mjk05 Posted October 30, 2005 Report Share Posted October 30, 2005 How long do people wait for a pup to switch on to sheep, and then starting to work with consistency/intensity? We have a dog from a line with a reputation for starting late- he's about 9mo, and has had a few sessions in the round yard/small paddock with trainer sheep. He shows interest on and off, and when he's on, there are flashes of good stuff. But if we work him for more than a few minutes, or put any pressure on, he backs off. He's been used for some mob work or in the yards, pushing up with older dogs, and that hasn't helped. We would probably look at him going to a pet home, or one that could combine pet/work duties if he developed later, but he has really nice breeding, and (this sounds so silly) "works" the other dogs really nicely, exactly the way his parents/g'parents look on sheep- as he does for those few minutes he's good on training sheep. Physically, he's a very big dog, looks much older than he is, so its easy to forget he's young. We've put him away, no work at all for a few months, but I was wondering how long other people leave "late starters" before they give up? Thanks, Samantha Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted October 30, 2005 Report Share Posted October 30, 2005 My wife has a really nice dog that was afraid of sheep until he was a year old. He was working pretty well by 14 months, and can do just about anything she wants on the farm now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howdyjabo Posted October 30, 2005 Report Share Posted October 30, 2005 Give it a long break then try again... Dogs that start late usually make up for it by progressing fast. I don't worry about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Glen Posted October 30, 2005 Report Share Posted October 30, 2005 Geeze, 9 months is late? We don't start dogs until they are over a year. I've been fooling with my 7 month old once a month, but my husband (who's going to put the first 2 months of training on him) whishes I would just leave him alone until he's a year. I would say 2 years old was late, but nine months is just a baby. They can't handle the pressure of training anyway so you might as well let them grow up. I spend my time with our pups just getting them socialized, teaching them a recall and a lie down. Other than that, they have time to just be a pup. Jenny Glen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.