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Media Release November 8, 2002 Broomfield’s goose dogs keep geese moving
City and County of Broomfield Public
Information Office
One DesCombes Drive
·
Broomfield,
CO 80020 · (303) 438-6308
Media Contact:
Rosann Doran
Public Information Officer
303.438.6308
Wren and Craig are two of Broomfield’s newest employees, and they are probably two of the happiest workers around. They are Broomfield’s newly hired "goose dogs."
The mostly black and white dogs are border collies purchased by Broomfield to haze flocks of geese in public parks and encourage them to migrate or find another, more remote place to land.
Border collies are bred to herd, and love to work. Wren and Craig have been trained and now adapt that herding instinct to geese, keeping them – and the evidence they leave behind – out of park areas where Broomfield’s human residents like to exercise, play or picnic.
Bred in Wyoming at 4 Aces Border Collies, the dogs were trained by Jan Koch, breeder and trainer. Now that they’re in Broomfield, they get free room and board with dog lovers Rick Sedbrook, parks foreman, and Holly Postmus, horticulture technician in the Public Works Department. The dogs enjoy the same "employee" status as their counterparts in the Police Department’s K-9 unit.
Sedbrook and Postmus are handlers for Broomfield, and must keep the dogs exercised and trained. They use voice and hand signals, directing the dogs as they herd and then rush the geese to make them fly away to wilder habitats.
Wren and Craig are frequent companions with Sedbrook and Postmus during their scheduled work hours, so when large numbers of geese are seen in a public park area, they can be put to work.
Most of the work takes place in the mornings after the geese "come to town" near dawn. Geese usually move around during mid-day and settle into secluded places for the night, so afternoons are usually light duty for the dogs.
Geese and their droppings have been a problem in Broomfield parks for several years. While resting geese create pastoral scenes in the parks, frequent users of the parks and trails found their droppings unpleasant and unsightly. To runners, they can be dangerous.
Public Works employees have sought ways to humanely move the geese away from public use areas. Research by Public Works staff determined that using dogs was the most effective method.
Previous efforts to move geese were hampered by well-meaning residents who like to feed the geese. This practice is strongly discouraged by the city and nature lovers because geese are considered wildlife and need to forage and find food on their own. Wildlife who rely on humans for food are in danger of becoming too dependent and their health can be compromised. The state Division of Wildlife also strongly discourages feeding wildlife.