Start training your farm sheepdog.
Now that you have watched the videos in the BASIC category, these videos will help you to get started when you begin sheep dog training for the first time.
Try to remember that the most common reason for things going wrong when you are training your dog, is that you are trying to move on too quickly. Working the dog too far away from you is a regular error.
CALLING THE DOG AWAY (2 parts)
Catch Your Uncatchable Dog! It’s extremely important to be able to call the dog away from the sheep or cattle when you work it. From the dog’s point of view, it has a very good reason to want to continue ‘working’, so it will naturally ignore you at first. These tutorials will show you how you can catch the dog easily, and convince it that coming away from the stock with you is a great idea!
BALANCE, WHAT’S THE POINT?
Sheep and cattle dog trainers often refer to the importance of “the point of balance” but what exactly is it, and how can it help us teach our dog to work sheep or cattle? In this short sheepdog training tutorial, we discover what exactly the “point of balance” means and how it affects sheepdog training. Surprisingly, the point of balance is not always found on the other side of the sheep!
CALM, BUT FIRM
A dog which is aggressive with the sheep, but runs away as soon as the trainer attempts to correct it, can be among the most difficult dogs to train. When schooling a farm dog to work stock, it’s important to appear calm, even if you’re not! It’s not easy! Audrey fits this description perfectly and refuses to go “Away” around sheep too. But with patient but firm training Audrey soon shows good progress.
GET (THE SHEEP) OFF THE FENCE!
To avoid the attentions of a dog, sheep will cluster tightly against a fence or hedge if they can. Inexperienced dogs find it difficult to get them away from there, but this video will show you how to overcome the dog’s fear of going between sheep and a fence, and remove them from it. You will also learn a simple way to use the dog’s ability to circle sheep, as a tool for moving them away from a fence.
GETTING THE SHEEP INTO THE RING!
OK! You’ve built yourself a training ring of the recommended size, and now you need to get the sheep into it and begin teaching your dog to work sheep. But if you don’t have access to a trained sheepdog, that might appear to be a difficult task! But don’t despair! In this twenty minute video lesson, you’ll soon learn ways to easily get some sheep into the training ring without using a trained dog.
GIVE THE SHEEP SOME SPACE!
A common reason for sheep herding work not going well, is the dog being too close to the stock, and upsetting them. To work sheep or cattle properly, the dog must give them plenty of room. Of course, at times the dog needs to be close and assertive, but usually, the less the dog pressurises stock the better. If you instruct your dog to give the sheep space in early training, it will pay dividends.
HOW OFTEN, AND FOR HOW LONG?
Stop each training session before the dog becomes too physically or mentally tired. Questions we are most frequently asked include the frequency and duration of sheepdog training sessions. There are no hard and fast rules, but it’s not just a matter of working the dog until it’s exhausted. That can be counter-productive. Learn how your dog’s behaviour can show you when to stop a lesson.
MY DOG’S NO GOOD
Don’t believe it! As long as your dog is a herding breed with an active hunting instinct, is willing to work for its handler, and is physically fit, it’s also capable of working livestock. Farmers, shepherds and handlers confronted with a dog which is working badly, too often assume a dog’s useless. It’s more than likely their own fault, for not properly instructing or showing the dog how they want it to work.
STARTING A NON-STARTER (2 parts)
To discover that your dog doesn’t want to work, can be disheartening. It may not mean you can’t change the dog’s mind though. As with most aspects of training dogs to work stock, if you understand what’s happening and why, there’s a better chance of putting things right. Learn ways that you could spark your dog’s natural instinct for working in this two-part online sheepdog training video.
STARTING A RELUCTANT DOG
Boost your dog’s confidence and help it to start taking an interest in working stock. Most dogs are over-excited when they first encounter sheep or cattle, and it’s up to the trainer to do their best to protect the stock. Occasionally though, despite the trainer’s best efforts, the sheep dog takes no interest in the stock. Watch how Maisie’s dormant instinct comes alive in the training ring!
STARTING A STRONG DOG
An important video showing how to begin training a dog that’s difficult to get under control around sheep. Your young dog may have its own ideas about how to go about working! If the dog’s tough, you’ll need to be both assertive and patient at the same time. We watch Tess’s training session at half-speed with an in-depth description of the action, before viewing again at the normal speed.
STARTING A YOUNG PUPPY (2 parts)
The accepted age for starting a young dog on sheep or other farm livestock is between six and twelve months. If you have the right sort of sheep, and know what you’re doing though, you can train a young farm dog to work at a much younger age. Young Ezra goes to sheep in this video at 11 weeks old! Starting lessons early can make training easier but there are risks. It must be done with care.
STICKY DOGS!
“That dog’s got too much eye!” This is often heard when a sheepdog, (invariably a Border Collie) appears mesmerised by the sheep, and won’t move. We don’t like the term ‘too much eye’. It suggests there’s something physically wrong with the dog. That’s wrong. What people refer to as ‘too much eye’ is simply a lack of confidence. It’s also not difficult to correct if you understand what’s happening.
STOPPING THE DOG (3 parts)
To control your dog properly, you must be able to stop it. This is the first of three sheepdog training tutorials in our series about teaching your dog to stop on command, without damaging its confidence. Part one reminds trainers of the need to get control of their dog during the course of its training, to protect the sheep. It also recommends containing the action inside a training ring.
TRAINING MAX – THE GRIPPER! (3parts)
Not for the faint-hearted! One of the most difficult aspects of teaching a sheepdog is how to cope with a very strong-willed dog which persists in violently attacking the sheep. In part one of the video, you’ll see Max at his worst, despite his trainer being vigilant, but with care and the use of a rope-chain, the lessons pay off and the bad boy soon begins to make progress.