Posted by PlumFairy on 10/10/2009, 2:56 pm, in reply to "Time, energy, money isn't the factor..."
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....a problem! I've had dogs who have wanted to go that way, but I've been able to work it out with them. Now Jet might be a different story. He's an adult, and a real grandma's boy. Maybe if we had started earlier, but I'm not sure he'd do well with it either.
He might be convinced to stay, but he'd be miserable, and then what's the point in that?
Therapy work sounds like a great idea!
Yes, it's a flock of sheep, and a herd of goats.
Since I'm looking back at my life today (my post to Kristine.) I am also thinking back to before we lived here, but had a herder who came with us.
That was Maggie, the Australian Shepherd. She'd been raised in the city, but was from good working stock, or maybe working/show stock combination.
She loved to herd the kids! 
Anyway, she'd never seen one sheep, yeslet a flock when we moved here, and the first thing we got was a goat, then soon following, some sheep.
She took to them very naturally, but they were kept penned, so there wasn't much to do with them.
Then we got more sheep, and they bolted, and ran for the pastures, didn't stop, and headed for the creek to swim across. Maggie took off after them, and got them all back together into a well-behaved flock, on her own!
We taught her herding communication skills after that, so she could take long distance instruction by hand signals etc.
She was the only dog anyone here had seen who would/could herd rabbits. (the kids having been in 4-H rabbits.) If a dog will herd them, and if they do it correctly, they tend to injure them, breaking their backs. But, Maggie managed very well, and became somewhat of a legend with the ranchers, here.
We didn't stay with sheep forever, so her flock turned into a herd of goats, which I may be wrong, but she seemed to prefer. And when she passed away quietly in her sleep at 17, she was still looking over her herd.
So while not all herders from the city take to livestock, many do, and some, like Maggie, excel. I wonder if there's any place within' reasonable driving distance of where you are moving that let's dogs herd?
Some people make a flock of sheep available to dogs who don't live on ranches. That would be fun, and quite the photo op!
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