Why I Need A Flock Of Aquatic Sheep

Gareth wanted to know all about dog breeds. Dogs are kind of confusing--all one species, but with different features clustered differently so they don't look like one. For a kid who watches Dinosaur Train and has started analyzing every animal he comes across to determine whether it's a carnivore or an herbivore, solving the dog mystery is a big deal.

So we talked about domestication, human manipulation of our companion species' DNA, the kinds of jobs dogs can do, and how much dogs usually want to do the jobs they're bred for. Dogs from sheepherding breeds tend to be deeply unhappy unless they're allowed to herd something. Dogs bred for aquatic work are miserable if they don't get to play in water.

And Gareth, who is aware that dog breeds can be crossed, added matter-of-factly, "So if we got a cross between a sheepherding dog and a water dog, we'd need to get water-sheep for it to herd."