English Shepherds are natural low heelers, with strong herding instinct. They exhibit agility, stamina, and stout hearted perseverance and will use the amount of force necessary to accomplish the job. Their natural instincts enable them to work with a minimum of direction, however, and they can be trusted to not bother livestock when help is not needed.
The English shepherd is a loose upright style of working dog. They approach their job from a managerial point of view, not from a prey drive attitude. They develop a relationship with their stock. This allows them to move amongst their charges calmly as a guardian, as well as direct the movement of the stock when needed in a steady manner, when asked. They tend to use no more force than is necessary to get the job done.