Can some dog owner answer a question?

I read an article today about the use of border collies to keep geese away from golf courses. There was nothing surprising in the content, until I saw this:

"Whenever there are crowds of people around, he said, Nan's herding instincts are aroused. She circles people, brushing against their legs, trying to impose some order on those humans -- sometimes with surprising results.

"All of a sudden, you find yourself standing together in a group..."

Is that true? Do border collies (or other herding dogs) by their nature tend to nudge groups of humans into tighter groups - or is this just a good-natured pleasantry?



Addendum: I received this reply, which deserves to be moved up from the comments section to the main body of the entry:

Anonymous said...

Absolutely true! Herding dogs (not just border collies, but Australian Shepherds, Shelties, and all herding dogs) will gather up groups of things. I used to have an Aussie mutt, and if our two cows got too far apart for her taste, she would go nip at them until they stood together. When we had all the Sunday School kids over to our farm, the dog made sure they stayed in a group. It's what they've been bred to do!

Second addendum, from DawnK:

We have an Australian cattle dog. Just recently, we'd walked down to the end of our yard, to look at the flowers. On our way back, my younger daugher moved to a different part of the yard. The dog swung around behind her and nipped at her heels, to get her back with us. Most of the time, she leaves our heels alone, but sometimes she just can't help herself. It's what cattledogs, or heelers, are bred to do.