outruns

[william virginia]

how do you widen the outruns.

[Cynthia P]

I guess we need to understand what is wrong...are they taking off from the handler straight at the sheep? cutting in at the top, crossing over, or just up the middle and key hole around.

 

I have one dog that is just a very tight outrunner...her previous owner tried everything he knew how to widen the outrun and it made it tighter. We've been working on getting square flanks and squaring her up when setting her up...it's hardly wide but it is a start;

 

Tight outruns can start by lengthening the outrun too far too fast. Go back to basics, set the dog up behind and facing out to the side you want to send them; practice stopping them if they cut in, go up and send them again from that part. Remember, little steps;

 

Some dogs are naturally wide outrunners....others...not so much

 

 

Tell us what is actually happening with the dog and others may be able to chime in.

[rac]

Most of the books will give you an idea of how to go about this. I've found that you most often have to lie the dog down and go out in the field toward the sheep and help with this, where and how far depends on what needs to be done. Some dogs are natural at it, but many are not. Some dogs will respond well by putting a little pressure on their line of travel to get them out farther. But actually I've had better luck with taking the pressure off and opening up that whole side of the field to the dog. Sending the dog from my feet is what I do after all the other work is done. Most folks don't see that part though.

 

How are the flanks ? Tight ? You might start there if that's the case. Be careful not to pressure the dog too much at the beginning of the flank/outrun or you may wind up with an outrun that is too big or too big/flat at the bottom.

 

Cynthia had a good point. Start small, when that's good make it bigger. Also more details about the nature of the problem would help others make a more pointed suggestion. Good luck.

 

Ray