More advanced sheepdog training.
Videos to help you take training on to a higher level. Once you have good control of your dog it’s time to move on to a much higher standard of work.
CLOSE WORK (2 parts)
A dog bringing sheep to you in the open field is great, but your farm dog’s capable of doing much more to help you. Efficiently moving sheep around at close quarters as well as taking them to fresh pasture, putting them in and out of yards, pens buildings and races, are all essential tasks for the farm dog. In part one we teach Carew and Tess to take the sheep through a gateway into a field – and back again!
DRIVING (3 parts)
Some sheepdog trainers dread teaching their dog to drive. It’s understandable, because driving the sheep away from the handler, is the opposite of what the dog’s been taught in its basic training. Taking the sheep or cattle away, is also contrary to the dog’s instinct. If you understand what’s going on though, it becomes much simpler, and more enjoyable for dog, and also the trainer as it learns to drive sheep.
EVE AT THE PEN
A complete training session. This is another important tutorial in our sheepdog training video library. Watch Eve learning good pen manners, getting sheep into a tight spot and back out again, and boosting her confidence and control. Eve’s basic training is in place, but she shows some typical faults for a trainee sheepdog. Her stop’s not 100%(yet) and her flanks are one-sided.
FLOCK WORK
To us humans, working a flock of sheep seems like a perfectly natural activity for the dog. We don’t see the transition from training ground to farm work, as being a problem. In reality, it can be a huge step for a trainee dog. Almost as big a step as when the dog was first introduced to sheep. The flock work tutorial has some great ideas which will make your dog’s introduction to flock work a lot smoother.
INSIDE FLANKS – CIRCLE ON COMMAND (2 parts)
Once you can get your dog to take a few sheep fifty metres or so (50 yds) away from you, and then flank the dog 360° around them both ways fluently, you could say you have a highly trained dog! Inside flanks are essential if you’re teaching a sheepdog trials dog. It takes patience and determination to teach, but the dog’s confidence and control of stock will improve a lot.
THE OUTRUN (3 parts)
To gather sheep, your dog must do an outrun. A good outrun is the cornerstone of a good sheep dog. They’re not difficult to train, in fact dogs love doing them! Learning to do outruns improves other aspects of the dog’s work, such as flanking, correct working distance, and the stop. Because dogs enjoy doing outruns we use them as a stress-relieving treat when teaching more difficult work.
SHEDDING
Shedding contradicts the rules we’ve taught the dog so far. In early training we (rightly) insist the dog keeps the sheep together. To shed sheep however, the dog must part them again. Some dogs take readily to shedding, but understandably more are confused and even worried by it. As with so many things we teach a trainee sheepdog, the secret is to make the task very easy when we start.
SHEEPDOG TRIALS – GETTING STARTED (2 parts)
Two videos, delving quite deeply into competitive sheep herding trials in the UK and other parts of the world. They’ll give you a great understanding of how a sheepdog trial is run, as well as how to prepare your trials dog for your first event. There’s also a clear description of how a sheepdog trials course is set out. What to do and what to avoid at sheep dog trials, is also covered.