Sheepdog training

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🙂

Vets have told me that a dog is too old at eight if she hasn't had a litter before and will be prone to complications

Thanks Antrim Glens I got confused and was answering a combination of your post and Wranglers🙂

If it’s ok with you please pm me on any recommendations of good trainers as I said to Wrangler earlier,

Cheers.

My dog is eight year old like yours and very sorry I didn't breed her . I wouldn't like to hardship her now. I'm retired now so won't be getting another dog.

Churchmount sheepdogs have good dogs, Eamonn connell is a good trainer with churchmount , he has some good videos on Youtube.

I think Eamonn represented Ireland lately with his dogs. Google ''Eamonn Connell sheepdogs'' and you'll get some good videos.

Years ago a lovely bitch died here after a ceasarean at eight or nine years old,

Will pm you.