Sheepdog training tips and advice
Close work with your dog
A useful sheepdog needs to be confident when it’s working sheep in yards and buildings. A huge outrun might be a sheepdog’s most impressive skill, but any working dog is likely to spend more time on yard work – penning, pushing, holding and loading sheep – than it is gathering them. The outrun will save…
Portia’s training upgrade at Dean Farm
Training a sheepdog for working a larger number of sheep Note: In terms of training, the actual number of sheep discussed in this article, is not as important as the step-up in flock size compared to the dog’s previous experience. Increase flock and field sizes slowly. A welcome invitation! Busy schedules have reduced opportunities for…
Looking at the Point of Balance
Is the point of balance always in the same place? You’ll often hear that the dog MUST stop at 12 o’clock, on the “point of balance”. The theory is that if you imagine the handler is standing at 6 o’clock on a clock face, the dog should be directly opposite the handler – at 12…
Improve a bad outrun, by going back to basics (FAQ)
QUESTION: What is the best way of improving a bad outrun? ANSWER: The most common reason for your dog doing a bad outrun is: you sent it too far, too soon. Read on for more details. Ways of improving a bad outrun There are many opportunities for things to go wrong when you send your…
The training programme that we recommend
Training tutorials that guide you through a recommended programme of sheepdog training – what to do, and when to do it. The early stages of sheepdog training, especially for a beginner, can seem daunting. There’s so much for the dog to learn, and it can be hard to decide on what to teach first –…
Working off balance – Sending the dog the ‘wrong way’
Our “Sending the dog the wrong way” tutorial introduces a great exercise for widening the dog’s flanks and outrun. Just as when we teach shedding we ask the dog to ignore a basic lesson (NOT to run through the sheep) this time we want the dog to work off balance. We’re asking the dog to…
Backwards is The Way Forward
Wondering whether to work on flanks, stop, or working distance? We think Backwards is the Way Forwards! Work on all aspects at once with this deceptively simple but effective sheepdog training exercise. As soon as your dog’s working around the sheep, and is under some sort of control, this simple exercise in an opportunity to…
Featured tutorial – Why Your Dog Should Flank Both Ways
It’s important that your dog will flank both ways around the stock For day-to-day farming tasks you might be able to work around your dog’s shortcomings, but when the unexpected happens (as it surely will) you, your dog, or more likely your sheep, will run into trouble if the dog is reluctant to flank freely…
Use a Reward to Get Training on Board
Dogs benefit from a reward for their efforts, and sheepdogs are no exception. Luckily for us herding dogs have a huge capacity for learning, but in order to teach our dogs the things that we want them to do, there must be some kind of reward for them. When we train our dog to work…