How often and how long do you train

[kelpiegirl]

Just wondering- those of you with young dogs- how often do you train, and for how long (per session)?

 

Julie

[juliepoudrier]

With my youngsters, I've been trying to get them out about every other day, for maybe 10 minutes max at a stretch. I am constrained by work and the weather though. I think more often for shorter sessions is better. ETA: A lot also depends on the youngster and its maturity level and how much it can handle. I work Lark longer than I would Pip or Phoebe, but Lark is 6 months older and can take it mentally.

 

J.

[stockdogranch]

I usually let the young ones work a bit every day. Notice I didn't say "train"--to me there is a difference, albeit subtle. I might let a young dog take the sheep out of their night time pen, move them into the pasture, and that's it. Or at night, gather them and put them back in. They did a little job, maybe 10 minutes' worth or even less, but we work on things while they do a little job. For a young one, I might invent little jobs for them to do--just moving sheep from here to there, leaving some in one pen, and going to get others to move somewhere else, that sort of thing. So they aren't being drilled, but we are working on the lie down, a little flank (squaring as we go), maybe taking sheep out of a tight area. As they take the sheep out of the pen, they might have to stay in a lie down at the gate while the sheep drift on out to the pasture (or sometimes they get to cover them because they are "leaving"). Or sometimes we take them out and do a short walkabout. Then we might work on a call off, leaving the sheep out in the pasture to graze. They might get to do a little something even twice a day, but it's short periods and generally not a drill. So usually within a week or so of starting one, once they have a pretty reliable stop and move off of my body to take a flank, they are doing little chores. I'll let them gather the flock in the morning, and do the sorting (gate sort) for class. After that they also get to work on hanging out, watching the other dogs work (students and their dogs), and not getting their panties in a wad over it. Then, if it's time to move sheep from one area to another during class, I might use the young one again for that little job (only if the student dog isn't ready for the job--then they get to do some jobs, too). From this, they learn that they can be in the vicinity of stock, sometimes not working, but always ready to work when needed. Eventually they get relaxed in the presence of stock and aren't always dashing off frantically to go do something with them.

Anna

[kelpiegirl]

I have seen with Lucy that the shorter the amount the time better. I am bad at making up jobs- suggestions are greatly accepted...

Julie

[Guest pax]

I have been doing exactly what Anna described, with Starr. Not that she needs the practice, but I do, and pleasant little mini jobs really seem to make her happy.

 

I've spent the last two weeks (since school got out and I'm home) just going out and checking them, and/or moving them around. Sometimes we march around trees and stuff. Truth be told, they are four legged weed whackers and I keep moving them into weedy long spots.

 

I think it really paid off for us, we were definetly more in the groove this weekend at Verna's. No Warp Speed on our runs this time.

 

 

ETA:

 

FWIW, of course, since I'm not even sure I can call myself "poseur".

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

The Tedlet gets max five minutes as often as I can spare. Ideally, I'd get him out a couple times a day but I want to get some help on improving what I'm doing with him, first, before exposing him to my bumbling that much.

 

Rocky likes longer sessions, less often. He's a thinker. Not that Ted doesn't think, but Ted has the ability to run much more on raw instinct than Rocky. Run being the operative word.

 

Ted benefits greatly from quantity as he is pretty resiliant, while Rocky needs quality time to allow him to think through things in a fair way. Rocky also benefits very much from helping with simple chores.

[kelpiegirl]

Thanks for bringing the individual dog's nuances up Rebecca- good subject. Lucy seems much more "up" when we just do a few things, take breaks, do a few more things etc. I have done scads of walkabouts, and fetches at small distances, and after say, the 10th of those, she gets a bit um, well, sick of it- this is evidenced by what I call "fresh" behaviour. She also, in this weather gets really hot- I mean really hot, and blows her wad and has to cool off. She will keep working- but I can tell when we need to stop. So far her best work is when I shut up. Tells you something about me eh?

Julie