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ajm

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  1. I like to incorporate it into play. Just fooling around with him or her. When they are lying down, say the word, so the pup associates it with lying down, as he is doing it. I tried snacks once. It worked. But Border Collies are smart and it got so she would run over to the fridge and lie down, hoping I would then produce the piece of cheese from the fridge. Amanda
  2. Hi guest Smogette I am not a pro on this but I would give him as mush excercise as makes him happy. Sheep Dog questions I can answer. Amanda
  3. Stacey posting this to another forum will be helpful I'm a sheep dog hand. yours Amanda
  4. Don't allow it. A quick clip under the jaw will help him bite his own tongue and cut it out.
  5. Put him on long line and make him walk quietly behind the sheep. He should lie down on command on the long line and you can slowly loosen him off it. Let him drag it. Nosheep abuse allowed.
  6. Someone should send me alerts to there being questions on this list. I look for a while and nothing and then I stop looking. I, of course, am unfamiliar with the precedents to your driving. I see a lot of dog starting that is left and right, breaking through the sheep, with new dynamics for what is balance, between dog and hand all the time--rather than letting the dog settle in behind and learn to make a good line while in the infantile stages of gathering. Once dogs get the hang of holding a line in a gather, not much of a stretch is involved, in doing it while driving, These early gathers require a hand to check a dog when it swings left or right and fall in behind the sheep. Intelligent dogs in the hands of perceptive trainers, learn to hold those lines, They can equally learn to do it in a drive. No wondering where we are headed with something--the dogs see, with the help of the hand. If you believe that you have these gathering principals down pat, you can move on to your driving with confidence. If you are having trouble keeping your dog behind, walk on one side, dog behind, sheep at right angles to you, fence on the other. The fence will keep your sheep on the straight and narrow with you on the other side. The dog will get the hang of holding a line, in what amounts to a breach of its perception of balance. The dog can accept it. It could be that your dog lacks the gas to take the sheep, whether its away from you or towards you. Judging that would be up to you or a supervising clinician. Perhaps you are confident of the dog's power, in which case, the driving should be no problem. You claim to be late in demanding a stop, which escalates a zig zag fest. Handlers who become good, must discipline themselves to see sheep turning, before they turn. Stop your dog before you think it needs to be stopped. Same with the other direction. Purify your concentration on your sheep. Your dog will reward you by seeing your logic, joining you on the job. These training sessions are anything but haphazard. The concentration involved comes as a surprise, as trainers become better. No little slips. Don't make your dog wonder where you are headed with your sheep.
  7. I can't get a rise out of anyone on this subject. Just because I don't like wide running dogs, doesn't mean they are unsuitable for another who wants time to make up their mind about what to do next. The wide runner will afford that--time to decide what to do next. It might be you who wants such a dog, although it may not suit me.
  8. I can't run dogs running too wide. In my experience, that is a problem that escalates as they get older. It starts with a reaction to pressure early on and develops into a go to behavior when dogs do not want to face the music--an easy out. Precision required of top runs is nearly impossible with such a dog, as they will take swings at moments of grave inconvenience and hemorrhage points for sloppy turns, or worse stay out of the park when you are trying to shed; or what about a criminal cast off when shovelling them in the pen is demanded. How can a wide one inspire confidence on big unfenced fields as they run out? Which nonsensicle place will they end up? I can't abide a wide dog. Nor will I breed to it. Too much eye can be a deal breaker. They will spoil outruns by pulling up early. They are shortchanged in the free flanking department. They hesitate when asked to walk up, pretending to be considering options. They lock up at the pen, letting you down even if they just laid down a good one around the course. They will hesitate when they should be fluid, enlisting sheep confrontation as the sheep will always peer back at them, an ovine equivalent of WTF. They provoke questions for which there are no answers. They explode in a cheap grip when tension gets the better of them. Don't run it. Don't breed it. I don't mind training through questionable power. Sometimes dogs, who are inspired can workout techniques to handle aggression from sheep. You as a trainer can be a confidence builder. However, be prepared for failure, as it doesn't always work out. I saw a dog last weekend who was remarkable as a youngster for being a poor outrunner--crossing, confused. Many handlers I know, me included might have given up on him, but his handler took him back to basics of short successful outruns over the training year. It worked. His handler believed in him. He has become a proper dog, with big difficult outruns under his belt. Dogs, just like people, can develop in good ways in the presence of compassion and faith. your job as a trainer is to sideline liabilities and showcase assets.
  9. Since no one has a question, I have advice A notion that training will be done at a fixed time, has been drawn to my attention. "I will train my dogs at 6:00 pm." It doesn't work that way. The current severe heat in the east changes our opportunities to train. Six in the morning is the best window, when it is coolest. our job as trainers is to optimize conditions for a young dog. No way can they think well enough to learn if they get too hot, not to mention the damage you might do health wise, for the long run. We go for the coolest part of the day, when our canine partners can remain level headed, and clear sighted. We limit the demands we make during a hot spell: your ability to solve a problem, if one develops is constrained by how hot your dog becomes. Ending a training session on a positive note can be awkward, if you are forced to give up due to the heat. Don't go too far. Keeps sessions short and manageable. Be content with a dog re-enforcing things it may already know. No pushing of the envelope. The optimizing of conditions applies to other factors. Grass should be kept short so the youngster is not bombarded by seed heads when he is giving a flank all he's got. Sheep should be free and places with unmanageable draws that work to defeat the young dog should not be allowed
  10. Sorry, but it's been ages since anyone has asked a question. I had one of these dogs that flew off like a wild indian around a wagon train. I couldn't wait to sell it. What can such a dog be thinking?? No balance, or grasp of for what it is getting behind the sheep. No concept of ansering to the presence of a handler. Why? I once saw a clinic Dalziel had where he put a line on a dog and stopped it, with the line. I suppose this might be an instance where that would be useful. I have always thought the requirement of the line was annoying at best. I like a dog that thinks more constructively than that at the outset. But maybe the final outcome, of a dog not flying into orbit, as you describe, would make it worth it. Try that and let us know how it came off Amanda
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