German SHEPHERD dog Working Dogs

Now this is a real challenge Moobli, keep us posted on Zaks progress.
If it works out can i send Kodi up to you for a couple of weeks to get him trained up. He really needs the work, ..... otherwise i am taking him down to the Job Centre on Monday.

Today's lesson - just building up confidence around each other.

Haha if it works out I could start the first GSD herding training centre in the UK

Fantastic. Well done both of you.

Can't wait to hear how he gets on xx

oh look at him. bles his little heart! fantastic.
this is going to be so much fun.

Thanks both I will keep updating the thread.

how close he's a natural by look of it. well done

Thanks Tattoo. He is certainly becoming very relaxed around them

yes, a nice steady gait it is more energy efficient to, cover more ground

I train to gait on a 7ft lead along a busy A road, wall at one side cars on the other, every time the dog breaks into a gallop then he is corrected eventualy they will gait at various speeds, Poly although not GSD does it extremely well, as its very energy efficient she will go for hours chasing the frisbee without tiring,
re the Black dog I have heard of the breeder but not the dog

He certainly does look calmer. Was he doing everything you wanted him to? Interested in exactly how you are training - are you just letting him go in and commanding him with anything? It's all very interesting.



Have you noticed he is showing more interest in the sheep than prior to training - that's what would seriously worry me if it all went a bit wrong.

I saw you got a bit of flack about doing that - is that the norm from the sheepdog world?

Helen

Lovely thread, really interesting Kirsty,looking forward to seeing how you all get on.

Thanks Pam. I will see what I can do

I don't think photos really show the true picture. My FIL is bringing a DVD recorder thing up, so I will get a video of Zak on the sheep. Zak is always calm around the sheep, he has never shown any real inclination to chase or worry (unlike my other GSDs!). He is not showing any more, or less, interest now we have started taking him to sheep.

At the moment, I am taking him into the training field or pens and allowing him and the sheep to get used to each other. I am then moving myself around the sheep (as I would with a collie) but instead of a collie balancing the sheep naturally, Zak has to be given some commands and direction as to where I want him to be and what I want him to do. He took the sheep from one pen to another though on his own. It is very hard to explain without you seeing it as it happens, so I will get a vid as soon as I can.

If Zak were Yogi or Flame then I would never have started this training, but Zak is a different kettle of fish altogether than any other GSD I have owned. I am totally confident that at the end of the training, I will have a dog that is far more controllable around livestock than a dog whose instincts are just suppressed be aversion training. In the meantime, he is just treated the same away from the training field as before - ie he isn't allowed to show interest in sheep.

Re: the flack. That was from one person only. She is actually well known for being, shall we say, rather outspoken and opinionated - and getting more so in old age Everyone else I have spoken to has been really interested and supportive.

Thanks very much It is great that people are interested in the training I am doing

was that who I think it was? If so, you know she's a friend, but I really don't understand what she doesn't like - after all, you're doing what they were originally bred to do:?

Yup, sure is! I think the gist of her problem is that she is concerned that the fact I am broadcasting what I am doing will encourage all and sundry to take their non-stock sense and dangerous dogs into the countryside and increase tenfold the amount of sheep worrying incidents. Or that is the way it came across to me anyway. No doubt you will hear all about it

Very interesting. Would be interesting to see a vid. Don't you have one on your phone?

You say he isn't allowed to be interested in sheep - how do you do that? Are you correcting him for looking at them, or just distracting him, or not putting him in that situation?

I know a collie has that natural instinct inbred in them, but does Zak, really struggling to find the word but what I'm trying to get at is, is he reading the sheep as a collie would, or is he just taking all his commands from you? iyswim? I know they were originally bred to herd, and some do but is the natural ability in Zak, or are you just commanding him to do something? I just find it really fascinating and can't wait to see a vid of him!

I get enough flak about trying to train a weim!

Helen

Fascinating thread! You are very lucky to have some stooge sheep to practise on. Im watching Zak's progress with great interest, he's doing very well.

No doubt I will next week. Her logic though, as often, doesn't quite follow through - after all, there are 1000's of photos/videos etc of border collies working - but that hasn't encouraged non-working BC owners to just let them loose on any sheep they might come across