THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, October 15, 1995 TAG: 9510130241
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 02 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Coastal Journal
SOURCE: Mary Reid Barrow
LENGTH: Medium: 90 lines
Kody, a border collie, put the ``eye'' on a flock of sheep in a green pasture down in Pungo.
Running low to the ground, his tail between his legs, the dog swept wide around the sheep and ran up behind the placid animals. The sheep, sensing his presence, began to mill about, moving slightly forward. Kody stopped instantly and crouched in the grass to keep them from bolting. Then he spun around and ran to the right. The sheep trotted forward and slightly to the left. Kody had the flock on the move. His eyes never strayed. He sensed the flock's every action and timed his own maneuvers accordingly.
Cutting left and then right and always behind the sheep, Kody moved fluidly and with the stealth of a tiger, crouching low every time the sheep looked panicky.
Kody's goal was not to attack but to take the sheep out of a gate, across an open field and through another gate into a second pasture.
Although intensely focused, Kody heard and obeyed the commands of a high-pitched shepherd's whistle blown by his master, Steve Atkinson. Kody can keep the sheep under control without a whistle, but working under Atkinson's direction, the dog is able to maneuver a flock in an arrow-straight line, through a gate, over a hill or around a pole, among other moves.
The black and white dog with his distinctive black eye is doing what comes naturally when he herds sheep. However instinct combined with the ability to take training is what also makes him a prize-winning trial dog.
``I ask him to do things,'' Atkinson said. ``I don't tell him. My job is just to enhance that instinct.''
The ``eye,'' is the phrase that border collie fanciers use to describe a dog's innate ability. ``Some dogs are so intense that they can't do anything but focus on the sheep and they tune you out,'' Atkinson said. ``With a medium eye like Kody's, you can send him on a sheep and then give him a `that will be all' whistle and he'll just turn, boom! Right back to you.''
It is apparent that Kody would rather herd sheep than chase a ball, get a pat on the head or maybe even eat. Although friendly, when the sheep are around nothing else is on his mind.
``Border collies are great pets if you give them work to do, a lot of work,'' Atkinson said. ``Or they'll find work to do.''
And that's what Atkinson does. Just about every afternoon the two are out in the field working with his flock of sheep. Kody, whom he purchased a year ago when he was a working dog on a diary farm, isn't the only dog. Dell, a youngster Atkinson is training for someone else, and Kate, his 9-month old puppy, also are around.
The work has paid off. Among other wins, Kody recently was named reserve champion in his class in the Tarheel Classic Stock Dog Trial in Shelby, N.C., the largest sheepdog trial ever held in the United States.
Kody and Atkinson are pretty much alone in this area when it comes to border collie trials. To compete, they must travel to the western part of the state or to North Carolina. But Atkinson is so enthusiastic about his new hobby, he hopes to hold a competition here next year.
As Atkinson, shepherd's crook in hand, spoke, Kody brought the sheep in and clustered them around his master and that's where they would stay until Kody got another command.
Atkinson, a purchasing manager at Ford Motor Company in Norfolk, used to raise horses and play polo but gave up it up. ``At my age, it was time get into something safer,'' Atkinson said.
After attending a border collie competition two years ago, he decided he had found his next hobby and jumped in with both feet. He attended shows and clinics every weekend and talked to every handler he could find.
``I'm totally focused on it,'' Atkinson said.
Like master, like dog.
P.S. Maintaining Environmental Integrity in High Density Population Areas is the topic of the Virginia Beach Audubon Society meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday at Eastern Shore Chapel on Laskin Road. MEMO: What unusual nature have you seen this week? And what do you know
about Tidewater traditions and lore?
Call me on INFOLINE, 640-5555. Enter category 2290.
Or, send a computer message to my Internet address:
mbarrow(AT)infi.net.
ILLUSTRATION: RIGHT: Working with his master, Steve Atkinson, champion border
collie Kody can maneuver a flock of sheep in an arrow-straight line,
through a gate, over a hill or around a pole, among other moves.
BELOW: Dell, another collie that Atkinson is training, has the sheep
under his ``eye.''
Photos by
MARY REID BARROW
by CNB