Two simple principles that help shepherd dogs

The dogs' ability to shepherd for years has always been an uncovered mystery, when only a shepherd and a dog can assemble a flock of sheep of more than 100 sheep uneasy. While most shepherds think it is the instincts of dogs, scientists have found two simple rules to explain this "magic" ability .

In the article published in the British Journal of Royal Society Interface on August 27, the research team from Swansea University (UK) used data from Global Positioning System (GPS) to explain the secrets. Mathematical secrets about how shepherd dogs do their job.

GPS devices are attached to sheeps to track their movements.

To do this, the team designed a number of tracking devices equipped with high-precision GPS technology. These devices are attached to sheep and shepherd dogs.

Unexpectedly, the confusing thing is only explained by two simple rules.The first rule : Shepherd dogs learn to gather sheep together in a flock of sheep. The second rule : When the flock of sheep becomes a straight line, the shepherd dog takes the flock of sheep forward.

Dr. Andrew King, head of research, said he and his colleagues had different ideas when they started the study. However, the expert team gradually realized that it was necessary to place themselves in the position of shepherd dogs.

Specifically, when the dog sees individuals with white fur, if there is a gap between these individuals, or when the gap becomes larger, the dogs need to connect these individuals together.

Whenever the sheep did not immediately gather in line, the shepherds would gather them together before making the sheep move forward.

According to Andrew King, the shepherd dogs have done good 'selfish sheep theory' to gather sheep together and move them to where they want.

'One of the things that a sheep really does well is respond to the threat by connecting with other sheep in the flock. That is the selfish sheep theory: Put something between the threat and yourself. In order to minimize the risk of anything happening to you, sheep individuals will try to move towards the center of the group , 'Andrew said.

Scientists expect the research results can be used to develop a model of 'sheep shepherd' , to control crowds or to work well on the environment, like cleaning up oil spills on the surface. water surface.