Blast from the Past: One Man and his Dog was TV gold
Watching snippets of the recent World Sheepdog trials in Dromore was bliss and brought to mind that 1980s hit BBC show, One Man and his Dog.
It was the sound of wholesome Sunday-night TV: a baleful ‘baaaa!’, a sharp whistle, and ‘Come Bye!’ ringing out across the lush countryside.
We perched on our sofas and held our breath at the moment of high drama: would the sheep enter the pen? If a border collie had anything to do with it, then yes!
It wasn’t the shepherd or the raggle-taggle herd of sheep who were the stars of this show, but the clever sheepdogs, obeying commands with lightning speed, going from a sprint to a crawl and darting from side to side.
A collie dog is as familiar a sight on Northern Ireland farms as a farmer with a bailer twine belt and a stick made out of black piping. Whether herding sheep, riding in a link box, or lying somewhere just waiting for the whistle to work, a collie is a valued farmhand (farmpaw?).
Watching a border collie at work in harmony with its handler is an uplifting and joyful experience. The breed is renowned for its brains, agility, hard work and innate skill for herding sheep. You see there are dogs – then there are border collie dogs.