Ace Posted April 15, 2008 Report Share Posted April 15, 2008 My BC is 3 1/2 months old, when would be a good time to start her in herding? I have yet to find a trainer near me (if you know of one in Maryland, let me know! lol). But I want to know when would be the best time. Rush is from working cattle lines, both her parents had a thing for Beef cattle lol. She is herding my other dog Honey Bear, in chase games, so I know her instinct is there -- somewhere. After I overcome the challenge of finding someone I would really like to start, just need to know when would be best. Also is there anything specific I need to know going into this? I am not sure we are going to start right now, as she is still so young, but no harm in asking right? Diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stockdogranch Posted April 15, 2008 Report Share Posted April 15, 2008 It really depends on the dog, the handler, and the trainer, but most folks will tell you somewhere after 6 months--usually around 8-10 months (some will say a year) is probably the most common age when folks will start their pups on stock, A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCStarkey Posted April 15, 2008 Report Share Posted April 15, 2008 My BC is 3 1/2 months old, when would be a good time to start her in herding? I have yet to find a trainer near me (if you know of one in Maryland, let me know! lol). Hello Diane, Depending on where you are in Maryland, the chances of having a reputable trainer near you are very good! If you are in central Maryland, I highly recommend Linda Tesdahl and Carla King. If you are on the Eastern Shore, Sherry Smith is an accomplished trainer and handler. There are several other very good sheepdog trainers in Maryland, as well, in addition to quite a few training clinics with knowledgeable clinicians. If you would like contact information for any of those mentioned above, please contact me privately. Regards to all, nancy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NancyO Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Hi Diane, Your pup may be too young to start actual herding with, but there are still other things that you can teach her at this age, so when she is ready to start training, you will have the tools to do so. Teach her to come when called, we use "that'll do". we do not use the command "come" since one of our commands on sheep is "comebye" Teach her what a correction is and that her world does not end if she is corrected. If she is misbehaving, you can use a "heh!" to tell her that she is doing something wrong. You can teach her to lie down. You wrote She is herding my other dog Honey Bear, in chase games I would discourage this, even if you need to not let her out with Honey Bear. Chasing and nipping are bad habits and should be discouraged. Take her with you to as many places as you can. There are many other things you can do at this time with your pup, but mainly you want to raise her up to be a good dog, happy and confident in herself and with you. You can find out alot of information about herding at http://www.littlehats.net/core.html Welcome to the boards. Nancy O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ace Posted April 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Thank you for the advice, she already knows... Come, sit, lie down, wave, left, and part of stay. We are working on that. What should I do if she already has been taught come? I know nothing about herding at all, none of the commands, or what they mean. This is all very new to me. I do agility with my other dog, so Rush has been started in foundation training for Obedience/Agility. I am not sure if that makes a difference on anything. I am just worried about what you said on the come command. Thanks, Diane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 Diane, Don't worry about the come command. If you've already trained your dog to recall to "come" then you'll just have to come up with a different command for your left flank (some folks use "go bye"). There's no rule that says you have to use "away to me" and "come bye" as your right and left commands--it's just what folks have traditionally used. So no harm done if you've trained your dog to come to "come." J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stockdogranch Posted April 16, 2008 Report Share Posted April 16, 2008 ^^ What she said--I'm one of those "go-bye" people, as "come" just works for me in the very beginning to get the dog to come to me. But, just because we seem to use universal commands, you could really use anything you like, A Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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