Herding skills taking dogs and handler to California
One of Mike Perry's dogs herds the sheep in the right direction. Photos by Sandy Quadros Bowles 
Lorena Salinas, left, Juan Salinas and Luna Salinas, 4, enjoyed the demonstration.
One of Mike Perry's dogs herds the sheep in the right direction. Photos by Sandy Quadros Bowles
Lorena Salinas, left, Juan Salinas and Luna Salinas, 4, enjoyed the demonstration.
MIDDLEBORO -- He whistles, and they work.
Mike Perry, owner of Sheepdog Junction, displayed the skills of his border collies at herding sheep during a demonstration Aug. 29 at Soule Homestead Education Center.
Using clicking and whistling sounds, Perry coaxes the dogs from a standstill to a solid run to lead the sheep where they need to go.
Those skills are taking Perry and his dogs to a national competition in California.
Those skills are taking Perry and his dogs to a national competition in California.
The demonstration served as a fund-raiser for that trip.
“It’s all about the dogs’ communication with the sheep,’’ Perry explained to those attending.
The idea that the dogs are born with the instinct to herd is not quite right, he said. Their instinct is to hunt. Transferring that instinct to herding sheep requires training, which is where Perry comes in.
That work is leading Perry and the dogs to the West Coast. But of course the trip won’t be non-stop.
As they make their way across the country, “we’re going to stop at farms that have sheep’’ to get in some work with the dogs before the competition.
