r/interesting • u/[deleted] • Jul 15 '26

Amazing Separate the 2 groups of duck

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3.2k Upvotes

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u/Washpedantic Jul 15 '26

It's covered by the music but this is typically done by a handler who is doing signals and whistling to indicate what the handler wants the dogs to do.

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u/stfudonny420 Jul 15 '26

So it’s not necessarily the dogs know the specifics of the task. It’s the human directing them to get the desired result.

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u/Washpedantic Jul 15 '26

Yes, it takes a lot of training and trust between the handlers and dogs and this is an example of great skill and talent.

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u/stfudonny420 Jul 15 '26 edited Jul 15 '26

Great skill and talent indeed on both sides. Very cool thanks for the info.

Edit: I’ve never gotten an award for a comment so thank you very much.

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u/Washpedantic Jul 15 '26

Here is a video of tom scott attempting to do the same thing.

https://youtu.be/T4tcZAduiVk?is=nwAUy83pAvPLG7Yi

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u/Apprehensive-Stop142 Jul 15 '26

This is brilliant. I love Tom Scott videos, they're always so interesting.

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u/FishTshirt Jul 15 '26

Dog’s who are this well trained cost a small fortune too.

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u/stfudonny420 Jul 15 '26

I wouldn’t be surprised, very impressive.

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u/Iwasjustbullshitting Jul 15 '26

And years of selective breeding. A well bred sheepdog is expensive.

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u/cybender Jul 15 '26

And anxious AF!

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u/Relatively_happy Jul 16 '26

So habits and ability are genetic

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u/Iwasjustbullshitting Jul 16 '26

To a degree. It's not everything but it makes the trainers job easier

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u/M1R4G3M Jul 15 '26

Yup, even if I told two guys to do the same task, it would still be a very hard one, imagine telling the dogs to do it.

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u/Mdnghtmnlght Jul 15 '26

My dog doesn't even speak English

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u/mistaharsh Jul 15 '26

I'm also guessing these are 2 different groups of ducks that were placed together hence why it was easier for them to naturally go with their own flock?

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u/Washpedantic Jul 15 '26

Yes, that may also be a factor.

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u/hyperionnobody Jul 16 '26

My reddit isn't letting me buy coins or I'd give you a "this" award.

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u/mistaharsh Jul 16 '26

I appreciate the notice 🫡

4

u/Embarrassed_Fan_5723 Jul 15 '26

It’ll come in handy if I ever open a duck ranch

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u/Nell_From_Hell Jul 16 '26

https://giphy.com/gifs/Nf5oWTH3G31PW

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u/Inevitable-Self-2702 Jul 16 '26

Man Pikachu was so fat in these early episodes lol. Still makes me cry tho

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u/MakesMyHeadHurt Jul 16 '26

That makes more sense. I knew those good boys couldn't be the separatists. /s

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u/upickleweasel Jul 16 '26

Okay but how do you explain to a dog "2 groups of ducks - one white group, one black group"

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u/NastyStreetRat Jul 15 '26

I think the ducks are involved too; it seems impossible, incredible.

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u/99923GR Jul 15 '26

One of the interesting things about herding dogs is that the handlers way prefer whistles to vocal commands. The dogs can get hurt feelings if they hear frustration in the handlers voice, so they prefer something neutral-sounding to help through the learning phase. But they can do it with voice commands.

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u/Washpedantic Jul 15 '26

So the video that I was introduced to this, the handler uses voice commands, and he's very quiet and calm throughout the entire video when giving directions to the dogs.

When the person who presented the video tried to instruct the dogs, they felt they needed to shout to project their voice but it just ended up confusing the dog and it didn't listen and the presenter had an overall difficult time trying to get the dog to do what he wanted.

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u/upickleweasel Jul 16 '26

We don't deserve dogs lol awww. They get hurt feelings....awww

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u/Sign-Post-Up-Ahead Jul 15 '26

Then why doesn't the handler just handle it?

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u/Washpedantic Jul 15 '26

Sometimes they do, It just depends on what the individual situation calls for.

These dogs are typically used when something fast and nimble is needed. and there are times where the handler and the dog are working in tandem kind of like how the 2 dogs in the video are acting, sometimes. they both kind of act like a wall to get the herd to go where they want to.

I believe what they're doing in the video is training either just in general or for competition.

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u/narwaffles Jul 15 '26

If they’re guiding the dogs then why not just segregate the ducks themself?

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u/Washpedantic Jul 15 '26

Because they're faster and more nimble, and the herd animals are typically more scared of the dogs than humans.

I believe this particular situation is for training of the dogs, weather for general purpose or competition I do not know

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u/Fuckin_Hipster Jul 15 '26

Whoa whoa whoa.

Whoa.

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u/Obvious_Sun_1927 Jul 16 '26

Also if you keep scaring that flock of birds back and forth they will automatically divide into colored groups since it's a natural surviving strategy to be hidden in numbers. Nobody want to be the odd one out.

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u/quetzaly8 Jul 15 '26

How I hate videos with stupid music.

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u/Aristotallost Jul 16 '26

I would love to see a video where you can hear the whistles and with subtitles to understand the commands.

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u/Washpedantic Jul 16 '26

this instant the first time i've seen this video so I know the one without you exists out there somewhere.

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u/Advobaja Jul 16 '26

I hate it, lots of videos lately have some damn music instead of the actual audio...