Devil the Kerry Blue Heeler
By Dana Flint and Kari Loken

"Devil" Ch. Devil with the Blue Dress On CD

In December, we embarked on our first herding adventure with our 6-year-old Kerry Bitch, Devil, (Ch. Devil with the Blue Dress On CD). My husband and I own Devil along with Kari and Jack Loken. After reading information about how the Kerry Blue Terrier was an all around farm dog in their native country, I found this very exciting. Kari finished Devil's championship in 1999, and I obtained her CD in 2001. My husband I also co-own Devil's daughter Kisses, (Ch. Harmony's Hugs and Kisses) with Kari Loken. Therefore, Devil had taken the backseat while we were finishing Kisses, specialing her, and getting her ready to compete in obedience.

We like to keep our dogs very active in something, and it was hard giving Devil her time for fun. She and Kisses visit nursing homes monthly, which the girls and I enjoy, but I still felt that she wanted another job to do. In watching Devil play in the backyard with Kisses, children and other dogs, I noticed that she was very persistent in herding dogs and children alike, to where she wanted them to go.

My husband and I decided to bring Devil to a herding clinic after attending Patricia Trotter's "Born to Win" seminar, where she really emphasized that form should follow function. A friend in our local Kennel club, who has Australian Cattle Dogs, asked us if we were interested in attending a herding clinic that John Holman (an all-breed herding dog trainer) was facilitating. This gave me the opportunity to show that the Kerry Blue Terrier still has the natural instinct to herd, and is not just a crazy Terrier. So my husband, Kari and I headed down with our friend Dawn to the Omaha, Nebraska area to put Devil to the test.

We arrived that morning unloaded the dogs and then headed over to the outside pens where everyone was standing while a woman was working a Border Collie in a large pen of sheep. Everyone gazed at us in wonderment, not knowing what breed we were thinking would be able to do the task. We all smiled and stood in confidence, looking like we knew what we were doing. While watching, we witnessed a correction to the dog in the pen, which was harsher than what we are accustomed. Our mouths hit the ground. Could our sensitive Kerry Blue Terrier withstand this harsh of a correction? Devil is like all other Kerries, fierce and a true terrier when pursuing vermin, but is eager to please us, therefore doesn't need much of a correction when she makes a mistake. Shrugging it off we decided we would give it a try, and if it was too hard on her, we would simply pull her out of the situation explaining that this wasn't for us after all. Knowing that, we did something that many dream about but never get the chance to do.

The beginning dogs work in a small round pen, about 20 feet by 20 feet. The more advanced dogs go into the large pens. Each dog is given about two twenty minute runs individually with the owner and John, the trainer. Devil watched the other dogs work the sheep with much excitement. John looked to Devil and I and asked how old she was, as he thought she was a Bouvier puppy. We explained that she was a Kerry Blue Terrier, and that they were originally bred as an all around farm dog. John then spoke to everyone explaining what we should expect from a dog her age, that she should not be as easily distracted as the younger dogs were. He said, "Let's bring the Kerry Blue Heeler in!"

John starts all the beginning dogs on their leash letting them follow the sheep around. There were five sheep, John, Devil and myself in the pen. John holds you by the arm to keep you out of the way of the sheep and dog. He did an excellent job explaining what she was doing while he worked her. When we took her off the lead and told her to "get them", she immediately went to the opposite part of the pen, "pottied" and did not appear to be interested in the slightest. We kept encouraging her, and she kept walking around doing her investigating business, completely tuning out the fact that there were five sheep in the pen with her. You would have thought they were an everyday fixture at our house. So, John walked up to one of the sheep and grabbed them by the hind leg to see if this would spark Devil. The herding instinct kicked in! It was like a light came on, and she had been doing this all her life. She was beautiful moving them around the pen. She was very proud of herself, prancing and giving an occasional bark to keep a disorderly one in line. She responded well to John's light tap to the ground with his fiberglass pole, which he used to shift her direction. John explained that you should focus on encouraging their drive, when it is your dog's first time, giving very few corrections. Our first session was a success and the other owners also applauded her. Right after the session, he explained to me that she definitely has the drive and lots of potential. John explained he was ready to call it quits when we first walked in, and she ignored the sheep. Kari, my husband and I were just beaming, and everyone with the herding breeds was commenting on how awesome she looked out there. Now we had to sit and painfully wait for our 2nd run. We had to put Devil back in the van to wait for her turn again, because she was too noisy (she wanted those sheep) and was distracting the other dogs.



Our second run was far better than the first. We watched everyone in front of us go again and watched the herding dogs not react the second time around like they did the first. It was Devil's turn to shine again. She was standing at the gate whining with the type of energy you see in a racehorse waiting to get out the gate. John and I stood in the middle and took Devil off the leash immediately this time. She just stood there and then walked around sniffing again and I thought, "Oh great!" John got her attention again by grabbing the sheep leg, and she was off. I kept getting in the way of the sheep, Devil and John, so I asked if it would be better if I weren't in the picture and excused myself. This time he added a little more correction then before. She moved the sheep with ease, everyone was commenting on how naturally she worked them. John had to give her a stronger correction, when Devil got a little too zealous in her mission to herd the sheep. She shut down, he yelled for silence from the onlookers. Devil wouldn't move the sheep. She stood looking worried, uncertain in what she should do next. He called her over to him and told her how wonderful she was. That is all she needed, she immediately followed John's direction to bring the sheep around. She pulled herself together and worked them, in tune to what he wanted from her. Devil had never met this man before and it was like they had been working together for some time. So when he would tap his pole she knew what he wanted and he would praise her, and she kept after the sheep not allowing anyone to lag behind or stray off.

The twenty minutes was done and it was time to change the pen of sheep to let them rest. We were all proud that he was able to use Devil to pen them. He made her move the sheep around so he could open the gate. Once he had the gate open he directed her to move them forward into the pen. The gate was shut, all the sheep safely tucked in, and Our Devil was the star!!! Beaming from ear to ear, as he waded through the sheep with her under arm, he handed her over to us. He explained once again that Devil has the instinct, and there was no doubt in his mind that she will do well.

Devil has proven that Kerries continue to be able to do the work they were once bred to do, which gives us an exciting opportunity to get out there and lead by example. We plan on bringing, Devil, Kisses, and Beamer (Am/Can Ch. Casey's Burst of Sunshine) who Kari co-owns with Charles and Lois Croley, to the next clinic we can get to. We encourage you to hop on the bandwagon with us and others who are actively participating in herding with their Kerries.

Currently the American Kennel Club does NOT recognize herding titles on Kerry Blues. Let's work together to get this changed so our Kerries can sport the title they have the ability to earn, as well as change the perception that Kerries were only used as "ratters."

Last Updated: 01/19/2003, 12:24 pm