How Herding Style Differs Between Breeds
An in-depth look at the distinct herding styles across breeds, from Border Collie eye to Australian Cattle Dog grip, and why breed-specific evaluation matters during HIC testing.
Read moreBreed Differences at HIC Testing
How herding instinct expresses differently across breeds, and why evaluator familiarity with your specific breed matters more than overall experience.
The herding group is unusually diverse. Border Collies, Corgis, German Shepherds, Australian Cattle Dogs, Pulis, Bouviers, and Old English Sheepdogs all belong to the same working category, but their natural approach to stock differs in almost every visible respect. An evaluator deeply experienced with one breed family is not automatically prepared to evaluate another.
This matters because breed-typical behavior can look like absent instinct to an evaluator who expects a different working style. A wide, crouching gather is the Border Collie norm. A close, pushy drive is the Cattle Dog norm. Both demonstrate genuine herding instinct, neither is a deficient version of the other.
The articles tagged here cover what to look for breed by breed, why finding an evaluator familiar with your specific breed matters, and how to weigh a test result honestly when the evaluator’s frame of reference may not match what your dog was bred to do.