Episode
Herding Dogs & Rotational Grazing: Building Connection Over Control | with Seth Thompson
- Podcast
- Soul Touched by Dogs
- Published
- May 11, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1807
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Summary
Herding goats with a working dog isn't about force or control—it's about partnership, patience, and understanding what your dog was bred to do. In this episode, we meet a farmer who traded in his old life three years ago to become a goat herder in Wisconsin, bringing regenerative agriculture to his land with the help of his English Shepherd, Dutch. Their work together is a beautiful reminder of what happens when we honour a dog's natural instincts and let them do what they were born for. WHAT YOU'LL LEARN Why goats need a different kind of herding dog than sheep, and how "loose-eyed" breeds like English Shepherds work up close and personal with stubborn livestock What it takes to train a herding dog from scratch when you've never trained a dog before, including why you have to wait a full year before introducing a puppy to stock How rotational grazing with a working dog can heal degraded soil while producing high-quality goat milk for soap making The importance of always backing up your dog around livestock, even when things don't go to plan—and how discouragement can ruin a working dog's confidence What a typical day looks like moving goats from barn to pasture, and how farmer and dog work as a team to guide the herd How working dogs stay engaged during winter months when there's no grazing, and why skills like "steady" help a dog learn to respect the bubble of space around stock Why early socialisation between young dogs and livestock matters, and how encouragement builds a dog's ability to be the calm, confident leader of the herd A FAVOURITE MOMENT "I feel bad that I'm the only person here. I think more people should be able to see this." — Seth ABOUT SETH Seth is a farmer and goat herder at New Plymouth Farm in Wisconsin, where he produces goat milk soap using reg…