BorderCollieSam Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 Some of you may recall i went to the Lake District the other day and visited a farm that did Sheep Trialing. The guy had around 9 dogs, one of which was the National Champion. He trials dogs, but also breeds and trains. He was apparently visited by an American last year, who wanted to purchase the National Champion but the farmer said he wasn't for sale. This infuriated the American who claimed that he was told all the dogs were for sale, the farmer said 'not that one'.... Anyway, several weeks later, they received an 'open cheque' with a letter saying to fill in the amount they want on the cheque and to cash it. They apparently returned the cheque and filled it in with 'not for sale'........ Anyway, my point is this, i chose a dog that i wanted to use for the trialing, and the farmer took along his National Champion, to an open field adjacent to his property, and showed me what to do...... He told me the commands to use, Come-Bye, Away, told me to wait until the dog runs out to 12 oclock, and then to give the lay down command, then walk up etc., However the farmer was teaching me the commands whilst he was working his National Champion, and he literally muttered the commands under his breath, i could hardly hear them, yet the dog was responding immediately to each command and the dog was at the other end of the field...... He did this to demonstrate to me how sensitive a dogs hearing is, I knew dogs had sensitive hearing, but didn't know that they were this sensitive???? My dog must be deaf with the way i speak to him! Do you guys and girls speak very quietly like this to your dogs? I would be very interested in hearing..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted April 13, 2009 Report Share Posted April 13, 2009 Yes. But, they can be "trained" through overuse, that its okay to ignore anything but a certain tone. Then you have to go back and re-train them to respond to what you expect them to. I'm working on this with Ted. I don't want to yell at him all the time, but it's easy to forget that commands should never need to be shouted (I mean in an emotional way, not when you are in a high wind or heavy rain or whatever). Even corrections don't need to be loud, just firm, in an "I mean it" tone. We're getting there. One thing that helps is not staring at him all the time but trying to focus on the sheep, and/or the ground where I don't want him to be, so I'm just thinking about that and not "Ack! Look waht he did!" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertranger Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 Tone of voice is the key as Becca said. I have problems with Jin because I can't control my tone of voice well enough. When I've got it right he responds to merest whisper. Surra was so well trained he responded to grunt's, hisses, and growls along with everything else I wold throw at him. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jdarling Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 Don Helsley does a very cool demonstration with his open dog, Blue, much the same. The whistle tones .... I can barely hear them standing next to him, but Blue can hear them clear on the other side of the field. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorderCollieSam Posted April 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 Funnily, the shepherd told me just as i was to give my first command Come-Bye, to 'look at the sheep not the dog', as he said the dog can sense i'm not looking at the sheep! He also asked, before he told me the commands, 'can you sing'? I said no, he said me neither, but lets try! He said i need to say 'Come Bye' like i'm singing it otherwise the dog won't respond, i started ok, with teh 'Come' part and the dog started to move forward, but then the 'bye' came out as normally spoken, and the dog stopped in its tracks! I then got the idea of singing it, and the dog performed faultlessly! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertranger Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 Interesting. When I met Lori the gal who's goping to be Jin's trainer she gave me a couple of pointers about the tone and pitch of my voice. Maybe that's why my humanatnoe whistle works well. I'm still trying to get a shepherds whistle to work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorderCollieSam Posted April 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 Interesting. When I met Lori the gal who's goping to be Jin's trainer she gave me a couple of pointers about the tone and pitch of my voice. Maybe that's why my humanatnoe whistle works well. I'm still trying to get a shepherds whistle to work. What type of whistle do you have? I purchased one off Ebay for £3.50, it is made of nickel and fits under the tongue, i can use it a little hit and miss, but the whistle the farmer had cost £35.00 and was a slightly difference shape, i'll try and find a photo of it on google..... Yes, the tone and flow of a voice command definetely made a difference, i said 'come' (in a singing type of voice) and the dog took a flying step forward/lunge but when i said 'bye' the dog put his breaks on..... However, the next time i had a little more success, and he took a couple of lunges forward, however on the first attempt i sung the whole command and the dog flew out and around the edge of the field, i sung all commands after this and had 100% responses from the dog. This is the dog i used:- http://www.lakedistrictsheepdogexperience.co.uk/ourdogs.htm Mac, he is the second from the bottom....and the Champion was Goe, he had such an 'Eye' it was really scary for me even let alone the sheep! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
desertranger Posted April 14, 2009 Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 I can't sing at all. I can bark commands, did a lot of that in the air force. Here's a link to the whistle I use. It's easy. I only recently heard about the shepherds whistle and have seen them priced from $2.50USD to $50.00USD or so depending on material and construction. they all look basically the same. I wold imagine that the more expensive whistles are easier to use. But if I've learned anything in my life, start with the harder novice stuff before going to the nice stuff. In the long run you get a better result because of the extra work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BorderCollieSam Posted April 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 14, 2009 I can't sing at all. I can bark commands, did a lot of that in the air force. Here's a link to the whistle I use. It's easy. I only recently heard about the shepherds whistle and have seen them priced from $2.50USD to $50.00USD or so depending on material and construction. they all look basically the same. I wold imagine that the more expensive whistles are easier to use. But if I've learned anything in my life, start with the harder novice stuff before going to the nice stuff. In the long run you get a better result because of the extra work. I've never seen one like that, the one i was using (have lost it think it fell out of pocket) was this one:- http://www.britishdog.net/media/gbu0/prods...s_Whistle_s.jpg However, the one the Shepherd had the other day was one like this (but in metal and all i can seem to find are the plastic ones....) http://choicewhistles.com/prodimages/plas-shepherd-l.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Root Beer Posted April 16, 2009 Report Share Posted April 16, 2009 He did this to demonstrate to me how sensitive a dogs hearing is, I knew dogs had sensitive hearing, but didn't know that they were this sensitive???? My dog must be deaf with the way i speak to him! Do you guys and girls speak very quietly like this to your dogs? I would be very interested in hearing..... I do give Dean very quiet cues and directives sometimes. He has super super super sensitive hearing. All of my dogs hear very well, but he takes the cake. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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