Internet Impressed by Border Collie Showing Ram Who Is in Charge

There's no denying border collies are the best in the business when it comes to herding sheep. One dog called Gray has recently gone viral on TikTok after showing a ram who is boss.

In a video shared by Emma Gray [@emmagrayshepherdess], the dog can be seen eagerly walking toward the ram, which immediately goes for him. Gray bounces back and charges at the sheep, which then topples over.

Emma Gray, 37, told Newsweek: "The sheep goes to ram him and he retaliated, the sheep then didn't back down, so Gray forced him to back down to his authority."

The on-screen commentary states: "Gray shows a ram who is the REAL man on the farm," followed by "ok, you asked for it" when the dog pushes over the ram using his head.

Emma Gray, from the Isle of Bute in Scotland, told Newsweek: that her five-year-old dog has worked on the farm all his life.

She added: "He is like a teacher in a classroom."

The video captioned: "Gray shows the new ram how things are handled in the sheep pens. He finishes what this cheeky ram starts," already boasts 278,400 views.

Border collies are one of the greatest and most well-liked herding breeds, according to The American Kennel Club (AKC). These canines have existed in one form or another for more than 130 years. Their antecedents, however, date considerably further back, to the initial collaborations between humans and canines.

The University of Helsinki in Finland conducted the largest ever laboratory study of canine intelligence. With a sample size of over 1,000 dogs, the researchers found several breed differences in traits such as social cognition, problem-solving ability and inhibitory control.

The canines took part in seven cognitive tests and three tests measuring behavior. While the researchers didn't find any differences between breeds when measuring logical reasoning or short-term memory tasks, they did find significant differences when it came to the following tests:-

• Measuring inhibitory control
• Understanding of human gestures (such as pointing with a finger in a specific direction)
• Spatial problem-solving ability (detouring around a V-shaped fence),
• Activity level
• Greeting an unknown person, exploration in a novel environment
• Behavior during a problem-solving situation that is impossible to solve (i.e., whether the dog tries to solve the problem independently or asks the human for help instead)

The results found the border collie excelled when it came to self-control and thinking before they respond. The golden retriever was one of the most human-orientated breeds as they spent a lot of time asking the human for help, whereas the Hovawart was the most independent breed.

It seems like researchers aren't the only ones who are impressed with border collies' intelligence. Almost 100 TikTok users have commented on the viral video and they are singing Gray's praises.

One user said: "Showing who's in charge doesn't get cooler than that."

"That's a real dog who knows it's the boss," another said.

"That sheep is dramatic," joked another person.

Update 11/07/23 10:04 a.m. ET: This article has been updated with comment from Emma Gray.

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