BIRD STRIKE CONTROL PROGRAM

Question: Our airfield superintendent has done some research on the success of using Border Collies. It is my understanding that we will need to take the dog around the airfield every day, two to three times and eventually the birds tire of the hassle and leave. I would like to know if this is your opinion and is this something that will have to continue to keep the birds away. 

Waiting to work

Answer: It has been our experience that you will need to continue this as long as you wish to have your airport free of birds. As soon as you stop your bird control program, the geese and other birds will slowly return until you are back to the same problem (if not worse) than you originally started with. Bird harassment programs are generally long-term projects and must be maintained, like airfield-management programs, on a daily basis. Once the dog goes away, the birds will return soon thereafter, sometimes the very same day. You can, obviously, skip a day or two of harassment from time to time without ill effect but the idea is generally to stay on top of the problem so you don't have to fight a major bird problem every other week.

In terms of the birds leaving -- it really depends on your control program and the type/training of Border Collie you use. Some airports don't seek to entirely exclude the birds from their environs but simply wish to keep them off of their runways and aprons. The dogs are trained in basic bird control and are used once or maybe twice in a day and simply chase the birds off the open areas and into water or surrounding grasses. The birds don't leave entirely but tend to remain on or near the water, keeping the runways and aprons fairly clean and bird-free. There are drawbacks to this method however as the birds are still there and if it is bird strikes on takeoff or landing that are the problem for the airfield, this method only reduces the numbers of birds directly on the runways and such, as the birds leave the water during the evening and nighttime hours to forage on the grass and will still take flight at will during the day. This will work if it is the physical obstruction of the birds that is the problem for the airport managers -- as the birds will remain off the main runways during flight hours. This is what some golf course managers have done by simply going out and "buying" a Border Collie. The dogs are not truly trained and if they are, they are trained for sheep herding, not goose or bird control work -- yet they will suffice for what the golf course is trying to accomplish.

If you're looking to rid your airfields of birds entirely, preventing them from foraging or nesting at the airport, you'll need a moderately rigorous program of bird control on a daily basis. You'll also need a specially trained Border Collie or two dogs working in tandem. In normal circumstances, as soon as a dog gives chase to the birds, many birds flee to the nearest waterway and remain there until the threat of the dog passes. They then eventually meander back onto the airfield and continue about their way. To rid an airport entirely of birds, you need a dog that is trained to go into the water after them (not all Border Collies will do this -- in fact, most without training will not) or two dogs working in tandem to put pressure on the birds from two different sides (e.g. one on this side of the pond and one on the other, or if they're well trained, having one placed in front of the waterway before the other gives chase so that the birds must fly away in their escape rather than fleeing to the water's edge). This must be kept up over the entire airfield as long as the birds remain. In the beginning of the program, this means a long and intense work day for the dog and handler, until the bird problem begins to subside. Then it requires daily morning and evening forays to discourage any newcomers to the airport environment. Since geese, for example, typically do not fly at night, once the airfield is cleared of geese in the early evening, it remains clear until the next morning. That way, there are no geese accumulating at night in the dog's absence.

Question: How can we be sure that the dog will not run out in front of an airplane that is taxiing or in flight sequence or scare birds into the air while planes are taking off or landing in the vicinity?

Answer: The dogs are always under a handler's control and direction, allowing the handler to stop the dog at any time. The handler remains in constant contact with the control tower, keeping track of all inbound and outbound traffic. As planes approach, the dog is either recalled to the handler or in certain circumstances, is told to lie down at a distance. The dogs are trained to remain immobile until the next command is given, when the handler deems the situation safe for further dispersal of birds. If the dog is heading in the direction of a runway, under whistle command the dog can be made to "drop like a rock" with one blast from the whistle.

Question: Does the dog always have to work with a handler?

Answer: Yes, for the reasons described above. Though the dogs may harass birds on their own, they do so with no regard to airfield traffic or flights in the air. A handler guarantees that dispersals are done in the prescribed areas and only at specified, safe times.

Question: How many handlers can the dogs work with? Will it work if we have more than one person assigned to work with the dog?

Answer: Since Border Collies are obsessive-compulsive workaholics, most are willing to work with just about anyone, as long as they take them to work. Border Collies have been passed around farmers and shepherds for years and they have been bred to be very biddable. Some dogs are currently working at airports with as many as 18 handlers.

Question: Will the noise of the jet engines affect their hearing in the long term?

Answer: The dogs rarely work around the movement area. During the first week or so, the birds may hang out near the runways and the dogs need to work around the jet engine noises. However, in very little time, the birds realize that this is not a safe place to be any more and they disperse to more sheltered locations around the airfield, generally near the perimeter where there are more ditches and cover that can afford them some protection. The dogs end up working 1000's of yards away from active planes and the sounds are no different than they are for those people that work outside the front of the terminal.

Question: Do you have a special program or other considerations for military airbases?

Answer: Yes. We can sell the dogs outright to those airports that have the required personnel on hand to work with the dog, however, for military airfields (with the constant turnover of personnel and the difficulties of housing and caring for a dog on base) we have complete packages available.

We offer a complete wildlife management package -- including one or more wildlife control officers, one or more trained dogs, and all necessary vehicles and additional control equipment. Our wildlife management contracts provide an airbase with all the essential tools for complete wildlife management. Both handlers and dogs are trained by Border Collie Rescue and provide full-time control programs for airbases while remaining staff members of BCR.

Question: Why can't we just go out and pick up a Border Collie from a breeder or a shelter?

Border Collie working Canada Geese on an airfield.

Answer: Only a rare percentage of the breed is capable of working in bird or wildlife control (approx. 5 to 10 percent of the dogs that come through our rescue program are suitable for our training program). The odds of getting a particular dog that has the necessary drive, herding instinct, endurance, and intelligence are relatively low (particularly those that must go into the water). And though training for this type of work might appear easy, it is long, grueling, and tiresome work and requires exceptional knowledge and experience in training Border Collies, wildlife management, and airfield protocol.

Additionally, one of the very unique parts of our program is our support system. Some golf courses, for example, have been getting Border Collies from one or two sheep herding trainers in the country. The dogs are shipped to them with a cassette tape of their whistle commands and from there, the course managers are left to their own devices. That works if you're only looking for a dog that chases the birds and it takes some time as the dog's handler learns how to control the dog and change its working abilities to suit the needs of the course.

Our dogs however, are trained for a particular circumstance (i.e. we get a call from someone who says "we need a dog to do X, Y, and Z" and then the dog is trained directly to accomplish those requirements) and are trained for bird control, rather than sheep herding. Though you can use a sheep herding trained dog and modify its working capabilities to generally suit your needs, sheep herding is very different than wildlife or bird harassment. Sheep work involves slow, controlled, manipulation of sheep and bringing them back to the handler, whereas bird control work requires short, flashy outbursts directing birds away from the airport. The reason why sheep working dogs can suffice is because they have learned their directional commands. Similar to a car that you can steer, even though it may not be designed for that purpose, you can control it to the point where you can achieve the task required.

We offer personal support for each dog. We will travel to the site with the dog, on request, and train the airport manager and operations staff (or whoever will be doing the work) how to work with the particular dog. There is an art to bird control and we will take a week or two (according to what level of support you're looking for) to train your handler on the methods and strategies involved. Our dogs are also trained directly for bird control -- they are not modified sheep herding dogs. This gives these dogs an edge in the work at hand and eases their transition to work on a particular airfield. We also offer telephone support at any time, for those handlers that may have questions that pop up from time to time. We will also return to a placement to train new handlers (if the responsibility is turned over to someone else) or do "continuing education" for those handlers that wish to refine their control techniques.

Question: Do you have any control experience with birds other than the typical geese and the like, such as gulls, coots, egrets or grassland species such as blackbirds? We have airfields in places where gulls and other waterfowl have become a problem and it is my understanding the dogs have less effect with these birds.

Answer: If the bird is on land, almost any of these dogs trained for this type of work will harass them with equal effectiveness. If it moves, they'll herd it. However, for most Border Collies, waterbirds pose a problem because they typically remain on the waterways and the dogs are reluctant to follow them into the water to continue their chase. However, there are dogs that we train to do this very thing and though the majority of Border Collies will not pursue the birds into the water, there are individual dogs that will. We have the luxury (or actually burden) of a great number of dogs coming through our rescue operation, so we can always sift through the dogs to find those that can handle this type of work. If you just go out and purchase a Border Collie, the odds are that the dog will not do the required water work.

However, you can "order" a dog through us and we will ensure that the dog is trained for that type of work. As previously mentioned, we train dogs for situations -- we don't just train them in general and then sell them. Ordering a dog from us does involve a delay however since the dog is trained for that specific placement and involves a longer commitment of training time. If you're looking for a dog in a hurry, our program is probably not the best place to start. We will place dogs that are general workers but our preference is to train for the required job. We have a much better success rate that way. We have a demonstration dog, for example, that will pursue coots, geese, or any other bird on water for hours on end. Directional control of the dog is much harder than on land but that's not generally the problem. Persistence is the key to getting rid of waterfowl, so they need to have the intensity required to swim for long periods of time.

Question: What is the cost of obtaining a Border Collie through your program?

Answer: This question is impossible to answer as it depends on the level of training and support that you require. Most airports require a fully trained dog with a complete service package, for both effectiveness and ease of training. Most military bases require the complete wildlife control package, including our management officers. Compared to the damage that a single bird strike can cause to a multimillion jet fighter or commercial airliner, it is an investment well worth the cost.

Question: Why should we get a trained Border Collie through Border Collie Rescue?

Answer: Quite simply, we are the only entity in the country at this time that is training dogs for this particular task. There are a few new "geese chasing" enterprises that have begun to pop up across the country that provide a service, under contract, of ridding golf courses and business parks of bothersome geese but they are limited by the availability of their handler. Additionally, it is possible to purchase a herding Border Collie from a sheep ranch but the dogs are not actually trained for bird control work.

Border Collie and German MIGs

All of our dogs are specifically trained as bird/wildlife control dogs and are trained at active military airfields and commercial airports. Because they are trained in a busy airport environment, they are already accustomed to an airport setting (complete with noisy jet engines, runways, etc.) and thereby, they have no need to become accustomed to or adapted for the airport environment. In essence, they can "hit the ground running."

Finally, the best reason to get a dog from Border Collie Rescue is because of the good service you are providing by supporting a non-profit humane organization. By supporting BCR, you are assisting in the placement of many other dogs that could not be provided for without the financial support of this program. You are providing a dog with a second-chance and a job that it was bred to do - a dog that might otherwise not have a home.

Border Collie Rescue Bird Strike Control Program