Border collie practices herding on geese

VALPARAISO -- With a shortage of sheep at his South Haven home, Jack Spears needed a way for his border collie Daisy Mae to get exercise and practice her herding talents.\nHis solution: golf course geese.\n"She can't get enough exercise, and there are not enough sheep farms for her to go and romp and play," Spears said. "I thought it would be good exercise to take her to the golf courses with the geese. I've seen other golf courses in different states use dogs to solve the problem."\nThe "problem" is goose droppings, which provide an unpleasant hazard for golfers. Spears, a building contractor, approached the Valparaiso Parks and Recreation Department earlier this year with the suggestion to use Daisy Mae for goose control at Creekside and Forest Park golf courses.\nSpears knew Creekside golf pro Mike Laughner and mentioned it to him. "And he passed it on to the parks office," Spears said. "They thought it was a great idea."\nSpears was asked to take Daisy Mae to Rogers Lakewood Park, too, to discourage the geese from loitering and littering the beach area. Daisy Mae has taken to the task like a Canada goose to water.\n"We don't want to harm the geese," Spears said. "Just make them uncomfortable so they don't want to stay the summer. Once they see her, they head out. Once you tend to make an area nervous for them, they won't roost there as often. They will find another place."\nSpears and Daisy Mae have been hitting the park and the links a couple of times a week since the beginning of April. Daisy Mae had the basic obedience school training, where she learned how to sit, stay and stroll on a leash. She seems to have picked up the goose-herding techniques naturally, with a little help from Spears.\n"She chases them into the air or the water, and sometimes she even chases them in the water," he said. "She'll go on hand signals to the left or right. She watches my hand movements. She's real friendly with people and doesn't bother the golfers. We usually go in the morning or evening when it's not real crowded."\nDaisy Mae loves to play ball. "She'll find golf balls laying in the weeds or the edges of the fairways and pick them up and want to bring them home. If she sees a ball in the water, she will go into the water after it," Spears said. "It's nice to see her run that fairway just as hard as she can go."\nParks Superintendent John Seibert said the goal is to get the geese away from the public areas. Although it's too early to tell the long-term effects of Daisy Mae's work, the geese definitely get the message when she's there.