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Wel­come Gov­er­nors Island’s newest work­ing dog, Leader!

Feb 18, 2021 5:46 pm

Intro­duc­ing the newest mem­ber of Gov­er­nors Island’s team of work­ing dogs, Leader! 

Did you know that a pack of ded­i­cat­ed dogs works to keep Gov­er­nors Island free of Cana­da geese year-round? Besides dam­ag­ing the Island’s land­scapes, the geese can be aggres­sive towards humans and their waste can lead to the spread of inva­sive species. 

After try­ing many dif­fer­ent meth­ods of goose con­trol, work­ing dogs proved to be the most sus­tain­able, humane, and adorable solu­tion. Herd­ing dogs like bor­der col­lies make great guardians against flocks of geese. Their nat­ur­al herd­ing instincts urge them to con­trol, but nev­er to harm, large groups of geese, effec­tive­ly chas­ing the birds away. While herd­ing dogs make for a pow­er­ful goose deter­rent, geese are per­sis­tent and so our pooches must remain ever vigilant.The dogs take turns stay­ing overnight on the Island, typ­i­cal­ly mak­ing the rounds (with a human care­tak­er in tow) at about dawn and dusk daily. 

Gov­er­nors Island has ​‘employed’ these canine cowork­ers since 2014, begin­ning our first work­ing dog, Max. The pack has grown over the years with Quinn, Chip and Aspen join­ing the ranks before we most recent­ly wel­comed Leader.Born last July, the sev­en-month-old Leader brings the pack to a for­mi­da­ble five fur­ry friends. Like all of our work­ing dogs, Leader joined us from the Mid-Atlantic Bor­der Col­lie Res­cue, which works to res­cue col­lies and place them in homes best suit­ed to their indi­vid­ual needs. 

So far, Leader is fit­ting right in with the rest of the crew and is now learn­ing to use his herd­ing abil­i­ties to chase away geese. He loves explor­ing Gov­er­nors Island and play­ing in the snow. See how Leader and all of our work­ing dogs spend their days by fol­low­ing them on Insta­gram at @giworkingdogs!