24. Audible response

At a recent training session, few and far between during the winter, I’ve noticed a trait in my number two dog Smoke. Smoke is a two-year-old New Zealand heading dog who is reasonably proficient with his outruns, gather and fetch. I’ve noticed that when he is running after some runaway sheep .or cattle that as he approaches he gives a bark when he is beside the sheep before turning in front of them and stopping them. This particular trait was also commented on during a cattle dog trial.

This particular trait seems unusual and one that I’ve not heard before on any of my other dogs. As with any new observation you tend to speculate as to the reason why. If you watch your dogs when they’re working there is a lot of communication going on which you should be able to interpret what the dogs trying to tell you. This can be position of tail, can be ears, it can also be the hackles up, any number of visual cues. This was the first audible cue that I have encountered and I’m thinking at this time is the dog is giving a warning. It is usually given when the dog is approaching the lead, in this case, sheep and I think that the bark is a momentary distraction to the sheep which allows him then to cut in front without them barren off because of the pressure. This means that he can be right in front of them and brings them to a stop.

This is going to be interesting to see if this is in fact what I just stated above. To be monitored and I will very likely report back on this at a later date.

25. Puppys gone wild

Recently I’ve received several cries for help! The cries are for the same problem, ” my puppy is running wild and getting into trouble” The first question I usually ask is what training have you been giving your puppy? The usual answer is he’ll come some times when I call or he sits when I tell him sometimes especially if he is right in front of me. The next question I ask is is your dog or your puppy running free even when you’re not there.? And the answer generally is I don’t want to contain him not at this age, he is still a puppy. This is always somewhat confusing to me as a puppy, if you wish to equate it to human terms, is just a baby, a toddler, a youngster. If you have a youngster would you allow him or her to run around out in the yard when you’re not there. I think the answer generally is no. So what are you to do?

The first step in getting a puppy under control is basic obedience. I don’t mean show type obedience but what I refer to as farm obedience. Sit, stay, a recall calling them to you and most definitely a stop command. So the next question to me is how old should the pup be before I start training? From the very day that you pick up the pup you start your training. It doesn’t have to be formal training. If a pup sits use a the sit command. If a pup comes running to you give it the recall command. It’s simple things like this that cause the pup to view you as the leader of the pack. If you’ve ever watched a mother dog with their pups she doesn’t put up with nonsense, she disciplines the pups if they are doing something that they shouldn’t be. Discipline can be such thing as telling the pup to stop and if it doesn’t enforcing it. If you are not with the pup it should be in a run. This teaches the pup that it is a safe place to be. Like a den.

Rearing a pup is not a difficult task. It is a responsible task and one that should not be taken lightly if you are wanting to have the “perfect dog” as the pup grows. I recently read were the pup was killing and mutilating chickens ducks whatever in one of the suggestions was if the pup has killed a chicken a good correction is to tie the pup just short of the dead chicken and leave him there all day long. If that type of discipline works it’s an extreme rarity and in fact it can do more harm then good.

As I said before it’s a simple task and a responsible job to raise a puppy so that it is a member of the family unit, co-worker, and just an all round good dog as it grows.