Training Pups III

 

Maarten Walter

Kingsland, Georgia

 

We’ve been working the goats for a couple of months in a row now.  I know that many people will say that the Aussie is a cattledog foremost and perhaps working sheep is only for those into the sport of herding, not for real stockdogs.  There’s a couple of reasons though why working stock other than cattle is beneficial for young Aussies.

 

First, is their health.  Working cattle is hard on dogs.  Training young Aussies that are a little on the wild side on cattle makes it even more difficult.  Not only do you have to worry about the safety of your dog, you also have to worry about yourself.  Most young Aussies are strong fetching dogs.  Fetching is how the dogs learn how to control stock, so lots of fetching is good for the young dogs.  Fetching cattle is tricky and makes it difficult to get other things accomplished. 

 

Secondly, sheep are easier and cheaper to keep than cattle and since most of the training done on sheep carries over to cattle, its easier to start on sheep.

 

Yes, I would start a young dog on cattle however, the dog would have to be older, more mature and therefore I might lose some valuable training time.   Also, it’s a little trickier starting an Aussie on cattle.  Actually, its probably better to say that it’s easier to start an Aussie on sheep than on cattle. 

 

On cattle it’s really important to have a strong stop and a “come” so you can call the dog off when its time to quit.  Aussies can get pretty excited working cattle and its better therefore that they’re a little older and further along in their training (obedience).  Now that I’ve trained a few Aussies I wouldn’t mind starting one on cattle but all the conditions would have to be perfect.

 

Ideally, variety is the best.  An Aussie that’s exposed to all kinds of livestock during training probably does best.  Even ducks.

 

Back to Atlanta, Jubalee and Angus.  All three have made a lot of progress in the past couple of months.  Going back to the round pen has been good for them.  I believe going back to the basics of herding will fix the majority of problems.  What are the basics of herding?  Flanking without moving the livestock is the first basic to be taught.  The second is finding out and getting to the balance point.  That‘s the point where the dog stops flanking, turns and starts to bring the stock to the handler.  A dog that finds this point readily and manages to stay there shows a lot about herding instinct, relationship with the handler and much more. 

 

Lastly, fetching and controlling the stock at a nice pace, or rate is the third basic component of herding.  Most of the young Aussies time should be spent controlling the livestock.  And since fetching is the natural thing for them to do – this is what they should be doing.

 

If a dog doesn’t have these basics of herding, progress will be difficult at best.  So we spend a lot of time on those basics and if something further down the road goes bad, we go back to basics.

 

Now, there’s lots of other things the pups have to learn beyond those basics, but anytime there’s an issue or a problem, we go back to basics and if we have to, back to the round pen.

 

That was the case with Jubalee and Angus and getting back to the basics in the round pen made all the difference in the world.  Another thing has helped a lot as well.  New sheep.  We were lucky enough to acquire some sheep that were dog-broke but still quite light, which means they moved easily away from dogs.  Some of the goats have gotten quite difficult to work; they will challenge the dog, move very slowly or just try everything they can to get away from the flock.  Angus especially had a difficult time with the goats and while we were able to get some nice distance on him while flanking, moving the goats always seemed to be hard for him to do.  So until the pups are old enough and mature enough to work cattle, adding sheep to their regimen seemed to be the right thing to do.

 

And it was.  The sheep move off of Angus much easier than the goats do.  And because he learned to keep his distance while flanking he’s able to cover them, or flank all the way around them, quite nicely.  It’s important to realize that the lighter the livestock is, the further out the dog has to be when flanking around them.  Even with cattle that’s the case.  A dog that works further out like that can get to the balance point easier because the stock aren’t running away from the dog.  And, when Angus gets to the balance point now he is able to move the stock much easier because the sheep are lighter than the goats.

 

Getting the sheep also demonstrates how teaching an Aussie the basics of herding carries over to other stock.  I’m sure that when he starts working cattle everything he’s learned should carry over.  I’ll make sure it does, if not, we’ll go right back to the round pen to make sure he re-learns, on cattle, all the basics.  Or at least everything he’s learned may need to be reinforced.  That’s what the round pen is for.

 

These basics are important regardless of what the reasons are.  If Angus was to become a ranchdog he’d still need these basic skills.  Certainly he would spend the majority of his life doing chores but still he’d have to gather stock and bring them to a certain place, be able to control them, move them in a straight line at a good pace, nothing different than what Angus and Jubalee are learning.

 

Both Angus and Jubalee have been started with doing some off-balance flanking and getting more comfortable in an off-balance position.

 

If you’ll remember, the balance point is where the stock is settled or moving towards the handler.  This is a natural place that the Aussies like to get to.  So moving or forcing the dog to go off-balance just means they’re being forced to go beyond that point or stop short of that point, on a circle.

 

Now comes the famous clock discussion.  Think of a regular (non-digital) clock.  The handler is at the 6 o’clock mark, the dog is at the 12 o’clock mark and the stock are in the middle.  That, in theory, is the balance point.  In reality there are lots of things that affect that balance point.  But more or less it’s like that.

 

Forcing the dog now to go against their instinct and either flank beyond the balance point or stop short of the balance point requires the handler to put some pressure on the dog.  First though, it’s important to understand why you want to do this.

 

Eventually, once the dog is completely trained, the goal is to have the dog be able to move the livestock in a straight line in any direction, regardless of the handler.  Their instinct of course is to bring or fetch the stock to you.  The balance point and the fetch is merely a tool that we use to teach the dog things like control (while fetching) and directions (flanking).  Once the dog has learned those lessons, we can start forcing the dog to flank anywhere around that circle and have them stop and move the livestock in a straight line, regardless of where the handler is.

 

There’s a lot of debate on when (and how) to teach a dog to work off-balance.  Since it goes against the instinct of 99% of the Aussies, it is difficult to teach.  So it’s difficult to know when to start teaching the Aussie off-balance work.  Some say late, some say early.  There are also different methods of teaching this.  Some use lines, others, like myself, tend to use other methods.

 

What I’m doing with Jubalee and Angus now is asking them to flank beyond the balance point.  I do this by putting pressure on them with the crook, or a long stick.  They don’t like it, they like to flip back to the balance point (12 o’clock) and really give me the ugly look when I force them to go beyond 12 o’clock.  I also make them stop before they get to the 12 o’clock point, so they get used to that a little as well.

 

I also have both the dogs come to me when we’re working stock.  They have to have a good stop, which both Jubalee and Angus have now, and then I call them to me and get them to watch the stock or hopefully walk onto the stock.  If they make any move at all towards the stock and the stock move away from me I praise them.

 

The other exercise is doing chore work.  When we put the goats or the sheep away, through a gate, I always ask the dog to come to me.  This way the stock doesn’t try to escape.  I also ask the dog to come to me when they’re parked at the gate and I don’t want to get trampled by them.  This is a very useful exercise and is aimed at getting them more used to being in a position that’s different than the usual balance point.  This exercise only worked though once Jubalee and Angus had a good stop on them as well as a good come.

 

These are different ways I use to get the pups used to working off-balance, it also helps them relax a little since they’re not always flanking and fetching 100 miles per hour.

 

Ok, lots of lessons learned again.  Using the right stock to work is important in a young Aussie’s career.  Getting back to basics and making sure that the dog has solid basics before they go further is also a big lesson.  Now that we’ve got these covered, its time to move Jubalee and Angus out to a larger field.  Bigger flanks and more fetching, but also I want to continue doing chores with them.  I need to start doing more penwork with them as well.  They should be comfortable taking stock out of a pen and putting them back in.  This will make them useful dogs and it’s also an important component of the ASCA stockdog program.

 

We’re making good progress.  Until next time.