Matt Fagan

Staff writer, @fagan_nj

When border collies see sheep for the first time, they run straight at them - not Aine

Aine was born with hydrocephalus, a serious and life-threatening condition

Trainer said the once-sick puppy may be ready for world herding competition by 2020

Seasoned trainer and breeder of border collies Gene Sheninger admits he didn't know what to do with the very tiny and sick border collie puppy in his hands.

He decided to name her Aine, but that's as far as he got.

Born last July in a litter of seven, Aine "would yelp" when the other puppies touched her, Sheninger said. Turns out she had hydrocephalus, also known as water on the brain. This is a very serious and life-threatening condition in dogs. Normally, a healthy border collie puppy would have been sold for around $1,000, but because of Aine's condition, Sheninger kept her for a while, then gifted her to friend Teri Rhodes of Hackettstown.

Aine, now six months old, not only defied the odds and lived, but has turned into somewhat of a sheep herding "prodigy" according to Sheninger and Rhodes.

At first Aine showed great promise just herding Sheninger's ducks and chickens, then her true gift was revealed. When border collies see sheep for the first time, they run straight at them, Sheninger said. They have to be trained to 'outrun' or run clear round them, but not Aine, she did it "almost perfect" her very first time out.

Aine has herding instincts in spades, Sheninger said. "It's extremely rare," he said. "I've never seen it in one of my dogs."

It also means Aine could be on track to be a champion in the sheep herding competition circuit.

"That's the plan," Rhodes said, adding that when possible she trains Aine five days a week with Sheninger.

Rhodes said Aine not only is a sheep-herding prodigy, but a little miracle who came into her life at the right time. Rhode said she was looking for a cause after the death of her husband and Aine was the perfect match.

Border collies, considered by many dog professionals to be the smartest breed, are also known for their high energy and need to "work."

"You can't just sit around if you own a border collie," Rhodes said. "They have to have a job."

Still the young dog has a long way to go to becoming a champion.

Outrunning is easy. By instinct border collies will herd sheep back to their masters. Harder is to teach them to drive the sheep, Sheninger said. Masters teach border collies to respond to both voice command and whistles to move the sheep in just about any direction. Sheninger demonstrated with a number of long and short whistles. One type has the dog moving right, another left, and so on until the sheep are headed in the right direction.

Sheninger said the movie "Babe" about a pig who avoids the slaughter house by learning how to herd sheep, is pretty close to what he does.

"That movie was pretty accurate," Sheneniger said. "Except that off camera there's border collies actually moving the sheep around. The pig was trained to follow the border collies."

During a recent visit to Sheninger's 50-acre property in Rockaway, Aine proved that border collies live to work. While obedient, her eyes never lost sight of the nearby flock of sheep. When unleashed, Aine begins her outrun and works to corral the sheep and bring them back to her master.

While nothing is a given, Sheninger said Aine has the ability to be top dog, or at least top herding dog. In another three years Aine may be ready for the world stage, he said.

Sheninger should know. In 2014, Sweet, his 7-year-old border collie, finished 20th in the world sheepdog trials out of the 244 dogs in the

contest. Sheninger and Rhodes said they are not ruling out the 2020 world championships, called sheepdog trials held every three years, for Aine.

"There's a saying it takes as many years to train a (herding) dog as it has legs," he said. However given Aine's seemingly innate talent she may be ready. He said he's basing this on his 30 years of training dogs.

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Sheninger began to train dogs "out of necessity" after purchasing the 200-year-old Wayside Farm in 1982. A neighbor needed Sheninger’s sheep to graze his fields. When it was time for Sheninger to retrieve his flock, he said it took him all day, leaving him fatigued and exasperated. He acquired Nap, a 7-year-old border collie who was already trained and the rest, he said, is history.