Packed pen work

[NorthfieldNick]

For all his wonderful work ethic, my Nick dog has a few confidence issues. He's a strong dog, but he had trouble putting pressure on sheep in tough situations- say, when a heavy ewe would turn to face him. I knew the ewe would turn if he pushed, but he didn't. We've done a ton of work, setting him up to succeed, and I've seen Nick's confidence soar. He's even facing down ewes with lambs now.

 

I'd done some packed pen work with him before, and it was pretty much me walking around inside the pen with me between Nick & the sheep. A few weeks ago, my sheep were having a "let's be as rotten as possible" day and refused to go through the chute they've been through a thousand times before. I sent Nick into the pen, just to walk up behind the sheep to push them a little, and to my surprise, he went all the way around and peeled the sheep right off the fence! After I finally got done drenching the sheep, I decided to see if that was a fluke or not, ans sent Nick in to bring the sheep out of the pen. He did it, but he bit each and every sheep on his way around the pen. Not a hard grip, just a little nip on the hocks.

 

Is this something I need to worry about? Will it get better as his confidence continues to increase? Or was it actually proper behaviour in a pen tightly packed with 50-odd sheep, most of whom couldn't see the dog coming around them?

 

I'm so darn proud of this little dog! My old dog was a quitter, he's one of those few collies who is truly happiest being a pet. Nick has no quit, none at all. He just keeps getting better as he matures (he'll be 5 in June). We moved my friend's 60-ewe flock through a narrow trail (two sheep wide or so) in the woods this week- Nick couldn't see me ahead of the ewes, most of the time, I couldn't see him. I knew there were a few grumpy old ewes in the back, but we made it with no troubles at all! Totally made my day

[stockdogranch]

he bit each and every sheep on his way around the pen. Not a hard grip, just a little nip on the hocks.

 

He's probably a worthless biscuit eater and should be sent here immediately

 

Seriously, sounds like he's just making sure he doesn't end up in a confrontation. I wouldn't worry about it at all, as they sound like reasonably appropriate grips. In fact, I'd rather have this than a lot of other behaviors in a packed pen. As he does this exercise more and gains confidence, he should learn to only do it when absolutely necessary,

 

A