German SHEPHERD dog Working Dogs

I am not sure how successful I will be, but I am going to try to attempt to train Zak on sheep. Not in the same way as a border collie, but just to drive and hold sheep and then, most importantly , to stop and come away.

The results so far .... (only taken him once)

Oops ... getting a wee bit excited here



Under control



Watching the sheep go away





Not at all bad for a first attempt.

Fantastic! Will be great to see how he progresses with this

Fantastic!!!!!!

Thanks both. I will keep you updated on progress (or lack of!) LOL

Looks like he had fun, at the very least!!

How exciting Did he manage to stay off them even when he was excited?

Looking foward to hearing how you get on

oh yes. brilliant one. it must help him to work, and learn, from the border. brilliant news. nice one Zak. thanks for posting Moobli. good luck to you both.

How fantastic I'm really impressed with the control and look forward to seeing updates.

If someone just saw Zak and the sheep in the first photo, they would automatically think he was chasing them. Zak could be a wolf hunting sheep

My heart would be in my mouth lol. How did you start him off or is it a case of seeing what he would do around them?

Very nice photos of the handsome chap!

Helen

Oh yes, he certainly did that Not so sure about the sheep though

Thanks Hali. Yes he did stay off his sheep, even when excited. I think he was wanting to grip but he was given a voice correction and stopped. It helps that hubby is helping me out, because Zak really respects his authority and so won't take the mick. I am taking him down to the training sheep on my own later, so will see how we get on by ourselves.

Glad you enjoyed them. I think he will have quite a different style to the collies, as would be expected, so I am going to try to train him as I have seen the (human) shepherds training their dogs in Germany. He will be more of a driving dog, and will be trained to hold the sheep, to drive them away (ie back to the hill or into the pens) and then taught to come away immediately when told. That is the plan.

I think he was wanting to chase and grip initially - which is the usual reaction for many pastoral breeds - even untrained collies. However, he was quickly brought under control and for a first attempt, I was pleased with him.

I will be making regular updates

Well done zak! Great photos. Look forward to updates on his progress

I felt very confident because Allan was with me. I think I would have been far more on edge by myself. I am taking him down to the training sheep this afternoon on my own though, so we will see how we get on He has been around sheep since he moved in with us though, and has never shown signs of wanting to really worry them - so that is positive

I sent Fly to gather them up and then just wanted to see what he would naturally do. Unsurprisingly, he wanted to chase and grip. However, he was brought under control with a sharp word (he is very responsive and biddable) and was then happy to drive them back towards me with the help of Fly and Tip. One of the most important lessons was to leave the single sheep that broke away and let her make her way back to the others without chasing her. He then waited with the other dogs while the flock went away.

I have been watching dvds of one of the Bundesleistungshüten trials in Germany to get some tips, as obviously we won't be able to train him like one of the border collies.

I think I will be happy if he can learn to drive sheep away, help gather (in a fashion), hold them where I want them and to immediately come back when told ... oh and obviously learn that they are completely taboo when we are out and about.

It is certainly interesting. I am going to be the main trainer of Tip as well, so will be really keen to see the different styles and strengths/weaknesses between the two dogs. As Tip and Zak are great friends, it will be nice to work them together if possible.

Thanks Tattoo. I will certainly be giving plenty of updates - good and bad

All very interesting! Will be interesting to see how his training progresses and how different it is to collies. Keep us updated.

Are there any gsds being used on sheep in in this country?

Helen

I am hoping to keep a bit of a diary, so will make regular updates.

I don't personally know of any GSDs being used in the UK, but I am sure there will be the odd one - although not many. It would be nice to speak to someone else who has trained their GSD this way if there is anyone out there.

Have found this website, so am going to have a good read

http://www.german-shepherdherding.com/

Another interesting read

http://www.ddrlegends.com/manfredvisit.html

Can't wait to see how you get on with this, love it!

Oh, that sounds great! Can't wait to hear how he gets on, and see some more pics of him at work!