You will notice in the header picture a different looking cow dog. Most folks think that the only good stock dog is a Border Collie. Well I have not met to many of them I did not like. Having bred, raised, trained and worked BC's for many years, I just could not get the consistency I wanted in my breeding program. Also I encountered that aged old problem of getting only 1/2 to 3/4's of a day of work from them. I know that I will get lots of discussion on this and so be it.
In my BC breeding days, the most consistent question I would get from "working" folks was: Will your dogs work all day? I could not answer that question in the affirmative and that always struck me. I had good breeding stock and some as tough as nails, but the working all day in mountainous terrain, heavy bush, was always a problem.
I was introduced to a new breed, the "New Zealand Heading Dog", or some times called the "New Zealand Collie". The dog works with a heads up style and is a really great thinking dog. But more on that in a later post. What I have learned about stock handling and herding I attribute a lot to my dogs. This has also changed the way that I now approach training the working stock dog.
I will get into some thoughts on training in general in my next pot
Monday, February 23, 2009
The beginning
The purpose of this blog is to start a dialog on a most valuable working ranch hand, the working stock dog. Be it sheep, cattle, chickens (?) or competition. This blog will definately not be breed specific and will probably talk abut guradian dogs as well.
One of my main concerns is the training of the stock dog. I will spend a lot of time on this and will revisit each topic frequently. I suspect that some of my thoughts will be controversial, and hopefully will generate some discussions.
Although I am retired, I continue to be involved in ranching (on a contract basis), stock dog training and also I put on stock dog demonstrations at fall fairs and special occations. I have just purchased a new bitch pup and will be sharing with you all the fun stuff of bring her up and training her to be a useful working stock dog. I will introduce you to her and why I made the choice for her breed in a later post.
That is it for now .... stay tuned
One of my main concerns is the training of the stock dog. I will spend a lot of time on this and will revisit each topic frequently. I suspect that some of my thoughts will be controversial, and hopefully will generate some discussions.
Although I am retired, I continue to be involved in ranching (on a contract basis), stock dog training and also I put on stock dog demonstrations at fall fairs and special occations. I have just purchased a new bitch pup and will be sharing with you all the fun stuff of bring her up and training her to be a useful working stock dog. I will introduce you to her and why I made the choice for her breed in a later post.
That is it for now .... stay tuned
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