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I debated putting this in the training forum, but I felt the working stockdogs forum would have more people with stockdog experience seeing it. Edit: Now that I've posted this I see there is a training group inside of stockdogs. This post should be there, but I don't see a way to move it. If that's possible, I'll gladly move it. Sorry for posting in the wrong topic! I have an 11 week old Border Collie that was bred for herding. Both of his parents work on a 150,000 acre cattle ranch! My intentions for him are on a much smaller scale, but I still want to make sure I do things right. What sort of things should I not teach my dog? I've heard to teaching them to heel and to only walk on one side of you can ruin his ability/desire to herd, since he learns to only stay by your side. I did read that teaching them to walk on leash without pulling you is okay though, thank goodness! I also believe I've read not to teach tug-a-war, but that may have been for other non-stock related reasons. I know that's a bad game from a dominance perspective anyhow. I also read about a lady who taught her dog the herding commands on a ball while playing fetch, then the dog wanted to play ball every time that it was supposed to be herding. I wont try anything like that! I have the book Herding Dogs-- Progressive Training by Vergil Holland. From what I've seen, this is the go-to book on training stockdogs. So far I've only read the chapters on puppies/new dogs. I have a good few months before we need to start actual herding training. My key questions are: What should I not teach my dog to do? Is puppy obedience class a good idea, or would I have to skip too many things that are covered in the class (mostly things involving a leash)? So far we're learning commands fine on our own and socializing with dogs of friends/family. Do you have any other tips that will help me to raise a good puppy into a great stockdog? P.S. I figured that a post on this would already exist, but my searching did not turn up anything. If I've missed it, please forgive me. Any direction to related posts is also appreciated.
