A sheepdog called Marshall loves his job so much, he herds whatever he can get his paws on - including his favourite football.
His owner, Lisa Alekna, shared an adorable video of the dog stalking a ball in the garden whilst patiently awaiting for instructions from the shepherdess.
The mum-of-two, from Ham Green, Redditch, Worcestershire, said: “Just thought I’d treat you to a little of Marshall’s dictation of the ball game.”
She calls out: “Walk up, Marsh" to which the border collie inches closer to the ball in the middle of the grass.
Lisa added: “So he only does a couple of steps because he likes his game to last as long as possible, obviously if it was a sheep I'd normally have to slow him down at the back.”
She instructed him to ‘walk up’ and ‘stand’ as Marshall continued creeping towards the target.
The farmer explained to Marshall’s TikTok viewers that the clever dog would ignore commands he didn’t want to do, until Lisa offered him a better instruction.
She said: “If I say ‘OK’ now and he doesn’t want to go, he’ll refuse to go and if he wants me to give him a flank - go left of right - he will turn to the left or right a bit to hint.”
The clip sees Lisa call ‘walk up’ before saying ‘oh, he doesn’t want to do that, he wants to flank’.
Calling out ‘come by’, Marshall ran to the left, eyes completely fixed on the ball.
When Lisa shouted ‘away’, he quickly turned on his tail and ran right. Finally, he decided the game was up when Lisa called ‘OK’ and he grabbed his ball victoriously.
Viewers loved watching Marshall take direction from his owner, with one writing: “This is the cutest video because it shows he loves his job.”
Another added: “Mum, I can do this all day, you, on the other hand, can’t.”
In the video, Marshall’s hip momentarily lapsed, with Lisa explaining that the sheepdog was undergoing a hip replacement at the end of November.
Commenters rushed to wish the border collie all the best with his operation, which proved successful after Lisa updated her Instagram followers on Sunday evening.
She said: “HE’S HOME. Traumatic, but complete. Got everything crossed for a good recovery and frantically reminding myself this is for the best.
“Using a harness and a sling to stop his back end wobbling, he’ll be taken out for 5-10 minute lead walks on flat garden area 4x a day.
“Crated for the rest of the time, drugged up to the max and Classic FM playing for him. Times like this I really wish you could explain to them.”
Marshall was diagnosed with hip dysplasia and needed a titanium and chromium prosthetic to help him continue the job he so clearly loves.
The five-year-old dog lives with Lisa’s family, as well as ‘sheepcat’ Oreo, chickens, and some sassy sheep - including Twig, a tiny lockdown lamb who inspired Lisa’s first children’s book: Little Twig’s Big Adventures.
Marshall accidentally became a sheepdog after escaping into a neighbours field and 'found his inner instinct'.
Lisa said: "The race was on to prevent him being a liability or worry sheep. Having found a sheepdog school where I could attend for a hobby and hopefully gain some control and sensibility, a new passion was formed.
"I now not only have the best experience rearing a flock of my own, but also a dog that I can trust around livestock, thrives from working his sheep and knows how to switch off around them."
Their TikTok account, laughingstockoflivestock , has more than 51,000 followers, who have been entertained by their little farmyard.
Lisa said that Marshall can’t wait to get back to work, but needs two very strict months of rest first.
She told her followers: “This is to allow the bones to grow around the prosthetics and the muscles to build and hold them in ‘joint’ place. Then a month of building him up to normal exercise, and if all goes well he’ll be a brand new dog in just 3 months!
“This means not only will he be able to run rings round the other dogs and cats by March, but will also be able to hit lambing time running! The perfect reward for a bed bound border collie!”
