mistntag Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 Ok, I'm in Ohio... Northeast Ohio... as my friend Vicki says "the wasteland for working dog resources". We have a commercial sheep farm consisting of about 175 sheep. We just brought a rescued 2 1/2 yr old bc into our family, who already shows instinct and has already herded the stray lambs back into a building. However, Tag has not been "officially trained" for herding, which is something we would like to do. Also, our sheep are NOT broke. This concerns me, because I can drive Tag to a trainer, but if I get him home and we work with sheep that are not broke, isn't that just going to be counterproductive? In a way, don't my sheep need trained too? Tag has herded cows, lambs, and attempts to herd the tractors and three wheeler - and we've only had him for three days (he had bells on his collar and was herding cows before he was dropped off at the shelter and later adopted by us). Someone said that attempting to train to herd on your own can ruin the dog. I definitely don't want to do that, but being able to travel on a regular basis to have him trained would be extremely tough - we don't get away from the farm much, as we have animals and crops (is there really life away from the farm???). Besides my concern is that the training wouldn't be as effective, as my sheep have not been exposed to a herding dog. Thanks for your time! Misty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concrete Posted May 23, 2004 Report Share Posted May 23, 2004 Hi Misty, Where are you in NE Ohio . I would be willing to drive up to 1 1/2 hours some weekend with a couple a dogs and work your sheep a little bit and take a look at your dog while we are at it. Kevin Brannon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted May 24, 2004 Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 Take Kevin up on this offer. Sheep don't need to be totally dog broke to work well -- they just have to learn what a dog means. Once they learn that a dog doesn't mean the end of the world, but that it does mean that they have to move, things will go just fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sea4th Posted May 24, 2004 Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 Hey Kevin, Where exactly are you located. If you offer lessons, I know of a couple of people that might be interested. Thanks. Vicki Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
concrete Posted May 24, 2004 Report Share Posted May 24, 2004 I am in east central Ohio. Near Frazeysburg the home of Longaberger baskets. About 20 east of Newark and 15 miles north of Zanesville or 50 miles east of Columbus out Rte 16. Kevin Brannon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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