Top Tips for Sheepdog Training (Part 1) Remember the Dog's Hunting

[@tanelornherding8161]

Love their whole video series - wonderfully practical, down to earth, and effective.

[@andynick01]

Thank you! Glad you like the videos!

[@theirishmountainmanmac1612]

Hi there,I’ve just come across your videos & I have to say I love them. I’ve had a colly/Husky for nearly 2yrs now & I’ve trained him up myself. His recall etc is unreal now because he knows that I love him he always on point. But just 4 days ago I got myself a full bread colly sheepdog, 2yrs old. I got him off people from the city,no social skills at all,no training at all. But in the 4 days I’ve had him he has picked up really fast,especially with my other dog. The only thing is with my new boy,if he sees another dog he fights so I’m trying to get that out of him a bit. I will send yous videos of both my dogs & if you wouldn’t mind letting me know what you think of them. Hope to hear from yous soon. The Irish Mountain Man.

[@mimimimiamdemi]

Thank you so much this helped me one step closer to finishing my project

[@shellysolomonart]

I only have ducks for my dog to herd so I need to learn how to train them to be gentle. My old collie mix was pretty good with them

[@andynick01]

We recommend you start the dog on something more robust than dogs, but of course it can be done. To start a dog on ducks, you need to make sure the dog will behave calmly around them (and the ducks will be calm). This is difficult to do because if you keep calling (or holding) it back, the dog will get the idea you don't want it to have anything to do with them. Then when you want to start the herding part of the training, the dog may not work at all (because it thinks you've taught it not to).

[@shellysolomonart]

@@andynick01 Ah ok, my ducks aren't the calmest in the world but I'll see how the pup is and go from there. Thanks for taking the time to let me know have a good day.

[@ИринаД-у5ф]

Благодарю за беседу.😂❤😊

[@mybenz92]

I purchased your video and am very excited in implementing your training techniques on our Alapaha Blue Blood Bulldogs, a versitile farm stock dog/herding breed.

[@Praecantetia]

You two are sweethearts

[@jessicaarancibia6477]

Thank you so much good people

[@manakamohammed2469]

Love your videos

[@ИринаД-у5ф]

Заниматься будем вместе с сыном' его женой и детьми.😊

[@patrickokeeffe6998]

We have a lovely gentle sheep dog, too gentle so i guess, thats why she failed in farm and ended up with us.

[@dionoconnell8973]

Hi Andy and jill ..i have a 1yr old bc ..i have land but never had a bc before or sheep..im wondering if lambs are best to syart training or full grown sheep ..tbf ive not much interest in the profit sidevof d sheep ..but this bc is going to need work its plain to see ...he is super obedient and sticks to me like glue... a freind has lambs and sheep so im going yo get a few off him and then give them bk after and get others and so on ..but the freind hasnt had dogs to do the work snd cant tell me wat ones to get ..i did research online but too many contradictory disscussion boards of different opinions.. and ye look like ul know the answers to my questions ... hel be a great worker cus his mum had a dog in welsh trials and dads a workin cattle dog ...at minute he thinks wheelbarrowing timber into the shed is a fabulous job ..and his concentration on the barrow is out of this world ...nothing can take his attention away from the barrow ..for a 3 hr period .. Thanks and rgds Dion

[@andynick01]

First, you need to be sure your dog is showing the 'hunting instinct' when it sees sheep. 'Herding' a wheelbarrow is encouraging, but does not necessarily mean he'll be interested in livestock. If he ignores them, it may be difficult to get trigger the herding instinct. It can usually be done, but it can be a tedious process! (We have two online training tutorials called "Starting a non-starter" on our website). If the dog is interested in sheep, I suggest you start with lambs. Older sheep can be stubborn and even aggressive towards the dog. If possible, get sheep that are familiar with being worked by dogs. In the UK these are known as "Dogged" sheep. They will be FAR easier to start the dog on, but as it makes progress, you'll need to move on to more challenging sheep! There's a huge amount of advice on our website, as well as over seventy videos if you're interested enough to learn how to train your dog. sheepdog-training.com Good luck with your new venture!

[@dionoconnell8973]

Thanks for getting back to me Andy and yes im absolutely biting at the bit to get into this hobby...He has the hunting instinct but i disencouragedvit from a pup cus i dint wsnt him chasing absolutely everything ..like other peoples horses and cars and other people cattle whilstbon walks and such ..but now that he isnt w pup and has super obediency i realise that was a mistake ..it was ok to do wen he was a 3mth old and didnt really listen justvwas chasing things with his brother ( i had 2 initially but quickly tealised theyvare a one man dog and i wad never going to get the same level of obedience whilst having 2 together as he needed to know i was god and not that i came 2nd place over his brother. A farmer had 10 pups born behind a bale i found them and reared them all built a pen in farmers shed to contain them and went der 3 times a day to tendvto der needs ..fresh bedding water feed ..initially putting 5 on and 5 off the bitch for all to get fair share of milk ..all d pups survived ..even the farmer admitted that they all would have died bar for me . The only pup that went to someone who didnt have stock was merck to me...the farmer said he was the unlucky one ..but merck lives the life of a king with me..has had loads of imteraction with people and other dogs ect unlike thebpup the farmer kept who generally is either in d jeep or in d shed and has seen no other dogs barr his dad(which is my lads dad) but d dad is aggressive towards him not seriously just showing whos boss but has broken his skin on headvand ear not too bad tho ... i go to see both the dad and mercks brother moss every day ..i walk moss and give him chicken cus d farmer just gives him scraps..and he dont hardly get any walks .. both merck and moss really love to see eachother and playfight bigstyle. I never knew BC would be so different to any other dog ...il never choose any other dog over these now. All the other 9 pups were like the bitch short coat gree eyes in d dark ..mervk is the spit of his dad ..long haired orange eyes in the dark . The farmer gave the bitch away thankgod cus it was tons of work for me and i walked that bitch every day for 2 years cus else shed av been left in shed .. Andy i just wanted one of them pups to have a proper life not a life with a farmer stuck in a shed . The pup the farmer kept (moss) was totally untrained ...but ive found time to train him to sit..and return..by holding out my hand palm side up and daying "moss moss touch touch. He wont return for the farmer or the other men on d farm only me. I loved evety one of those 10 pups ..i really loved them ..id carry 5 pups at a time over to the safe field to enjoy the summer sun ..else the farmer wud av just left them in the shed ..well to be fair he wouldnt hav any to leave im the shed cus theyd have fallen away one by one ...how ridiculous to think that you dont have to contain and build pen for newborn pups inva shed full of wire chemicals masdive gaps under doors ect. Moss still lives in the pen i built for the pups ..he jumps in der to escape the dad cus d dad cant jump in ..the farmer thinks its great to see the dad attack moss.!! Il vertainly look at your vids on training tutorials ..im self employed and think il half my work ..to become an expert at come by and away. If im good enough id like to make a side business out of traing BC . Merck is the best bc ul have ever seen in all your days ...and i know uve had loads probably ..but this lad is outstanding ..the farmer is so jelous cus merck is so wrll trained ..i can tell him to sit and stay and walk half a km near out of sight and he wont budge tl i give command ..which will be verbal but also accompanied by a pysical gesture ...cus i know that if they go deaf later in life they still recognise command by the physical command. Rgds Dion

[@DOLfirst]

Very interesting

[@adventuretv8942]

My dad says that I can have a dog if it is a border collie because he had grown up with 1

[@n1k0659]

I dont have a dog. I dont have sheep. Why am I here

[@quantumfizzics9265]

Same

[@kabukardo]

Same hahahah

[@charliecoulls8095]

Do you have any opinions on wether German shepherds could be a good herding dog? She’s very confident and interested by the sheep, but doesn’t attack, and I’m just wondering if you’ve ever heard of one sheepherding? Great video!

[@andynick01]

To be honest, I don't know! I had a German shepherd here for training once and it was very hard on the sheep, but I have to admit, I felt it could make a sheepdog. That's all I can tell you, really. You never see them in sheepdog trials in the UK, at least none that I've ever seen or heard of.

[@charliecoulls8095]

@@andynick01 Ok thank you! I think I’ll give it a shot, not really for trials but just for working our flock sometimes. Thanks!

[@prenesengovender4035]

@@andynick01 What about corgis?

[@chaoticneutral7976]

Why do your sheep still have tails? Also great video

[@andynick01]

Glad you like the video - thanks! In the UK, tail docking (as it's called) has been carried out for many years to reduce the chances of "fly-strike". Flies lay eggs on any exposed damp areas of the sheep's body and when the eggs hatch, the resulting maggots can cause terrible damage to the sheep. With the availability of effective fly repellants and better management, many farmers are leaving the tails on their sheep.

[@Gustav4]

can I make my 2 year old Lab work with me on heading cattle? She is very loyal and wants to satisfy my expectations

[@andynick01]

You might be able to Gustav, but I have never heard of a Labrador working cattle in the sense that collies and Kelpies will. I wouldn't rule it out completely, but in my opinion, it's very unlikely (sorry).

[@a2z_farm]

Cool

[@Rogue66669]

Can I bring my collie to you for lessons?

[@andynick01]

Thank you for your interest. We no longer do training lessons here - we're too busy working on our online tutorials.

[@007flyguy1]

Wish you shipped to the US but that's alright great videos

[@andynick01]

Thank you! Our Online Sheepdog Training Tutorials are available all over the world, and we ship our Sheepdog Training DVDs worldwide, too. (See links below). Tutorials: workingsheepdog.co.uk/tv DVDs www.sheepdog-training.com

[@ИринаД-у5ф]

Я здесь' потому что я хочу развести овец' и завести собак' помощников в хозяйстве. Я живу РФ ' регион Урал. Есть заинтересованность в шерсти' и ...Т. к, Урал это холодная Россия.