hsnrs Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 My male Aussie Sam is still gripping. We are working in the round pen with 4 sheep. When we try to stop the action and down him it is a chase to catch him first. Then once he is lying down we start over with the walk up and the whole thing starts again. How severe a correction should we use on him? Today we tried putting him on his side and growling to make the point the sheep are ours. That was a last resort and it seemed to help a bit. We pulled him from the ASCA trial this weekend as we didn't want any thank yous for a grip. Vergil's book and others say not to take a grip out of our dog so how does one balance this with not having him grip at a trial? Guess these are several questions in one but we seriously need help. Our trainer says we have to be firm but not sure how to accomplish this beyond what we are doing now. She is not taking us for lessons any more and everyone in our immediate area is also too busy so we must do this on our own for now. Thanks for your help. Narita Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amc Posted October 15, 2008 Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Narita, How old is Sam, and what's his breeding? Thanks, Amy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsnrs Posted October 15, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2008 Sam is a Mistretta dog. He is 4 years old. N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vergil Holland Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 My male Aussie Sam is still gripping. We are working in the round pen with 4 sheep. When we try to stop the action and down him it is a chase to catch him first. Then once he is lying down we start over with the walk up and the whole thing starts again. How severe a correction should we use on him? Today we tried putting him on his side and growling to make the point the sheep are ours. That was a last resort and it seemed to help a bit. We pulled him from the ASCA trial this weekend as we didn't want any thank yous for a grip. Vergil's book and others say not to take a grip out of our dog so how does one balance this with not having him grip at a trial? Guess these are several questions in one but we seriously need help. Our trainer says we have to be firm but not sure how to accomplish this beyond what we are doing now. She is not taking us for lessons any more and everyone in our immediate area is also too busy so we must do this on our own for now. Thanks for your help. Narita Sounds like Sam is quite agressive with a lot of intensity. A dog of this type will require pretty agressive action on your part to back him off to where he needs to be. Normally I would advise you to seek professional help to do what I have outlined below because of the importance of perfect timing and ability to read the situation. A. He needs to be worked on a 12-14 ft long line 3/8" or less in diameter. (You can step on this when needed to catch him when things get out of hand) B. You must have extremely broke sheep that will stay with you (approx 4) C. Find someone that will hold the dog for you while you are doing your part. D. Get yourself a fiberglass stick or whatever you use as your arm extension and go to the center of the ring with the sheep. Your job is to defend those sheep when the dog is let loose either by hitting the ground in front of him or across the bridge of his nose. He must be made/forced to back away from the sheep before he is allowed to go around. Your timing and ability to read the situation and not overreact is extremely important, but react you must. AS the dog starts around the sheep you must keep yourself between the sheep and Sam. Any time he starts to come in for the sheep, he must be corrected in a manner that fits the occasion. It will be impossible to do any serious training until he has been taught to back off the sheep. Good Luck, keep me posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vergil Holland Posted October 16, 2008 Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 Sounds like Sam is quite agressive with a lot of intensity. A dog of this type will require pretty agressive action on your part to back him off to where he needs to be. Normally I would advise you to seek professional help to do what I have outlined below because of the importance of perfect timing and ability to read the situation. A. He needs to be worked on a 12-14 ft long line 3/8" or less in diameter. (You can step on this when needed to catch him when things get out of hand) B. You must have extremely broke sheep that will stay with you (approx 4) C. Find someone that will hold the dog for you while you are doing your part. D. Get yourself a fiberglass stick or whatever you use as your arm extension and go to the center of the ring with the sheep. Your job is to defend those sheep when the dog is let loose either by hitting the ground in front of him or across the bridge of his nose. He must be made/forced to back away from the sheep before he is allowed to go around. Your timing and ability to read the situation and not overreact is extremely important, but react you must. AS the dog starts around the sheep you must keep yourself between the sheep and Sam. Any time he starts to come in for the sheep, he must be corrected in a manner that fits the occasion. It will be impossible to do any serious training until he has been taught to back off the sheep. Good Luck, keep me posted. PS - Read carefully and make sure you understand this fully before attempting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsnrs Posted October 16, 2008 Author Report Share Posted October 16, 2008 Thanks so much for the info. Yesterday I laid him on his side several times and finally the last time growled and showed my teeth. He was calmer. Today the sheep stayed with me and Sam was on a long line. We practiced staying behind the sheep and he did much better. He still gripped but not as often. One of the sheep broke through my gate in the round pen and Sam after him. The ram lamb realized he was out with a dog and came back to the flock of 3 ewes. We ended the lesson on a more calm manner. Tomorrow I'll get out my horse longe and tie a couple of bags to it to keep him off the sheep. Good idea to keep the sheep in the middle and Sam on the outside. I am re reading your book and saw in the front about using as much aggression as you need to control the situation. The putting him on his side and being the pack leader seemed to help today. At the end of our sessison he even followed me out without even glancing back at the sheep. N Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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