Delta Herding – Growing in Confidence and Experience
Posted By Sandy Wilson on August 27, 2011
Delta von der Kleinen Wiese
Delta has come along way in her training and it is due somewhat to maturity and also having different experiences with the sheep. In order for the dog’s confidence to increase, you want them to have positive experiences with the sheep and that may mean that the handler intervenes at some point to help the dog when needed. When you have a young dog, you don’t want them to encounter situations that could be dangerous or where the dog’s confidence could really be in jeopardy.
Delta coming around the corner to push the lambs back out of the brush.
There are certain instances where sheep may face a dog head on and this might be very intimidating for a young dog, or possibly the sheep could charge the dog and you could have a face off; so the idea is to avoid that type of situation from happening by being close by and encouraging the dog to move by the sheep instead of stopping right in front of it. There are just things you have to watch out for that involve sheep “sense” and knowing how sheep will act. Herding not only involves the training of the dog and the handler, but also being able to read the sheep and know their behaviors. Much of this experience I have from owning my own small flock of sheep and watching them, but over time, when training your own dog, the handler can really pick up on sheep behavior by watching the flock and how the sheep react to different situations. The idea is not to have your dog put into a situation that it can’t handle until it has experience and maturity on it’s side to know what to do. Believe me, there are problem sheep in every flock and the smart sheep will try and get away with as much as the dog will let them. I also think that sometimes you have to let a dog experience problems, so that the dog can problem solve and try different things because sheep certainly aren’t all going to cooperate.
Watching over the sheep.
Little by little the dog learns by using their posture, their movement and body language, how to push the sheep back, how to move them and this all takes time. The dog needs to have lots of experiences with the sheep to learn this and to be able to handle more difficult situations that you will see with a large flock. A very large flock of sheep can be very intimidating at times for a young dog that is unsure of what to do or how to handle certain pressures. You can teach a dog lots of obedience exercises, but to have the dog work independently and handle the pressures of a large flock take time and experience. This of course is mostly referring to the training of a young dog that hasn’t reached maturity. Our male dog, Aiko, never had an issue with not being able to handle the sheep as he had a natural grip and was a take charge kind of dog with the sheep. He is commanding in our barn with our sheep as well as confident with the large flock of sheep and has no problem putting sheep in their place if they deserve it. Aiko was already mature in age and confident around sheep when he started his training.
Moving along the top of the graze.
When Delta first started her training, she was just about a year old and she was unsure of what she was allowed to do and how much force she could use to push the sheep back from the boundary. Delta’s first exposure to sheep was exciting to see as she was very turned on by being near the sheep and she showed alot of exuberance and so some of that had to be harnessed into productive work. She definitely showed that she was ready to learn, but she was just a bit much for her own good and just needed to learn to work quietly and calmly.
Delta learned that it was acceptable for the sheep to graze closely to the boundary and that she didn’t need to disturb them. These are lessons that are learned over time and that the dog becomes comfortable with over time. They learn to work where the pressure is, but also to relax when there is no work. A dog that is constantly running around the boundary when the sheep are laying down is just a dog wasting energy. Sometimes when sheep are satisfied and relaxing, there is no work for the dog and handler doesn’t need to constantly command the dog to move this way or that way; the dog should relax and they can just watch.
One thing I am learning is that I can trust my dog and the less I say, the less I watch her, the better she is able to work independently and make decisions without me having to make them for her. I like to see this independence develop as you want a dog who is intelligent and who can think on it’s own and doesn’t need to be constantly commanded to watch the flock.
The other day she was herding some older lambs and ewes is a fairly packed graze and there was plenty of work for her and movement of the flock back and forth through the graze. Delta was in her glory as she had real work to do and she was really learning by experience to move quickly and to use her body to push the sheep back in the graze. She even got to chase a few little critters back into the graze that were being rather bold. Lambs can certainly be a challenge as it takes them longer to figure out the rules and they just don’t pay attention like older, wiser ewes do when the dogs are working. Delta did really well and really had the chance to step it up a notch with the flock and show her power at keeping them in line. I think it was one of her best lessons at the end that she really got to work hard at keeping the flock in one small area while so much movement was going on. I really enjoyed watching her grow and seeing her enjoy herself. She still has much to learn, but she is really coming along.
Delta coming up the hill to go around the post.
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