question on teaching the drive

[Guest veranthn]

Hi Amanda:

 

I am teaching my two year old bc to drive. She seems to have some understanding that "walk up" means walk straight toward the sheep, but she tends to fall off balance to the left side and lose control. To keep her behind the sheep I have tried getting myself to her right just before she falls off left, calling her to me a bit, and then asking her to walk up again; I think that this is helping, however, it's often tough to get myself in the right position quickly enough.

 

I recently got her going on her inside flanks and am wondering whether I can now use an away flank to get her behind the sheep when she drifts left instead of the method I described above. My thought is that if I can keep her behind the sheep easily, she will start to see that I don't want her drifting left at all. What do you think? Do you see any problems with this approach?

 

Thanks,

 

Nate

[Guest Amanda]

Nate

I am having difficulty picturing what you mean here--whether the left poor flank is inside or failing to cover the sheep.

Regardless, when I am training, I like to give a dog the understanding of "steady" which would be a catchall word for "hold this line and do not screw it up." That begins in gathering and translates well into driving, once they grasp what you are after. It is a bit more than just flat walk up, or a bit different.

It sounds like you are doing alright. It is true you need to be nimble when arrranging your dog to be a successful driver--to step out of the way when needed but move in when required. Eventually they should get the hang of it and figure out what you want. Be sure to hold lines for which the dog can see some direction, a clear turn into a new direction. They need to understand they are holding a line.

Amanda

[Guest veranthn]

Hi Amanda:

 

Thanks for your reply.

 

Let me clarify. The problem, in my novice opinion, is that my dog is still a little insecure about remaining on the balance point behind the sheep when driving. As a result, she reverts to something with which she is comfortable: flanking around clockwise to head the sheep back toward me.

 

The reason I thought that the inside flank may be useful is that, if I am behind her and she starts to inappropriately flank around clockwise, I can now use the counter-flank to steer her back behind the sheep quickly instead of having to 1) lie her down; 2) run up beside her; 3) call her toward me; and 4) ask her to walk up again.

 

That being said, it sound like you are suggesting that the word "steady" should be used to bring her back behind the sheep instead. How do you teach the dog that meaning?

 

Thanks so much for your help.

 

Nate

[Guest Amanda]

Nate

You need to get a trainer.

A dog that runs to head sheep and brings them back is heading them. There is not really any such thing as a balance bpoint in a drive. Maybe this is semantics. They need to hold a line to drive. An inside falnk is so called because it comes to the inside of balance, whcih would have your dog bring sheep back to you.

To teach them to steady, you give an action a word: when you have a youngster nicely bringing sheep, you use the word "steady" which gives a word to what he is doing. If you are effective at teaching "steady" that way, you can bring it to the drive job.

Your descriptions are complicated for an "expert" to interpret. You need to be watched. There are good handlers in Washington, get yourself to one of them and ask for help.

Amanda