getting your dog to stay directly behind the sheep when

[Guest eric goodwin]

my dog has a tendency to zig zag back and forth behind the sheep instead of staying in a straight line. how do you corect this?

[Guest Amanda]

Dogs flip back and forth for a few reasons. They could be weak, lack feel for the sheep, and not have the style to march and pick up a line.

Handlers need to have a precise stop on such a dog so that it can be stopped in its tracks before it flips from side to side--each flip would be considered an overflank, where the handler failed to stop the dog where it should have been stopped.

Training on freer sheep helps dogs understand not to flip back and forth because it is so unneccessary with free flowing sheep. Many novice hands, with only a handful of sheep, get their sheep too doggy, stale. The sheep get bored with moving for the dog and the dog can resort to a pattern of flip flop, in frustration. Best way is not to let it develop. Never practise doing poor work. It becomes acceptable to your dog and maybe to you. A pro should watch you work and determine what is going on. Without watching, I can only speculate.

I like to work on dogs picking up lines, while walking beside the sheep, with the dog, in effect, cross driving. It puts me in a position to intervene if the dog fails to stop where I have asked it to do, and lets down the line, one way or the other. I give form to this exercise with "steady" which is a catch all phrase for hold this line, fetching, driving what ever. They seem to learn to do it.

[Guest eric goodwin]

I am working with Dal Kratzer and he is helping me with the dogs pace and I drive the sheep along a fence line on one side and I give a stop command when the dog overflanks to the other side. I am hoping the dog will learn that it can keep the pressure on the sheep and keep them moving directly from behind. I was wondering if you had any other exercises to suggest. I also set four cones out in a square and practice driving in this manner.