Tilly was a family dog who has been missing since she was thrown off the rear window following a car accident. After searching for two whole days, his family found him on a farm herding flocks of sheep.
A report from The Spokesman-Review, a local publication in Spokane, Washington, recalls how Linda Oswald's family - Tilly's owner - was driving along Highway 41 in Idaho with the dog seated at the back of their car when they suddenly collided with another car. The dog flew through the opening, unharmed, and landed at the prairie south of Rathdrum.
The dog returned to his rightful owners two days later, after members of the Potter family farm found Tilly interacting with their other shepherd dogs.
A Long History of Domestication and Herding
Humans and dogs have a long history of coexistence and domestication, although the timing and exact circumstances that led to this longstanding relationship remain unclear. Studies on genetic remains suggest that dogs and wolves went their separate ways down the evolutionary ladder sometime between 36,900 to 41,500 years ago. The eastern and western dog breeds began diverging 17,500 to 23,900 years ago. An article from the journal Nature suggests that since domestication occurred between these events, it must've happened anywhere from 20,000 to 40,000 years ago.
A prevailing theory is that people first domesticated dogs as hunting companions and later used them to guard settlements. Sheep and goat were are among the first animals domesticated by humans.
According to "Herding Dogs: Selection and Training the Working Farm Dog," herding behavior comes from modified predatory behavior. Through centuries of selective breeding and behavioral conditioning, humans have reduced the dog's natural tendencies to treat sheep and other livestock as prey while their ferocity against other invasive predators is maintained, making them ideal for herding sheep.
Nowadays, aside from helping farmers herd sheep and other livestock, herding dogs are also signed up by their owners for "sheepdog trials." The competitive dog sport involves moving these trained animals around a variety of courses - from indoor obstacle courses to large, outdoor grazing plains.
Studying the Interactions Between Dog and Sheep
A study led by researchers from the Sydney School of Veterinary Science at the University of Sydney examined the interaction between herding dogs and sheep. Citing that while livestock herding dogs "have contributed significantly" to agriculture n Australia, there are no previous studies of the sort. Titled "Sequential Analysis of Livestock Herding Dog and Sheep Interactions," the University of Sydney study was published in the February 2020 issue of the Animals journal.
Taking video recordings allowed researchers to monitor the interaction between the two species in the context of a yard trial competition. Using a statistical approach, researchers used event-based and time-based lag sequential analyses. One responsive behavior observed among the sheep in the study is that they all stopped moving shortly after the dog did. Researchers then concluded that using the trial score as a performance indicator definitely confirms the benefits of objective measures to assess livestock herding dogs.
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