Who Knew: Molly The Herding Doodle

[Discussing Labradoodles & Goldendoodles]

Well it was quite the scene at 4 AM Wednesday morning. Let me set the picture. We live in a small village in rural Ontario. Our property is about 1 acre in size and backs onto what I refer to as the 100 acre wood. It's actually 185 acres of bush, scrub and trees. It's a great place to trek with the doodle and Mr. Jake goes out there to bark at the moon. Oh and it's full of all kinds of wild life including rabbits, deer, wild turkey, coyotoes and even wolves. Some pretty scary things actually.

Anyway, DH often wakes up at ungodly hours and sits at his laptop for a while reading the news and then heads back to bed. He usually lets all three out for a very early morning pee. Because it's winter, they normally only stay out for a short while and then are at the patio doors wanting back in.

Well this particular morning, Riley came back and even Mr. Jake cut short his barking session, but Molly she was out there for about 1/2 hour making all kinds of noise. DH finally plucked up the courage to go out with a flashlight to see what was up. Courage is needed to walk over the backyard as it is a sheet of ice, either courage or a pair of ice skates.

So what does he discover when he finally gets close to Molly? She is patiently herding a rather large raccoon to the back porch. She was keeping her distance but moving back and forth behind this fellow and barking and then moving him forward. I have no idea what she thought she was going to do with the creature. "Hey dad look what followed me home!!! Can I keep him?"

DH just about died of laughter and finally managed to grab Molly's collar and get her back to the house at which point the raccoon very quickly scurried away. Molly was very put out I can tell you.

So do your doodles like to herd things?

[shelly]

WOW!  That is something, Molly!  What a brave dog!  Yes!  Yes!  Yes!  Tori tries to herd --- she doesn't have the chance to herd any wild animals (I am sure she would, if given the chance), but she turns on her herd button when it comes to people.  I am sure you have read my posts about some.... she especially herds my youngest nephew.. no one can even touch him when she's near him...when he was real little and he would get picked up, she would bark and corral them until they put him down.  Not as intense now... she just herds him and not so possessive...

[Christine & Shelby]

I've not seen any clues that Shelby would heard anything.... but I do know that she would be a hunter.... can't let a bunnie, squirrel, bird, etc. go unnoticed.    I don't know that she'd want to hurt them.... she wants to approach every cat we see to.... but most don't like dogs.... however we know that Kenny and Nemo are used to dogs and let Shelby say hello everytime we see them on our walk.   I don't want to know what would happen if she got a rabbit or squirrel - if she killed/hurt it, I think it would make me cry!  So here's to hoping I never learn!

[Deanna & Desi & Cori]

Sedona is a bit of a herder.  Each morning and evening, our old cat needs thyroid medicine rubbed into his ear.  My husband lets him into the house and he and Sedona play a bit while my husband readies the gloves, meds, etc.  When he's ready, he tells Sedona to bring Hercules and (most of the time) Sedona herds the cat back to the laundry room for his treatment.  It's a real team effort!  :)

[Bonnie and Kona]

This is the cutest thing ever. What a good dog and cooperative kitty!

[Ginny Nightingale]

Love that!

[Pat and Traveler]

Cute story!  I can just see Molly bringing the raccoon home.  Trav doesn't appear to have any herding instinct--which is maybe a good thing as we just saw a big raccoon by the side of the house!

[Donna K & Quincy]

I guess it's a lucky thing that there was no doggie door for her to herd him in the house. You may have awakened to a raccoon staring at you.

[Ginny Nightingale]

great story! I have a herder--she herds the 2 other dogs all around the yard, although one hates it and stays close to the house to avoid the herding. Unfortunately, if we have company she herds them too--if they are sitting at a table, all is well, but if they get up to move to another room, she barks at them to keep them in their seats--not nice. 

[shelly]

GINNY ~ Tori does the EXACT same thing!  Isn't that strange?!  I always wondered why... wanted a behaviorist to give me an explanation, but she blamed it on her "Aussie" side.... but I always thought there was more to that...

[jen w.]

You know...I was looking up "herding and goldendoodles" and that's how I found this thread. I'm from Ontario as well and here's my history of "Doodle herding". Near me there is a house with two horses. Every time we walk up there, my doodle, Beasley, will bark and carry on. Usually, we hurry by because as a horsewoman myself, I don't want him to scare the horses, one of whom is obviously very old and arthritic.

One day, we were walking along the waterfront trail located along Lake Ontario, near this "horse house", when we actually came upon the two horses. They were loose and ambling along grazing. Worried about the bicycles that often come by at a fast pace, I was thinking about what to do to get the horses back in their paddock when Beasley broke free and went for 'em.

I'm yelling. I'm shouting his name and trying to call him back but to no avail (Beasley flunked obedience school). He cornered those two horses, nipping at their heels and got them turned towards home. He chased them back into their paddock, me in hot pursuit. Then, he circled the field and ran right back up to me and sat, looking up at me like he'd been trained to do that.

I was terrified he'd get kicked. The horses had no halters on. There was nothing I could do and my dog is very strong when he wants to break free from me! It was amazing. Fortunately, the horse owners do not appear to have seen the incident but two little kids watched the whole thing. One came up to me and said, "I never saw anything like THAT before!". I replied, me neither!

Guess I shouldn't be surprised. Beasley always likes to chase flocks of geese and frequently circles them and ends up seated in front of me after they've flown away! These days, however, he prefers to round up my two new kittens. He tracks them and monitors their location and follows them around. I have no fear of any prey instinct, though. Nope, Beasley is a herder, no doubt about that. He just seems to want to know where everyone is and what we're all doing. (I've even tried to hide from him but he always seeks me out!) That's a doodle for ya!

[Bonnie and Kona]

Has Beasley been watching that movie where the pig herds sheep?... "Babe".  I love that movie and I think I'm in love with Beasley, too. He is so gorgeous and sitting at your feet after he does his job... what a guy!

[jen w.]

Loved that movie too! Beasley is a nut and we have had many adventures over the last 8 years. We've been through 3 trainers, including one session with a Brad Pattison protege but no one has been able to "fix" Beasley. ("More exercise" just doesn't do it, believe me!)  He takes after the Poodle (herding dog) side of his lineage more than the Golden R. side, always wanting to be in control and "rounding" everyone up. For this reason, parties at my house are always a "unique" experience! He just loses it!! Today, while I was at work, he ripped out the frame for the cat door, screws and all, apparently trying to follow the cats to basement! (I only just installed it too!) Oh well, there goes THAT idea! Geesh!