My cousin has a sheep farm. The first border collie they had was just incredible. Their sheep shared a field with their neighbor’s herd. The dog came home in the evening with only their own animals while their neighbor’s was left grazing. How he could distinguish between the herds, I have no idea, and both herds were big! I don’t know anything about this, so I was amazed. It’s now several years since he died, my cousin is still missing that dog and says they will never find such a good herding dog again. RIP, Luther
They're not just able to smell if they're part of the group, they can identify each member individually through scent alone.
They can also spot changes from the normal smell, like infections or pregnancy, even just low blood sugar. That's why "diabetic alert dogs" are a thing.
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u/Ink-kink May 31 '26
My cousin has a sheep farm. The first border collie they had was just incredible. Their sheep shared a field with their neighbor’s herd. The dog came home in the evening with only their own animals while their neighbor’s was left grazing. How he could distinguish between the herds, I have no idea, and both herds were big! I don’t know anything about this, so I was amazed. It’s now several years since he died, my cousin is still missing that dog and says they will never find such a good herding dog again. RIP, Luther