Sheepdog training

arctictree wrote: »

Have been advised to get them into a round pen in the middle of the field for a few weeks and teach her the flanking commands slowly. Will try that before i let her on loose sheep again as she seems very keen.

arctictree wrote: »

Made the pen earlier, was quite successful. She went immediately to the 12 o clock position and i gave her the flanking commands as I moved left and right and she went the right ways. I'll just keep at this for a few weeks and see how I go.

I think my problem maybe the sheep I have. They just stand there looking at her instead of moving around. Too tame. I'll have some weaned lambs soon that are quite wild and I'll try her on them when she's off the round pen. Maybe in July.

arctictree wrote: »

An update on my progress. I now start in the round pen and then bring them out into the field. Generally there's chaos for a few minutes but when things have calmed down I can walk up and down the field backwards with her flanking the sheep on command. Now teaching her to stay back a bit and walk on, on command. I had to muzzle her to stop her gripping the sheep, would like opinions on that?

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

Have a young pup here with the last month just gone 14 weeks. He's mad keen, have him walking well on the lead, lying down, walking on and coming back to me well now and he's getting used to travelling around on the jeep, quad and tractor. Is it to soon to do any more with him? First time trying to train a dog so its all new to me. As soon as he sees the sheep or the cattle he has the head down and he's stalking them. Reckon he has the makings of a right good dog if I could train him right.

arctictree wrote: »

No, she'll be just used for sheep. I now take the muzzle off halfway through the session and all is OK. I think though that the sheep are more trained now than the dog! They tend to just bunch around me with her running in circles around us. I hope to get a new larger batch of ewe lambs next week so we'll see where we are then.

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

I know that, he's not fast enough yet to get ahead of them anyway. I set up a round pen a few evenings ago just to give him a run around them the odd evening for 5 minutes and be teaching him his sides and get him stopping around sheep. He has taken to it fairly well so far.

Limestone Cowboy wrote: »

Have made good progress with my lad the last few days. Picked out 4 quiet hoggets and put them into a small paddock and he's handling them fairly well now. He has his sides figured out now and is stopping really well and bringing the sheep to me. Hopefully try and start him doing bits of short out runs now and try him working a small bit away from me. One of the most headwrecking and satisfying things I have ever attempted doing all rolled into one He's getting a lot more confident around them too, there was a few times the sheep tried to take refuge against the fence and he has no bother now going into the gap to push them off it, he wouldn't have done that a week ago.

orm0nd wrote: »

Little and often and if the dog isn't doing as she should any day just call her up and leave it for another day.

We've s young bitch as well and I reckon she will need a lot of time but plenty of power and very willing.

How old can you start training a dog? Ours was meant to go out for training at the start of Covid, but never made it so is approaching 2 and not yet been introduced to sheep. He stalks the calves in the pens - will stay all day looking in at them running along the gate. Probably have left it too late here, but would like an opinion before giving up on him.

Sounds like the dog wasn't socialized properly or even mistreated before you got him. Collies are very sensitive and shy ones take a long time to come around and will always have a bit of that - he may never make a good working dog but he could if you spend all day with him and he figures out bit by bit your routine. He certainly won't work until he trusts you and knows you are someone he can trust not to take a hand at him.

They are very sensitive to noise and tone of voice. If you are trying to train a skittish one by shouting you've no hope. They are usually smart enough you don't need to shout too hard to get them to do what you want anyway, you hear lots of lads do it but their dogs aren't nervous like that.

Talk to him like he's a baby (he still is really) very softly. Forget about the sheep training and let him get settled in. He has no idea what he's there for if he isn't trained and he won't work for you until he knows you're the lovely man who feeds him and never hurts him.

My girl I got 11 months old 9 years ago she was no good for sheep anyway and was skittish it took 2 months for her to come over to me and she is just a pet. Shame cuz she's actually very smart and fast as lightning but all she likes to do is play fetch with a ball.

Get one of those ball throwers that come with a tennis ball they're a fiver in most shops. They help the ball go farther and you don't have to touch the dirty ball. Never seen a collie who didnt got mad for this game.

Teach him to bring the ball back so you can throw it again. Once he learns that game you can walk out with the sheep and he might want to learn the next game of herding. Collies quickly learn routines and what to expect or what's expected of them when it's repeated each day.

I wouldn't be worrying about him around the sheep yet either. My pup here is shy enough aswell, grand with myself and the missus but he won't go to anyone else. I'd say just to spend a good bit of time with him until he's used to you. Small things like bringing him in the jeep for an hour when you are doing the herding or bringing him into the house for an hour in the evening and he won't be long building a bond with you. A few treats and plenty of praise will help.

Milestone moment today. Stood at the gate and sent him off on a fairly long outrun to gather 25 very stubborn hoggets and he brought them right up and out the gate and into the yard for me. Nice to see all the training starting to turn into something useful. He has rightly toughened up now, not afraid to shove into a ewe now if she's trying to boss him and it has made all the difference.

Update not good I'm afraid.

I'm working him 2 months now and its not going well he has no interest in sheep. Hes ok on commands but the penny hasn't dropped about the sheep. He has no interest in staring at sheep or when I'm working in the crush he has no interest in them.

He does the command even if theres no sheep in the field.The sheep are just in the way if hes doing his thing. Pity I like him.

Hes 16 months now and I have him out every day. Sadly hes not giving me anything to work with

It is alright. He was always very biddable and intelligent but was just lacking that bit of confidence to shove into them and get them moving if they didn't want to move. Was driving me mad to be honest, when I was training his flanks, lie down, calling him off etc he picked up all those things in a few days but I'm 2 months solid trying to get him to drive them and there was no improvement any day until the penny finally dropped and he figured out he was the boss. He even put them out through a mucky gap for me yesterday that they really didn't want to go through, took a lot of pressure to get them moving but he did it. Not a hope in hell would he have moved them through it a few weeks ago.

Bit of work with her this morning. She pushed some ram lambs down the field to the pen and kept them bunched on the fence. Nice that shes showing interest

think treating the dog as a pet is vital. some lads lock their dogs up 99% of the day in damp cold sheds. was on a farm last year, all dogs and pups tied under trees. poor dogs are treated terribly.

for us when the dog isn't working and we are home, the dogs are trained to stay in the back yard or they wander into their kennels. you have to have that trust. no good dealing with a wild thing or a poor timid dog that doesn't go near you.

Hi all,

my dog is just gone a year old now and starting to work well but needs a lot of talking to to keep her calm and stop her getting over excited.

im struggling to get out with her every day with her now due to short days, have ye worked a dog in the dark or a well lit yard ?

Most sheepdogs will train themselves, Our dog cost €50 and does all we want but she'd be great if we had more work. she loves working..

Would anyone recommend a good sheep dog trainer/farmer who sells trained sheepdogs in any county in Connacht, or Donegal/Fermanagh areas?

My dog is getting on and is a bitch and I am tempted to try and get a litter of pups off her by a good sheepdog before it's too late. She is around 8 years old and never was pregnant. Would she still be able to conceive at her age now?...........

She was an excellent dog, my father bought her at a year old trained, from an elderly dog trainer from Donegal who has passed away since. She has a great outrun and keeps sheep in a tight bunch while bringing them into pen, yard etc. Only fault she has now is one she developed in last few years, which is that when she just about has the sheep successfully through a gap/or put into a pen 5 times out of 10 she makes a burst to the front to stop the sheep going into the pen!🙄..........but once you let a roar at her she comes back out behind the sheep and does the correct thing😀

If I successfully got a litter of pups from her I would send one or two of the pups off to be trained, alternatively if she is not able to conceive I will be on the lookout to buy a young trained dog so would really appreciate any recommendations of good trainers/dog sellers that people have come across or dealt with in the last few years.

Thanks for any replies🙂