Nicky at work - keeping his early Spring flock of ewes and lambs in order

I have to begin by saying that if it were not for Manfred Heyne I would never have bred Nicky; and, if it were not for Nicky I never would have come to know the German Shepherd herding dog as I do. More importantly, if it were not for Nicky and Manfred Heyne together, I would never have understood the importance of the co-operative relationship. Co-operation is the alchemy that transforms the man/dog working relationship into pure gold. Now I would like to give you a glimpse of both my mentors and a small bit of what I have learned from them.

Nicky is out of Manfred Heyne's line of GSD herding champions that go back to the great old herding dogs of the breed. Manfred's first herding dog, Erwin vd Sobrigauer Höhe HGH, SchH3 641855, was given to him by his Lehrmeister, Schäfermeister Walter Lorenz. Lorenz won the herding championships four times: 1943 Reichsieger with Lerche v Burg Fasanental HGH 523291; 1947 Zonensieger (Occupied Zone) with Dina vd Birngrundwiese HGH 592016 (Lerche's daughter); 1947 DDR Hütesieger again with Dina vd Birngrundwiese HGH 592016; and 1949 DDR Hütesieger with Wachtel v Burg Fasanental HGH 601517 (another Lerche daughter).

Manfred escaped to West Germany from the DDR with Erwin in 1953 and won his first BLH in 1954. With a son of this dog Manfred won the BLH a second time in 1959 and with a grandson he won again in 1963, and so on and so forth -- winning the SV-BLH 13 times with seven dogs between 1954 and 1985

Manfred's dogs pictured below were three-time BLH Champions. Each was bred by Manfred and each was sired by his BLH Champion before in an unbroken male line of descent from Erwin vd Sobrigauer Höhe.



What becomes clear is that herding genetics didn't just pop up out of nowhere 50-100 years ago and they can't just pop up out of nowhere today either. Herding genetics were guarded, selected for and preserved by the shepherds who understood them, valued them and, above all, USED them. I will try to illustrate this with Manfred Heyne's dogs' pedigrees. I will start with Alf von Fafnerhaus' (Nicky's) pedigree because I bred him and I know him best if any questions come up later. Nicky's father, Nick vd Stammherde Ramholz HGH was one of Manfred's last working herding dogs out of a long line of working herding dogs bred by Manfred starting in 1954 but going back to the beginning of the breed. Manfred's line goes back building on his male BLH champions -- not on the female line as many do today. Generations are numbered 1 thru 6 below :-

I don't know if anyone will find this pedigree analysis particularly meaningful, but I do hope it at least gives some idea of how much breadth and depth of genetic heritage actually went into the old line HGH dog compared with today's HGH dogs. Now, back to Nicky.

Everything I learned intellectually about GSD large-flock boundary herding I learned from Schäfermeister Manfred Heyne. Everything I learned practically about GSD large-flock boundary herding I learned from Nicky. Nicky gave me my hands-on education in the field. I taught Nicky nothing about sheep herding while he taught me everything about it. Looking back, I was what Nicky might have called a "difficult student", but Nicky was a patient, forgiving and persistent teacher. I would like to think he is now at least somewhat satisfied with his effort. Here is a small sample of what I learned from Nicky and how I learned it.

Lesson 1: The City Kids

Nicky would keep our 300+ sheep where I left them to graze for as long as I am gone. I just had to designate the boundaries and he would keep the sheep there on his own without me. One summer my husband had three 17-18 year old boys from his baseball team up to the farm to work for a few days -- born and raised city boys from Brooklyn. The last day they were here I decided to give them a feel for sheep herding. I asked them to sit and watch Nicky work while I went to town. When I came back about an hour later, there was Nicky with a BIG grin on his face sitting on the hillside boundary watching the sheep in the graze where I had left them. Nicky was doing exactly what I would be doing if I were on the job.

I didn't see the boys anywhere. After a few minutes, two of the boys came running up from behind the hill along the boundary. They were huffing and puffing dripping sweat. The third boy was nowhere in sight. I asked the boys what was going on. They said that they were patrolling the boundaries to keep the sheep in the graze because they didn't want Nicky to get worn out -- the third boy was down at the barn getting water for Nicky. Just then the third boy came huffing and puffing up from the barn with a big pail of water that he deposited right next to Nicky who was sitting there on the boundary looking like the Pope.

I looked at Nicky who had this big grin on his face. The boys seemed so proud and filled with such feeling of accomplishment that it was all I could do not to laugh out loud. Little did they suspect that in less than one hour while I was gone, Nicky had turned the tables on them. Nicky had assumed the role of shepherd and taught these kids to herd sheep like a dog. After all, what greater gift could a herding dog give 3 fine boys? The sheep were where I had left them, but Nicky had reversed roles. He had taught the boys how to do his job exactly the same way I had taught him years before. I guess Nicky had seen the boys' instinctive interest in the sheep and their high drive energy and decided to transform all that good stuff into the behaviours necessary to serve his sheep herding needs - just like Manfred described when he was teaching me.


Since that time when Nicky trained those kids from Brooklyn to do boundary work, I have often wondered what Nicky may have been thinking while he sat there on the hillside during his brief reign as shepherd. Did Nicky wonder about humans the way we wonder about dogs while watching them work? Was Nicky trying to figure out whether humans think? Or whether humans are capable of problem-solving, independent thinking or of making judgement calls? If he was, I can only guess.

Some may wonder what made me so sure I knew how Nicky taught those boys to herd. I knew because I have watched Nicky teach his son, Gunthie, and his daughter, Freude, exactly the same way when they started learning to herd sheep. I learned all this just by watching Nicky over the years.

Disclaimer : Only the TOP/BEST of the herding dogs can be trusted to do this or left unattended with the stock. It is NOT something that hobby herders or inexperienced shepherds should try because ALL dogs are still dogs and prey is still prey. The SV does not test it's HGH dogs for this ability and so newbie should not get the idea that it is something to try.

Lesson 2: Starting Freude von Fafnerhaus

I saw what Nicky knew -- that when you bring a young starting dog to the boundary of a large flock for the first time there is a certain degree of insecurity. The dog's drives tell it what it wants to do but the dog's head says "Hey, man, that's a lot of BIG sheep out there! Whoa!" I learned that this "window of insecurity" can slam shut pretty fast depending on the dog. But, until it does, that window offers the shepherd an excellent opportunity to set the foundation for that co-operative working relationship which Manfred always talked about. Manfred told me about it, but Nicky taught me about it.

The first day on the flock Freude, Nicky's year-old daughter, was drawn to work the boundary immediately and was also very responsive to my voice. A shepherd's dream-come-true I thought. When I was learning to be a shepherd, I was all tied up in my own insecurities -- like how to keep the dog from eating the sheep without looking like a hysterical woman. It never dawned on me that the dog might actually be experiencing its own feelings of insecurity in the presence of hundreds of creatures more than twice its size all flocked together -- feelings of insecurity like being trampled by tons of sheep.

A wise shepherd and an experienced teacher can see this as an opportunity to support his student during this window of insecurity. By being there to give support during times of insecurity instead of nagging, correcting and pushing, the dog learns to see you as a partner instead of an obstacle or an adversary. So later, when growing confidence turns the dog's insecurity into hubris, instead of turning a deaf ear to you and your leadership, the dog looks to you for leadership, approval and support which, when given, leads to greater confidence and a greater sense of co-operation in the working relationship. I think of this as "an upward spiral of co-operation" that leads to higher and higher levels of performance

After the sheep were brought to their grazing area, I let Freude free on the road that was serving as the boundary for my sheep. I wanted them to eat along the side of the road where I could not mow. I ignored Freude as Manfred had taught me to. The sheep knew an inexperienced dog when they saw one and took every opportunity to keep her off balance. The flock was strung out for several hundred yards along the road giving Freude a long boundary to work. The first thing she did was to just watch Nicky for a while as he patrolled back and forth. When she had figured out the rules of the game, Freude began to move out along the side of the sheep by herself along the road.


I stood watching out of the corner of my eye. It was then that I noticed Nicky. He was not working the boundary any more. He was standing aside letting Freude take his place. He had shown her what to do. Now it was up to her to do it on her own -- just like he must have done with the boys from Brooklyn. It was amazing to me to see Freude's confidence grow with each pass back and forth along the sheep.

She was feeling the power of her presence as it affected the sheep she passed. Nicky was watching her closely but remained somewhere out of the way in the background. Then, a ewe decided it was time to go back to the barn and she wasn't going to pay any attention to Freude. Freude didn't know what to do and the ewe knew it -- but so did Nicky. Freude stood her ground as the ewe approached to leave the graze. It was clear that the ewe was not going to turn back for Freude. Just before Freude would have ended up backing down, Nicky appeared to support her. He moved in to punish that ewe appropriately right in front of Freude. I never had to say a word. Freude had just received her first lesson on how to handle this kind of situation from her father.

Again and again, every time Freude ran into a new situation that she was not confident or experienced enough to handle, Nicky would be watching -- waiting to see if she could figure out what to do on her own -- and, if she could not figure it out, he would step in, support her, then retreat back to the sidelines. At first I thought this was just my imagination but other herding friends of mine, including a herding judge, were there watching and they saw it too without me having to mention it. This was exactly how Manfred had explained his training method to me years before. I can only guess that one of Nicky's great, great, great grandfathers must have taught Manfred too.

Lesson 3: Starting Gunther von Fafnerhaus

The following year I started Nicky's son, Gunthie, on the boundary. Nicky helped with his education the same way he had done with Freude the year before. But Gunthie was a more powerful dog than Freude was and Nicky's approach was different.

Gunthie was more observant of Nicky's power over the sheep from a leadership point of view. Gunthie wanted to emulate that power. I guess power is more of a male thing. As a result, Nicky's help which started off supportive became more and more of a balancing act as Gunthie gained in confidence and independence. It would take too much space to describe the "balancing" that Nicky did. Suffice it to say that it was basically the same thing he did when I caused the mess I am about to describe below.

Nicky would see the mess coming from Gunthie's lack of experience (NOT from his desire to cause it) and he would immediately go to counter the mistake. Gunthie learned from his mistakes and from seeing what Nicky did to counter-balance them. Nicky was working in co-operation with Gunthie by counter-balancing the mistakes so Gunthie could learn. This approach is very different from the way humans "punish" or "correct" a mistake. The end result is also VERY different as you can see from this photo taken later that year of Nicky & Gunthie working together in harmony.


Lesson 4: Intelligence

Let me say up front that "intelligence" in a dog can be a two-edged sword -- especially when it is coupled with a sense of pride and self-respect. If this kind of dog is treated like a slave in a rigid command/control relationship, it will either shut down or work grudgingly with a bad attitude. An attitude in which the dog seems to say

"OK, I'll do what you tell me to do but not ONE thing more ! So, Mr. Shepherdman, be on your toes to make sure you not only tell me everything to do but also exactly how to do it because I won't do one thing more !"

On the other hand, when this kind of dog is given respect and responsibility on the job, he will work all day diligently and reliably even without "Mr. Shepherdman" there. I have seen this done many times by Nicky and later by his sons, Willy & Luki, as well as by his grandfather, Luki, so I know it is true.

I can not tell you how many times during my own elementary education in the field I, the pupil, would tell Nicky, the teacher, where to go and what to do to execute a task. I won't tell you how many times my directions were wrong. When they were wrong, Professor Nick would give me "the look" -- the look that said: "You are wrong and if I do what you want there will be a mess!" I'd see "the look" and still insist that Nicky follow my orders. Knowing after all that experience is the best teacher, Professor Nick would get that far-away look in his eyes and in a most detached manner do exactly what I asked -- no more and no less. Then, there would inevitably come the mess! At which time a smile would impishly appear on Professor Nick's face as he watched the look of horror grow on mine.

After letting me twist in the wind long enough to prove his point, Professor Nick would prance over to where he knew he should have been to begin with and would do the job the way he knew it should have been done all along. Then, when the job was properly done his way, good, old Nick would cast me a sweet, loving look -- if he could have winked, he would have done that too I think.

With every lesson Nicky taught me like that, I learned to let him "balance" my mistakes just as I saw him do during his sons' and daughters' educations - and each time I would recall the words of our Schäfermeister :-

"Dogs with high drive and attraction to work sheep are jewels -- they do not need commands and they do not respond well to commands. These dogs only need to be directed to bring out the best in them. Commands to such a dog create an adversarial relationship between the dog and the shepherd whereas directing the dog's instincts and drives creates a co-operative relationship in which the dog works better and at a much higher level."

Lesson 5: Tending

Training this kind of dog should only be to bring out what is already in the dog. In fact I often go days without saying anything to my experienced dogs when they work. These experienced dogs only need to do the job once under my "direction" (stand; stay; go this way; go that way; slow down; walk in; go out; -- all directional commands) and once they know the job, they do it on their own -- everything!

I only add direction occasionally if necessary or when it is a new task. For example, for years I had been leaving Nicky alone with the flock while I worked on fields or fences in other parts of the farm because I had to. In the beginning I would never leave him for more than an hour or two at a time without checking on him. Later I had NO problem leaving him without checking for the whole day from morning until evening keeping charge of 300+ sheep when I was not only out of sight but also out of hearing. I often did this several times a week usually in the fall when farm work had to be done and I had no one else to do it for me.


It was not unusual for me to leave Nicky far out of sight and out of hearing with the sheep for entire days during the autumn. I'd even go to town some days. In all the hours and all the days and weeks and months that Nicky tended the sheep by himself I never had a single accident, bite, cut, or anything happen to the sheep and he always kept them exactly where I had left them with him.

I should mention that Nicky was puppy tested and selected for his high prey drive. He took his fair share of sheep down during his beginning education - however, he NEVER intentionally tried to kill or injure any which is the difference between a herding dog and the rest. Nicky's drive behaviour was transformed with time and experience, with trust and respect, and by the dog's genetic sense of purpose into what I just described above. Back in 1990 I saw Nicky's grandfather, Luki vd Stammherde Ramholz, left alone with his flock for over an hour while Manfred took a ewe and new-born lamb back to the barn in his van. Those stories about herding dogs tending flocks alone described by von Stephanitz were as true 100 years ago as they are today if you have the right genetics. I know this is true because I have seen it myself many times.

Lesson 6: Protection

I suppose any discussion of GSDs should include a story about some aspect of protection or protectiveness. Nicky is the friendliest of dogs. He often shows his acceptance of a visitor by leaning up against their leg indicating his permission to be petted. But it is always Nicky who initiates the contact; he never responds to a stranger's attempt to initiate familiarity. Nicky has a nice way of letting you know he is his own man so-to-speak. However, to be sure, friendliness and protectiveness are not mutually exclusive with Nicky as the following incident shows.

Our farm borders another farm. Our neighbour, John, often helped me when I needed a bulldozer for something. John and Nicky were "friends". By that I mean that Nicky had John totally won over by his leg-leaning, "pet me" routine. Don't let anyone ever tell you that dogs don't know the power of flattery. One day John was finishing some work for me and asked if he could take his dozer back the shorter way over my fields instead of the longer way by road. I agreed. While John was finishing his work, Nicky and I left to take the flock down to graze next to John's place. To get there we had to go through an opening in an old, stone wall.

The sheep went through the opening into the graze and Nicky took up patrolling the boundaries. While the sheep grazed, I decided to clear loose rocks from the opening in the wall. While doing this, I heard John coming with the dozer. He would have to go through the opening I was clearing to get home. I had my back to the dozer. As John approached, Nicky appeared out of nowhere and stood between me and the on-coming dozer.

At first Nicky stood sideways to the dozer in the middle of the dozer's path -- in herding dog language that means "Danger -- do not come this way - turn aside". I was watching all this out of the corner of my eye as I kept picking up stones. I wanted to see what this was all about with Nicky. The dozer kept coming. When the dozer got about thirty feet or so from me without any sign of turning away, Nicky turned in place, facing it head on which means "STOP NOW or I'll make you stop!"

As the dozer kept coming -- Nicky, very slowly, very deliberately, tail held high, ears pricked forward, started walking at an angle from the centre of the dozer's path in front toward the open side of the dozer, all the while staring right at John sitting in the driver's seat. The dozer kept coming. Nicky was about 4-5 feet from the driver's opening coiled tight like a spring still staring John in the eye when John stopped the dozer.

As soon as the dozer stopped and the engine was turned off, Nicky relaxed his posture and came over to me wagging his tail with a BIG smile on his face. When John got down from the dozer, Nicky went over to him also wagging his tail. John was looking at Nicky and me in amazement. All John could say was "You know, that dog was just about ready to jump in on me!" I thought the same thing too, but didn't say it until John did. Nicky was fully prepared to stop that dozer from running me over even if he had to attack his "friend" to do so. But even more amazing than that to me was the fact that Nicky knew the man was making the dozer run and that the man was what had to be stopped to stop the dozer.

Today

According to Manfred today's HGH dogs are not what they used to be 50-100 years ago. I have seen various BLHs from 1988-2004 and have worked over 10 years now with dogs from Manfred's line that are reflective of the old line herding dogs, and, even to me, the difference is clear. Referring to the pedigree analysis above it is even more obvious to me now why the genetics have changed. Manfred's line brought new HGH blood into every generation -- not only new blood but new blood going back on top HGH dogs. There was depth and breadth to Manfred's breeding program. This is in contrast to Nicky's dam's side pedigree that goes back on only one current popular HGH line and that line goes back to only two strong HGH dogs, Blanka v Mummelsee and Dori ad Wanderschäferei who are found in the 5-6-7 generations. There is depth but little or no breadth in the dam-side pedigree. Now look at the pedigrees of today's HGH dogs anywhere and you will be hard-pressed to find any continuity of HGH or herding dogs in more than 2-3 generations -- often you find the HGH dog pop up out of nowhere in the middle of nowhere.

Geonology of Alf von Fafnerhaus (Nicky)

Ellen Nickelsberg
Information for this article was supplied by Nickelsberg's Farm German Shepherd Herding.
Photos courtesy of Ellen Nickelsberg at Nickelsberg's Farm German Shepherd Herding.