pushing sheep

[Guest Nancy Obernier]

Hi Amanda,

 

I have a question about excercises to help a dog learn to push sheep.

 

I have a 3 year old bitch (spayed) that has had several different issues. She has run P/N successfully and has to be moved to Ranch (out of p/n points).

 

One issue was that I could not keep her on her feet and she would always be laying down and then it would be difficult to get her back up. She also would slither along on her belly rather than walk up on her feet.

 

This has pretty much been resolved, she has been staying on her feet most of the time. when given a flank I quickly follow with a walk up and this is stopping her from going down onto her belly.

 

Most of the time if she does lie down, I can tell her "get up" and she will get up and move forward.

 

She is not sticky eyed and will flank off pressure when asked, and yes I could flank her if she is stuck to move the sheep, but this is not what I want her to be doing. She walks straight onto her sheep and is not flanky behind her sheep.

 

She is pushing on her sheep more than she use to, but I still see this as a major issue. I have done alot of walking with her when driving and helping her push sheep into areas that they don't want to go, to help build her confidence.

 

I work her on anywhere from 3 sheep to 30 sheep (use to have 50 sheep but sold a bunch so I didn't have to feed them over the winter). I mainly work her on 15-30 sheep because I want weight to the sheep she is working. Sheep will move off of her, if she moves forward.

 

I was wondering what you would suggest doing with her to help build her confidence when pushing sheep.

 

Thanks

Nancy O

[Guest Amanda]

Nancy

Bearing in mind that some dogs do not have gas for pushing tough sheep (You need to decide that since I am not seeing the dog, or get knowledgeable help), there are a few things you can do.

As a general prinicpal of dog trianing, dogs need to enjoy themslelves. I like to let a reluctant dog party on the sheep. I might take such a dog to a fence line, dog holding the sheep to it, and then I step in, causing the sheep to bolt--let the dog catch them, spontaneously, however he wishes to take them, grips and all. It is freer more natural work than a militantly trained dog gets and they like it. It might encourage him to take more authority over the sheep.

I also like to take sheep across diffcult obstacles, like frozen creek bottoms. I encourge the dogs, at that time, to do whatever is neccessary to push them through the place the sheep have no desire to go.

Creating difficulty and asking your dog to push through it can help.

But remember, it may be the dog cannot do such jobs, because it is overly soft. All serious handlers have to assess power in their dogs and decide if they have enough to continue as a competitive trialler. It is your job as a hand, to enhance your dogs assests, including power, if they have none to enhance, you have a much bigger problem.

[Guest Nancy Obernier]

I might take such a dog to a fence line, dog holding the sheep to it, and then I step in, causing the sheep to bolt

I've done this alot and she enjoys it. She will stop the bolting sheep without any problem. After doing it for a bit, I let her go in and move them out of the corner and then start over again.

 

All serious handlers have to assess power in their dogs and decide if they have enough to continue as a competitive trialler. It is your job as a hand, to enhance your dogs assests, including power, if they have none to enhance, you have a much bigger problem.

Yes, this is definitely true, and may eventually be the biggest issue. She is still making progress and has actually progressed way past what my original expectations were of her, when she had just turned 2 years old, that I still want to put time and effort into her, hence my question to you. Besides, she always makes me smile. That in itself can make it worthwhile.

 

I'll do what you suggest, with

Creating difficulty and asking your dog to push through it can help.

No frozen creeks, but I have narrow openings between my camper and the fence and the well and the fence and an oasis of trees that the sheep hate going thro with a dog behind them and will look at other places at friend's fields that I can use to my advantage with her.

 

Thanks for your help!

 

Nancy O