Sheep Psychology

I was chatting with a Dog Agility class member last night about an upcoming trial in July. He said he would not be able to attend as he will be in a Sheep Psychology Class.

This, of course, got my brain instantly whirling. I would never have suspected that sheep were smart enough to have a whole class devoted to how their psyches operate. I instantly got visions of flocks of sheep all gathering around "Dog Evasion Handbooks" and plotting how to mess with the Border Collie's Head.

First sheep: "I say the best strategy is to play dumb...."
Second sheep: "That won't be too hard, as I believe, as it says in this manual, we ARE dumb."
Third sheep: "But DUMB is what the dog expects. Let's try SMART."
Fourth sheep: "I don't do SMART well."
Third sheep:"That's why we have this book. See, the chapter on Sheep Psychology tells us that dogs expect us to move together as a flock with no leader. I say we scatter.... Can you just see the look on his face?!"

I think I want to skip the Dog Agility Trial and attend the Sheep Psychology class myself. According to my friend, there will be no sheep actually present at the class. The class members will pretend to be sheep and mimic what a typical sheep might do.

First Student: "Baaaaaaaaaaaa."
Second Student: "Run! I see a predator!"
Third Student: "That is not a predator. This is a sheep dog trial, dope. They are trained not to kill us or they lose their national ranking. Let's just stand here and not budge."

Then students, pretending to be Border Collies will try to understand the psychology of sheep, and determine how best to get the flock to go through a series of gates, split the flock in half, and then round them up to go into a pen.

It is hard being an adult with all the responsibilities of adults. This sounds perilously close to kindergarten recess, but I think we all need that now and then. And afterall, what a wonderful thing to do, pretending to be sheep! I just pray we all would recognize the one Shepherd worth following.

Psalm 100:3
Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his ; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.