Is this the herding nipping?

At my dads yesterday with Grizzey and my dads 3 dogs and grizz was trying to get them to play and have them chase him by running up behind them and nipping their butts, it was so funny to watch. If the were sitting grizz would run up nip at them (not actully bite them just nipping the fur...they all have looong coats) and then jump away and if they wouldn't chase him he would run back and nip at them again. Is that the type of nipping aussies do when herding? Maybe its a stupid question but I would love to see grizz herd my dads 3 huge dogs around the backyard! They range in weight from 90-130 pounds. He does it to me sometimes to if he is walking behind me he will nip my butt :lol-sign:

Yup. I get goosed on a regular basis if I'm not walking fast enough to the outside door, though he knows better than to nip. I just get a nose shoving. The dogs will let him know when they've had enough, don't let him get in the habit of doing it to you though. It's instinctual enough without getting reinforced for it.

Yup, you haven't lived till you've been poked by an Aussie)
Aussies are upright herders, some are headers and some are heelers - some do both. But, it's usually just the way you described in terms of the nip and fall back routine.

Thats too funny! I am working with him to stop doing it to me, I immediately say no stop walking and ignore and he mostly does it when he sees me getting prepared to take him on a hike.

Maybe I should know this, having a herding breed and all, but in herding what is a header and and what is a heeler? From the sounds of it, it seems the header is the one moving the herd and a heeler is on the side steering them in the right direction? Am I completely wrong or was that a good guess??? :lol-sign:

Heading dogs have a tendency to cast out and around stock, cutting/heading them off at the front and bringing them back to the handler. Most of the time, headers have more eye and (obviously) focus on the heads of the stock more than the rear. Heelers tend to work more from behind, closer to the stock and they grip a lot more often. If you can find videos of dogs working, think of a Border Collie as a header and a Catahoula as a heeler.