How do you put a stop on a dog?

[Fealomwen Edhel]

Hi!

 

I was wondering - how do you put a stop on a dog? My Alex knows sit, down, stand - but how do I train 'stop'? Obviously I've never trained a sheepdog before , so how do all the knowledgable trainers here put a stop on a dog? I'm looking at taking him to sheep sometime next summer, so I've got some time, but I'm really at a loss here at how to train this. I'm assuming that its usually taught without sheep first.

 

Thanks!

 

Fealomwen and Alex

[Amy]

Alex,

 

While it's okay to teach lie down, here, and that'll do off sheep. Other commands need to be taught on sheep. The dog's response to commands must be taught in relationship to what the sheep are doing. Your dog needs to learn to read sheep correctly and respond to the sheep..

 

For example telling and enforcing a young dog to lie down on sheep when he's not right will undermine what you are trying to do. It won't feel "right" to the dog. And will be confusing to him.

 

In fact sometimes lie down on sheep doesn't even mean lie down..it's used as a brake.

 

Hopefully some of the others who can explain things better will hop in and help out with what I'm trying to say.

 

In the meantime..build a bond with your dog..work on manners, and work on your dog excepting pressure and corrections.