These four-legged farm hands will work until they drop for kibbles

The farm hands on Larry and Janice Moore’s farm walk on all fours.

They don’t need insurance, an hourly wage, unemployment or even Christmas presents. These farm hands will work till they drop for kibble and the love of their masters.

“When they get up in the morning, all they want to do is work for you,” Larry, 65, said.

The Moores own 11 adult border collies and a half dozen pups. The trained adult dogs help the Moores herd their sheep and 154-head of cattle, although they’ve also been known to drive chickens and ducks on the farm.

The Moores keep the dogs kenneled unless they are working or inside the house.

“Border collies will work something whether it’s your place or the neighbor’s place,” Janice, 59, said.

The Moores love of the dogs started in 15 years ago when Larry’s daughter gave him a border collie for Father’s Day. Sally, a black and white rough coat border collie, was a part of the family for nearly a year before Larry realized the dog’s potential.

“I threw feed buckets at it for a year,” he said.

Larry didn’t understand why Sally was always trying to get into the gate with the cattle until one Sunday morning. Larry got up to feed the cattle and Sally had already brought them up from the pasture.

“She did that on her own,” he said. “They have such a desire to do something for you; it’s unreal.”

Larry started reading books and watching videos about how to train the dogs. Part of the dogs’ abilities comes from their genes as they were bred as gathering dogs in the 17th century.

“Their instinct is to bring everything to you,” Larry said.

Next comes the training, which can take six months to a year. A dog trained on the Moore farm knows at least five to 15 commands. “Come by” means to move the herd clockwise and “away” translates to move counter-clockwise. Larry and Janice signal the dogs using voice and whistle commands.

Jill, the Moore’s “house dog,” is 10 years old and suffers from seizures. She doesn’t herd anymore, but she is the first dog most new cattle meet on the farm.

“She breaks all the cattle to dogs,” Janice said.

Jill will move a few cattle from one side of a barn to the feed trough. She might take a couple bites at the legs of the new arrivals to move them in the right direction.

“Once you introduce them to the livestock like this, the fight goes away (from the cattle),” Larry said.

The cows soon become familiar with the dogs. The introduction takes about five minutes.

“We work them to where they respect the dog,” Janice said.

The dogs move the cattle by running around the herd. The dogs often crouch low while moving toward the cattle, sometimes called the “border collie creep.”

“She has a presence about her that says, ‘If you don’t turn, something’s going to happen,’” Janice said.

Larry uses the dogs to drive the herd in every day to feed and check their health. Without the dogs, the cattle could only be baited by food. Larry and five dogs used to herd 1,200 cattle a day before he downsized his operation.

“It’s amazing how a 50-pound dog can move a 200-pound bull,” Larry said.

One time a fellow cattle farmer asked for Larry’s help. The man, and several others, had tried for at least a day to bring his herd of 118 cattle up from a 160-acre wheat field. It took Larry and several dogs “nine minutes to take them off,” he said.

Five of the border collies also compete in field trials from March to November. Eight-year-old Jack went to the cattle finals and Megan, who is 6, went to the 2005 national sheep finals when she was under the age of 2. The Moores host a field trial competition at their farm in May.

Two dogs, Tib and Cass, each recently had litters. Cass’ pups are barely a week old. They typically breed for people who have owned one of the Moore’s dogs before and would like another one. The Moores don’t breed their dogs “just to have puppies,” Janice said.