Jump to content
BC Boards

Flipping off of pressure


NRhodes

Recommended Posts

  • 2 weeks later...

Hello all,

I'm wondering why the dog is on a line. He looks as though he wants to be right, is easy to influence, and the goats don't seem to be in any danger. I would work him off the line, because it seems to me that you need more dog, not less, and dragging a line always takes something out of them. Also, the smaller the area, the stronger the pressure. You might try a bigger area and see if it changes his demeanor.

 

I'm not a big fan of the stick method of influence either. I see you using your stick a lot to tell your dog which direction, to stop, to go, get back, not to grip, prevent the slice, etc. The dog is only reacting to the stick. He isn't thinking, listening, reading pressure or learning to read stock on his own, which are all attributes that I encourage from the outset. He is just learning to duck and dodge. If it were me, I wouldn't carry one and learn to accomplish training with the pressure of body and my voice. The problem is that you can't influence your dog with a stick at 450 yards, so why train him that way? If I carry one to train a dog, there is something really wrong going on with a dog, and you don't seem to have that problem.

 

It appears that the reason your dog is wearing from side to side is because there's nowhere for him to go forward. The goats are dog broke and want to stay at your feet. You are always moving towards the dog to influence the dog with the stick, and in effect bringing them with you towards the dog. He has no place to go but off to the side. The whole endeavor looks all jammed up at your feet, which appears to be causing the problem.

 

You might try having someone hold the goats at one end of a bigger area, or set them on hay or grain. Take the dog off the line and lay him down as far away as you can and still get a good flank. Then walk to the goats and send him on a little gather. At the point at which he's committed to finish his outrun/big flank properly, (deep at the top,) start backing up and let him have his goats. Then you can use your voice and correct him when he starts to wear to prevent it and keep him on a good fetch line behind the stock. If your timing is good, that in itself should fix the problem. If you need more time to think and react, you can correct him, lie him down, give him a second, then let him begin the fetch again. But all the while I would be backing up staying away from the stock so the dog has room to fetch them without having to bend off. All this is predisposed by a good first step on the part of the dog. So, when you first send him, if his first step is towards the goats, and not square. Correct and stop him in quick succession, (correction then happy voice "lie down") give him 5 seconds to think, then flank him again. Rinse and repeat until the first step is correct.

 

It appears that your dog is slicing his flanks, because I see you give a big swoosh with your stick every so often to kick him out. Recommend fixing that at his first step as above. You're waiting until he's committed to the slice and it's too late then. The big swoosh with the stick causes him to lose contact with his stock, and become deeper at the top as a result, but does nothing for his feel or to prevent the slice in the first place. And it does nothing for his ability to start and maintain a proper flank without the influence of the stick.

 

Thanks for sharing your vid. Looks like a nice dog. Cheers

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...