Ci the Border Collie has developed a fear of sheep making it impossible for him to perform his day job.
Despite his pedigree, Ci proves instinct alone is not enough to overcome a bad case of ovinophobia. The four-year-old developed his fear of sheep when owner Jane Lippington placed him in their field as a puppy. Now instead of rounding up his flock, Ci is more likely to be seen being chased by it.
Mrs Lippington, 54, said Ci instinctively wants to work the sheep, but is too scared.
"If they run away from him, he will go after them and act like a proper sheepdog, but the moment they turn and face him he runs away."
"Sheep can be quite aggressive if they think they have the upper hand – they stamp their feet and gang up in numbers and act like an army.
"The only way to make it work is for me to get behind them first and shoo them so they run away and then Ci joins in. It just means a lot more work for us to do," she added.
Despite managing a flock of about 100 sheep on their 200 acre farm in Somerset, Mrs Lippington and her husband Donald, 62, cannot imagine life without their helpless hound.
"He might be the worst sheepdog in Britain but there's no way we would be without Ci, he's part of the family," Mrs Lippington said.
She added: "I took some footage of it simply because I thought it was funny.
"I don't think he would get very far on One Man and His Dog, he's more suited to You've Been Framed."
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