How time flies.  It finally cooled off here after a very long and hot summer.  While we still have to be mindful of the stock’s health, hopefully many of them are going to lamb or kid, the cooler weather makes working outside with the dogs much more fun.  I’m always amazed though at how adaptable our Aussies are.  No matter what the conditions – rain, sleet or heat and humidity – they’re always out there eager to help out, do chores, whatever is required.

 

We’ve also had other people with their Aussies over to work stock and train with us.  Without forethought, this has forced me to use Angus much more to move livestock around, depending on which dog is working and where they’re at and what kind of livestock they need.

 

I’m beginning to use verbal commands much more with Angus now.  If he gets it wrong a verbal correction usually fixes it.   Since I know he’s still a young dog I don’t push him into doing things he can’t do yet but I certainly expect him to do the work that’s within his limits.  For instance, I don’t ask him to drive heavy livestock away from me, he’s not ready for that.  However, he’s more than capable of moving stock left and right in front of me with inside flanks, stops and short walk-ups.

 

Angus is now in charge of sorting the stock for the various people that come over to work stock and train their dogs with me.  Sometimes I use sheep, goats or a combination of the two, depending on where the other dog is at.  I have pens set up so that its easy to store different groups and just push them in and out of the round pen or the field.  And I make sure that Angus does all the work – all I do is work the gates.

 

What’s so nice about this type of work is a couple of things.  First, its not formal, repetitive (as in boring) training.  It’s relaxed, informal but yet real work.  If he messes up he gets a quick verbal ‘tut’.  If he does ok he gets a ‘good boy’ once in a while.  This lets him do a lot of work on his own.  I don’t command every step he takes, sometimes I don’t even watch what he does, as long as the result is right.   Since I’m not in a hurry I give him lots of chances to work the stock, figure things out on his own.

 

I believe this is a great way for a dog to mature as a stockdog.  Too many times I see dogs running madly around the stock at a trial, up and down, not really ever controlling the stock.  This would never work on a ranch or a farm or even in your backyard.  So use your dogs for real work, let your dog work, don’t always be training.

 

On the other front, Jubalee is pulling herself together too.  I’ve learned a few lessons with her.  Obviously, every dog is different.  I’m used to working a variety of dogs but Jubalee has offered me yet another perspective on Aussies.  She really likes to work close to the stock.  She gets very worried when she’s pushed or pulled away from the stock.  What I learned is that if I begin a training session by doing big flanks around the stock and pushing her out, hard, we’ll have a bad session.  If I start a session with a little pen work, a little work on the fence line, letting her first control her stock, the session is much better.

 

Jubalee is still the stronger dog of the two on stock. However, she’s also more sensitive to my voice and pressure from me.  So I have to be careful with that.  When she’s “on”, she’s very stylish, very strong on her stock and shows a lot of Aussie style.   When she’s not on, we might as well hang it up.  Being aware of your dog’s temperament and idiosyncrasies is an important component of being a good trainer.

 

Sofar though neither Jubalee nor Angus have ever worked stock away from home.  Not counting the time they snuck into a cow pasture when they were 12 weeks old.  They enjoyed that way too much.  So next weekend is our first exposure to working stock away from home.  We’ll be heading out for a long weekend of moving stock at a stockdog clinic, the three of us, Angus, Jubalee and I.  By the way, last weekend Angus and Jubalee’s mother, Jamie, finished her WTCH so now they have some big shoes to fill.

 

Sometimes I forget what the goal is – to get the two dogs ready for the Texas Blue Bonnet Futurity next year.  The training sessions turn more into working sessions as the two dogs get older.  It’s difficult to measure our progress since the two dogs aren’t being trialed.  Nevertheless, I won’t over train or push the dogs along too fast, they’ll each learn different things at their own pace and their own way, that’s the Aussie way I think.

 

For fun once in a while we’ll work ducks.  Large groups only, at least fifteen of the little quackers.  It teaches them that they have to work hard at keeping them grouped together.  By the time they gather up one side of the flock the other end of the flock is already headed for home.  I use it to teach them “steady” or how to rate their stock better.  In laymen’s terms, it teaches them to slow down while they’re fetching.

 

Soon we’ll start doing some penning with the pen out in the open.  They both know how to push stock towards the gate and follow them in.  Penning stock in an open field requires a combination of skills: a good stop, solid directions, a good out on top and good teamwork too.

 

There’s plenty of things to work on still.  Neither of them has learned yet the game of not letting stock escape through a gate.  What I do to set this up is this.  I put the grain or hay out behind a gate and open the gate just a few inches and encourage the dog to watch that opening and not let any of the stock escape out.  The livestock of course are very motivated to go through the gate to get the grain.  I start with the gate just open a few inches.  Once the dogs understand this, I’ll open the gate up further.

 

This teaches the dogs something very important – to keep pressure on the stock at a certain point and not let the stock escape around them.  I also do this exercise along a fence line, they have to hold a spot and not let the stock escape behind them – frequently I’ll be pushing the stock onto the dog and letting the dog fix it when one of the sheep or goats escape between us.  When a dog knows how to keep the pressure on like this, it’s much easier to work those awful ducks that like to escape through, under or over the dog at a trial.

 

I’m sure we’ll have plenty of things to talk about next time, until then, have fun working your dog!

 

Maarten