Calm/controled walking with handler

[Guest kimkathan]

Lori -

Do you have any advice on teaching a young dog to walk calmly and controled with the handler. right now this young dog will walk on and off the field with me, however, as soon as there is any sign of anything moving ( it could even be the wind in the grass ) she's fixated on the sheep. It seems as though this is building up anxity in her before we're even working. I also would like to be able to walk around with her in a field, and not have to chatter at her constantly. This builds up tension in both of us before we even start. The gentelman that I've done some training with says that I need to trust my dog, however, if I don't stay compleatly on top of her, she's off. Any advice on teaching a dog to walk calmly with the handler in any situation would be much appreciated. I don't want a "heel" just to have the dog stay relativly close with me, and not to jump ahead.

[Guest Lori]

Hey Kim-

 

You bring up an important training issue here that may be easy to overlook.

 

It's really important for a young dog to learn that it can be around sheep and not constantly be "on" and working. Basically, your pup (and every pup!) needs to learn that not every contact with sheep means she is going to work.

 

Refresh my memory, do you have your own sheep?

 

If so, does your dog come with you to do chores, etc, when you're working around the sheep? I start this exposure from the time I bring a pup home. In the very beginning, I may tie its leash to my belt loop to bring the pup along when I go out to the fields, around the sheep, to feed, clean water tubs, etc. Even keen-to-work pups learn pretty fast that not every contact with sheep involves working. I believe teaching a young dog to be relaxed around stock like this helps in establishing the right kind of attitude in the pup when it goes to sheep purposely to train . And, it certainly makes having them around stock more pleasant.

 

For someone who doesn't have their own sheep, it's going to be a bit tougher to establish this level of comfort being near stock since most every time the dog goes to sheep at a training location, the contact does always involve working. If this is the case for you, you'll have to build in some more non-working- time sheep exposure.

 

At this stage, your dog is not going to get comfortable being calm and controlled around sheep right away. She will have to relearn that not all sheep contact involves working. Your trainer is correct that you will have to trust her to some extent. Sure, there will be times when you are out walking in the field that she might fixate on the sheep & try to fetch them. (Hopefully, by this time, you have a reliable call off.) Don't make a big fuss, just call her off & keep walking. (I actually say to my dogs "That'll do. We're just walking." Go figure, they seem to understand that perfectly well!!) Walk fast, talk to her to redirect her focus & think of ways to make it fun to keep her attention on you.

 

When you are training at different locations, try taking your dog for a "non working field walk" along with other dogs that are comfortable playing in the field & ignoring the sheep. Maybe being with other dogs would help divert your dog's attention.

 

Based on your experiences with this pup, this issue will likely be a bigger training priority when you train your *next* dog (!). As you are seeing first hand, training a dog is not all about just flanks and whistles and lie downs! There are alot of other stock sense issues that go into the big training picture as you are recognizing. It will take some time & work, but I think you'll see progress!

 

Good luck!