Sheep control/Tracking & Sendaway (Zak)

Great training session today.

Zak has some instinct but not enough for the type of work/sheep we do/have here, and so my main aim now is to make sure he is 100% solid and safe around our stock. He is certainly showing remarkable self control.

Showing a certain level of instinct



Calm and collected



Gaiting down the opposite side of the flock to me, keeping them in line (we do cheat and have a border collie out as well though)



Picture perfect



Showing his remarkable self control - nose to nose with tups





One inquisitive tup sniffing Zak as though he (the tup) were a dog



Then on to tracking





Hot on the scent



Reward



Sit



Clever boy waiting at the pole for the reward of his ball after his sendaway



Hope you enjoyed!

I had intended to do a search square as well, but as we had already done some sheep work, the boy was quite tired so we had a nice walk with the other dogs instead.

Search square later.

Loved these. Nose to nose with the tup was amazing!

The last tracking one looks like you are being dragged along at high speed

How are you training the sendaway? Just nosiness as i think i did it differently

Thanks Annette. I was also holding my breath when he and the tups were nose to nose! They were quite friendly with one another though

Haha, Zak had just either got the strong scent of his reward or spotted his ball (you can just see it in the photo) and put on a burst of speed. He is a strong bugg*r!

I am just popping his ball on the poles, so he can see me do it (with him in a wait at the other pole), then I come back to his side, tell him "away" and he shoots off to get his ball. As soon as he gets close I tell him to stop there and he stands and waits for me to come and reward him with it.

Zak looks terrific at his job Moobli - why do you think he's not suitable - this is a question coming from someone who knows sweet f.a. about shepherding, so excuse my ignorance!

Surely a solid, brave boy like Zak is what's required with your arsey-looking boys!!? Is a smaller, less powerful BC capable of standing up to them if they decide to have a go? I'm probably displaying my ignorance, but he looks so calm and in control, and the tups are listening to him.

How did you train your sendaway? Be interested in different methods, but this one is working well for us.

The only little issue I have noticed is that by the time I send him for the third time, he is starting to already anticipate my telling him to stop and so starts slowing and looking back at me. At the moment I am just counteracting that by doing a few fun retrieves, where he has to wait by my side while I throw the ball towards the poles, then when it lands send him for it.

amazing fotos!! what a great boy he is!

Thanks Gnasher.

Basically Zak wouldn't/doesn't have the instinct to keep the flock together and so if they decided to make a run for it, he wouldn't be able to gather them back together and bring them back to me. The collies have no bother doing that at all. If a tup were to stand up to the collies (which does happen, but not all that often) then that would be a time the collie could legitimately grip the sheep on the nose to tell him the dog is in control.

Zak is remarkably calm and in control, and he will definitely be able to accompany me and/or hubby on sheep jobs. It may even be possible to eventually train him to help gather a hill (a la huntaway style) with the border collies, but he just lacks the instinct to be able to do these jobs single handedly. So much of a collie's job is inherent instinct, and unfortunately the herding/tending instinct in most GSDs has all but been bred out.

Aww thanks Ben, you must come over with J&C sometime for a walk, and meet him

Thanks, I would love that - I have a feeling Mia will actually love your boy too

I'm just wondering if it's a bit different for gundog work as it's distance control and hand signals? Dunno probably not. It was Helen Philips that showed me a way i liked it done (Glen says im obsessed with doing things incrementally ).

Basically clicker train a nose touch to a cone or whatever, then gradually increase the distance between yourself and the cone, then add the hand signal, then the verbal cue. Then you tie it in with the retrieve by having the retrieve object at the cone so the dogs goes out but gets to the cone and goes ****** me there's a bird/ball/whatever. Then fade out the cone.

Glen does it differently, he does it like you, teach the dog that the signal means go in that direction based on it knowing something is there in advance.