I Spent 24 Hours With The World's Bravest Dog

This is the world's smartest dog. Son of a dude. That's what you call a runaway horse. And this is one of the most dangerous jobs a dog can have. All right, we got a huge problem. Hey, Tyler, is this horse out? This is just crushed her basically her whole back end, so we just had to put her down. Good morning. >> Morning. >> Good to meet you. Nice to meet you, brother. >> Yeah. I'm Tyler Holton. This is Scooter. This is Buzz. They're both right around three-year-old border collies. We're in Wilsaw, Montana. And I with the founder, Ben Mendon, run [music] a internship program centered around a cattle company for guys getting [music] out of the military that want to get involved in agriculture and more specifically in kind of the niche world of [music] taking care of cattle, horseback, and cowboying. so to speak. The guys will be down here in a few minutes and go have the horses a few go. We pop tires on these things like that's our actual job. These horses and the cattle and the dogs, they all operate on this weird frequency like secret language and body language. They just they communicate with each other so well and so easily with with such little effort. I tell the guys all the time and I'll tell you guys too when we're watching these dogs. I tell them to watch the dogs because they the dogs get it. The dogs understand the cattle. >> You know, my whole life I've worked with dogs and my professional career I've always trained dogs and now it's like I get to see dogs work, right? So, this is a different perspective for me cuz I've always worked dogs. Now, the dogs are going to be working with me. A lot of dog owners and dog lovers don't realize that a true like working dog like doesn't want to be pet. They they don't want to cuddle. They don't want to say hi. They want to work. And you come out here and you start to see well this is what they're supposed to be doing all these pretty good but not all of them are like [music] as friendly and gentle as they may seem. So just watch yourself so you don't get yourself kicked or something. The difference between a nail that holds the shoe on and a nail that makes the shoe fall off and a nail that goes straight into their foot in the sensitive part of their foot and blood comes flying out is like an eighth of an inch. The first thing we did when we got here is we went out, we got the horses from the pasture, moved them back down to the barn. Then now what we're doing is we just loaded up the horses in the trailer. Now we're going to go move all the cattle. But most importantly, we got the dogs. The dogs are loaded up. They're ready to work. So, I'm super excited to get out here and see what the dogs do with the horses and the cowboys. >> Let's do some cowboy stuff today, boys. >> My name is Cal Clucus. I'm originally from Gal, Illinois. Biggest reason why I'm here is to try to become the best cowboy ranch hand that I can be and uh to also make my grandpa and uh my family and friends back home. Just really proud. My name is Brandon Schlice. Moved up here to Montana from Georgia. Uh I was in the Air Force uh for quite some [music] time and got out and uh yeah, moved up here to follow the dream. >> Let's go. Hill. I don't know if you saw them. That's that's our cattle. We we've got a little group in here that just gets holed up in the trees. Um so we go in there and kind of cut everyone some circles, spread out, gather them out of the trees, and usually just hold them in a little row deer. So just group them up in the open and the guys hold them and we'll look through them cuz the cattle we run here are what you'd hear referred to as like short-term cattle. So they come from all different places and come. So a lot of them has some health issues and get sick. Just the nature of the beast. So yeah, we keep a pretty close eye on what we've got. We're always having to sling some medicine at something or another. Now today is my first real introduction to ranch life. Now I don't know how to be a cowboy and I'm learning all of this as I go. But what I do know is dogs. And that's really [music] why I came all the way out here. Now, most people know Border Collies as these crazy [music] working dogs. But knowing that and actually watching one work are two very different things. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little too excited about all this. >> Tom, grab that rope. You're going to push it when he tells you to. When Nathaniel tells you. 3 2 1. You're pushing the legs down and then pulling them up. And he's pulling the tail so it lands on his side. Three, two, one. >> There you go. >> Oh >> Now, what are you What are you doing? >> Uh, just giving some medicine. He's got a pretty good limp, so he might have foot rot. I found it. Come look at this. It is foot rot. He just must have skinned up the inside of his foot on a rock or sage brush between the toes or something. Um, but here you can just stick that inner muscular right in the neck right there all the way in. make his foot feel better hopefully. >> So, what Tyler's doing right now is he's basically just inspecting the herd, making sure the calves don't have foot rot, which we just learned about, making sure none of the older cows are coughing and stuff like that. So, he's really just making sure all the calves are are safe and they're healthy. And that's what we're doing right now. And the dogs are doing an amazing job at just holding that line and making sure none of the none of the cows break out of the herd. >> Okay, so here they come. >> So, So, you downed them? >> Yes. Okay. >> And I'll just tell them they don't know those cattle are there. I'll just tell them get back and go bring me. >> So, they they'll go out and get those cattle and bring them back. >> They should. Now, they don't like just speaking specifically this scenario. Like, they're watching these. Their whole minds about these. They don't even know those are there. We'll see if they're honest enough to go >> break away from this herd. They might just go to the back of this herd. >> Okay. Let's see. >> Um just cuz they might get confused. When we were in the second pasture, we realized that there was like three to five different stragglers that weren't in the herds. They didn't get the memo. And the cool thing was is instead of Tyler sending off three or four of his cowboys, which would compromise the herd potentially, and some of them could get out, which is pretty dangerous with all those cavs moving, they sent the dogs, Buzz and Scooter, all the way down about a half a mile away. And those dogs sure enough went there and pushed those cows right back into the herd safely. That was incredible. Now, what's what's the what's the what's the uh long whistle mean? >> Lay down. Like one solid blast for my dogs is to lie down. >> Okay. >> The little triple thing is just how I tell them like I don't really care how you do it. Just go back there and get whatever's back there, I guess. Like get to the back and so they'll go back to the last one they see. They're pretty good. If they're in the brush, you know, they might miss some if they can't see them in the brush and stuff, but they'll hunt a little bit and they'll find whatever they can and they'll bring it. That's freaking sweet. >> Yeah. And they'll just bring those over here. They won't be here. You're not going to rush them unless I tell them to rush them. >> So Tyler just wrangled one of another calfs. That means there's a calf that's injured or sick. So we're going to go over and check it out and see uh what's the deal with the calf. >> So what Brandon's doing right now is Brandon's trying to rope the back legs of the calf. And it and it's and it's chaotic and it's probably stressful for the calf, but this is what they have to do in order to check on the calf's safety and and the health of the calf. >> Yeah. Yeah. I mean, anytime that they're acting weird, head down, ears flat, kind of drooping, lagging, that's not really that normal. These calves are most of the time really full of energy. So, when they're acting super lethargic or limping, it's a usually a tail sign. My name is Nathaniel Quinn. Uh, I kind of grew up all over the [music] place. Currently reside in Virginia and I was in the Marine Corps. I worked for a cow horse trainer uh in Virginia and that kind of got me into the lifestyle and I fell in love with it [music] and uh just the peace in the chaos just really resonated with me and you know I want [music] to do it the rest of my life. So, >> and so what do we think's wrong with this one? >> So, this one got a little ear deal. He ripped either ripped his tag out um or [music] got an ear infection and the ear kind of got nasty and it came out on its own. We flipped the cow over and we did everything that we needed to do which was an incredible experience. [music] And all of this is happening. The border collies are on patrol because now it took three people away from the herd and [music] the observation and the border collies did the work while we were helping the calf out which is incredible that these dogs are just self-sufficient and they know [music] what to do when to do it. So that's what you guys are treating. Oh yeah, that looks bad. >> Yeah. And it just looks not great. It looks like it either is getting infected or could be getting infected. So, we'll just grab them and give them a little antibiotic. >> Every cow has a tag. And what do the tags represent? >> Keep record of who's who. The calves here have a matching ear tag to their mom's number that they were given when they were shortly after their birth. And then the other tag we put on them when we brand them. >> How how dangerous overall for cowboys and for the dogs do you think this job is? >> It's extremely dangerous for the dogs. I mean, if you compare them to the average border collie outside of this world, what are they doing? Going on walks, chasing their Frisbee. Maybe they're doing agility courses and this and that, but these dogs out here, they're living their best life, but [music] they're getting after it. They're out there fighting with 1500 lb animals, getting under them, biting them, you know, getting kicked. This dog, I'm sure you guys got on video, this dog getting kicked in the head at least once. [music] I must have seen it 10 times today cuz sometimes he gets a little little uh too much gumption and not enough brains and goes in there after the wrong leg maybe and takes a shot [music] to the head, but he bounces right back. He's back at it like it's all he cares about in life. So, uh last year I had a dog that was a little bit greener than he used to [music] and the cattle got holed up in this real foresty area here behind us. And they went back there and I didn't see what happened. She would bite usually on [music] the head and she would hold on a little too long. She'd kind of bite and hold on for dear life and a lot of times they do that and those cows will pick them up and throw them [music] and she got sucked in or thrown under one or something and just got her just right and just crushed her basically her whole back end. So we just had to put her down. Cowboys [music] is definitely a dangerous job as well. You'll hear about guys getting in wrecks and [music] you know there's a there's a very very very large probability if you stick with this for a couple years you're going to encounter some sort of injury. [music] Hopefully, it's nothing major, but it does happen. And and there are guys who get wrecked bad enough that they lose their life over it. >> Now, I think there's a little part in all of us that wants to go out west and be a cowboy. A horse underneath you, a dog beside you, and a job that needs doing. And you watch these dogs work, and it's not hard to think about how many dogs back at home will never know what they're actually capable of. All right, so there's a problem right now. We just let the goats out to go into this pin so we can use the dogs and train. But instead of going into that pin, they went straight up this freaking mountain right here. So, we're going to try to get them out with some train. >> How many commands does each dog typically have? >> I let's think maybe have five or six come by. He'll flank clockwise away. away to me would be his counterclockwise flanking command. So, just same thing but the other direction. If I tell him walk up, walk up, um he's going to go straight for the animals. It's basically he's going to move them directly away from him in the direction that he's going. >> That's crazy, too, cuz right now, like as you're talking, he's working and these goats are literally like busting into our knees and pushing us over. How much does voice inflection matter? That's a really good question. Um, I think I'm pretty good about it. I like to think some people have a hard time with it. If I tell him, he kind of knows what he's doing and so he'd be all right with it, but we can play with it a little bit. But like when he was getting started, he was super super sensitive. >> And if I told him by him, like real >> angry, stern like you'll see he'll kind of like, uh, and then he'll do something nuts. He'll like attack a goat. Like it's like he takes out his anxiety on the stalk. If you had a guy who kind of just was that way and couldn't control that like his emotions and whatnot, >> frustration, >> you just get one of them crazy dogs who's like just wrecking through the herd and this and that. >> How How long will Will he Will Scooter do this? >> I bet he'd do it till he dies. >> Until he passes out. >> Yeah, I bet. The main thing border collies generally want to do, well bred border collies, is control the stock and hold the stock like this. this exact little exercise where we're standing here kind of screwing around and this dog is just endlessly keeping these goats with us is is very very much so in their genetics. >> Do you bring any of these dogs in the house? Cuz I think that that's like >> I don't >> a lot of but a lot of ranchers and cowboys wouldn't, right? >> A lot don't. A lot do. a lot kind of there's a lot of people in the agriculture world who have dogs that kind of live inside and maybe they're just kind of pet dogs that go to work with them and maybe they help move some cattle, but most people that everyone I know and I've never really heard of anyone that has a really broke dog that really can do a lot of this and that and this and that. Um, and also on the side they're just kind of like live in the house pet. They have their toys and stuff. It's a little unheard of to me. It's kind of like having like you have a dog that has that that velocity and that ferociousness in them that will back up a giant animal and it's really hard to be like, "All right, now let's go cuddle on the couch." >> If you don't give them the outlet, they'll find their own outlet. And I cannot have these dogs find a different outlet. The stock can be their outlet and that can only be it because the more places their drive goes, the more it takes away from this. I think that's where a lot of people probably struggle with their dogs is you if you don't control what the outlet is and they find their own. It might be finding sticks for you to throw. It might be your shoes. It might be the barking thing. It might be biting your kid. You know, like >> if you don't control it >> and let them decide. You don't know what they're going to decide. >> That's what I That's what I see a lot is any dog that's supposed to be out working is they get them, they put them in a in a pet home and then they have all sorts of issues, right? cuz they're supposed to be doing this and then they put them in a home and then they bring them for 20 minute walks a day and the dogs losing their mind and it's really sad cuz they get put down. They get put in shelters and and it's [music] a whole it's a whole thing. >> Yeah. >> So after lunch we put the dogs away, gave them fresh water, then it was my time to get on a horse and I thought because I've been doing lessons [music] and I and and I was just naive. I was like, "Okay, this is going to go good. That way tomorrow I can get out there and I can get on the horse and I can join the cowboys." [music] Well, it did not go as planned. How do you get him to go? How do you start this thing? >> Squeeze the ketchup out the front of the bottle. Squeeze forward. Yep. >> See, like when I give him pressure, now he's going. Never mind. Keeps like wanting to just go in a circle. >> I think the big thing is like getting him going then he like wants to do circles. I don't know [music] this circle thing. Like I feel like am I making him circle? This horse is taking advantage of me. He's spinning me in circles. I don't know what I'm doing and I need this [music] to work. I came all the way out here to Montana to work with these dogs, to work with these cowboys on this ranch and I can't even get the freaking horse to go forward. This is a huge problem. Son of a dude. I don't know what I'm doing wrong. It's really frustrating cuz I just trained for the last 3 weeks to learn how to ride and that [music] horse didn't do anything I wanted him to do. So, I was like, now I'm frustrated and I I I can't come all the way out here to Montana and not be able to ride a horse. I mean, it's going to it's going to ruin everything for tomorrow. I'm not going to be able to work with the dog. So, [music] I got to figure this out and I got to figure it out fast. So, yesterday we tried to get Cube to move and I just couldn't get that horse to move to save my freaking life. So, today we're going to be riding Old Earl. So, this is going to be like the real test to see if I can get out here and ride around with these guys. And hopefully old Earl uh treats me right. I [music] start here. I kind of sit back on my pockets, ask him for the low, and if he doesn't, let's take more [music] [music] about some sick maneuver in here. Some real cowboy [music] [music] >> [music] >> Old Earl here is a different horse than Cube yesterday. So, I think that that made the big difference. But [music] I think for me it was just like, you know, getting out here and really trying to do and keep up with these real cowboys and and I think I did, you know, pretty good. Um, but now it's just really cool to see the dogs just hold all these gigantic animals. I mean, there's tons and tons of pounds of gigantic uh cows right here. And these dogs and these horses and these cowboys are just holding these animals like with precision, which is absolutely fantastic. So, if you guys have a border collie at home, think about why your dog is anxious. Think about why your dog is aggressive. Think about why your dog is hurting because they're supposed to be doing this stuff all day long. >> I like it. Hey, >> one down. >> Hey, throw your rope. Throw your whole rope. >> All right, let's do >> the heart rate up a little bit. So, you know, anything to do that, it's always a good day. >> And told me that that's how a lot of cowboys actually die. It's very, [music] very dangerous in the situation he ended up in. But good thing for Brandon. He's a good cowboy. [music] >> Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. You all right? >> Yeah. He just got a hold of it. He was get trying to get around it and he'd come up and get a hold of it and he slipped and just got basically straight ran over. That's a pretty surefire way to get a dog killed or hurt. I mean, it happens quite a bit, but if they're going to have a wreck that's [music] going to end their career, it's something like that usually. >> What is your experience working with the dogs out there with Tyler? >> So, one of the pastures we're on uh up in the mountains, I mean, you can't get through with a with a horse, can't get through with a four-wheeler, dirt bike, nothing. Uh it's even on foot, it's pretty hard and not really as efficient. Say with Tyler's dogs, I mean, they he just whistles, calls him up there, and he can get they can get them cows down and make our job a lot easier. It's also a lot safer, too. But I said, I'd say without his dogs, it make our job a lot harder. And so, thank God thank God Tyler's good with his dogs, and his dogs are just some of the best in the industry. >> Yeah, the dogs are super super cool to watch. [music] uh just how they naturally have the instinct of reading cattle and know when to put pressure, know when to release [music] pressure just in the breed instinct is is super cool and it's super handy um when you're like Tyler and when this program is over, you don't really have, you know, four guys [music] with you and those two dogs will do the work of five cowboys. So when you run in a small outfit and you know maybe [music] you don't have a whole lot of hired hands, uh it's the most useful tool that you can have. >> What's cowboying mean to you? >> Oh, it's a it's a loaded question. It really it's a lifestyle. It's um how you uh how you act on a day-to-day basis, how you treat people. Uh the work you do is part of it, but uh a lot of it goes into who you are actually as a person and your character. um they working the cattle on horseback and understanding um the signs of cows and and [music] doctoring and uh animal husbandry. All that goes into it. But if you uh anybody can do that um if you can't be a good person and treat the person left or right of you uh right and pick them up then uh that takes you out of it in my book. >> What do the dogs add to the table? >> They're they're massive help. They especially when you get an area similar to here, heavy forestry, uh if you got bogs and stuff where the horses can't really go, you get stuck. The dogs are able to apply that much pressure to the cows that we can't get to in areas that we can't get to. >> Being a veteran, what is this opportunity to be here to learn from Tyler [music] and these guys and be part of this team mean to you? It >> means the world. uh agriculture [music] and veterans flow very well together and uh without programs like this and the advocacy from the guys like us that go through it um a lot of veterans will continue to suffer without understanding and [music] finding that renewed purpose. I myself struggled getting out and not knowing what to do, [music] losing that sense of purpose bigger than yourself. Agriculture, you have that you you're serving the at the end of the day, you're serving the community, you're serving the country. So, um and it allows that flow. So, if that's what you're looking for, agriculture is definitely the way to go. Um, and with [music] amazing programs like Bear Hug, it's it's a hard industry to jump into first first generation. Um, [music] and thanks to people like Ben and Tyler, uh, they were able to grab that by the reinss and [music] pull it all in and forward the opportunity. And I hope to do the same, uh, in the future. >> I've spent my entire life around dogs. I've even made a career out of understanding them. And I thought I knew what they were capable of. And I've never been more wrong. See, long before dogs slept at the foot of our bed. They [music] worked beside us, going where we couldn't, doing what we couldn't do alone. Maybe [music] that's why the veterans in these dogs understand each other so well. There's a quiet pride in having a purpose. [music] And I came here thinking that I knew dogs. It turns out I still have a lot to learn. And I think I [music] like it better that way.