Carrie":3g4apsk8 said:
Good evening all,
Does anyone have any experience with cattle dog training? We have a wonderful Border Collie named Flip that we've been working with. He is so smart and does a great job with the cattle except if they get to running when he's bringing them in. Then he falls apart and wants to go around and try to head them off. Any ideas on how to convince/train him to stay behind. He does just fine when they're coming in slow, but let one of them get in a hurry to eat, then....well. He's not quite 2 yet. Could this just be a maturity thing? He does very well with all other commands, just seems to get over-excited and exibits a selective hearing loss in this type of situation. Any ideas???
Thanks,
Carrie, I've not trained a Border Collie - only our ACD's - and they work entirely differently. I don't think I'd use a shock collar on a BC - it just might discourage the dog from ever working again.
It sounds like your dog is bringing the cattle to you. Is that correct?
My dog drives cattle away from me. He only goes to the head if a bull challenges him, then he nips at the nose to get the bull's attention, and then stays at the heel or flank. He was run over by a bull when he was about 6 months old. I wasn't working him on cattle at that age - this was just a fluke, but the dog came up fighting mad and has lived to work bulls ever since. Our female ACD heads, so working cows with both dogs at once doesn't get us anywhere except in a circle.
My first thought is to back off to smaller livestock, where the pressure isn't so great and you can work in closer quarters with more control. There are some great websites online with good training info. I think Ranchdogs is one. From what I've read, many trainers start their BC pups on ducks, then graduate to sheep. Cattle are a whole different ballgame and are much harder to work a young dog on. When he's reliable with sheep, you'll be able to start him on cattle.
They say the very most important thing to teach a herding dog is the "down." Without an immediate and reliable down you have no control whatsoever. Come to think of it, I'd go back to basics and work on commands without livestock around, then start as I suggested above & work up through more controlled situations.
My ACD is four and is just now becoming reliable as far as following commands when things get exciting in a pasture. He drives them away from me and I can work with that. He decided it was dangerous for a bull to be within 30 feet of me when he was just a young dog and we just learned to work together. He's always been good about following commands and watched my body language more than anything, but it's nice to have him maturing into a less excitable dog. My ACD doesn't have a good down, but wants more than anything to stay close to me and will return to me on command or freeze and wait until I give him permission to continue.