newly imported dog

[Heather]

Hi, Jeanne:

 

I recently imported a nursery-level bitch from England--I've had her for about a month now. I'm generally very pleased with her, but a few issues have arisen that I'd like to make sure I handle correctly in these early stages of our developing relationship. First, on her outruns she tends to sweep our whole field to look for more sheep, rather than lifting a particular small packet that I might have put out for training purposes. This is quite logical--she worked for a contract shepherd and is used to dealing with big fields and many sheep, and in general I'd rather have her do that than stop at the first couple of sheep she happens upon. But do you think I should be working on some sort of "come in" whistle? If so, how shall I go about it? Second, although she has a very nice way of walking up on her sheep, she seems to be a little hesitant to keep coming forward if the sheep are really heavy. I'm attempting to find out what her grip command used to be, since I was told that she regularly worked heavy sheep and could move them easily, but in lieu of that, I'm wondering if I should just keep her on lighter sheep while we're getting to know each other, or if that would just be avoiding a potential problem. I want her to be challenged, but I also want her to be confident, and I know that our sheep and sheep in the UK can be very different. Finally, she's much more of a heading dog than I'm used to (my first Open bitch likes to be behind sheep pushing them off more than sliding up their shoulders), and she'll occasionally refuse her inside flank if there's a lot of pressure, especially if I'm some distance away from her. Do you have any advice as to how I should deal with this? In general, I'm trying to figure out how much or how little I should be asking of her as we get to know each other. (I should also mention that I'm changing her whistles, and one of the ones I'm using is roughly--but not exactly--opposite the one that she was used to, so a lot of things are different for the poor dog!) Thanks in advance--any help you can give me would be appreciated.

[JW]

Hi, Jeanne:

 

I recently imported a nursery-level bitch from England--I've had her for about a month now. I'm generally very pleased with her, but a few issues have arisen that I'd like to make sure I handle correctly in these early stages of our developing relationship. First, on her outruns she tends to sweep our whole field to look for more sheep, rather than lifting a particular small packet that I might have put out for training purposes. This is quite logical--she worked for a contract shepherd and is used to dealing with big fields and many sheep, and in general I'd rather have her do that than stop at the first couple of sheep she happens upon. But do you think I should be working on some sort of "come in" whistle? If so, how shall I go about it? Second, although she has a very nice way of walking up on her sheep, she seems to be a little hesitant to keep coming forward if the sheep are really heavy. I'm attempting to find out what her grip command used to be, since I was told that she regularly worked heavy sheep and could move them easily, but in lieu of that, I'm wondering if I should just keep her on lighter sheep while we're getting to know each other, or if that would just be avoiding a potential problem. I want her to be challenged, but I also want her to be confident, and I know that our sheep and sheep in the UK can be very different. Finally, she's much more of a heading dog than I'm used to (my first Open bitch likes to be behind sheep pushing them off more than sliding up their shoulders), and she'll occasionally refuse her inside flank if there's a lot of pressure, especially if I'm some distance away from her. Do you have any advice as to how I should deal with this? In general, I'm trying to figure out how much or how little I should be asking of her as we get to know each other. (I should also mention that I'm changing her whistles, and one of the ones I'm using is roughly--but not exactly--opposite the one that she was used to, so a lot of things are different for the poor dog!) Thanks in advance--any help you can give me would be appreciated.

 

Hi Heather,

 

Sorry for the long delay. I just returned from a trial.

Having never imported a dog or worked with an imported dog, I'm probably not the best person to ask. I'll try to answer your questions as best I can.

I guess first of all, I would stick to relatively simple, straightforward work until she is comfortable with the new whistles. As to the length of time needed, some are very quick to pick up new whistles while others need patience.

A "come in" whistle comes in very handy. I use a slightly different version of my recall whistle. When teaching it, the recall immediatly gets their attention and in the beginning, you can give the recall and once you've gotten her attention and she has started to move toward you or "in" you can give a quick, short flank whistle. This should get her attention on the sheep and running tighter. You should eventually be able to use only the version of the recall whistle to bring her in. It works for me.

I don't know about using a grip whistle on the lift. Is she actually hesitating on the lift, or just being patient? If it's the latter and she is lifting slowly, try simply encouraging her on with a couple of quick walk up whistles. You could also teach her a push whistle by using the method I suggested earlier.

As to refusing the flank whistles to come off pressure, I always ask first and insist the second or third time. I want my dogs to feel confident in holding pressure and they are most often right when trying to hit a gate or hold a line. I don't want to take that away from them. Pretty often, I'll use a flank whistle just to get them to hold steady(don't over do the pressure) or maybe take a step in that direction.

 

Jeanne