Derwentbank Blog

We went to a training day with Derek in Carlise, Cumbria, which was brilliant. I learned an awful lot. You basically work with it’s natural instincts whilst begining to introduce instructions, with the emphasis beng at this early stage to let the dog enjoy the work.

Derek said Sky prefered her ‘comebye’ flank so try to encourage the ‘away’  flank and not to dicaplin her on this side unless absolutley necessary to build up her confidence. He said it is important the dog loves to flank. At this stage, Derek said to work on ‘comebye’ and ‘away’,  ‘ lie down’ and ‘walk on’ from the far side on the sheep, untill we have this reliably.

I have to use less body language as I was using my arms to give her a hint. But this just makes the dog look to you for a cue, whereas you dont really want them to take their eyes off the sheep, just to listen to your commands instead. You also need to work ot your commands, and stick to these words and only these words. No ‘good dog’ or anything else. Everything you say must be an instruction, so the dog does not become confused, and only the tone of voice varied to show you are pleased or not with the dog.

The importance of hving lightly dogged sheep is vital at this stage of training, which I didn’t realise. Having the sheep come to you for safety from the dog, allows you to work in close proximity to your dog and the sheep to gain more control,  keep the sheep safe, and stop problems before they deveolp.

The sheep we have around here which I have access to work on a smaller highland type breeds which are very flighty. So on the look out for some sheep of my own now, they must be older 4/5 sheer and well used to dogs and people. A heavier breed would be better so they are not naturally too flighly, and around 7 of them to ensure theey flock well.

Booked in for another training course with Derek on the 19th, 20th Feb. Very much looking forward to it!