BENTONVILLE, Ark — From city parks to planes on the runway, geese seem to be plaguing the City of Bentonville.
The city has come up with a unique way to deal with the problem and the answer may be in man’s best friend
“A dog for an airport you want it to be fully under control so that when you ask that dog to do something there’s no question it’s going to do it. So, there’s no danger to the aircraft from the dog," said Rebecca Gibson, owner of Flyaway Geese.
Border collies are herding dogs that can run up to 35 miles an hour. Its body posture mimics the appearance of a wolf or coyote.
“If you’ve ever watched a border collie work sheep or work stock, they move stock with their eye. They stock things," Gibson said.
Greg, a 4-year-old dog is training with Bentonville Police Officer Robin Fields for the next 60-90 days.
“It’s my understanding that they’ve had some near collisions, maybe a collision with an airplane, landing or taking off from the airport here in Bentonville and I think they want to avoid any of those issues in the future," Fields said.
Fields has handled police dogs for more than 20 years but says Greg took him by surprise.
“He got into the water, swimming trying to push geese off of the lake and I’ve never seen a dog swim for 20 minutes or longer before yesterday seeing him swim," Fields said.
Gibson says this is a practice supported by the Humane Society.
The city’s dog is still in training and doesn’t have a name yet, but it should be here in about two to three months.
Until then, you will likely see Greg chasing geese away for the next several weeks.