Getting a dog to go away from you

Culotte is doing fine with most of her training, recall is good, but when I walk her I would like her to go away from me when I want her to, as at sometime I want her to work the sheep with me, trouble is I just dont know how to go about it,at the moment she only goes about 15/20m from me and if I stop so does she, any ideas?

We do '''GO and play''' ' and point, ''Away'' to Skye means herd the chickens ( then I don't point) so she seems to have worked out the difference via the ''point'' . Its time and patience really.

Your Culotte sounds lovely

Thanks youngstevie,

Time and patience thought it might be that.

I'm no help in the herding department, but I did have the same type of issue with Luke when he was a pup. He never wanted to go more than a few feet without me. I used his "zoomie" times to my advantage to teach him to "go play". Whenever we first got to the park, after making him sit and "wait"....he'd be raring to go. At that initial burst,((when he's in the running stage)) I'd say "Go Play!" really excited voice. If he went more than a few feet away, I'd say "GOOD PLAY LUKE!!!" ((I always make a big deal out of every behavior I want to reinforce. He loves praise lol. After a while he soon realized that it was ok for him to go farther, as long as he comes back when I call him. He will now go to the other end of a ball field and run around without constantly running back to check up on me. It took a little while....but he got it. Every time you see her going away, use the command and praise her. That's all I can suggest really. No idea how to teach a dog to herd though sorry.

I have sort of tried that, every time she runs a bit farther and I shout GOOD GIRL, AWAY she comes back

When she goes out with the others and the OH they all run like loonies around the fields, but he gives them no training what so ever and they are free to do just what they want, so they just chase each other, they do have fun though

AS soon as your dog shows interest in sheep, you wont have so much trouble getting her to go away from you - the lure of the "chase" with sheep is a pretty strong one in those that want to work! Usually the problem becomes getting them away from the sheep! My dog was formerly competition obedience and agility trained and always near me naturally, before he started working sheep. 6 months intro sheep training and he is now doing 1/4 mile outruns! It will l happen naturally if your dog naturally wants to work.

Good luck with your sheep dog training when you start. For me its the biggest joy in my life!

Thanks lotsadogs, I havent tried her in with the sheep yet, one problem is with my sheep they are pretty tame and as I only have 12 at the moment I dont want to upset them too much with a novice dog (and me). Sheep dog training doesnt exsist in this area so I am trying to do it by myself

Well if I can help I will - where are you then that sheep dog training doesn't exist. ? If I where you id move .

Tame sheep are not good for a youngster methinks. You want something that will run away to incite the chase instinct and you certainly don't want sheep who are bold enough or confident enough to "face" a young dog! Lots of people try their dogs on sheep as young as yours, but personally, I think Id wait several months.

Whatever you decide, have fun training your dog! Its such a joy seeing a sheepdog work and develop and grow!

Im in north west france (Calvados) not really a sheep area and there is no way that I would move far too nice here.

I thought my sheep may just cause a problem and I will be puting the ram in soon so there is no way I would take Culotte in there then, dont want to upset her before she starts. I also thought she was a bit to young to start so thanks for conferming that.