The first day of the rest of there lives

The first batch of sheep arrived to day, I custom graze sheep and cattle. With the arrival of the sheep the start of custom training for Kate and her son Wage begins. Kate has been rough trained and is very effective with cattle. Wage has been exposed to sheep starting at 4 months of age and showed a remarkable talent for heading. Formal training is now underway.

Today the training is all about control. The dogs must learn, at this stage, that they will only work when told to do so. It's like boot camp where they learn the other side of themselves. First command is the "with me" command. This is some what like a heel command. Incorporated with this command is the “There” command. This is the stop command.

Today's training incorporating the above commands, was primarily shepherding. In other words we got to watch the sheep eat grass. It's a great self control exercise for the dogs and will be very useful in the future when checking cattle and sheep. This training will likely go on for about a week. All things being equal, we should begin to start on some directional commands: the "way to" and "go by" commands. Until the next time enjoy ....

Training Kate

 Kate is a New Zealand Heading dog/Border Collie, 18 months old and works Cattle instinctively. Her main job up to this time has been keeping cattle away from feeders while I put the hay in and then to bring them in. She also filled in nicely when moving cattle by taking up a flank position and all of this with minimal training and only a few commands. The time has come where commands need to be put on the dog for better control and directing her. In my case I want to eventually begin to do some trialling so will need that control.

After a lay off, both me and the dogs, this spring I have taken her to sheep on 2 occasions. I'm getting a different reaction from what I was expecting. She is not acting as strong as she does with cattle, you might even say that she is “soft”. I guess she thinks they are delicate. So its back to basics. 

If you have read my blogs in the past you will know that I'm not a fan of round pens for basic training purposes. Her training will take place in a small pasture that is 3/4's hill side with lots of dips and mounds. I start out the training on the flats and then will move to the hill side to give variety.

Moving up the flank to head

 I firmly believe that if all the training is done in one location, ie flat and no obstacles, the dog will become bored very quickly and lose interest in the training sessions. In each training sessions I use my main dog as a training assistant. His main job is to guard the gate and when we get into a sticky situation to lend a hand.

Jim lending a hand

That new pup - what should I do

Having placed a number of pups from my latest litter, the new owners have asked for some hints and tips for settling the pups into their new homes. The following could apply to any pup. It is very important that the new owners treat the pup as a pup and not a little human in pups clothing.

1. The most important thing to keep in mind at this time is; THIS IS A PUP, LET IT BE A PUP. Pups are playful so let the pup play. This is how pups learn and it should help you later on when you start your training program.

2. The pups have been started on puppy chow and gradually changed over to a good quality dry dog food around 8 weeks of age. It would not hurt, if you are so inclined, to add a little raw meat to the diet. I feed the pups twice a day and usually as much as they will eat in a 15 to 20 minute time limit. I then remove the dish. If the pup is fed away from other dogs and in a quite location, the pup should eat slowly and chew its food completely. This aids in digestion. Water is very important to the pup but too much water can kill (see earlier post on this topic).

3. The only training in the early stages should be a recall and a sit stay command. This is not formal training but rather fun training and taking advantage of the situation ie if the pup sits you give the command. The commands I use are: For recall - “here”. Sit is sit. I do not teach any of my dogs or pups at any time, a down command.

4. The most important thing you can do is to have the pup with you as much as possible. This facilitates the bond that is so important in future training and ultimately will make training easier and faster. In the earlier stages of ownership I like to have a crate beside the bed and that is where the pup goes at night. As they grow older I move them to an outdoor kennel and run.

5. As early as possible the pup should wear a collar and you should start leash training as well. The collar should never be on the pup when the pup is by its self. It does not hurt to gradually start tying up the pup for short periods of time. This can be started around 3 months age.

These few hints will help you get started with your new partner but remember this IS A PUP LET IT BE A PUP.

Working the young dog

Well as our job continues my little Kate has her ups and downs. This could be attributed to the fact that she is pregnant.

As in all training, repetition is the key to success. I pick up a bale on the tractor and place it over the round bale feeder then get out of the tractor and with my main dog start to move the cattle away from the feeder. The young dog usually moves right in with my main dog and start to move the cattle away. This is when I start to introduce the command "walk up"

It is important that once you have the cattle away from the feeder that you stop the dog. I use the command "there".

Doing this procedure over a couple of weeks usually is all that is required before the dog start doing it on there own. This is the sign of a useful working companion.

To finish off each feeding session I like to
add a little more training in such as moving the
cattle together. Again I use the walk up command.
From this training I will start to move to the gathering
command,which incidentally, she has been doing it on her
own up to this time. This would be a good time to start putting commands to it. I want to do this slowly as she has it figured out what way to go around the cattle.

Onward and upward .. the training continues.

Beginning Training

At a recent clinic most of the participants came saying that there dogs did some work but they wanted to know how to control the dog ie sides and stopping. The common comment when the dog did not do what was expected was that the dog does work at home, or the dog will only work for me. These are common comments and point more to the handler then the dog. At this particular clinic every dog demonstrated to me, at one level or another, the ability to work. In other words if the drive was not strong, it can in most cases be brought out with the proper approach to training.

An other interesting observation is when the newbe trainer stands in one spot and attempts to direct the dog with their voice. As anyone who has successfully trained a working herding dog will attest, training is hard work and fantastic exercise. When a dog has good instincts, it is up to the trainer to help the dog understand what it is YOU want it to do. The only way I know how to do this is if you are there with the dog.

As far as the participants are concerned, they deserve high praise for participating in a clinic. As in most training situations, if you do not put into affect some of what you have learned with in a couple of days you will very likely have forgotten most of what you learned with in 10 days. Good on you and practice practice practice.

Around and Around

A friend of mine was telling me that he has a dog that keeps circling around the stock and he has a hard time stopping it. This dog came from a friend of his who trained it for him.

It was interesting when he showed me the problem. He brought some sheep into a paddock and the sheep immediately went to the high point and, the dog began to circle. I asked him how his friend had trained the dog. He said in a round pen.

My opinion on round pens is it is a good place to train out the natural instinct of a dog. It makes training a dog to specific commands relatively easy. Also, when training in a round pen so many people think that is a good place to train balance. What is balance to a herding dog, or should I say working dog? To a working dog it is not a 12 and 6 placing, it is balancing on the head of the sheep in relation to you. It could be a 9 and 12 position.

Again, it is my opinion, that if you are going to train a working dog do so where you are going to use it on conditions that you are going to use. GET RID OF ROUND PENS. This should be come a mantra.

Starting the stock dog pup

As I discussed in an earlier post I like to take a pup to stock at 5 or 6 months. This is not a training session but more of an evaluation session. What I am looking for is the reaction of the pup to stock. I usually use sheep for this and try to get a group of somewhat passive sheep if possible All I do is release the pup in the general area of the sheep and stand back and watch what happens. Several things can happen:

1. There will be no interest.
2. The pup may show some signs of curiousity.
3. The pup may advance towards the sheep.
4. The pup may charge the sheep.
5. The pup may start to circle (head) the sheep.

When checking this out you should try and have the sheep moving slowly. This may spark some interest to the pup. Now if there is no interest after a few moments, at this early age this is no real problem. The hormones and instinct have not kicked in yet. I will take the pup away and try again in about 1 month's time. There is no sense in trying to force the issue as you may end up doing more harm the good.

Now if the pup takes an immediate interest and starts to do something then I will give her a few minutes and then call the pup off. I want you to note what I said here: “I call the pup off”. This is very important because if you can not call the pup off you have not done your preliminary training. With a pup 5 to 6 months old and for that matter any new pup or dog, I will not expose them to sheep for at least 3 or 4 weeks later after this initial exposure.

Handlers have to accept the fact that not all pups can be started early. I have known dogs that were18 months before they were turned on. I'm not sure if I would want to wait that long and usually would place the dog in a good home.

If you take a look at the following picture, you will see a very young bitch pup displaying obvious herding instinct. No commands are attempted and she is allowed to “do her thing”.




She was first taken to sheep at 5 months and displayed similar behaviour. She is 6 months in this photo. I took her off the stock after approximately 5 minutes and chained her to a post while I did some training on another dog. When I finished the training session I let her have another short go at the sheep be for calling her off. I will follow this routine every couple of weeks and watch as her confidence builds. I suspect at 7-1/2 to 8 months she will be ready for daily training as well as doing some work with the other dogs.



Now this all may sound like I am trying to force the training issue. Quite the opposite. If a pup is ready then it will become more satisfying to the pup, after all, these are herding dogs and that is what they do. The key is don't force it. Also remember “exercise, discipline, then affection” makes for a happy pooch.

Until the next time

Bonding

Well you have a new pup. The question(s) is when should I start training. I am of the opinion that training can not start until there is a bond between you and the pup. Now if you look at that statement something should leap out at you! If the pup is going to bond to you then how can you send it away to be trained? That is a good question for which there is many answers, some good and some not so good. This will be the topic of another entry in the blog in the future

When I get a pup for myself, I start out with the pup spending a good part of the time with my wife. That mothering instinct goes along way to eventually bonding with me. A pup has to be a pup. A pup has to learn some basic manners and the mothering instinct usually facilitates this and usually in a very short period of time.

During this phase, I feed the pup, as I do with all my dogs. You know where I'm going with this. If I am feeding the pup the pup begins to see the association between me and the pack and quickly begins to find it's place in the pecking order. I also take the pup in the car/truck anytime I go on short trips. This is usually to town for one reason or another. When I am in town I will put a leash on the pup and take her for a short walk exposing her to different sounds, smells, noises, and people. Holding a leash during this time also allows her to associate me as the pack leader. Of course there is plenty of praise, at the appropriate time, which she will also associate with pleasing me as the leader

This routine will continue until she is ready for training. I will take the pup to, usually, sheep, the first time at about 6 months of age. If the interest is there in any form, then this is my que to having the pup move from my wife to me. The pup is now officially mine and will be with me most of the time. The the real bonding begins.

When I am asked to train a dog, I usually turn the possible engagement down for the reasons stated above. I am often asked to evaluate a dog to determine if it is ready for training or shows any interest. I have found quite often a handler will say they want to begin training a dog but there is no bond there. As most of my trainig is now handler training, I will usually send the handler home with instructions to bond with the dog. When this is done then I will start working with the handler and dog. Training goes much quicker and usually with better results.

There is some food for thought. Comments are always welcome

Circle training?

I know that many folks, when it comes time to train there new stock dog, will seek out a reputable trainer. They then will take their dog to the trainer and leave it for a time. The time of course will be dependent on the readiness of the dog and other factors. So many of these trainers will have a training pen, usually 60ft in diameter. Usually, sheep are brought in and the training begins. Force the dog to go around the sheep. Once the dog start then the trainer will attempt to stop the dog. You get the idea.

Well my thoughts on this are: You get a dog that when it is in doubt will be a very good circling dog. This is particularly so when the dog has low self esteem. 2 thoughts on this. 1. Learn how to train your dog yourself. 2. Don't use a round pen.

Why?

First off, training your dog your self not only establishes the pack leader roll, but builds a bond that is very strong. You get a dog that wants to work with you and also builds on the understanding of silent communications between handler and dog. This is how things work in nature, like real life.

Secondly, using a square pen or open field is also reality. More on this later

This is just the beginning. There is so much more that this may take awhile.