Has city life turned these two herding dogs into couch potatoes? (AP Photo/Sharon Theimer)

City dogs try to herd.

It's not easy keeping a pair of herding dogs busy in the city.

Their skills at crowd control are rarely appreciated, and other traits prized on a ranch -- intelligence, protectiveness, endurance and speed -- may even prove dangerous in a heavily populated area. So my two Australian shepherds, Kanga and Baxter, have to settle for whatever challenges I can cook up for them. They are sort of like Ferraris with a bus driver at the wheel.

To wear them out, I take them walking and running every day. We also take classes in obedience and agility, where they are learning to navigate obstacle courses while running at top speed. But all of this has proved more challenging for me than for them, and none of it lets them do what Aussies are meant to do.

I was curious to know whether my city dogs, whose only glimpses of cows and sheep have come from a moving car, would know what to do if they encountered one. Was the herding drive so hard-wired it would automatically kick in, or had their comfortable, treats-and-free-access-to-the-couch lifestyle squelched it?

I decided to take them to a farm and find out. The experiment wasn't free of worry. There were best-case and worst-case scenarios -- some involving bloodshed.

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A TALE OF TWO DOGS

I adopted Kanga, now 5, last year through an Aussie rescue group. She loves chasing squirrels, rabbits and cats, and it has taken months to train her to look to me (sometimes, at least) when she sees one rather than taking off after it like a rocket, leaving me to choose between dropping the leash or hitting the dirt, if there is time to choose.

Then there's Baxter, a 4-year-old retired show dog. He was trained to ignore all distractions and focus on his handler, come what may. In the best case during the herding text, both dogs would spring into action. In the worst case, Baxter would ignore the sheep, Kanga would kill them and I would be eating mutton for weeks.

I had no problems finding a farm for the test. There are a surprising number of places to take a dog herding, even in a metropolitan area. I found Keepstone Farm in Berryville, Va., about a 90-minute drive from Washington, through a combination of Internet searches and asking around. Herding instructors can also be located through the American Herding Breed Association state stock dog organizations or breed-specific herding clubs.

In the test, each dog goes into a ring with three sheep. Keepstone Farm owner and herding instructor Susan Rhoades says the same thing that motivates a dog to chase squirrels -- the prey drive -- also prompts them to herd. But in some dogs, that drive has been lessened through breeding or training, and in others it can be so strong it causes them to attack.

"It could be the first time they see sheep they turn on to them, it could be we have to sort of con them into them, coach them into them, let them know it's OK," Rhoades said.

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TEST TIME

Kanga went first. She sniffed around a few seconds before noticing the sheep, and then to her everlasting credit, came to me for reassurance. She looked at the sheep again and was ... OFF! Within 30 seconds of first seeing the sheep, Kanga was flanking them and pushing them around the ring.

Next in was Baxter. Rhoades led him into the ring and for a promising instant, Baxter headed straight for the sheep. But then he stopped and ran over to me.

To try to stir his interest, Rhoades instructed me to pet the sheep, walk among the sheep, chase the sheep ... It had no effect on Baxter, though it did prove three things: Baxter is very well-trained, I have a natural herding drive, and sheep smell really, really bad.

Rhoades brought in a border collie to show Baxter the ropes. Baxter wasn't impressed. He simply turned his back on the whole mess and sat looking up at me. At one point, perhaps sensing safety, the sheep went to him. Baxter ignored them.

So it looked like Kanga was a born herding dog and -- at least as far as nosing sheep around -- Baxter was a washout.

Will we go herding again? I'm not sure it's a trait I want to develop in the dogs, given the environment we live in. Baxter is by far the better suited of the two for city life. Then again, it was fascinating and fun to see Kanga's herding drive at work.

So I guess might try again ... If I can reconcile myself to the sheep. Which smell really, really bad, by the way.

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asap contributor Sharon Theimer is an AP reporter in Washington.

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