Magic's Legacy Herding

Please do not bring your dog here! Today I witnessed the appalling abuse of a dog for no other reason than not wanting to enter the ring with Shannon. The afternoon started fine. In fact, initially I was impressed with Shannon and her dog. She (Katie?) seemed very well trained. But once the trials started, I saw Shannon yell at and strike a few different dogs with a walking stick. She said she would only hit the ground to startle the dog if it was getting too close to the sheep, but she definitely hit the dogs on several occasions. Then it was the Berger Picard’s turn. He was obviously scared with his tail tucked between his legs and he didn’t want to go with Shannon. He tried to pull away and was looking for his owner. Shannon repeatedly yanked the choke collar chain while yelling at him. I have heard of using choke chains and a gentle tug to correct bad behavior, but this was not that. This dog was not misbehaving, he was scared. And she was not using a gentle corrective tug, she was leaning in with her entire body and repeatedly wrenching this poor dogs neck against the leash and collar. This went on for an uncomfortable amount of time. Once he did go into the pen, he started chasing the sheep. Rather than stopping the trial, Shannon yelled at him and hit him with the stick. She had another person take the sheep out of the pen and she attempted to back the dog against the fence while yelling at him to sit. It was horrible. The entire crowd had fallen into shocked silence. I wish I had filmed this incident, but honestly I was so astonished by what was happening that it didn’t cross my mind to record it. I’m ashamed to say I didn’t say or do a thing. I didn’t know what to do except to take my dog and leave without allowing Shannon to get anywhere near her. It is absolutely unacceptable to treat any dog in such a horrific manner, especially when you call yourself a professional. I don’t know what happened after I left, but I hope not a single other person allowed Shannon to go anywhere near their dog.

Very fun experience for us and our dog! We took our cattle dog mix for an instinct test ($65) and one lesson ($35). We went just for fun, since we thought she might have some natural instincts. Turned out she did and seemed to love it! Be prepared to spend some time there for either an instinct test or lesson. We were there for a couple hours each time, because there are other dogs for tests and lessons as well. There is also a demonstration with one of the resident dogs, which is pretty cool. The tests seem to go before the lessons. Each dog goes into the pen with Shannon and 3 sheep and she walks them around on a lead (they have lots) to show the dog how the sheep move. If they show interest/ability, she drops the lead. She has a walking stick type thing to hit the ground, showing the dog to not get too close. The test for us was probably about a minute, since our dog showed interest right away and did several laps around the sheep on her own. Shannon said she would stop the dog at the peak of interest to avoid them losing the fun aspect. We got a certificate and a grading sheet at the end, to show the different qualities Shannon looks for. When we did the lesson, it was a similar experience as the instinct test but more time in the pen. Maybe 3-5 minutes. Again only to the point where she was still interested in the sheep. There is a clean porta potty on site, water bath for the dogs, pooper scoopers, and shaded space to sit while you wait. All in all a fun experience that I'd recommend if you have a dog that seems to enjoy herding!