Herding Philosophy
I train all dogs the same way. That is, I read what they have to give me, then I strengthen what they have instinctively and train in what they don’t. I am always looking for hints of herding instinct in its many forms. I am open to seeing new forms of instinct. I train for the individual dog at the individual moment. I am constantly evaluating whether I am putting the right amount of pressure on the dog or whether I need to increase or decrease it. I have lots of different ways of putting pressure on a dog. I only very rarely hit a dog, even then usually by accident, but rather prefer to use the other tricks in my basket, tricks which actually work much better than the traditional stick strike and don't have the chance of injury. I believe in black and white training. (No I’m not talking about border collies.) That is, I believe in letting the dog know when it is wrong and letting it know when it is right. No shades of grey that create confused dogs.
Early training is focused on getting the dog to work in the thinking part of its brain, rather than the hyper excited, over drive part. I teach stock ethic and reading and controlling livestock. I teach the true fetch (person – space – stock – space – dog). [Alas, with too many instructors, it’s person/stock – dog or stock-person-dog. That is NOT bringing the stock to the handler!] I teach the dog to “feel the bubble” and know that its place is in the working zone, not the fight or flight fright zone. I teach them to maintain steady pressure. I most definitely do not put the dog off contact to slow it down. With this type of training, a dog needs little to no course training to compete successfully
I do not believe in round pens. I believe corners are my best friend when training a beginner stock dog. The give me a place to retreat into to prevent dog from circling. Corners are a good place to teach dogs to back off and hold and to teach stops. And getting stock out of corners is not IMO an advanced skill; it is something a dog should learn in the initial stages of his training. Some people fear corners because stock will ball up in them. This is a result of poor handling technique. It is the technique that should be fixed. Using a round pen to overcome bad training technique will not result in a well-trained dog.
I carefully control the dog, no chasing or inappropriate biting allowed, while at the same time letting it work. While this may seem like an oxymoron to some people, I assure you that the two concepts are not mutually exclusive. I cannot tell you how many times people have come up to me at a trial and said, “You just let your dog work!” This should not be so unusual that I am getting this comment so much. Rather than learn to have fun by chasing and joy gripping livestock, the dogs I work learn to have fun controlling livestock and doing meaningful jobs with them.
I have spent a goodly amount of time working the following species of livestock, both alone and with dogs: cattle, sheep, goats, ducks and geese. And have also done a little working of chickens and turkeys. As I’ve worked each stock, I’ve carefully studied their reactions to determine the best way to work each stock in the least stressful manner.
I’ve also studied differences among breeds of one species. As with training dogs, one needs to observe what the reactions of the stock are at that particular moment to figure out their flight zones at that moment in relation to both dogs and people.
Because I have successfully trialed multiple dogs on both AKC’s A & C courses (as well as many other courses), German Shepherd AKC herding people sometimes ask me which do I train for first A or C. My answer is neither. I do not focus on course training. I focus on training a general stock dog. Except for my earliest dogs, my dogs have competed successfully (many first placements) on started A with zero to two practices on the course prior to trialing. I train the graze when there are weeds to be eaten. I train roadwork just prior to the trial as I don’t have good roads for that close by. It usually only takes a few days to teach the dogs to work the sides.
I keep Nigerian Dwarf Goats, ducks, geese, and heritage turkeys. I do not keep sheep. I much prefer goats. Many people say that goats are good for starting cow dogs on because goats work more like cows than sheep do and goats are easier and safer than cows to start a dog on. While this is certainly true, I also think goats are good for starting sheep dogs on. Goats don’t panic like sheep do. Goats don’t split and run in all directions like sheep do. Goats don’t bowl down the handler like sheep do. Goats make a dog work to keep them together; no complacently following the stock - goats have to actually be herded. Goats generally have smaller flight or fight fright zones than sheep, making it easier to get the dog out where he belongs as well as allowing for smaller working areas. Too many people, who train on sheep, slow down their dogs by putting them in off contact downs with extended stays; these dogs never learn how to put steady pressure on the stock & they never learn how to feel them bubble & they never learn how to truly control stock. Drop and drift does not work on my goats. Dogs have to learn how to feel the bubble to work goats. And once they learn how to feel it on goats, they can then feel it on any stock.
When I give clinics, I start with lecture, then I work individual dogs. After each dog, I have a discussion with the audience about what I saw and did during the work. Sometimes, I will stop in the middle of a work to address the audience. I have been to too many clinics where the clinician communicates only with the handler and not with the audience. That is actually private lessons ith an audience, not a clinic! I’ve always gotten good feedback from the clinics I’ve given. I’ve given clinics on general stockdog training, tending training, working ducks, free standing pen, gate sorting, and course rules & trial strategies.
Early training is focused on getting the dog to work in the thinking part of its brain, rather than the hyper excited, over drive part. I teach stock ethic and reading and controlling livestock. I teach the true fetch (person – space – stock – space – dog). [Alas, with too many instructors, it’s person/stock – dog or stock-person-dog. That is NOT bringing the stock to the handler!] I teach the dog to “feel the bubble” and know that its place is in the working zone, not the fight or flight fright zone. I teach them to maintain steady pressure. I most definitely do not put the dog off contact to slow it down. With this type of training, a dog needs little to no course training to compete successfully
I do not believe in round pens. I believe corners are my best friend when training a beginner stock dog. The give me a place to retreat into to prevent dog from circling. Corners are a good place to teach dogs to back off and hold and to teach stops. And getting stock out of corners is not IMO an advanced skill; it is something a dog should learn in the initial stages of his training. Some people fear corners because stock will ball up in them. This is a result of poor handling technique. It is the technique that should be fixed. Using a round pen to overcome bad training technique will not result in a well-trained dog.
I carefully control the dog, no chasing or inappropriate biting allowed, while at the same time letting it work. While this may seem like an oxymoron to some people, I assure you that the two concepts are not mutually exclusive. I cannot tell you how many times people have come up to me at a trial and said, “You just let your dog work!” This should not be so unusual that I am getting this comment so much. Rather than learn to have fun by chasing and joy gripping livestock, the dogs I work learn to have fun controlling livestock and doing meaningful jobs with them.
I have spent a goodly amount of time working the following species of livestock, both alone and with dogs: cattle, sheep, goats, ducks and geese. And have also done a little working of chickens and turkeys. As I’ve worked each stock, I’ve carefully studied their reactions to determine the best way to work each stock in the least stressful manner.
I’ve also studied differences among breeds of one species. As with training dogs, one needs to observe what the reactions of the stock are at that particular moment to figure out their flight zones at that moment in relation to both dogs and people.
Because I have successfully trialed multiple dogs on both AKC’s A & C courses (as well as many other courses), German Shepherd AKC herding people sometimes ask me which do I train for first A or C. My answer is neither. I do not focus on course training. I focus on training a general stock dog. Except for my earliest dogs, my dogs have competed successfully (many first placements) on started A with zero to two practices on the course prior to trialing. I train the graze when there are weeds to be eaten. I train roadwork just prior to the trial as I don’t have good roads for that close by. It usually only takes a few days to teach the dogs to work the sides.
I keep Nigerian Dwarf Goats, ducks, geese, and heritage turkeys. I do not keep sheep. I much prefer goats. Many people say that goats are good for starting cow dogs on because goats work more like cows than sheep do and goats are easier and safer than cows to start a dog on. While this is certainly true, I also think goats are good for starting sheep dogs on. Goats don’t panic like sheep do. Goats don’t split and run in all directions like sheep do. Goats don’t bowl down the handler like sheep do. Goats make a dog work to keep them together; no complacently following the stock - goats have to actually be herded. Goats generally have smaller flight or fight fright zones than sheep, making it easier to get the dog out where he belongs as well as allowing for smaller working areas. Too many people, who train on sheep, slow down their dogs by putting them in off contact downs with extended stays; these dogs never learn how to put steady pressure on the stock & they never learn how to feel them bubble & they never learn how to truly control stock. Drop and drift does not work on my goats. Dogs have to learn how to feel the bubble to work goats. And once they learn how to feel it on goats, they can then feel it on any stock.
When I give clinics, I start with lecture, then I work individual dogs. After each dog, I have a discussion with the audience about what I saw and did during the work. Sometimes, I will stop in the middle of a work to address the audience. I have been to too many clinics where the clinician communicates only with the handler and not with the audience. That is actually private lessons ith an audience, not a clinic! I’ve always gotten good feedback from the clinics I’ve given. I’ve given clinics on general stockdog training, tending training, working ducks, free standing pen, gate sorting, and course rules & trial strategies.