06/27/2026
Breed behaviours surface in our dogs even outside the job they were meant for. Lab owners will tell you their dog walks around with a shoe in its mouth. Coonhounds bay, even if they aren’t on the hunt. Cattle Dogs will usually rush and bite something at some point in their lives.
This can be due to excitement, during play, when your dog is motivated to control something moving, or when they are afraid.
While it isn’t so problematic if a lab has a shoe, it can be challenging if your Cattle Dog is biting something or someone, regardless of their underlying emotion.
Deciding what to do about it depends on a few factors. For example, Mozzie heels other dogs during play and if we’re going through the doorway to go outside to play fetch.
These presentations are okay for my other dogs and me, and I do nothing to change it. In fact, I find it endearing!
But if she’s exposed to someone scary, she will rush and circle them, barking. She’s likely not thinking they are a cow, but her software tells her to respond with herding-like behaviour. It’s simply how she moves through the world.
Remember, it’s not “all in how you raise them”. Expect herding software to come out. Manage it, give them legal outlets and train them to do something else instead.
