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Teaching a stop on the OLF


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Hi, Vergil!

 

I've got a girl who does a fairly nice outrun and fetch. It's the lift where we have trouble. Haley hits the sheeps' bubble and blasts right through it...does not slow down or stop or lie down even when we do a short OLF and I can get to her and make her lie down or stop. My solution has been to take away the sheep if I can't make her stop, because I generally don't have an extra person with me to set out the sheep.

 

Working with lambs or reactive sheep is difficult because of our inability to get a good stop/slow at the top, pushing the sheep about halfway to me before she calms down and "steadies" out behind the flock.

 

Any suggestion would be helpful since I'll be out working the sheep tomorrow.

 

Thanks!

Liz Klenk & Haley & Dryden

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Well, hopefully this can also help you Saturday, since you have probably already worked her today!

 

Set the sheep up no more than 20-30 yards away maximum. Send the dog to the far side, lie Haley down and walk through the sheep with your fiberglass stick. Walk stright into the dog forcing the dog off the sheep. Do not let your dog have the sheep until she has turned better than 90 degrees off the sheep. Shush the dog around tp the pther side of the sheep, lie her down, wlk thorugh the sheep again into the dog forcing her out. Once she truns off the sheep better than 90 degrees, let her have the sheep. Repeat this exercise several times or until she gets off easily. Then walk through and push her off and as she goes to the other side, back up, letting her bring the sheep. If Haley starts to push in, raise your stick and reprimand her with an "Ahh, stay back out of it" or Ahh,you know better" in a firm tone. You will know that you have accomplished your goal when you stop and she stops automatically, without pushing the sheep past you. Done properly, this should help!

 

Vergil

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I'm so glad to have such clear help with this problem. I have additional difficulties with this and would like even more help. I've figured out that my dog must look like Jack Nicholson in The Shining to sheep since they will alert several hundred yards off when he has quietly walked on the field and downed - my younger dog can get quite close to these same sheep.

 

So, when I push through the sheep to get to a dog who has already pushed them into me and downed too close, the sheep tend to leave and the dog frantically goes to cover. Are you saying that I should let the dog cover as long as I can push him out? He responds pretty well to a "Get" and tends to stay off them once flanking. I just don't see how this helps address that initial "too closeness" in his mind. He has so little experience with quiet sheep since he tends to unquiet them. And he has had a habit of busting around me at high speed in order to (well, I'm mindreading here) turn them and get to the new balance point as quickly as possible. He is slowly learning that he can cover by going around.

 

This is my first dog and I'm still learning so much from trying to fix all the mistakes I've made.

 

Thanks for any help, Nancy

 

Virgil: Set the sheep up no more than 20-30 yards away maximum. Send the dog to the far side, lie Haley down and walk through the sheep with your fiberglass stick. Walk stright into the dog forcing the dog off the sheep. Do not let your dog have the sheep until she has turned better than 90 degrees off the sheep. Shush the dog around tp the pther side of the sheep, lie her down, wlk thorugh the sheep again into the dog forcing her out. Once she truns off the sheep better than 90 degrees, let her have the sheep. Repeat this exercise several times or until she gets off easily. Then walk through and push her off and as she goes to the other side, back up, letting her bring the sheep. If Haley starts to push in, raise your stick and reprimand her with an "Ahh, stay back out of it" or Ahh,you know better" in a firm tone. You will know that you have accomplished your goal when you stop and she stops automatically, without pushing the sheep past you. Done properly, this should help!

 

Vergil

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I'm so glad to have such clear help with this problem. I have additional difficulties with this and would like even more help. I've figured out that my dog must look like Jack Nicholson in The Shining to sheep since they will alert several hundred yards off when he has quietly walked on the field and downed - my younger dog can get quite close to these same sheep.

 

So, when I push through the sheep to get to a dog who has already pushed them into me and downed too close, the sheep tend to leave and the dog frantically goes to cover. Are you saying that I should let the dog cover as long as I can push him out? He responds pretty well to a "Get" and tends to stay off them once flanking. I just don't see how this helps address that initial "too closeness" in his mind. He has so little experience with quiet sheep since he tends to unquiet them. And he has had a habit of busting around me at high speed in order to (well, I'm mindreading here) turn them and get to the new balance point as quickly as possible. He is slowly learning that he can cover by going around.

 

This is my first dog and I'm still learning so much from trying to fix all the mistakes I've made.

 

Thanks for any help, Nancy

 

Virgil: Set the sheep up no more than 20-30 yards away maximum. Send the dog to the far side, lie Haley down and walk through the sheep with your fiberglass stick. Walk stright into the dog forcing the dog off the sheep. Do not let your dog have the sheep until she has turned better than 90 degrees off the sheep. Shush the dog around tp the pther side of the sheep, lie her down, wlk thorugh the sheep again into the dog forcing her out. Once she truns off the sheep better than 90 degrees, let her have the sheep. Repeat this exercise several times or until she gets off easily. Then walk through and push her off and as she goes to the other side, back up, letting her bring the sheep. If Haley starts to push in, raise your stick and reprimand her with an "Ahh, stay back out of it" or Ahh,you know better" in a firm tone. You will know that you have accomplished your goal when you stop and she stops automatically, without pushing the sheep past you. Done properly, this should help!

 

Vergil

 

 

NO - do not let the dog have the sheep or bring them to you. The dog must lie down at the top of the outrun and you must force him off the sheep (turn off better than 90 degrees). You may need to head for the sheep as soon as you send the dog anticipating that he will try to blow through.

 

Once he is staying off where he belongs at the top, it's less important that he lies down.

 

Good Luck -

Vergil

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