Herding is a sport intended to utilize the natural ability of your herding dog. Competitive herding compels you and your canine partner to work livestock, whether it be sheep, ducks,
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cattle or any other animal with a flocking instinct, through a set course. The AKC now offers four different courses and two different tests to compete in, each one demonstrating a different skill set. You decide where your dog and you compete. Within each course are three levels beginning at a novice level and progressing to the advanced.
There are two test levels in the AKC. The Herding Tested (HT) and the Pre-Trial (PT). Your first level will probably be the HT. In this level you and your dog must come into a small field and move sheep up and down the field, navigating between two cones. Some training is required for this but the judge is allowed to direct you on the course. It is a pass/fail exercise.
The “PT” is also pass/fail. In this field, a little larger this time, you move livestock around the field in a set course passing through four gates. A little more control is needed here in preparation to moving into the scored events.
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The “A” course is a general course where handler and dog move a group of three to five through obstacles you might find around the small farm. There are chutes to push livestock through and penning exercises. Additionally, there is substantial movement of the livestock through the course. You are judged according to their online course, your correct handling of the stock and their calm and controlled passage. The levels are determined by how much the handler is allowed to have an effect on the livestock.
The “B” course is an open field course designed to test your dog in larger areas you might find on a ranch. The stock is used in groups of three to five. The livestock must be moved over a specific course. Much of this course depends on your dog performing a distant outrun (the dog’s movement out and around the stock) and lift of the livestock back to the handler. 50% of your score derives from this operation. You and your dog are tested on how well you might be a mountain shepherd bringing your sheep in for the winter.
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“C” course is designed to test the mettle of a tending dog. Tending is used to control livestock in a pastoral setting. The dog in this course becomes the equivalent of a moving fence designated by the course. In the previous courses the dog and handler work closely together, communicating by verbal and non-verbal cues; in the C course the dog is tasked with working more independently and is actually penalized if handler commands are excessive. Again though, calm and controlled movement are judged but now the dog must work to accomplish this without assistance. In this course more than 30 sheep make up your livestock herd.
A recent addition to the AKC program is the “D” course. Designed to emulate the farm duties you and your dog might find on the particular farm you are visiting. Generally, you’ll find that the groups are comprised of more than 20 creatures. The course is designed by the resident course director using options from the AKC rules. Portions of the previous courses might be joined together to create a unique course every time. You are judged by how efficient your work is. Once again, calm and controlled is the way to go.
Utah – Sean Hathaway
Belgian Tervuren are fundamentally all-around farm dogs. They are the dog that will bring your sheep in from the open fields and work with them in the pens sorting for whatever purpose needed. Then they’ll move the sheep down the highway with you, protecting and managing the flock on the way to market. Once you’ve sold your flock and pocketed your earnings your Tervuren will guide you and protect you on the way home.
If you decide you want to try herding it is essential that you find a trainer who is well versed in the Tervuren specific training needs. The Belgian Tervuren is the best herding dog in the world but you must train him/her correctly to evoke the appropriate function. A capable trainer many hours away is much preferable to a closer one who is not well versed in the Belgian Tervuren characteristics. Talking to others who own and work Tervuren will hopefully lead you down the proper path.