Teaching an old dog new tricks-- means what? An easy task? A hard trick? And this is different how from teaching a young dog new tricks? And what kind of new tricks?
Have you ever watched a proud dog owner show off his dog's tricks? Sit, stay, come-- all easy commands. Play dead, jump through hoops, run an obstacle course? not so easy.
But hard?
Hard I saw at a sheep herding demonstration on a recent trip to Ireland. Two border collies lay prone-- with eager eyes which said, "Just tell me when." They watched the sheep with pricked ears awaiting the slightest command from the shepherd.
Two dozen or more sheep grazed nonchalantly in the field beyond. With but a barely audible whistle from the shepherd, the dog on the left sprang from his prone position, proceeded single mindedly to the top of the field. Further whistles, equally quiet, sent him left, then right, up and down, left and right-- maneuvering the sheep down the hill in a slow even pace.
A sudden whistle sent the second dog no longer prone up the hill to help. For a brief time two masters of herding moved the sheep, until a soft whistle recalled the original dog-- turning the task over to dog two.
With the sheep properly, calmly corralled at the gate both dogs fell immediately into the prone position-- with eager eyes and erect ears --awaiting further commands.
An onlooker asked, "What kind of reward to you give the dogs for their performance?"
Without hesitation the shepherd said, "They don't demand much. Every Friday night I let them warch their favorite Lassie movie."
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