wtrbaby333

I have a 14 week old pup who from 8 weeks has done really well with the basics: That'll Do, Lie Down, Heel, Go On, No, Bad Dog, Good Boy, That's Enough, Load Up, Up Looking for a recommendation on a book to use for more advanced sheepdog training like: Away, Come By, and working with sheep. Hes had a few positive experiences with my 5 Shetland sheep and a few negative ones as they are not impressd at all by him. I may have to wait till he gets fully grown and more confident and aggressive around them to begin to work with sheep. There is a local lady thinking of offering some BC pup training April, he'll be 5 moths old then. Says she has some more docile sheep than my Shetlands. Am I being too early in his training... I dont think so but looking for diversity of thought. Ive used Richard A. Walters "Gun Dog" book before on a labrador pup, and I like the early approach. Are there any BC sheepdog books out there with a similar approach?

Update... Mick is now 14 weeks old, we brought him home at 8 weeks old. In 6 weeks he has learned an astounding ammount. I started his training at 8 weeks following my old favorite Richard Wolters who wrote Gun Dog, a training model ahead of its time in my opinion. So at 14 weeks, Mick understands well and obeys 8 times out of 10 and improving daily, the following: His name, No, That'll Do, Lie Down, Go On, Load Up (gets into farm buggy/ golf cart), Thats Enough (to stop tormenting our Shih Tzus), TimeOut (banished to crate for socially unacceptable behavior), Out Of The Kitchen, Outside, Hurry Hurry (go potty). Hes met my 5 Shetland sheep and had a few positive and a few negative experiences with them; they are not impressed with him at all and seem to want to come to him and intimidate him, its almost like they know who he is and they want to get the upper hand- anyways I try very hard to manage encounters to be overall positive for him as Ive read one can ruin a BC early on so theyll never get over their fear of sheep. Him and I have bonded very tightly. He accompanies me every time I go to do farm chores. I figure that even if I mess up his sheepdog training, he'll be a great farm hand companion wherever I go on the farm. I'm trying to figure out the best way to initialize Away to Me, and Come By, without using sheep... or maybe its best trained using corraled sheep? Also looking for a BC sheepdog training book with a monkey-proof training approach similar to that Richard Walters used for gun dogs. Step by step, easy for me to visualize and understand... monkey-proof. Any recommendations? April time frame, Mick'll be 5 months old then, I'm hoping to go to a clinic for BC pups. Hopefully by then he'll have a solid base with which to work.

Trying to settle on a crate for our incoming BC male pup. Crate #1 42x28 wide x 30 high vs. Crate #2 36x24 x 25 high? We were getting one with a moveable partition so to not give pup too much room so to discourage it from peeing or pooping in there, and with an eye for him growing into a full grown male BC dog.

For those following... update... I chose the pup who was drawn to me, the super friendly one. Pup #1. I took my wife and mom to meet him last night, and again he came right for me and stayed on my hand like glue, I think he remembered me! Ill post some pics when we bring him home at eight weeks; two weeks from tomorrow.

Thank you all very much for your thoughts and feelings on this question as they are my defacto welcome to this group. In answer to the oft asked question about the intended use for the Collie: I hope that he will one day be able to help me get my sheep into a stall at night; at 52 and circling the drain fast, my personal BC charcteristics of speed and agility are sorely lacking, with an emphasis on SORELY I have five Shetland sheep hwo are blended into a flerd with a jersey cow and her year old heifer and a (future livestock guardian as hes only 6 months old) little male donkey called Clarence whose combined grazing results, by the way, are really good due to their different grazing preferences. Clarence goes for the horsenettles which nobody else likes, etc. etc. Im a retired infantryman, and we (wife and I) bought a beautiful farm up in the Blue Ridge Mountains of NW NC. Last night I came precipitously close to being separated from my quest for a BC dog to help me with my sheep. My wife raised our two (now 10-14 years old) Shih Tzus while I was deployed to various armpits of the world... so I missed all that, very How convenient I might add! Well what goes around comes around. She laid out in excruciating detail what was involved especially during the nights, in the raising of puppies, in a tone that can only be described as very doubtful gently stirred with a tinge of horror. And after a rough night last night due to various maladies that come with being my age, feeling completely knackered and like hammered dog poo, I had a moment of intense internal reflection and the thought of 'oh shit, what am I about to do?' crossed my my foggy mind. However, triumphant news. After a cup of instant coffee, and bouyed by your kind generous thoughts and general feeling of optimism, I am back on track. A little wobbly but back on track. Damn the torpedoes! I've named him Mick, short for McDonald, of which I am.

Four dogs left in this litter I have access to: #1 is super friendly to me, made a bee-line for me, fell asleep in my hands, licked my beard. #2 also very friendly liked to be petted by me. #3 average pup, came over to be petted, frifted off. #4 the watcher, the quiet one, when brought to me liked to be petted well enough, friendly, drifted off after a little while All other things being equal (I feel comfortable about all the due dilligence questions, working dog parents, health, owners etc etc ) which one do I choose??? The super friendly one one wants to be my mate (buddy) or the aloof quiet watcher? Or in between?