Glen of Imaal Terrier Working
-- Video Clip --

Here are a couple stills from a video of ARBA CH. Glen Pastures Duffy at work!

The following film clip demonstrates some crucial elements of the working characteristics of Glen of Imaal Terriers: their willingness to please, intelligence, gameness, and the significance of their laid back attitude.

Willingness to work and please the owner.

Duffy was easily trained to do a non-traditional farm job, which was to keep the pigs inside their pens when the gate was opened for feeding. Pigs always want to rush out and get to their food fast!

Intelligence.

With the right timing of encouragement and a few "no" commands during training, Duffy quickly learned that she was not allowed inside the pen without being invited by the owner. So, she never crosses the threshold of the gate.

Gameness.

Duffy is not afraid of a mob of animals bigger and heavier than herself, and she is persistent in her work.

Laid back.

The most important characteristic of a working dog is its self-control. Duffy does not go crazy just barking at the gate. She uses only as much force as required by the circumstances.

The pigs obviously respect the dog, whose barking is normally sufficient. However, pigs are called pigs for a reason, and when the food doesn't come as soon as expected they get bolder. Duffy reminds them with snapping teeth and, if needed, nips on the nose. When the pigs do as she tells them, she leaves them alone.

One particularly stubborn pig still thinks it has a chance, and when Duffy's back is turned, it comes completely out of the pen, leading the others. Duffy swings around and gives it a couple of stern nips in the ear/neck region, turning it and sending it back and its companions back where they belong. Then, when her owner goes in the pen to feed the pigs, she knows her job is done.

Duffy was as effective with 600 pound sows as she was with these 120 pound growing pigs. This video was taken when she was 7 years old; she is now 10 and is totally blind due to PRA. Otherwise, this matron is in fine health, still enjoys walks and wrestling with the other dogs, and tolerates the unpredictability of physical obstacles in a household with children.

Although Glens were traditionally strong dogs for earthwork, used to pull badgers out of their dens, this video clip demonstrates that they are very versatile working dogs, trainable and adaptable to many situations, including less rural vocations such as agility and therapy dogs.

It is well worth the wait for the video to download, and it doesn't start until you click on the still image. So you do have time to go make yourself a snack.

Once it's downloaded, it only takes a few seconds if you want to go back and view it again. There is audio with this, so you can hear all the action as well as see it.

To view the video (setup):

• For windows users, you may need the codex. Download this, then run this program from your Hard Drive. (This is a 723 Kb sized executable) After it sets up, you will be able to view the video after downloading it below.

Click here to download the film clip itself. (Film clip is 1.05 Mb in AVI format)

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