Travis Gets Sheep-ish – Urban Herding

It’s time to start working with Travis’ genes and start some herding work. Whilst it’s wrong to make deterministic decisions based on a dog’s breed or type, genes do count. Humans have exercised selective breeding for generations and different herding breeds are selected according to the type of livestock they will be herding. Some are mixed herding and guarding breeds. The Australian Shepherd is a relatively modern breed selected from old breeds of dog.

Travis is now 11 months old and is beginning to show some herding traits. He is, at the moment, more interested in flushing and chasing than herding but he drops into a down instantly when asked to wait if he is focused on something – such as a ball, so we started with some urban herding techniques.

He isn’t that interested in retrieving unless the ball has a relatively high value (think footballs and Chuck-it balls). Tennis balls become more interesting for him when they have a flaw that can be exploited, and I remove them once he starts to shred as he will eat the remains.

Unsurprisingly, Travis took to the lessons like a duck to water and has now added “come by” and “away” into his repertoire and list of cues. At the moment, he doesn’t seem that interested in sheep, but I expect his herding behaviours to increase as he matures so it is vital that I gain control of the behaviours by putting them on cue and making the cue reliable so that it does not run the risk of getting out of hand.

Travis remains sheep -ish, but eventually we hope to work some sheep for fun. I may also try him out on Treibbal to hone his skills and prevent distress to actual livestock!

Next week: Trick and Treat and Going Out With A Bang

If you need help with making your cues reliable, book a Rock Solid Rover Course and you hoe your recall or practice being safe around livestock and wildlife with a Reliable Recall Workshop or Country Canines Course. I can also help you with Urban Herding training to keep your sheepdog in tip top form.