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You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Dog Blogging / Early Morning Open Thread: Urban Sheepdog

Early Morning Open Thread: Urban Sheepdog

by Anne Laurie|  May 13, 20101:38 am| 35 Comments

This post is in: Dog Blogging, Open Threads

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At last, a use for all those banished-to-the-back-of-the-closet exercise balls:
__

I got this in a link from someone on the local papillon yahoo group. Treibball — which google-translate says means “driving-ball”, but I’m guessing “ball-herding” — is so new a dogsport that it doesn’t even have a wikipedia entry yet. From what I can glean off YouTube, it seems to be confined to Germany and its environs at the moment, but the commands (“waulk on”, “push”) are the standard English-language sheep dog signals. The serious herding enthusiasts would point out that a sheepdog barking & holding its tail high is committing two breaches of decorum, but I say there’s little enough raw joy in this world already…

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Reader Interactions

35Comments

  1. 1.

    General Egali Tarian Stuck

    May 13, 2010 at 1:44 am

    Headed for bed. Just thought I’d hi Anne Laurie, and hope you are doing well.

  2. 2.

    Yutsano

    May 13, 2010 at 1:45 am

    I saw the title of that and for some bizarre reason all I could think of is this:

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trabant

    My friend still has one of these back in Berlin that he never sold after he left to return to the US. I realize there is no real connection here, but I just couldn’t help myself.

    That is for sure one happy puppeh. Although he was patiently awaiting his cookie after finishing the task.

  3. 3.

    freelancer (itouch)

    May 13, 2010 at 1:45 am

    If it doesn’t have a wiki entry it doesn’t exist.

    Case in point: Exploding Animals

    http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Exploding_animals?wasRedirected=true

  4. 4.

    Mike Kay

    May 13, 2010 at 1:45 am

    Blast from the past (2005)

    Constitutional attorney (same title glen uses) ann coulter freaked out over stealth candidate… wait for it… John Roberts.

    Read the whole thing. It reads as a mirror image of ALL of glen’s current arguments. All of them.

    http://snipurl.com/w6trs

    I only raise this because of the revisionist canard the so-called realty based bloggers use that republicans nominate openly extreme justices, when if fact they not only use the stealth candidate strategy, they invented it.

  5. 5.

    MikeJ

    May 13, 2010 at 1:46 am

    Obviously the balls don’t react to being stared at the way sheep do. Oh course he has to bark to get their attention.

  6. 6.

    Comrade Kevin

    May 13, 2010 at 1:48 am

    @Mike Kay: I’ll take your word for it. I’m not giving her a click.

  7. 7.

    freelancer (itouch)

    May 13, 2010 at 1:49 am

    @Mike Kay:

    Nice catch.

    @Yutsano, best of luck with whatever they’re doing tomorrow. I’m sure you’ll be fine.

  8. 8.

    Yutsano

    May 13, 2010 at 1:50 am

    @MikeJ: Damn those balls for being obstinate!

    @freelancer (itouch):I’m not too concerned about it. It’s basically a “this is what we’re going to do to you” meeting more than anything else. It’s pretty basic and has a very low danger threshold. I’m sure I’ll be fine.

  9. 9.

    Joseph Nobles

    May 13, 2010 at 1:57 am

    Yay, happy dogs! If I didn’t rent a room, I’d go get me one.

    @Mike Kay: Seriously, show us on the doll where Glenzilla touched you.

  10. 10.

    Mike Kay

    May 13, 2010 at 2:01 am

    @freelancer (itouch):

    Phyllis Schlafly, et al. said the same thing: “President Bush appears to have intentionally nominated Roberts because he has avoided taking a public position on almost everything. Such persons are known as “stealth” nominations, because they are selected on the theory that they can be more easily confirmed if there is less for the other side to quote and criticize. It is that strategy that is perhaps most troubling to Bush’s supporters.”

    I remember this clearly, the entire realty based community was pissed and frustrated over the missing paper trail. Unfortunately, memory has a limited self life.

  11. 11.

    Mike Kay

    May 13, 2010 at 2:03 am

    @Joseph Nobles: glentard is many things, but you shouldn’t call him a child molester so cavalierly. shame on you.

    Dude, you’ll never be able to hit my slider (now you see it — WHOOOSH! — now you don’t).

  12. 12.

    Martin

    May 13, 2010 at 2:06 am

    Ooh, my corgi would be great at that. He herds everything, including my daughter.

  13. 13.

    Yutsano

    May 13, 2010 at 2:10 am

    @Martin: My parents have a border collie who would be content to do that for hours. I think he’d wear them out, he’s bad enough trying to herd the horses. He tried herding the goat too (don’t ask me why they got a goat, it has something to do with the health of the horses, he’s a pretty goat though) and Jack got over that idea really fast.

  14. 14.

    Mary G

    May 13, 2010 at 2:12 am

    If I missed this coming up here in the last couple of days, I’m sorry, but Delta Airlines lost someone’s dog and offered in compensation a return of the $200 he paid for the dog’s transport in not cash, but vouchers for future use on Delta.

    The owner says this is of no use, as he is never flying Delta again.

    Oddly enough, this makes twice in the last couple of weeks I have found myself agreeing with Jonah Goldberg. He praised President Obama’s eulogy of Dorothy Height, and said about the above story:

    I cannot begin to describe the relentless one-note-Johnnyism of my media jihad if this happened to Cosmo. Every post, column, and TV appearance would end with Delta Delenda Est. Then again, it would be hard to mount such a campaign from my jail cell, which is where I would be after beating the Delta rep senseless upon hearing the news.

  15. 15.

    Yutsano

    May 13, 2010 at 2:16 am

    Of course, one can never have too many raptors in their lives.

    http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20100511&content_id=9964664&vkey=news_min&fext=.jsp&c_id=min&partnerId=rss_min

    (h/t Phoenix Woman via TBogg)

  16. 16.

    Martin

    May 13, 2010 at 2:17 am

    @Mike Kay: BTW, you’re treating the writings of Phyllis Schlafly and Ann Coulter as rational, rather than the rantings of people we would normally assume are suffering from syphilis. Just thought that should be pointed out.

  17. 17.

    Linkmeister

    May 13, 2010 at 2:24 am

    That pooch was having a great time. I’d say the first ball was an empty-netter, but our host is probably mourning his hockey team so I won’t make any references to that sport.

  18. 18.

    Comrade Kevin

    May 13, 2010 at 2:24 am

    Rachel Maddow smacking these Republicans whining about Kagan’s alleged lack of experience, oh man, that’s funny!

    “Helpful Hints for Hypocrites”

  19. 19.

    Comrade Kevin

    May 13, 2010 at 2:31 am

    and now, Rachel is being stupid about Kagan, retailing all of the “criticism” of her, and claiming all of the pro-Kagan stuff is “because she’s worked for Democrats”. What bullshit.

  20. 20.

    Anne Laurie

    May 13, 2010 at 2:54 am

    @Yutsano: Another advantage to balls over sheep. In another one of the Youtube videos, after the dog had herded the first couple of balls into the goal and headed out again, the trainer booted them soaring back out into the field. Saves wear & tear on the throwing arm!

    I think you & Martin should absolutely give this sport a try, and I promise to front-page the Youtube results. Maybe we can all vote for “border collie versus corgi” as measured by donations to Charlie’s Angels in the name of our chosen favorite.

    P.S. Postive pings on your surgery thing tomorrow. The last week has been a Phestival of Sukk around these parts, so the laws of kharma entitle another member of the BJ community to a little extra good luck.

  21. 21.

    Mark S.

    May 13, 2010 at 4:10 am

    @Mike Kay:

    That’s how I remember the Roberts confirmation too. And yes, Corner Stone, people knew he was conservative, but it wasn’t obvious just from his record whether he would be a Scalia or a Kennedy.

    Alito, on the other hand, was very clearly really conservative. His opinion on some abortion case made it pretty clear that he didn’t see any restriction on abortion to be an undue burden, which usually translates as a justice who would overrule Roe in a heartbeat.

  22. 22.

    NobodySpecial

    May 13, 2010 at 4:41 am

    That’s how I remember the Roberts confirmation too. And yes, Corner Stone, people knew he was conservative, but it wasn’t obvious just from his record whether he would be a Scalia or a Kennedy.

    Being in the Federalist Society should have been warning flag enough as to which he would be. So should the fact that Bush nominated him after his interview.

  23. 23.

    TenguPhule

    May 13, 2010 at 5:02 am

    Wheee, we finally passed that Anti-Birther Law to stop catering to the Idiots draining State Resources by asking for Obama’s Birth Certificate again and again.

    It’s so sad we had to make a law just to deal with this kind of stupid crap.

  24. 24.

    TenguPhule

    May 13, 2010 at 5:05 am

    when if fact they not only use the stealth candidate strategy, they invented it.

    Not Really. Roberts and Scalito were both Hard-right Corporate Tools, it’s just that our gutless conservative cocksucking media couldn’t muster the effort to even try and point out the obvious.

  25. 25.

    Randy P

    May 13, 2010 at 6:39 am

    That was great. I love watching working dogs. Put a grin on my face first thing in the morning.

    I’ve always meant to go watch sheepdog trials somewhere. When I used to live in the DC area I’d see trials going on somewhere way the heck out in VA but I never made the time to go see them. I doubt there are any here in Philly but I could see somebody doing this.

  26. 26.

    IndieTarheel

    May 13, 2010 at 6:44 am

    My local rag published an editorial on the nomination that contained some good (yet sure to be ignored) advice for the NeoConfederates:
    __

    It is a sign of our hopelessly polarized times, though, that the question of a filibuster instantly arose. Only in 2010 would it be considered an expected and legitimate option regardless of who the nominee is.
    __
    Liberals and conservatives alike who have worked with her laud her intellect, her integrity and her talent to build consensus. Her tenure as dean of Harvard Law School was an unqualified success.
    —
    In other words, this is the kind of nominee who in earlier times would have been confirmed nearly unanimously. The biggest question surrounds her lack of judicial experience. It’s a legitimate area for exploration, but not one that stopped the last such nominees – Richard Nixon’s choices of William Rehnquist and Lewis Powell – from being confirmed easily in 1971.
    __
    A thorough confirmation process is essential before bestowing this lifetime position. But barring something unexpected coming to light, Kagan should be a shoo-in. Senators looking to pick an election-year fight should consider that Americans are tired of empty political posturing and might recognize a party-line brawl as exactly that.

    Might? Seriously?

  27. 27.

    Randy P

    May 13, 2010 at 6:46 am

    @Mary G: I can’t imagine how upset I’d be. From the description, I think I’d be back in Mexico City trying to raise some hell.

    Finally, after hours on the phone, his friend in Mexico got an answer: Paco had somehow escaped from his cage and was lost. The airline offered to refund Allen the $200 in fees he had paid for his pet — as a credit toward a future flight on Delta.

    So it’s not that he was misrouted with some other luggage and sent to Chicago, it’s that he was physically let out of his cage and lost in the airport. I can’t decide which scenario is worse.

  28. 28.

    WereBear

    May 13, 2010 at 7:30 am

    @Randy P: I think they should just let people fly with the dog on a leash. They behave better than most babies, I sure wouldn’t mind, and it’s coach; it’s already a minor circle of hell.

  29. 29.

    4jkb4ia

    May 13, 2010 at 9:16 am


    Ilya Somin
    on the Pew poll posted about on Sunday.

  30. 30.

    4jkb4ia

    May 13, 2010 at 9:18 am

    You have got to be kidding me! “S o c i a l i s m” is in the link text, for crying out loud!

  31. 31.

    dlwchico

    May 13, 2010 at 11:20 am

    My dog does something similar with an old basketball.

    He’s getting kind of old and his arthritis acts up, but he still loves it.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itz247_Dw1Y

  32. 32.

    Dave Trowbridge

    May 13, 2010 at 1:30 pm

    My German Shepherd Dog, Oka, terminated the exercise ball I tried him on rather quickly, and he puts paid to soccer and basketballs pretty quickly, as well. It’s probably his Schutzhund lineage and training.

    However, a hard plastic “horse ball” (about the size of a basketball) is just the thing for him. He gets it moving with his muzzle and then keeps it moving it along with his front legs. He will herd it up and down the yard until he’s exhausted (we have a privet-hedge maze there that makes the job interesting). Or, I’ll work him in obedience by making him wait before herding it back to me, lie down just as he reaches it, or, hardest of all, lie down while herding it.

  33. 33.

    Original Lee

    May 13, 2010 at 2:44 pm

    @Mary G: Arrgh. I have to fly Delta because they bought Northwest/KLM, and a lot of the flying I do is to places where Northwest used to be the best option. Which is the more correct Latin, BTW:

    Delta delenda est.

    – Or-

    Ceterum censeo Delta esse delendam.

  34. 34.

    ACDBrad

    May 13, 2010 at 3:53 pm

    @Randy P: If you’re interested, there’s a herding trial going on in Birdsboro, PA, on June 26th & 27th….

  35. 35.

    ACDBrad

    May 13, 2010 at 3:55 pm

    @dlwchico: Nice to see another ACD owner here!

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