CBQH Posted May 12, 2009 Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 PennyT I'm not certain if my dogs do it that way because I've never paid that much attention to them while they are working. If I had to guess, though, I would say they do for the same reason the horses do. Usually the only time you will see a horse going across the pen while working a cow in the wrong lead is a young horse that hasn't figured a whole lot out yet. I have never had to teach the horse which lead to be in depending how it's being drug across the pen by the cow. They simply figure that part out by themselves because they know they have to stay up with the cow, which is much quicker than the horse. Over time, it just becomes natural for the horse to pick up the correct lead. The other positioning of body parts, correct way to stop, etc., is taught to a greater degree. I think the dogs, over time, would figure out the same thing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeltaBluez Tess Posted May 12, 2009 Report Share Posted May 12, 2009 When I see a dog working off a wrong lead, I do short, fast flanks until he is on the correct lead, then let him circle the stock to make it more solid. Usually it is one side they have the lead issue with and after a few times, they seem to feel comfortable with it and settle down and it is no longer an issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyT Posted May 13, 2009 Report Share Posted May 13, 2009 "I'm not certain if my dogs do it that way because I've never paid that much attention to them while they are working. If I had to guess, though, I would say they do for the same reason the horses do." They probably do, indeed. I just observed a lamb attempting to break back on a dog's left. Dog shifted to left lead (outside lead) with head cocked right for control. Surprisingly easy to see once I started looking. Thanks for the astute observation. While I, of course, look for a young dog to signal an intention to slice or grip by body language, I had not associated a shift in stance to the outside lead with balanced readiness to cover using that outside lead. Good one. I'll check some more to see if this was just coincidence. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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