Herding instinct or playing instinct?

My dog Teddy is a sheltie. When we put my mice on the floor he feels he has to keep them all in one big group. Teddy will pretend to nip there lil behinds to get them going he then circles them to keep them together. He does the same with Hampsters cats and other dogs! When my family goes out for a hike the boys will go ahead of the boys and we will get a pretty good didstance inbetween us. If Teddy is off his leash he will run up to the guys and snarl and keep them in one spot till we catch up then he willstop and let us all go throught he will run around us and try to keep us together. If we get down on our hands and knees he iwll jump on our backs and bit us and try to get us into a corner then he will brak till someoen comes in (usually my mom) and then he will leave and go lie down. I was jsut wondering is this a herding instinct trying to keep his "sheep" together? Or does he just think ist is fun? :confused: :p :p

It is absolutely classic herding behavior! I had to explain similar behavior to a friend whose first dog ever was a border collie mix - when I told her she and her children were being "bad sheep," she suddenly realized that neither she nor the dog was crazy!

lol! Teddy is alot of fun to watch herd us "sheep"

Teddy is most definately a perfect example of a herding dog. My mom's fiancee has a Sheltie, she has showed some of this behavior, but not a lot. I know plenty of people who have herding or stock dogs (for I live in Tennessee, there are a LOT here), including my own Australian shepherd and my grandpa's Australian cattledogs, and you will notice a lot when you are walking that Teddy will often start to circle you, or may act agressive but his instinct is acting up.