Watching the sleek, young border collie make his split-second move from full-stop crouch to a full-speed âflank leftâ arc around the small herd of sheep at Peterson Farm in Falmouth on a recent, cold, April morning was to see 400 years of breeding in motion. Eyeing the sheep with an intense stare and waiting for the next command, 2-year-old Quin was in his element; above all else, this is what he wants to do. âThese dogs have been heavily selected to work sheep well,â said Simon R. Thorrold, one of the two shepherds at the farm. âThere is a lot of intuition in these dogs. In training, we are putting commands to what they naturally want to do.â