04/26/2026
Working, sport & pet English Shepherds:
There is a lot of belief around farmers and some people that keep livestock that your dog won’t work and do its job if it’s also a pet. For the most part, that is pure rubbish.
I have worked English Shepherds and kept livestock guardian dogs on farms for years. All were bred from working stock, all did their jobs exceptionally well. I considered them all pets and family first and it just happened that they also worked.
Toby worked hard on my large farm for 10 years from a pup on. I no longer have a farm and live in a neighborhood and he has made the transition well. That whole time he was a working dog, he slept in the house at night, went on errands with me in the truck and laid on the sofa beside me at night to watch movies. And he loved all of that. He is very well trained, and will work his heart out for me until the day he dies doing anything I ask of him. He is a rules boy and a manger and sometimes wants to manage the other dogs in the household but he will stop if asked to. A dog can work AND be a pet- they still need to be well trained for both.
Charlee was just starting herding when I had to give up the farm. She enjoyed it but is not as confident as Toby and is very careful. She was my a chore dog from day one and went everywhere on the farm doing all kinds of jobs with Toby and I. She ran miles every day and was pure muscle. She actually had a harder time adjusting to life in a neighborhood than Toby did. My friend, who has Charlee’s daughter, started doing a little agility with her and Charlee liked it. ES bond hard with their people and often won’t work for anyone else, but Charlee sees Melissa as family and happily works for her. She has been entered in two trials so far with a third coming up next weekend. We also have agility equipment at home and work with them some there too. So now she has “work” to do again and one day I will get her back into herding.
She is not the most cuddly dog but sometimes she asks to sit my lap and at the end of the day she likes to be beside me on the sofa or by my feet.
Melissa’s three ES are all working bred and all do various levels of dog sports and herding sometimes too. We do not live on a farm any longer, so we have to take them places to herd that are not close. They have three very distinct personalities. They range in age from just over a year, 2 1/2 years and 11 years. They are all family and very bonded. They are allowed on furniture and beds if they want, they are used to being crated ( the two young ones) to eat and Max if we both leave the house because he hasn’t earned that time out loose and unsupervised quite yet. Max is the sweetest, largest cuddler of all of them. He crawls in my lap each evening if I let him, and snuggles for awhile and sometimes falls sound asleep. We both enjoy that time even he does weigh 67 lbs and leaves bruises, lol.
Now here is the caveat to letting these dogs get on furniture or the bed, sit in our laps or be loose in the house…..they are well behaved in the house and they know “ down” and “off”. They realize that these spaces belong to their humans and they are being ALLOWED to have the privilege of sharing these spaces. They don’t growl or protest when told to get down or if they are not allowed up at all. Once Max is more reliable being able to be left out in the house when we are away, he will no longer be crated. He is close but not there yet. He is still a very large puppy.
The key here is these dogs have earned the privileges that they have and they are trained to respect our spaces. Each dog that you have is different and learns and matures on a different timeline. You have to work with what you have. If you don’t ever want your dogs on you or on the furniture, then enforce that from day one and be consistent. Nothing wrong with that.
If you don’t mind your dogs being on you or the furniture, then teach them off and down first. You are allowing and inviting them on that space, it is not theirs to take.
Your dog can still work, compete in dog sports, and be a family dog and pet- don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. It all comes down to training and your bond with the dogs. Even my livestock guardian dogs were trained to sit, walk on a leash load in a vehicle and stand for grooming and bathing. All were very bonded to me and loved their petting and cuddle time, and they were all three exceptional guard dogs. But all of our dogs are family first, even if they have a job to do every day, win ribbons……or not ❤️
