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The Sheepdog Handler
Don’t just train your dog! Make yourself, a better trainer! It’s all very well learning about the dog, the sheep, and the training area, but it’s just as important to think about some of the qualities required in a sheepdog handler (or trainer) and how to make improvements. This tutorial is based on chapter five […]
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Starting a reluctant dog
How to boost your dog’s confidence and help it to start working sheep Most dogs are over-excited when they first encounter sheep and it’s up to the trainer to do their best to protect the stock. Occasionally though the dog takes no interest in the stock at all. In this tutorial, Maisie shows no interest […]
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Training Max – the Gripper (Parts 1-3)
A dog which attacks livestock must be quickly brought under control Part 1 – A compulsive gripper can be a big problem to train Not for the faint-hearted, this tutorial deals with one of the most difficult aspects of sheepdog training, how to cope with a very strong-willed dog which persists in violently attacking the […]
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Sending the Dog the Wrong Way!
No! Not a mistake! Use this technique to widen your dog’s flanks One of the best ways to get a dog to give the sheep space when it’s flanking is to use a technique we call “sending the dog the wrong way”. Once you can achieve this, you and your dog are well on the […]
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Educating Gloria!
Watch a complete training session, full of valuable training lessons! This tutorial shows nine-month old Gloria, a bright, enthusiastic young dog, and her fourth training session with some well-dogged sheep. As well as showing a typical dog in training, warts and all, the tutorial demonstrates some of the techniques that we’ve talked about in other […]
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Backwards is the way forward
Our single most useful exercise, once you have control of the dog It’s boring – and it might appear pointless to the novice, but walking backwards with the dog bringing the sheep up to you is the single most important exercise you can do once your dog has basic control of the sheep. It improves […]
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Starting a Strong Dog
How to begin training with a dog which is difficult to control around sheep? In part one of the ‘Starting a Young Puppy’ tutorials, we saw that with care, it’s possible to begin a puppy’s training at a very early age, but if you didn’t have the luxury of well-dogged docile sheep for your puppy […]
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The Outrun (Parts 1-3)
A good outrun is essential if a sheepdog is to work efficiently Fortunately, it’s not difficult to train a dog to do an outrun, and the training process itself improves other aspects of the dog’s work, such as flanking and the stop, so we use short outruns very early in training to improve the dog’s […]