bc soul sista Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 Need some opinions!!! Had this dog about a year... I'm using whistles on him but I am new to it, although been practicing for about 6-8 months...I'm having a difficult time getting consistent tones but will keep working on that part... Having most difficulty driving...he seems to lack confidence, looks at me some..is difficult to stop at times and VERY slow to get up and slow to drive the sheep....it's difficult to flank him at a turn..and then difficult to keep him from going to there heads and not bring them back to me...so..basicly he's hard to get going at times and hard to stop.. Things I've been doing to try and fix things...LOTS of parallel driving...with me at a trot, just encouraging him on with my walk up whistle...i'll give a little flank to change directions slightly..I'll change my position..and we'll keep going until a change it a little again... We are ok with this, mostly....When we move to a square at tight quarters...we can do it pretty well...I keep sessions short...and full of energy..or try to.. Anything with distance beyond this and it seems to go to ish.... I've also been just trying to SSSHHUUSSH him up..jump a little to get him going...anything..when he completes a flank on a drive he will sometimes lie down and not want to get up...I always try to get him up immediatly...by shushing him..or putting a bit of pressure on..but it seems to be a consistent problem.. I'm getting better at reading my sheep, and understanding where he wants to be to cover..I'm trying to live up to my responisbility by helping him not "loose" his sheep when driving...but I need help with how to help him and us be more succesful as a driving team Any advice for how to build distance and confidence for the drive? BTW...he's deaf in one ear..not sure how much of this is the problem Report MultiQuote Reply Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donald McCaig Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 Dear Sheepdoggers, I'd probably start by determining if his deafness is affecting his driving. Are you sure it's just one ear? Is he significantly less able parallel driving when you're giving commands to his near good ear or his near bad one? Donald McCaig Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted August 21, 2012 Report Share Posted August 21, 2012 I'd also add to beware of too much encouragement. If you're constantly giving walk up whistles, shushing, or otherwise encouraging him, he may have come to *depend on* the constant encouragement. J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TEC Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 Need some opinions!!! Had this dog about a year... ...Any advice for how to build distance and confidence for the drive? Seemingly lacking confidence, looking back on drive, unwanted downs and continuations of downs, and difficulty flanking on drive. Wonder if perhaps your dog has grown accustomed to having you in view for most of his drive training. Parallel driving is good, but try to keep it to minimum for a while. Same with squares and triangles in which dog has handler in view much of time. Seeing handler no doubt provides added confidence which dog is not getting on long out-drives directly away from you. I would try driving straight away from your position, but move along staying close behind dog, gradually lengthening separation over several training sessions. Suggest moving few steps to dog's left when you ask for right hand flank, and vice versa. This little training device allows dog to learn inside flanks (a flank between you and sheep) without initially having to cross between handler and stock. Try to stay out of dog's view for time being, so he can get accustomed to not seeing you. Phase-out little inside flank trick as soon as your dog is flanking better. To mitigate dog's stickiness (unwanted downs/stops), suggest temporarily giving few down commands, keeping him moving and on his feet. My dog vacillates between wanting to drive sheep over horizon into next county long after I have given command to turn or fetch back, and wanting to fetch back the moment sheep turn a little to right or left. Seems to all depend on training we are emphasizing that week. Much of good training is finding a nice balance. Goal with my own dog is to keep sheep driving and headed in correct direction, dog at good balance point, and no commands at all. Something we aspire to. Minimum commands tells dog everything is OK, and keep-up the good work...it inspires self-confidence and ability to think for him/herself. Best wishes with that. They're not uncommon problems and are fixable. -- Kind regards, TEC Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted August 22, 2012 Report Share Posted August 22, 2012 I'm using whistles on him but I am new to it. he's deaf in one ear..not sure how much of this is the problem It's interesting to me that you stated these issues independently, and at opposite ends of your post. When I put them together, I see a very likely answer to your problem. Your whistles aren't consistent, or clear, and your dog's hearing is questionable. Sort of like me mumbling to someone hard of hearing, like my mother. I always had to speak very clearly to her. Conincidentally, she was deaf in one ear as well. I wouldn't be too excited about getting distance on any part of the work, until I had it perfect at hand. And I wouldn't rely much on whistles until 1. I was proficient at them, 2. Had the dog driving happily, without hesitation, caution, or fear. 3. The dog was keen (fast, determined) to balance to me just off the movement of my body and maybe a little shush. It sounds to me like you need to let off the pressure, and step on the gas with movement. Sometimes we talk, whistle, shush so much that it chills a dog. Try being quiet, get the sheep moving, and let the dog have his sheep in a way that makes his excited. I would get this dog going before I worried about whistles or driving. Practice whistling alone in your car, or otherwise away from the dog. Also, make sure that each whistle is distinctly different from the other. Often some part of a whistle sounds like another command. The 1st part of your come-bye sounds like your lie down, and your stupid dog always lies down when you want it to come bye. That was the case with me when I was first learning how to handle. Took me a year and half, and help from a talented hand, to see MY mistake. Don't necessarily escalate your whistles if at first the dog won't take it. It depends. That's all I can tell you. Often when we escalate, we change them completely, blur them together, or even clip off what should be a tapering flank turning it into something else like a stop or down. There's lot of ways to go wrong with whistles. Sometimes the act of blowing a whistle too hard causes a dog to push back. That ends up looking like the dog won't stop when you blow stop, but he's actually tensing to the point where he can't stop. Main thing I would suggest is to be kind to your dog, because you are learning too. Try to find what makes him keen and happy no matter what you are doing, and build on that. Assume you are more than half of the problem, and experiment with different approaches until you find one your dog likes. Hope something in here helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejano Posted August 24, 2012 Report Share Posted August 24, 2012 Main thing I would suggest is to be kind to your dog, because you are learning too. Try to find what makes him keen and happy no matter what you are doing, and build on that. Assume you are more than half of the problem, and experiment with different approaches until you find one your dog likes. Hope something in here helps. This is my new training mantra. Thanks, Amelia (Robin and Brodie thank you too ). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.