Art of speaking to dogs alive and well in Heber Valley


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HEBER CITY — The annual Soldier Hollow Sheepdog Classic gets underway next weekend. In anticipation of the event, a world-renowned sheepdog handler took time Saturday morning to train some local sheepherders and their dogs.

The relationship between man and dog has roots going back millennia — when humans first threw scraps to wolves, and a partnership was born.

Over the centuries, the wolves were bred until we eventually ended up with domesticated dogs. The sheepdog, in particular, is an animal with a one-track mind. Its primary goal is the pursuit of sheep.

"The reputable breeders will find the best characteristics of a male and female to make the best puppies," said amateur dog trainer Marlene Warner.

Local sheepdog handlers and their dogs learn in a Sheepdog clinic in Heber City Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
Local sheepdog handlers and their dogs learn in a Sheepdog clinic in Heber City Saturday, Aug. 29, 2015. (Photo: Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)

Saturday morning, Warner was fortunate enough to be among a small group of local sheepherders being taught some tricks of the trade by world champion sheepherder Faansi Basson, of South Africa. While the clinic appeared to be a seminar teaching dog owners to be better shepherds, it was in reality part relationship therapy, part language class.

"I always tell people they have to talk the dog's language. They do not understand the (human) language. So it does not matter what you say, but it's how you say it," Basson said.

Basson said he communicates with the animals through a process of positive and negative reinforcement.

"If you can step in front of a dog and make a little noise, and put some pressure on it and make it understand where to go, it understands that a lot easier than telling it, 'Left, left, left,'" he said. "It's associations you make with your body language."

"It's just phenomenal what they can do," Warner said.


I always tell people they have to talk the dog's language. They do not understand the (human) language. So it does not matter what you say, but it's how you say it.

–Faansi Basson, world-renowned sheepdog handler


Some of Basson's students raise sheep, some train for competition; others, like Warner, just do it for fun.

"It is my life," she said. "My poor husband, he says, 'Where you going today?' He just knows I'm going somewhere off with the dogs."

A West Jordan property owner, Warner has been working with her growing herd of border collies for about eight years. The secret language of dogs is what called to her, but learning to think like them is what took over her life.

"With the obedience that I did, that was man-made kind of stuff," said Warner. "But this, a good bit of it is on the dog's natural instinct. And it's just amazing how you get them, and you take them to sheep, and they're yours."

The Soldier Hollow Sheepdog Classic begins Sep. 3. and runs for four days over the Labor Day weekend. The competition is held at Midway's Solider Hollow cross country ski resort, and spectators will get to see some of the world's best sheepdogs and shepherds in action. For more information visit soldierhollowclassic.com/competitions.

Contributing: Ashley Kewish


Ray Boone is a photojournalist for KSL-TV. Contact him at rboone@ksl.com

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