Finn

[Krisztina]

hello,

 

i haven't posted in many months but i still enjoy reading some of the topics here on the board! my pup finn has grown into a lovely dog. we are slowly progressing in our training,although he's a terribly tough dog.he's teaching me loads-humility,patience and all my shortcomings:) .

also thought i'd send on a photo of my new pup- skoj. i've got alot of hopes on this little bitch. she is a real firecracker! both her parents were late starters- both of them didn't turn on till a bit over a year. so in the mean time i'm just enjoying her antics her brilliant personnality and her ears!

 

i did want to ask if anyone had any suggestions or if we could start a topic of squaring up flanks(which is my biggest problem with finn now.)

thanks in advance!

 

krisztina

[Bill Fosher]

My question is why you want to square up the flanks? More often than not, novice trainers (myself included) do at least as much harm as good trying to get a dog to bend off the sheep because we are trying to achieve some notion of what a flank should look like by watching what the dog does, rather than by watching what the sheep do.

 

If the dog is buzzing the sheep, that's one thing. Then the thing to do is work on the dog's distance and pace, not just on squaring up the flanks. If you get the distance and pace right, you're less likely to break contact when you ask a dog to bend out on a flank later on down the line. Generally, what you need to do is not to square out the flanks for their own sake, which will tend to push the dog off contact, but get the dog working right and then the flanks will come right as a byproduct of the foundational work.

 

Make any sense?

 

Edited to add: I just read Beverly's response to your question in the other section, and as usual she's got it right.

[kelpiegirl]

Hi Bill

Good response- I was thinking that when we are looking at flanks, clean ones, sqare ones, more of this is about the mindset of the dog, then the ACT of moving.....

[Krisztina]

I'm certainly going to give Beverly's advice a go. One of my issues is when Finn gets wound up, I do too,and kinda creates a vicious circle with him.And I think you and Beverly are right, I need to work on his distance.His pace is pretty good.He's stopped buzzing the sheep, although occassionally he looses his head if he thinks they're getting away.