Thread: Heading Dog indicating and working stock ?

I've no idea if this is possible but has anyone been able to work a heading dog on sheep and also indicate deer or is that just too much of an ask ?

I think it comes down to the trainer and dog. My hunting dog is half headingxpointer lab and if i started taking her to work she would start working stock with the other dogs. My wife uses her to round up our chooks or move sheep if we have them in our house paddock. Long as trained her to keep in when hunting and introduce her to gun fire like a hunting dog it could work. All my working dogs aren't to bad with gun fire considering they had never been introduced to it.

Many years ago there was a rabbiter in Central that did week about, one week rabbiting the next sheparding. He used the same dogs for both.

Work out which one you want it to mainly be, train it up for that first, then introduce the other. Don't confuse it by training it to do both at the same time.

yes its possible...I recall vividly 3 days of my youth. finished a shepherds trial with my heading dog one day,mustered cattle with him the next (hard healer) and caught a 140lb boar with him the next. he told me when deer were about too.teach dog its stock work and then take it hunting....they have brains enough to work out what you want it to do....even if they dont turn out to be top at indicating they will tell you if something is about and sure as God made little green apples make finding something you have shot easy.

if any working dog could it,d be a heading dog truly the brains and sometimes the brawn of any team.
the old shepherds trial a ???
loved the three dog event.
only cos I had a once in a lifetime handy dog that found and bailed pigs to.
my heading was good if a little to soft for cattle and I had a couple of trial blood hunterwaYS.

Yep not a problem I think they make the best deer dogs as they should be under good command just break them in for stock then take them hunting couse they use to working stock finding deer just comes naturally when they see aminals weather it sheep cattle or deer I'm useing a huntaway now & she one of the best deer dogs Iv ever seen I don't think I get another like her but brock her in for work then took her hunting & the 1st time she got me a deer but the one think I didn't know till watching her when watching clearings is how far they can see deer away she can see deer at 600m+

if my memory serves me right...it was a long pull down off the hill and just had to hold them in a ring about 10mtrs across...sort of a novice first attempt to wet the toes for the big event. won a bag of tux bickies for the dog...was right chuffed.
I recall Dads bitch bringing three down off course and one stubborn ewe decided to stop above a bluffy bank and have a go at Paddy.....wrong move,she grabbed the old girl by the snozz and threw her over the bank to a hearty round of applause from the club house...dont think she scored well all the same.

My late grandfather was Les Knight who wasn’t bad with the working dog and he passed me a few that ‘didn’t cut it’ or were perhaps ‘too hard’, one in particular would muster my goats (@ $200 each) it was great money mid 80’s for a 13 year old, Sam would hold or bail pigs, he would point goats also and round em on command but I never did use him on deer, he was a clever dog who wouldn’t rush in.
I learnt a lot from that dog.

Originally Posted by Danny

My late grandfather was Les Knight who wasn’t bad with the working dog and he passed me a few that ‘didn’t cut it’ or were perhaps ‘too hard’, one in particular would muster my goats (@ $200 each) it was great money mid 80’s for a 13 year old, Sam would hold or bail pigs, he would point goats also and round em on command but I never did use him on deer, he was a clever dog who wouldn’t rush in.
I learnt a lot from that dog.

I had an excellent huntaway by one of Les's dogs (Bully, I think). He was a great mustering dog, useful at the trials and would wind deer for me.

I'm the opposite got a deer pointing, pulls over wounded Deer/ pig finding dog that I use to muster sheep(450) and beef (50) on a regular basis. She's 9 1/2 now and the stock work is telling on her the next day.

Know of a dog that was trained for sheep, retrained for search and rescue then another change to biodiversity work (ok so it's still indicating) as has been said, more up the the owner/trainer than the dog.

Originally Posted by Tahr

I had an excellent huntaway by one of Les's dogs (Bully, I think). He was a great mustering dog, useful at the trials and would wind deer for me.

Yes, he had two Huntaways that stood out on the hill at that time and won their share of NI, SI and NZ titles. Bully and Buff.
It’s a small world, really interesting to hear you took him around deer. Interesting.


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yep les knight was legendary in dog trialing don't think I ever saw him run a dog at a trial but heard plenty.

did see jimmy hay and doug at the alfredton trials.

on a particuly sticky trio doug dropped his noise and looked back at jimmy who replied'' don't worry doug we,l educate the bastards''

jim blinkhorn the concrete shepherd was a aquaitance of ny gradndfather never really rated bloke that high tho.

Originally Posted by Danny

Yes, he had two Huntaways that stood out on the hill at that time and won their share of NI, SI and NZ titles. Bully and Buff.
It’s a small world, really interesting to hear you took him around deer. Interesting.


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I had one of Bully's progeny - Rum was his name big dog - got him off John Finlyason PioPio who along with Lez were close mates with my father - also a keen Trialist and Judge
Les did alot of Judging too for mem - I actually never remember seeing him run a Huntaway - Heading yes many