Sport: The Hypnotic Dog

At the baseball park of the Ogden (Utah) Reds last week, some 2,000 spectators gazed on a strange sight: the diamond was overrun by flocks of sheep, darting dogs and excited men who whistled and yelled. It was the annual World Series of an unusual sport: the herding championship of the North American Sheep Dog Society. The crowd's favorite was a black & white border collie* named Rock, owned by Society President Arthur Allen. Rock, so small (32 Ibs.) that he seems lost in the shadow of a ram, was imported from Scotland as a pup four years ago. On Allen's 280-acre Illinois farm, he puts flocks of some 400 sheep through their proper paces year-round.

In last week's contest, Rock was pitted against 14 other border collies. The assignment: to convoy a flock of five sheep around a set course and into a pen in twelve minutes or less. The Utah range sheep used in all the trials had never before seen a dog or a pen. As Rock and Art Allen waited tensely at home plate, the dog's unruly charges were let loose in far center field. Shouted Allen: "Go on wide away!" In a furry blur, Rock shot off on his "outrun," circling wide and closing in slowly for the "lift." As the sheep testily pawed the turf, Rock calmly fixed them with a mesmeric eye. This nearly hypnotic power is the proud sheep dog's most important quality, and sheepmen claim that a dog must be born with it; if he does not have it, i.e., is "loose-eyed," he can never acquire it.

Without barking (one yip would mean disqualification) and guided only rarely by whistles, calls or hand signals from Allen, Rock outstared, outflanked and outsmarted the flock around the course. He drove them through null gates set up in right and left field, losing two points for failing to usher a stray ewe through one gate. Finally, Rock worked them all over to a small pen which Allen had opened. Glaring fiercely, the dog got four sheep to back slowly inside. However, a rebellious old ewe charged at Rock. Without even "popping his jaws" (snapping with feigned ferocity) or guiding her by the ear ("gripping" is illegal), Rock stood fast and caught her eye with his Svengali gaze. The ewe turned and pushed her way into the pen.

By copping 48 points (out of a possible 50) in 5 min. 39 sec., Rock won $200 and his third straight North American championship. Allen, who frowns on overly bossy dog handlers, had some advice for last week's losing owners: "Ranchers should just remember that their dogs know more about herding sheep than they do."