Smokjbc Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 Hey- Welcome to the new board! Need some tips on how to help a cautious dog "jazz things up" on her lift. Not a sticky dog just sometimes painfully slow lifting heavier stock. Probably more of a handling question- just wanted to see if there were any strategies on helping a control freak let it go a bit . Not always a problem with her but enough that I need a game plan to help her out. In other areas she has good authority/power, but she is very worried about the line of her fetch and it shows. I don't want to encourage her to grip or anything, probably just exercises to get her to come in faster/stronger. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stockdogranch Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 Have you tried just not stopping her at the top--just blow a walk up as soon as she gets behind them? You're working cattle, too, right? They're really good for encouraging a dog to just come on in at the top--on cattle I just don't ever teach them to stop up there. If you have a reliable stop, you can always use it when/where you need it. You can also use really flighty sheep--ones that will take off (not necessarily toward you) as soon as the dog gets anywhere near. The dog will have to hustle to cover them. Are you sure it's not a case of eye? If so, then that's another story... Anna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stockdogranch Posted June 7, 2007 Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 Well, I apologize for not reading the Admin notice further down the page. We have an official expert, and I whould not have just jumped in here and responded as we would normally do when someone asks a question, Sorry again, Anna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokjbc Posted June 7, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 7, 2007 Well, I apologize for not reading the Admin notice further down the page. We have an official expert, and I whould not have just jumped in here and responded as we would normally do when someone asks a question,Sorry again, Anna Hi, Well.. I will respond anyways so can clarify for the expert . This dog is not worked much on cattle- she is primarily on sheep- I do not have the cattle access I used to have and she is not quite aggressive enough for them. I wouldn't say it is not an eye problem- when I say she's not sticky- I mean she will flank readily around her sheep on fetch/drive and has medium eye. She does not get stuck so much as she just takes a long time to lift them, but she does keep coming on to them until they move off her. When she was younger, she had some confidence issues (probably still does at times, which may be part of it) and if they didn't come off her , she'd come up the sides and look at me like "now what?' ? She has not done that for a very long time, it's just more of this step, by step,by slow step progress on on the lift. I don't normally stop her on her lift at all and immediately give her a walk in whistle on balance. I hadn't thought of using flightier sheep, that may be a good idea and just get her used to hustling just to keep them together. I realize this may be as much a power problem as anything else, this is more of a managment/handling strategy question than request for a cure . This dog is a really fun dog to work with- very responsive and smart- I just want to make sure we don't waste precious seconds on her lift if we can find a way around it. Anna, feel free to PM me if you have any other good ideas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JW Posted June 9, 2007 Report Share Posted June 9, 2007 Hi Jaime, Sorry about the delay. It sounds like your dog is a control freak:) I like to teach my dogs a push command(whistle). It comes in handy, but it also teaches them that it's okay to be bossy and pushy sometimes. The way that I teach it is to walk along side them as they drive(not close, but at a distance of 20 feet or so). I give the whistle or say the command while at the same time breaking into a run and encouraging the dog to speed it up and push harder. The command/whistle should be exciting and quick. Don't worry about how she does it at first. You'll probably get some busting up of the sheep and/or a grip or two at first, but as the dog gets comfortable with pushing harder, those problems should disappear. It serves two purposes. For one, the command comes in very handy when working heavy sheep, also you'll find that your dog will likely become much more comfortable with lifting decisively. I try very hard when training, to develop as much confidence as possible, even if it means a few wrecks along the way. If you feel that lack of confidence is all or part of the problem, you might go back a bit in your training and do some confidence building exercises. Things like having her push a group of sheep into the corner and hold them there, even if they are challenging. Let her push them to the point of trying to break away and then let her cover and bring them back. Don't worry if you get a few grips. The more confidence she has in herself, the less likely she'll need or want to grip. As to using lighter sheep, the idea sounds like it makes sense, but if the cause is a control issue, lighter sheep would probably make her even more cautious. Jeanne Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokjbc Posted June 9, 2007 Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2007 Hi, Thanks very much for the reply, very much what I was looking for! Sounds like a good exercise that probably will help her push harder on her drive when she needs to also (an added bonus . Will get cracking on it tomorrow a.m. She does have a push whistle but thinking about it, I don't think I've really built it up to mean anything but "please get up there!" LOL. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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