Dog Training - Herding

Elainew

Does anyone know anywhere that lets you bring you dog for a day to play with sheep!!
I saw on TV once (in Australia) that they had a place you could take your dog and he/she could get out and herd sheep just for training/fun purposes.

fits

Eh no....

What would the sheep think about that? We had a few collies over the years, and very few of them didnt actually bite the sheep ( my dad was not the best trainer in the world either), but still, I would try something else. Do you want to train the dog not to chase them or something?

You could try agility classes or something, I presume its a collie (I hope its a collie).

peasant

Yeah ...the latest trend on the continent ...all these city dwellers get themselves a border collie and then cart it to training classes herding sheep at the weekends to excercise it "according to its needs :rolleyes: "

Herding classes ...not a good idea in my book.

Why trigger instincts in a dog that are as useful to it like a hole in the head ?(unless it is a real working dog with a real job)

Especially in this country, teeming with sheep wherever you spit, you do NOT want a dog that has a hightened interest in sheep ...it'll just get into trouble sooner or later.

Shelve that idea.

iguana

peasant wrote:

Why trigger instincts in a dog that are as useful to it like a hole in the head ?(unless it is a real working dog with a real job)

And what if the instincts are already strong. I grew up with collies and each and every one of them had strong herding instincts. The first one used to round up our rabbits whenever we let them out of their run. He was doing this a 16 week old puppy. Another used to round up a pair of westies he met on walks. I know at least two collies who I've met on walks who've tried to round up my springer puppies. My parents current dog rounded my husband up off the road when he was taking too long to cross as he was sending a text message.

Springer spaniels can be insane bird-worriers, but I've met people who had trouble with their dogs chasing birds until they've given them gun-dog training. The training doesn't unleash their instincts, the instincts are deeply bred into the dogs over 100's of years. Some stronger than others obviously. What the training does is harness the instincts, and teaches the dog to use them when you want them to rather than run around not sure to do with their impulses.

peasant

Good herding training takes ages and a continous effort on behalf of the dog and the trainer.

You can't teach a dog how to herd (ie. obey commands) properly in a few hours at the weekend. All you achieve is a dog that is veeery interested in sheep all of a sudden, without you having control over it.

Channel all that energy and willingness into agility or obedience if must, but don't give it a "target" that will only get the dog into trouble in the long run.

Herding is nothing else but the rounding up of prey without the kill. If not controlled properly, the kill ...or at least a bite ...might still happen, if the excitement is big enough and the training bad enough.

We all know what happens to dogs that "worry" sheep in this country ...they get shot.

Not a good idea.

iguana

I get that it takes a full time effort, I don't know how much a dog would learn over a couple of weekends. And if there are a bunch of different people there, with different dogs I really don't see how the dog is expected to learn anything at all.

But my point is that sometimes these instincts are already in the dog. Spats (he had black legs with white tips on the ends of his toes) never went near a farm in his life, both of his parents were family pets. But as a small puppy his instincts were to round up things. You couldn't have made him more interested in herding because he was already incredibly interested. But my dad used his instincts and got him to do other jobs and follow commands in a similar way to a working sheepdog. Denying that the instincts are there in many dogs is as foolish as cack-handed training.

peasant

You're getting me all wrong ...

Of course you can't deny the instinct ...if it's there its' there.
But to the uninitiated dog with a strong herding instinct, a sheep is just a bit of white fluff behind a fence.
Until that point when at one wekend you decide to let it "play" with sheep for "fun". It will never look at sheep the same way again and try to repeat that "play" session at every possible and impossible opportunity.

You've now got a sheep-chaser on your hands.

But my dad used his instincts and got him to do other jobs and follow commands in a similar way to a working sheepdog

That's what needs to be done ...give the dog training to do other jobs ...as far away from sheep as possible.