aren’t really out there any more working
livestock” – I promise you, they are. As a breeder of working
Aussies since the 1960s (I do cringe when I say that since I can’t
really be that old), I can definitely
say that there are more Aussies
out there in the livestock world
right now today in 2017 than
there have been in any decade
before. There are also more
stockdogs of other breeds in real
working homes all over America.
Before the Internet (for some of
you youngsters, there really was
a world before that!), if a farmer or rancher did not have a neighbor
with working dogs, they likely didn’t even know how a dog could
help them. Now the information and knowledge is out there and
so are the dogs and a demand for them.
I am going to paraphrase something that was said in the
discussion that made me realize how many there are out in the
Aussie world who have no idea what is required of a stockdog.
This was in a discussion about “movement” as it pertains to what
is required of a working Aussie. Basically, the post said that the
extended trot was extremely important in the work that a ranch
does, because the dog would be trotting for many miles to get to
the cattle and then after rounding them up would have to trot for
miles to get back to the home place. The miles and miles of trotting
in a day was mentioned in several posts. It was pointed out by
several people that this is not what ranch dogs do (not that there
84 AUSSIE TIMES May-June 2017
. . . it would be good for the breed
if people understood a little of what
is required for the historical and
ongoing purpose.
might not be an occasion where it is done), and the posters were
surprised and they admitted they just did not know.
The truth is, how would we expect people who have never
seen an Aussie work on a ranch or farm and may have never been
on a ranch or farm at all to understand? And yet the breed we all
have chosen was formed over the first 100-150 years without a
registry, without records, without competitions, to actually function
and work on farms and ranches. The Breed Standard was written
saying, “primarily a working dog” because dog Standards do state
the original purpose of a breed so conformation judges will
understand the traits necessary.
So in the interest of history and of preserving the breed, whether
every Aussie will ever see a cow or a sheep in their life, it would
be good for the breed if people understood a little of what is required
for the historical and ongoing purpose.
It was stated in a discussion that the ATV (All Terrain Vehicle)
has replaced the stockdog. Think about it. What has the ATV
replaced? The ATV, if it has replaced anything on some ranches, it
has replaced the horse, not the
dog. The ATV can carry a man.
It can not maneuver like a man
on horseback, but it is still useful
and can carry feed and in many
cases, the dogs. The ATV can not
run ahead of cattle and turn them
back, it can not go into brush too
thick to drive through, it can not
cross deep water, it can not
protect a man on foot when an angry momma cow wants to get
him down. It can not push cattle through a chute and is too big to
use in a corral.
Can a man on foot or horseback do these things? Cattle are
pretty much not afraid of a vehicle. They respect a horse in some
ways because it is bigger, but they are not afraid of it. But a dog
that will grip on the face/nose or heels – that gets their attention,
perhaps because deep down a canine is a predator and a cow is
prey. Or maybe because that pinch from the dog’s teeth is unpleasant
so they prefer to avoid it. A dog that barks with confidence can also
be effective because, again, the dog is the aggressor and the line
of least resistance for the stock is to move away from it.
But back to the physical things that are required of a stockdog.
Usually if the livestock are really miles away, the dog or dogs are
transported there in a pickup, in the front of a stock trailer with the