A hilarious video shows a confused border collie trying, out of habit, to herd an unusually large sheep—which happens to also be a statue.
Daisy, a 2-year-old sheepdog in training, was on a walk with her owner, Paul Flynn, 60, when she spotted a 25-foot light-up sculpture in the middle of town.
Mr. Flynn was left in hysterics when the dog started barking at the faux sheep, which has been installed as part of the Lumiere light festival in Durham, UK.
Funny footage of the encounter shows Daisy appearing confused and barking at the statue, trying to round it up as she would a real live sheep.
“She’s a really fun dog who always has a little bit of a play,” Mr. Flynn said. "We enjoy the walk in together and she can walk all the way through Durham city center off the lead.
“She’s a sheepdog in training so she’s still not there yet, but I just told her to go up to it.
“She sort of ran past it, and I could see she was a bit worried about it, and I wanted her to get over that and realize it was something that’s plastic.”
“She then had a go at herding it, which was kind of funny, so I encouraged it further.”
They were on their way to East Durham College’s Houghall campus—which is where Paul works as director of commercial farming—when she tried to round up the sheep.
When they were on their way home from work, Daisy attempted to herd the statue for the second time.
“We came back that night, and there was a really good crowd of people around the sheep because it was lit up,” Mr. Flynn said. “So I let her go and say hi to the sheep and give it a good barking at, but this time she was on the lead.
“There was people there, including young children and families, so I let her say hello to it.
“But someone did turn around and say it’s made their day because they saw a collie barking at the sheep.”
Mr. Flynn often takes Daisy to work, where she is looked after by the college’s animal management students.
He added that everyone he sees when he’s on his way to work loves to cuddle and pet her.
“She’s a much-loved dog by everyone that I see in the morning,” Mr. Flynn said. “She loves to be cuddled and petted by people, and she knows that people will want to.
“She’s always looking for that chance to say hello to people and make new friends.”
