Herding Information
Introduction To Herding
In the old days a prospective herding dog was raised on the farm. It was introduced to livestock at an early age. Today trainers like to slowly introduce the dog to livestock. This is a good way for a dog to learn to herd.
Are you interested in getting started in herding? The best way to begin is to work with an experienced herding trainer. Check the internet under AKC .....HERDING TRAINERS. The trainer should be able to provide individual attention and instruction suited to the particular dog. The stock and the facility should be suitable for beginners as well as for those who have more experience. The lessons may be strictly private lessons or in group sessions with more than person training their dog. The training sessions will usually involve several short sessions interspersed with rest periods. While the dog is taking a break, the owner can learn by watching other dogs being trained and can visit with other participants.
While individual lessons are the best bang for your buck, clinics can be very helpful. You will see that private lessons are similar to clinics where you might see a broad overview of dogs in various stages of training. It would be a great idea for beginners to have their dog take part in a organized herding instinct test. Instinct tests focus primarily on the beginning step of the first introduction of the dog to stock There are both all-breed tests and tests held by breed clubs for their own breed.
So whether its a private lesson, or a clinic, the first introduction to livestock should be researched. Anybody can call themselves a trainer but if they really don't understand dog psychology, have no patience with your dog or just cant communicate with you. It just won't be a good experience for you or your dog!
Thinking of participation in herding
After you and your dog has been introduced to stock and has shown evidence of herding potential, you must carefully consider several factors. Are you in a position to devote time to regular herding lessons? Making a commitment on a regular basis will help YOU more than your dog. See your dog already has natural instincts but we as humans don't, so we are the ones that need constant work on a regular basis. It becomes easier for us to help tweak out our dogs.
With a dog that is mature enough to begin training, usually around a year of age, owners should be in a position to work your dog on stock on a regular basis -- at least once a week, preferably two or three times a week. It is not fair to the stock, if we confront them with a dog that is out of control every time we bring them around them, it will always upset the stock and that is just the exact opposite of what were trying to accomplish. Owners who are unable to become actively involved in herding due to their current circumstances can continue to learn about herding through other means until such time as they can practice with their dog more regularly, and can support herding activities in other ways while gaining an appreciation of the skills that it takes to make a good herding dog.
It is important to keep in mind that a lot of groundwork meaning .........BASIC OBEDIENCE, TIME and EDUCATION are required to produce skilled herding dog. Time will provide a clearer picture of a dog's abilities. The dogs have herding instinct -- AND AGAIN WE DO NOT! So it is of great importance that the person learn about how to herd, and about stock behavior and care. In addition to clinics and lessons, books, magazines and videos are of great importance.
Preliminary Steps First
Herding will be a exciting activity for the dog, some preliminary steps should be taken to help make the early work with livestock easier for all concerned....especially the stock. It is important that the dog have a good recall and a good stop (sit or down). These must be practiced away from stock, in many situations and with distractions. By doing this preliminary work, the dog gains a working relationship with you without the added stress and excitement of the presence of stock.
What we should expect the first time your dog is introduced to stock. Your dog not listening!! All they will want to do is either herd or grip the stock, BE PATIENT! So probably at first they might not listen to your "come to me or stop" commands perfectly! Your time will be well spent if your dog has excellent obedience (sit, long stay, come to me) away from stock and you will progress much quicker than if the dog did not have solid obedience training to recall and stop. Through the use of the stop (which will be a "sit" or "down" command, whichever is easiest for the particular dog), you can take pressure off the stock. The stock will then be more likely to settle into position more smoothly, and this in turn will help settle the dog. When the stock are more settled, you can begin to learn positioning and get a handle on your dog as well as your stock. Then in turn it helps the dog learn more easily and quickly, which lessens stress on stock, dog and you.
Unlike other herding commands, the stop from motion can be practiced at home, away from the excitement of stock. So you are able to work your dog and get them ready for herding even though you don't have stock of your own. To teach the stop from motion, first a regular sit or down is taught, with you standing still. Then, you can ask for the sit or down while you continue walking. Finally, you can ask for the sit or down and then proceed to run around excitedly, making noise, playing with their favorite toy, etc. It should be done in a happy fun TRAINING WAY, but FIRMLY ENFORCED .
When first working stock, if the dog is out of control, most trainers will ask the owner to work at home on a solid recall and stop before bringing the dog back to stock. Even with calmer dogs, this "homework" remains paramount and should be practiced daily and in many situations. In the early stags of your dog on stock it is important that the dog have a good stop and recall, but these commands are not the most important thing at this time!!!! The early lessons are focused more on developing the dog's natural herding abilities in collecting the stock and controlling their movement. So we don't want to over use the stop or down commands at this time.
Finding The Right Trainer
Finding the right trainer can come from several sources. A certain amount of searching may be necessary and very beneficial. Some parts of the country may have more herding activity going on than others. When local herding activities are available, attendance is crucial! Try to meet the participants and the judges if possible. Ask them who they would recommend. Also a regional or national breed club or herding club can be contacted, for instance, the Australian Shepherd Club of America or the American Herding Breed Association. These organizations will be able to provide contacts for local clubs and trainers, which will in turn lead to other contacts. Expect to be following a trail of several referrals, rather than getting a trainer's name with the very first contact -- although that can happen, too. Engulf yourself with herding books and articles in herding magazines to gain some familiarity with herding, even if some things aren't clear . When your participation in lessons actually beings, it will be much easier for you to understand what is being said.
The trainer you eventually choose should be a person who has a sound knowledge of dog psychology and experience with herding. It is good if the trainer has had experience with many different breeds of herding dogs. Your trainer should look for the fundamental qualities that are common in all herding breeds. Much time and effort will be spent on shaping the dog's natural abilities, helping to develop its full potential and increase its skills. They will work to lay a good foundation of fundamental skills. While being aware of trialing venues and probably be active in trialing themselves, they don't focus on trial courses per se. They train a dog to herd rather than to run on this or that course. Successful trial results from a variety of venues can be a sign of a good trainer, but there are also trainers who are very good but don't trial to any extent because that is not where their interests lie. In choosing a trainer, it will be helpful if possible to visit one or more trainers, observe some classes and talk to a number of people.
Owners of some breeds may have no problem finding a trainer knowledgeable about working with their breed. For instance, Border Collie owners often have good trainers readily available. Or if you own a Australian Cattle Dog or English Sheep Dog you might have to work a little harder to find someone that specializes in your breed. Know matter where there experience lies with in a certain breed, a good trainer that knows dog psychology will have know problem helping you with what ever herding breed you might have. A benefit of the increasing interest in herding is that there are now more trainers available who are knowledgeable about a variety of breeds.
There are many trainers who are interested in a wide range of breeds, but some trainers who work mostly with a particular breed may be uninterested in working with others. So it all depends on each trainer. Even the trainers who only want to work with certain breeds can still be a source of good information for owners of other breeds, however. For example, the owner of another breed can attend a Border Collie trainer's clinic as a spectator. Attending a clinic as an observer, whether or not the attendee owns the same breed as the person giving the clinic, is beneficial because much can be learned at a clinic by observing the work of others. The main thing is that you are comfortable with the trainer. Do you understand what he or she is saying. Do they clearly answer any question and take the time to help you understand. Do they work well with your dog, sometimes some personalities between dog and trainer just don't work out at times.
Working with a Trainer
The owner of the prospective herding dog should also consider what the ultimate goals in training might be. A person who just wants a dog capable of doing a simple farm routine may only require some simple basic training. But nowadays there is a great deal of interest in herding as a sport or hobby, and as a result of the demands of competition a more sophisticated kind of training usually is desired.
Probably as a result of the amount of trialing done with Border Collies, training techniques were developed by Border Collie handlers to a greater extent than generally was the case with some of the other breeds, which often were used more for routine farm work that could be done with little particular training. As time has gone on, however, techniques first elaborated by Border Collie trainers have spread and have proved to be adaptable to other breeds when the goal is to produce a flexible, well-rounded worker adaptable to a range of situations. But adaptations and adjustments will be made based on the dog's individual characteristics, there may be a different emphasis or focus at different stages of training.
Despite a certain amount of common practice, training approaches can vary between trainers. It is may be the case that one trainer just seems to have the knack of getting across information to you and your dog. There are people who are very good trainers and handlers of dogs but perhaps not as good at communicating their knowledge to the human student. Even the trainer who provides only a low-key observation and an opportunity to practice can play a helpful part in gaining experience once the basics have been learned.
While it's better not to hop around willy-nilly from trainer to trainer, especially at first, it can be beneficial as time goes on to learn from several trainers. Attending clinics is a good way to see a wide range of techniques. It may happen that one trainer may be best for you and your dog at a particular stage of training, but another trainer may have a better way at a different stage. The more techniques you know about, the more knowledge you will have to choose from, which you may eventually apply to a different dog at a later time. It is also a good practice to go to different facilities so that your dog becomes accustomed to working in different locations.
Some trainers prefer to have their student work only with them, particularly in the beginning, while others are amenable to their students also going to others. It is best to find out ahead of time your potential trainer's view on this, so as to avoid possible misunderstandings. If you do go to more than one trainer on occasion, try to avoid any appearance of "arguing" with the trainer you are working with. That trainer may do things differently from your regular trainer, and you may in the end prefer your primary trainer's methods, but you are there to learn from the trainer you are with at the moment, not to convince that trainer of a "better" way. You can, of course, discuss different techniques, but it should be done in a generalized way: "I saw this being tried once" or "I've heard of such-and-such being done, and thought it might work well for my dog.," not, "but my trainer so-and-so says never to do that." If a trainer does something with which you do totally disagree and of such a nature (perhaps a certain kind of correction) that you don't wish to continue, that is another matter, of course. This is rarely the case, fortunately.
You should be able to find a trainer with whom you are comfortable -- you like the atmosphere of the facility, you feel the trainer explains him- or herself well, you feel the trainer likes working with your dog, and you see steady progress being made.
Future Training
As time goes on, you will spend more time working on your own, both at the trainer's facility and at other locations which you will find. It is often necessary simply to get more "mileage" at different stages. Take advantage of opportunities to help out with practical chores, which is a good way to gain additional experience. You may eventually obtain stock of your own -- more than one person has ended up buying an acreage as a result of their herding activities. There will be times when you still want individual lessons, for instance when embarking upon a new stage of training or when working with a new dog.
For those who continue to work with their dog in herding, aiming for higher levels of training, there is much to learn, not only about dogs and their training, but just as important, about livestock behavior and care. Involvement with herding is an ongoing learning process.