Deb Mickey Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 Hi all you ... here's a question. What do you do for a dog whose eye hangs them up at the lift? Do you smack your leg with your hat with a gruff "get out of that" or work to free them up with balance work or what ? Thanks in advance for your input! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted February 2, 2007 Report Share Posted February 2, 2007 I had one - it was a confidence issue rather than eye, though. The solution was lots of walking with all kinds of different sheep. He was hanging there, just trying to figure out how best to handle the draw, working out the "perfect" lift. Working lots of different sheep gave him the tools to lift with confidence no matter what he faced. He enjoyed driving so we just drove the sheep around with no commands except a check if he started to head them. I've also seen trainers just work on getting the dog more comfortable with being responsive to you when that eye kicks in, with flanking and stopping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stockdogranch Posted February 4, 2007 Report Share Posted February 4, 2007 Rebecca brings up a good point--sometimes this is just eye, other times it's a confidence thing, and other times it's a case of a dog that's just been screwed down a bit too tight. If it's really eye rather than confidence, then do eveything you can to keep the dog up and moving. I wouldn't stop the dog at the top--just give a walk up command. Try using flighty stock, something that will get the dog in the habit of moving at the lift, rather than just sitting or lying there. As Rebecca said, lots of different types of stock, and lots of walkabouts with direction changes to keep the dog in motion and thinking. Lots of shorter outruns than the dog is used to so you are close enough to encourage the dog to get up and moving, then slowly build up your distance again. If you have another dog that lifts readily, you can send them together at least a few times so the dog can get the idea of just coming on in. You don't want to use a back up dog too much so that the sticky one gets dependant on it, but sometimes it can learn that's it's OK to just go on in. If it's really a confidence thing, then you can also do close work, in small pens and stuff--you can make it fun and exciting to "break the bubble," so that the dog knows it's Ok to go on in and mix it up a bit. But if it's truly an issue to lots of eye, then just do lots of stuff to free the dog up--keep it moving and make it all fun. Anna Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill Fosher Posted February 5, 2007 Report Share Posted February 5, 2007 THe first thing to do is work on freeing up the dog close at hand. Do a bunch of exercises where the dog is never asked to lie down, and if you see it start to stick, stir things up and get it moving again. Break the habit. Also, don't ever let it stare at sheep when it's not working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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