Diary of a Sheepdog… Learning commands - leave it, walk on, lie down.
So we have been to shep and established an interest. I could call her from them, and she grasped the general idea that we were working as a team to move the sheep.
As the is so young, the physical work we ca do is limited as I don’t want to cause any problems in later life. So I am gong to concentrate on the psychological side of things. Today I introduced a new game with the ball, in which I throw and she has to ‘leave it’ which is a command she knows already, then I allow her to ‘walk on’ and ‘lie down’ (again one she knowns) in intervals until she can eventually bring the ball back. This is a game she would do all day, she lives in hope someone will product a ball from some where.
Leave it, lie down and walk on are now firmly established in her brain, at least without the distraction of sheep. Anyone who has worked with collies knows it is better to do 15 mins work, and on a high, then go away and let them think it over, and I swear they contemplate things over night.