The Wrong Idea

[ClickMeBC]

I posted a while back questioning whether allowing a dog to "herd" a soccer ball was so wise an idea. When I was advised against it, I completely stopped kicking balls around for him to stare at, wear, and walk up on, and he'd only been doing it for a week or two then.

He's only six months old, but he's obsessed with the ball. I'm frustrated with myself for ever allowing this to happen, but it was for so short a time that we actually did it. I'm doing my best to keep all soccer balls, basket balls and kickballs out of sight to discourage the behavior. We will play an occasional game of fetch with a Tennis ball, but that's different as he doesn't display herding behaviors with the tennis ball.

 

I'm unsure as to when one starts a dog on sheep(I've heard everything from puppyhood to six months to a year), and we have a small flock of eight. Quynn shows no interest in them other than the occasional chase, though he hasn't had a great deal of exposure. I'm not too worried, as I've heard of dogs whose true insinct didn't emerge until they were over a year old(or more), but I'm wondering whether he'll show interest in the sheep over the ball, or is it set?

What behaviors do you expect out of a six month old puppy towards sheep? Perhaps you expect nothing - I'm only inquiring because of the huge variety of opinions on when to start a dog.

[juliepoudrier]

If your dog has the desire to work, the play he did with the ball at an early age should not affect that. Most youngsters do start out chasing. The only way to find out if he's interested in working is to put him on appropriate sheep and see what he does. (By appropriate, I mean dog-broke--it would be very difficult for a novice handler to start a pup properly on sheep that are not cooperative--that could do more damage than allowing play with a ball ever could.)

 

Every six-month-old will be different on sheep. I've had one that was working beautifully at 6 months all the way to some that were so awful with chasing and grabbing at that age that I simply put them up for a while. I think the most important thing for you is to get a mentor who can help you start your pup properly and who will have the appropriate sheep with which to do that. I see that you are in New England. Check out the Northeast Border Collie Association web site (www.nebca.net) and contact one of the directors to try and find someone near you who can help.

 

J.

[Lenajo]

Constant non-herding exposure to sheep will hurt his potential on sheep far more than a game will. Be sure since you have sheep at home that he isn't spending his days learning to eat/sleep/play in their presence as if they were 4 legged trees. The only other bad option there is that he learns to stare at them through a fence- practicing eyeing and being non-effective. A great recipe for sticky and useless later.