Bowling for Sheep

[TDearstine]

Emma is a 2.5 yo B/C, she has been with sheep now for more then a year, she knows all the basic commands, has a great "lie down" and recall and stop and walk up, also by whistle, I can send her out into our pastures and she will zoom up and bring them all down to the barn, (a dozen montadales)If i want to move the sheep to another field she will zoom out and rustle them up and move them out, she is a great "farm dog" once she is done with her "job" she zooms off and picks up her frizbee and wants to play.

This was how she was till about 6 months ago, I got an 8 yr old trained B/C from a rescue and he is amazing, he knows all his commands and knows more then me about working sheep, I ended up taking Emma and Kipp to lessons, mainly for me to learn, Kipp works great and the instructor was impressed, Emma was put in the round pen and showed great intrest and followed instructions, the lessons have been great for all of us.

Now heres my problem, I put Emma in the round pen with me and 3 sheep(yearlings) and she knows her sides, she lies down on command, she walks up and really does everything you want her to do, the problem is out in the pasture, to start I usually tie Emma and send Kipp on outruns, both sides and a slight drive, (working in a 3/4acre field) I then tie Kipp and then send Emma on an outrun, she usually heads strait for the sheep, I make her lie down, bring her back and stand in front of her and show her where i want her to go, she will usually do this, she will go out and around the tree, which is about 30 yards out and then heads for the front of the flock, she also does this on her "away" side too, to me its like she thinks her way is shorter and the results are the same, the sheep move across the field, how can I get her to go all the way behind the sheep? she will stay on command, should i move behind the sheep and try to get her to come to me? maybe if I get help, someone to push her out on her way to me ? One trainer told me she was a "work smart" dog, she knows what needs to be done and its her work smart way to do it, Kipp has been a big help, she will watch him and when i work him she will follow and help if I let her, Is this a good idea ? Thanks for any Ideas, Tom

[Vergil Holland]

Emma is a 2.5 yo B/C, she has been with sheep now for more then a year, she knows all the basic commands, has a great "lie down" and recall and stop and walk up, also by whistle, I can send her out into our pastures and she will zoom up and bring them all down to the barn, (a dozen montadales)If i want to move the sheep to another field she will zoom out and rustle them up and move them out, she is a great "farm dog" once she is done with her "job" she zooms off and picks up her frizbee and wants to play.

This was how she was till about 6 months ago, I got an 8 yr old trained B/C from a rescue and he is amazing, he knows all his commands and knows more then me about working sheep, I ended up taking Emma and Kipp to lessons, mainly for me to learn, Kipp works great and the instructor was impressed, Emma was put in the round pen and showed great intrest and followed instructions, the lessons have been great for all of us.

Now heres my problem, I put Emma in the round pen with me and 3 sheep(yearlings) and she knows her sides, she lies down on command, she walks up and really does everything you want her to do, the problem is out in the pasture, to start I usually tie Emma and send Kipp on outruns, both sides and a slight drive, (working in a 3/4acre field) I then tie Kipp and then send Emma on an outrun, she usually heads strait for the sheep, I make her lie down, bring her back and stand in front of her and show her where i want her to go, she will usually do this, she will go out and around the tree, which is about 30 yards out and then heads for the front of the flock, she also does this on her "away" side too, to me its like she thinks her way is shorter and the results are the same, the sheep move across the field, how can I get her to go all the way behind the sheep? she will stay on command, should i move behind the sheep and try to get her to come to me? maybe if I get help, someone to push her out on her way to me ? One trainer told me she was a "work smart" dog, she knows what needs to be done and its her work smart way to do it, Kipp has been a big help, she will watch him and when i work him she will follow and help if I let her, Is this a good idea ? Thanks for any Ideas, Tom

 

Quick questioin...when she "zoomed out" prior to your lessons, was she going around the sheep? Or was she also going straight up the field?

 

Vergil

[TDearstine]

Quick questioin...when she "zoomed out" prior to your lessons, was she going around the sheep? Or was she also going straight up the field?

 

Vergil

 

 

Hi Vergil, she has always headed strait for the sheep, we have been working on it over the past few weeks and its some good some bad, in the round pen she knows her sides and runs out at the edge of the pen, in the field she has been going wider but still likes to go strait in if she thinks she can get away with it, I have been laying her down and bringing her back to me and walking further out to which side i want her to go, then she seems to know what I want, but after going around me she still tends to shorten up the route rather then keep on the same outter track,

[Vergil Holland]

Hi Vergil, she has always headed strait for the sheep, we have been working on it over the past few weeks and its some good some bad, in the round pen she knows her sides and runs out at the edge of the pen, in the field she has been going wider but still likes to go strait in if she thinks she can get away with it, I have been laying her down and bringing her back to me and walking further out to which side i want her to go, then she seems to know what I want, but after going around me she still tends to shorten up the route rather then keep on the same outter track,

 

 

OK - this is a tough one to explain rather than show! So here goes:

1. have tame sheep

2. have dog on a light line about 15 ft long that will drag behind. You need to be about 3 feet from the dog, holding the line. AS you walk towards the dog, dog in your left hand, stick in your right, pop the stick (business like, not punishment) until the dog is trying to get away from you. When the dog is trying to get away from you, let the dog go and you head straight for the sheep. WHen she gets to the far side, lie her down. Walk straight thru sheep and make the dog turn off the sheep by pooping your stick at her. DO not let her have the sheep until she turns better than 90 degrees away from you and the sheep. repeat until she stays off on her own.

 

GOod luck!

Vergil