Age question

[clara]

I have a five year old rescued Border Collie, Ling, who I got when she was 10 months old. We've done lots of agility and frisbee, but never any herding. I know she want to herd SOMETHING, because she herds any other dog she can get close to. The usual victim is our 9 year old SpringerX. He used to be a runner, but now he can't get further than 100 feet from us without her running a circle in front of him to turn him back to us. If after a couple of tries that doesn't work, she comes from behind and bites his heels.

 

I finally learned the name of someone in my area who does instinct testing and training for stockdogs, but I wonder whether Ling is too old to start. Do any of you who train stockdogs have opinions about starting a dog at this age? She learns fast, but I wonder whether she'd just be a menace to the sheep at this point. Since she's been allowed to follow her own rules in herding our other dog, will she resist the rules of herding? I'm sure the trainer can answer these questions too, but I'd like to get a few opinions before I even decide whether to call. How old is too old for a Border Collie to start herding?

 

 

Clara

[Bill Fosher]

Hi Clara,

 

If you're interested in learning about shepherding and working with dogs, the best time to start is when you can start. At five years old, your dog will probably have some habits that will be harder to break than if you had started her when she was younger, but that's no reason not to start her. Don't expect to set the world on fire, but you can both learn a lot in the five or six years that she has left to work.

[Rebecca, Irena Farm]

Sometimes dogs like this who have been allowed to expend their urges in their own way, will resist the idea that the "game" has rules now. Other than that, I've seen many a dog start out very well after a lifetime of the suburban lifestyle. Often, a mature dog starts out even better than a young dog, as the older dog has learned patience and is confident in how to please people.

 

Good luck and be sure to report back!

[KrisK]

I wondered the same thing when I decided to give it a try. Jazz will be 8 years old this year and Cricket will be 4. We just started with a trainer last fall. The biggest surprise was that Jazz actually was the 'better' of the two when it came to understanding what was expected. I know they will not be as good as they might have been had we started as youngsters, but we'll continue for as long as it makes sense. It's certainly worth trying

[laurie etc]

I recently started my daughters' dogs, both around five years old, because they wanted to see how they would do on sheep. Neither will become full time stock workers, but they do get the chance to come out to train occasionally, and wanted to see if they could be trained enough to do some AHBA trialing. Both dogs are working bred, but have been agility dogs their whole lives. To make a long story short, they both took to the stock work like ducks to water, and the best part was that we didn't have to go through the crazy puppy "zoomy - slice'n'dice" stage, they already knew lie down, and "that'll do" (or a recall); they have some maturity and self control; and were much more thoughtful about the whole thing than the youngsters I've started. Because of the agility training, they also already knew how to cue off of body language, so pushing them out off the stock and changing directions was fairly easy.

 

If you have somewhere to do it, I think you should try Ling, you might be amazed!

Laurie