DLR Dog World

February 14, 2012 9:54 PM

David Lee Roth hangs out and herds sheep with his border collie Mike
posted by Blazecock Pileon (46 comments total)

In other dog news: Pekingese Steals Show Along With Westminster’s Top Honor
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 9:59 PM on February 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

Damn, sheepdogs always seem so happy doing thier jobs, WHEEEE I'M HELPING WHEEE!
posted by The Whelk at 10:11 PM on February 14, 2012 [8 favorites]

Why do MeFites like David Lee Roth? Because MeFites look like David Lee Roth.
posted by philip-random at 10:16 PM on February 14, 2012 [5 favorites]

Ugh my border needs more to do than the park.

There seems to be a proliferation of DLR interviews lately.
posted by MarvinTheCat at 10:16 PM on February 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

That was really cool.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:17 PM on February 14, 2012 [1 favorite]

When I was a young boy, we had a border collie as our family dog. She didn't really get much opportunity to hone her sheep herding instincts in suburban Virginia. However, certain behavior apparently comes prewired in the breed. Our yard was the gathering point for the neighbor kids to play football. Waffles (don't ask, that is another long story, but entirely my brother's fault) loved to hang out with us in the yard. When the teams huddled to discuss strategy, Waffles was quite content, sitting calmly beside her well-ordered pack. Once we broke the huddle and lined up, she began to sense a change in the mood of her herd. There was too much excitement for her liking and it seemed likely that one of her charges was planning to make a break for it. She would run back and forth in agitated patterns along the line of scrimmage. Border collies are extremely fast and agile. When the ball was snapped and either a runner would break free or a receiver would sprint out for a pass, this was just too much for her. Her charges were entirely too unruly and action was called for. Like a blur of black and white, she would rocket towards the errant member of her herd and begin to rapidly cut across their path. If you didn't slow or change direction, she would drive a shoulder into your thigh to slow you down. At eight or nine years old, this was generally enough to knock you to the ground. She would bark excitedly at you until you rejoined the group in the huddle for the next play.

Initially everyone complained about the unfair behavior of Waffles, thinking this gave my brother and I some kind of home field advantage. Eventually, it became clear that she was equally willing (if not even slightly more so) to take down the two of us as anyone else. It was then decided that it was just a ground rule of the house that Waffles played defense. If you were tackled by the dog, you were down, same as if anyone else tackled you. We didn't keep statistics, but I'm pretty sure the dog led the backyard league in tackles. When Mom would bring us out a pitcher of KoolAid, she would lay on the ground beside us, seemingly content that her herd was finally at rest.

One day I told a professional sheep herder this story and he laughed and said we were lucky. When real sheep don't do what the dog wants, the dog will bite them on the butt.
posted by Lame_username at 10:20 PM on February 14, 2012 [138 favorites]

That also was really cool.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 10:29 PM on February 14, 2012 [2 favorites]

Related: DLR explains Van Halen's infamous "No brown M&M's" clause.
posted by Kandarp Von Bontee at 10:47 PM on February 14, 2012 [4 favorites]

That was so awesome I was only distracted by the bizarre and brief insertion of anti-semitism for a moment.
posted by cmoj at 10:49 PM on February 14, 2012

I do believe Diamond Dave is Jewish. Did the dogs do something I didn't notice?
posted by rainperimeter at 10:54 PM on February 14, 2012 [2 favorites]

Really? That occurred to me, but I didn't see anything on cursory googling.

I'm referring to, "Saaaaaaul, you're looking bert weeeeaaaalthyyyy."
posted by cmoj at 10:56 PM on February 14, 2012

Surprisingly funny: At 3:30, describing the sheep coming up to the camera..."they always make me laugh when we see these faces. They always sound like old Jewish people in Miami Beach around the pool here, 'So-aaah-l, So-aaah-l, you're lookin' very well-ahhhh-thy!'"

DLR is Jewish.

And surprisingly educational. Quite cool all around. Amazing how intelligent border collies can be.
posted by nickyskye at 11:09 PM on February 14, 2012 [2 favorites]

This is yet another thing posted to Metafilter that I never knew I really needed to see until I saw it.
posted by wittgenstein at 12:11 AM on February 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

Every time I'm about to write David Lee Roth off, I learn something new about him that makes me like him again. The man really seems to be leading a full, interesting life.
posted by Joey Michaels at 1:07 AM on February 15, 2012 [6 favorites]

He was lucky enough to be reincarnated on a slightly higher plane of existence this time around. Don't worry, us dull normals all get a chance to be David Lee Roth before Nibanna!
posted by Meatbomb at 2:34 AM on February 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

For crazy people like me who might enjoy this longish clip: Becca, 2011 World Sheep Dog Champion. I love this close-up at 6:07 where she is paused but hyper-alert waiting for a signal.

Shorter, with way more bling: Extreme Sheep LED Art, in case anyone hasn't seen it yet.
posted by taz at 2:53 AM on February 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

This dog is so useful, and at the same time he loves to chase the sheep.
posted by Bosko82 at 2:54 AM on February 15, 2012

Let's not forget his previous incarnation as a NYC paramedic.
posted by Optamystic at 2:55 AM on February 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

One day I told a professional sheep herder this story and he laughed and said we were lucky. When real sheep don't do what the dog wants, the dog will bite them on the butt.

I grew up with another breed of sheepdog, a Great Pyrenees (which are the breed out of which St. Bernards and Newfoundlands were bred.) (The folks, having just seen our smart & wiry little NYC dog pound-acquired fox look-alike get run over by a car, wanted a dog that was big, easy to spot (GP's are all or mostly white) and good with kids.) She had the habit of running after us whenever we'd run around, and nipping gently at our heels. (I guess we were lucky, too: Pyrenees are big enough to knock you over easily.) She also had the habit of sleeping across doorways, which apparently was an instinct bred into them back in the days when they'd guard Basque shepherds' huts. (We had a swinging door from the kitchen to the dining room, and sometimes you'd be trying to take something in from the kitchen, pushing at the door, only to discover she'd settled in against the other side.)

A couple of weekends ago I went snowshoeing with some friends at a friend of theirs' sheep farm in the hills of the Eastern Townships here in Québec. The owner mentioned he'd had a Great Pyrenees there for a while, and she'd had some pups.

In this area, as across much of the Northeast in recent decades, coyotes have been getting fully re-established in the forests. (On our trek up the mountain behind the farm, we saw the carcass of a sheep that had been killed by coyotes.) The owner recounted an incident where the coyotes had appeared up at the treeline, and the Pyrenees and three of her now full-grown pups instantly ran up ahead of the herd and positioned themselves perfectly spaced about 100 feet apart in a defensive line. He said he'd never trained them to do anything like that; it was purely instinctive.
posted by Philofacts at 4:56 AM on February 15, 2012 [6 favorites]

Where is David Lee Roth?
posted by backseatpilot at 5:23 AM on February 15, 2012

Dogs don't work. They just have have fun doing stuff. We're the ones who call it work.
posted by tommasz at 5:41 AM on February 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

"Got it bad got it bad got it bad... I'm hot for sheepdogs! WHOOOAHHH!!!"
posted by markkraft at 6:27 AM on February 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

(I hear he breeds them for hairplugs...)
posted by markkraft at 6:28 AM on February 15, 2012

The young DLR used to creep me out (I was a EVH fan). But the old DLR is the coolest guy ever. I wish he would Dog Whisper my border collie. Maybe he can help her stop mooching.
posted by stormpooper at 6:33 AM on February 15, 2012

This is giving me all kinds of warm and fuzzies. HEY SAMMY HAGAR...LET'S SEE YOUR DOGS DO THAT! Loser.
posted by spicynuts at 6:34 AM on February 15, 2012 [7 favorites]

It is always incredibly charming to hear someone talk passionately and un-selfconsciously about a hobby that is so at odds with what you'd expect from their public persona.
posted by Anonymous at 6:39 AM on February 15, 2012

Dogs don't work. They just have have fun doing stuff. We're the ones who call it work.

I compete in flyball, and I certainly know dogs (including BCs, of course) to whom it is NOT. A. GAME. AT. ALL. It is URGENT BUSINESS OF LIFE AND DEATH. I'm not sure that fun is the right word for those cases, although there is satisfaction in it for them.
posted by Wolfdog at 6:42 AM on February 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

There seems to be a proliferation of DLR interviews lately.

Van Halen has a new album just out last week.
posted by resurrexit at 7:03 AM on February 15, 2012

TIL David Lee Roth's dogs are smarter than him, and that is awesome.
posted by The Bellman at 7:13 AM on February 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

Who would have thought back in the day that DLR would end up doing useful and/or interesting stuff in his later years...
posted by Huck500 at 7:40 AM on February 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

25 years ago, I sort of assumed that all the original lineup of VH were basically meatheads. I'm completely dumbfounded to discover that DLR is the one doing interesting nonmusic things with his time and (no doubt considerable) bankroll. I mean, Anthony does things, too, and is by all accounts a nice guy, but Roth is the one's who's been busy in ways that appeal to me in an "entertain my mental itches" sort of way.

"Gosh, it sure looks interesting to be a paramedic. I think I'll do that! Also, herding!"
posted by uberchet at 8:03 AM on February 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

Well, DLR is the only one that actually got over his alcoholism. The rest of em, particularly Eddie, are toast still.
posted by spicynuts at 8:06 AM on February 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

"BACK 40 PASTURE! ARE YOU READY TO ROCK?!?!"
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 8:42 AM on February 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

I sorta wonder how much his exit from VH had to do with that. The rest of them were sort of imprisoned in that "bubble", but he was cut loose with a mountain of cash and, apparently, a reasonable intellect. Without the peer pressure of a band, geting sober and establishing something like a normal adult life might've been easier.

I didn't know this before now, but he's apparently of pretty educated, white-collar stock (lots of surgeons), and went to the same well-regarded private school in California as John Scalzi and Josh "Talking Points Memo" Marshall.

Regardless of the excesses of late-70s-early-80s rock stardom, having that background could have made it easier for him to straighten out.
posted by uberchet at 8:44 AM on February 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

Bah Ram Ewe!
posted by ericb at 8:53 AM on February 15, 2012

I watched the Dog World video and totally revised my opinion of DLR. Then I watched the Romance one and totally unrevised it.
posted by HotToddy at 9:33 AM on February 15, 2012

TC; DLR (Too Cool...)
posted by stargell at 9:50 AM on February 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

"Cows are like hockey fans: two are drunk; one just wants to fuck with you; and one's just along for the ride, and doesn't know what's going on, and just wants to see the game..."


This is brilliant.
posted by TheWhiteSkull at 9:54 AM on February 15, 2012 [4 favorites]

So: I was nineteen, and living with no fixed address, back in the early 80’s, in Toronto. I had a splendid time that summer, especially after having met ‘the girl’ (who later got away). Lise and I had been wandering through the Don Valley river system after a trip to the Science Centre, but it got cold and we came up top and found ourselves near the Four Seasons Hotel. It was perhaps 3:00 am. Lise and I were at the front desk asking about the possibility of getting some coffee, when this rocker dude came in to the lobby and up to the counter as well. I started chatting with the dude in the otherwise deserted hotel lobby, as cheerfully impaired dudes are wont to do. I asked him what he did, and he said “Oh, I’m in a band”.

I smiled at this point, because he did look a bit like David Lee Roth, and Van Halen were playing the following night - Lise had tickets for the show. I figured that this was a guy who looked like DLR, and who played along when the opporunity arose. So I played along too, and asked: “Which band?” “Oh - the Van Halen band”, he said. I smiled, and asked him if he’d like to go and smoke a bowl, which he thought was a good idea, so we went outside to a bench in front of the entrance to the hotel. We passed the bowl between the three of us. By this point Lise was becoming more and more animated by the prospect that this was indeed DLR, but I was unconvinced.

“Well - I believe you are who you say you are, but my girlfriend isn’t quite sure. Is there any way you could sing a few notes, so we could be sure?” This was in the early days of Van Halen, and I was a huge fan. I played that first album till it nearly fell apart, and knew the lyrics to it (though I’d never done any singing outside of grade school). I suggested “Ice Cream Man”, as this couldn’t hurt too badly, unaccompanied as we were. Guy started to sing and - to my amazement - it was freaking DAVID LEE ROTH. We actually got through the song, with our audience of one. Dave thanked us for the bowl, and toddled off to his hotel room.

And that is why I can say: “Well, yeah... I sang with David Lee Roth, for a while, back in the 80’s".
posted by not_that_epiphanius at 11:07 AM on February 15, 2012 [19 favorites]

Nice.
posted by uberchet at 11:21 AM on February 15, 2012

David Lee Roth in normal guy clothes O_O
This is weird and awesome.
posted by victory_laser at 1:49 PM on February 15, 2012

Knowing that DLR spends extensive time around a huge power corridor helps explain some things.



(Kidding! Loves me some Diamond Dave. But yeah..)
posted by raider at 6:28 PM on February 15, 2012

Earlier today I forwarded this to my husband. Just now I texted him, "Did you watch the DLR video?" He replied, "I did. It was amazing. But I had figured he would become an expert in jumping."
posted by HotToddy at 7:50 PM on February 15, 2012 [2 favorites]

I sorta feel a little bad for joining in the general "make fun of DLR" bandwagon back in the day. (The couple who led the band I was in were EVH partisans.) Like the time after a gig in the early-to-mid-80's where, c. 3 AM, we were at an all-night (I think) restaurant in Boston's Kenmore Square (probably after playing the Rat) and our friend who was playing roadie for us at that gig decided it would be fun to punch in "Just a Gigolo" for 30 consecutive plays on the jukebox...
posted by Philofacts at 5:02 AM on February 16, 2012

"Cows are like hockey fans: two are drunk; one just wants to fuck with you; and one's just along for the ride, and doesn't know what's going on, and just wants to see the game..."


This is brilliant.

My first thought upon hearing that was, gee, I didn't know DLR was Canadian...
posted by Philofacts at 5:10 AM on February 16, 2012

It seems sort of weird to me to see several people seeing things in terms of DLR vs EVH. I guess I'm just older than you guys and was almost certainly a much more devoted VH fan during my high-school years. Because, for me, VH ended when DLR left the band and it wasn't because I liked him more than Eddie. I didn't--I practically idolized Eddie. And, hell, I listened to and liked Hagar before my other close friends, Van Halen addicts like myself, even knew who he was. But what made VH who they were was that mix between EVH and DLR.

Of course, in general, after 1984 I stopped listening to rock music entirely, switching to jazz mostly, until 1989 when I discovered alternative. So the Hagar years basically don't exist for me in any form at all. I couldn't even tell you the name of an album or track or single from his tenure.

My high-school friends are still heavily invested in Van Halen, something which has been annoying me for many years now. But I've paid no attention to what any of them have been doing since the 80s. I watched the episode of Sopranos that DLR appeared in and only after-the-fact heard that he was in it and couldn't believe that I didn't recognize him. Watching this video, I don't recognize him in it, either. (But, yeah, his persona in the Romance clip was pretty familiar, and I confess the end made me laugh.)

I, too, find DLRs history to be surprising. I wouldn't have expected Eddie to do the things that Roth has done, but I'd have expected him to turn into someone more interested in exploring his musicianship in different directions, such as the thing he did with Brian May. Instead, he became a dissolute addict rock dinosaur. While Roth, who everyone would have predicted would become a dissolute addict rock dinosaur, proved himself to be more well-rounded and, well, human than anyone would have expected. Weird.

But I listened to the new album two days ago. Well, I skipped around, trying desperately to find something that engaged me. Nothing did, and then I got rid of it. It made me sad.
posted by Ivan Fyodorovich at 9:44 AM on February 16, 2012 [1 favorite]