What Is the Pounce Position for Herd Dogs?

Dog as man's best friend is a distinction humans bestowed by making canines family members, letting them sleep on our beds and share our lives. You'd be hard pressed to find a dog who resents an owner's attention, but dogs weren't bred from wolves to watch TV in a tiny apartment: Dogs were bred to work. Companionship has become a dog's most common job, but genetic traits, like a herding dog's pounce position, remain instinctive.

  1. Work Like a Dog

    • Herding dogs were bred to work for shepherds.

      The American Kennel Club recognizes dogs according to areas of work they were bred to perform: sporting dogs, hounds, terriers and herding dogs are all genetically predisposed to perform certain tasks. In the case of herding dogs, the animal was bred with instinctive abilities to control herd animals like sheep and cattle, animals that both move as a group and respond to a dog's ancestry as a wolf, a predatory beast presenting great fear of danger to prey animals.

    Herd Dog Traits

    • Herding dogs exhibit wolf traits to control the herd.

      Wolves are natural hunters, with a hunt/disable/kill instinct dictating their actions. All dogs, as descendents of wolves, have hunting instincts present in their genes, though in domesticated animals, the chain has been interrupted well before the ̶0;kill bite̶1; instinct takes hold. Herding dogs perform many wolf-like moves to control a herd, however, such as crouching low, belly against the ground and inching forward as if hunting; nipping at an animal's hoof in an imitation of a capture bite and assuming a pounce position where the rear is raised and head dropped low -- the position a wolf would assume right before attacking.

    Herding Dogs as Pets

    • Herding dogs as pets may need training away from certain habits.

      There are a variety of dogs bred long ago to herd sheep and cattle, and many of them are popular today as pets. Among the herding dogs most frequently spotted at the dog park are border collies, Shetland sheepdogs, old English sheepdogs and German shepherds, though the full list of herding dogs is long. Herding dogs make great family pets, and though they can exhibit behaviors like nipping at heels and trying to ̶0;herd̶1; family members, herding dogs can usually be trained out of these habits -- though they'll always be extremely energetic.

    Pounce Position

    • A herding dog's pounce position is an invitation to play.

      Owners of a herding dog many occasionally encounter the ̶0;pounce position̶1; from their pet in which the dog assumes a wolf-like attack stance: haunches raised, forelegs flat on the ground, head low. Though imposing, the position only visually resembles a wolf and is actually all dog -- he wants to play. Herding dogs are driven by an owner's praise when they perform herding techniques, and it's the same with the family dog -- he wants to play because playing makes his owner happy. So go ahead, grab a ball and help him burn some extra energy.