The Easter EGGEs, originally uploaded by AstraeanBorderCollies.
In these tough times, it’s hard to keep up with the supposedly recession proof (read: you’re still going to spend a fortune, broke or not) pet toy industry. But I have a great tip for the best 5 cents you’ll ever spend on a dog toy.
A few years ago I picked up an EGGE at a local dog show for $30, and it’s proven to be a great investment. It’s lasted longer than almost all the dogs’ other toys and they are so obsessed with it, I have to put it away when they’re done playing.
You can find the EGGE online selling for $20 now (plus shipping) and if your dogs like it as much as mine, that’s probably worth it. But why spend $30 if it turns out your dog couldn’t care less?
Solution: Visit Hobby Lobby right after Easter. They sell a plastic lawn ornament that is a near-perfect substitute for the real EGGE. They sell for a couple bucks before Easter, but the price quickly drops to nothing after the holiday is over.
Last year, my Mom bought an entire Jeep full of the things for $2 and we gave them out to all our Border Collie friends. Last year’s model had an embossed Bunny on it that is actually the perfect place for the dogs to dig their teeth into the toy, which makes them rather worthless since the dogs can pick it up instead of herding it around the yard, but this year the hobby eggs have no embossed figures.
The thinner plastic of the cheapo eggs means that they aren’t going to last as long as the $20+ model, but at a fraction of the price, they are well worth picking up to share the Easter spirit with your dogs.
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Did your collies really try to herd them, or was it more like they were playing with the ball?
Well it’s a mix of both. Border Collies herd without touching the stock, they use pressure at distance. The Egge obviously doesn’t respond to staring and stalking.
But the appeal of the Egge is that it can’t be picked up and easily returned in a straight line and it moves funny, which provokes the herding desire in the dog.
So it’s not particularly relevant practice for real herding skills, but it plays into the instinctual drive the dog has to bring the stock back to the shepherd.
I found some other Egge videos, one with a boxer who was trying to dig it up from the snow, but your border collies do seem to be trying to move the Egge around and to you.
I saw this same “instincts at work, but not where expected”, at a lure course fun exhibition. The sighthounds all chased the lure, the whippets all with uniform style, but it was the other breeds who told their own histories. One bird dog wouldn’t chase the lure, when it moved, he actually pointed it! A few dogs stalked the lure.
I particularly remember one terrier who barked at the lure, then ran at it, but when it got a ways away, the terrier returned to the handler. So the lure operator reversed the lure. Each time the lure got a set distance too close to the terrier, he barked at it and chased it away, but he never tried to catch it. To the amusement of the crowd, the lure was reversed to the terrier repeatedly, but he repeated the same instinctual response over and over.
One dog would even go up the the stopped lure and sniff it, but even a skilled lureman couldn’t get the dog to chase it. Some dogs ignored to lure completely.
I like how you posted to let this make one consider whether or not they want a border collie; your phrasing on the 2014 re-post of this, and other videos. Actually this makes me WANT one! 🙂
Happy Pagan days to you!