Working dog

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Originally Posted by Husky1600

At times my dog Skye can be a pita like that. But she is such a good dog and a great mate that I can tolerate a fair bit. Since she was a pup we have gone for a walk nearly every day and it was on those early walks that she learnt most of the basic's. If we go out to work the cows too early she is sometimes too keen, so I get her to run with the bike for a paddock or 2, helps a lot. But the one command that seems to sort out a heap of problems is the stop command, I cant whistle so its all by voice or hand signals. And she will always stop for a loud "NO" or the hand signal for stop or lie. Get that right, particularly out on those early morning walks, and you should be able to then give the correct command to remedy what was starting to happen.

The boss has a lovely young lab and she cant help herself when she sees a hare or a parry - just takes off and chases them, following her nose for the next 15 minutes or more. This last week the boss was away and I had both dogs to walk each night and morning. The first time she took off I gave a loud NO several times - wasn't listening. When she came back I gave her a bloody good smacked bum. Tried it again, I yelled NO, she stopped, look at the hare, looked at me, looked at the hare and then came back very submissive. We carried on for our walk.
Again yesterday she started after a hare, I yelled NO, she chased for a minute or 2 and then came back right to my side and I praised her for coming back. Next hare, she showed interest, but stopped immediately. Only 2 days of walking and a firm stop command and I think we have it sorted. After that stop command, you have their attention and you can give the command for what you want them to do. Dont leave the training to just on the job, 10 minutes of fun and instruction each day will work wonders.

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Her stop has seemed to stop working when she gets like this. My command is down because I also can’t whistle at all! I’ll have to do some at home training I think just to get the buttons working right again. I think she’s just so eager, sometimes it’s like she wants to do things right and she knows how to but she just can’t help herself but get carried away. I find rabbits a great training tool, she also loves going after them but I have managed to stop her with a firm no.

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Originally Posted by rugerman

mmm a bit tricky with more variables, but the easiest one to test next time the cows are close to the shed, is to run her along a long race for 15mins before getting the cows and see if she is a bit more settled when you send her in to get them.
haha sounds like an intermittent electrical fault in a vehicle :) doesn't do it all the time but usually when it's the least convenient.

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Currently dealing with an intermittent electrical fault in the car and your right it’s very much the same!
Thinking back to yesterday and I do think making her run down the farm to get the cows may have helped, she was more settled and too tired to muck around so done her job properly. Might be the trick. Will continue with some more work at home on her basic training and keep her well worked and “tired”. She’s the sort of do who will go all day. I could be on the side of a ridiculous huge steep paddock, point to the top and say go back and I can almost guarantee she will find a way to get to the back and run as fast as she possibly can to get behind the stock. She’s insane and just loves it. She’s only tiny 20kg or something.

I'm pleased it worked for you, but technically when you give the dog a smack when it comes back, you are actually punishing for coming back to you. The best is to chase her down and grab her so she isn't coming to you and then punish. That's one of the reasons I try to set up the dog so it's likely do misbehave, and at the point they are starting to do what they want, and after a load NO, or STAY I will then lob some lemons or potatoes I have on hand to close the distance and let them know you can still reach out and "touch" them. Of course it does help if you have a good arm and aim :)
the only other way is either with a shock collar and a long lead so the dog thinks it's out of range of you which is the usual time they will play up when they think you can't get them.

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Originally Posted by Husky1600

At times my dog Skye can be a pita like that. But she is such a good dog and a great mate that I can tolerate a fair bit. Since she was a pup we have gone for a walk nearly every day and it was on those early walks that she learnt most of the basic's. If we go out to work the cows too early she is sometimes too keen, so I get her to run with the bike for a paddock or 2, helps a lot. But the one command that seems to sort out a heap of problems is the stop command, I cant whistle so its all by voice or hand signals. And she will always stop for a loud "NO" or the hand signal for stop or lie. Get that right, particularly out on those early morning walks, and you should be able to then give the correct command to remedy what was starting to happen.

The boss has a lovely young lab and she cant help herself when she sees a hare or a parry - just takes off and chases them, following her nose for the next 15 minutes or more. This last week the boss was away and I had both dogs to walk each night and morning. The first time she took off I gave a loud NO several times - wasn't listening. When she came back I gave her a bloody good smacked bum. Tried it again, I yelled NO, she stopped, look at the hare, looked at me, looked at the hare and then came back very submissive. We carried on for our walk.
Again yesterday she started after a hare, I yelled NO, she chased for a minute or 2 and then came back right to my side and I praised her for coming back. Next hare, she showed interest, but stopped immediately. Only 2 days of walking and a firm stop command and I think we have it sorted. After that stop command, you have their attention and you can give the command for what you want them to do. Dont leave the training to just on the job, 10 minutes of fun and instruction each day will work wonders.

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Originally Posted by 7mmwsm

On the days that she is giving you grief, try putting a front foot through her collar. Make her operate on three legs. That makes them more inclined to pay attention. Just be aware that they are like us and have a dominant side. Tying up the strong side is quite hard on them.

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I was going to suggest that too….old school but works. Letting the dog run before you work it seems like the best thing. Seems like most of it’s there for a milking cow dog…


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Originally Posted by rugerman

I'm pleased it worked for you, but technically when you give the dog a smack when it comes back, you are actually punishing for coming back to you. The best is to chase her down and grab her so she isn't coming to you and then punish. That's one of the reasons I try to set up the dog so it's likely do misbehave, and at the point they are starting to do what they want, and after a load NO, or STAY I will then lob some lemons or potatoes I have on hand to close the distance and let them know you can still reach out and "touch" them. Of course it does help if you have a good arm and aim :)
the only other way is either with a shock collar and a long lead so the dog thinks it's out of range of you which is the usual time they will play up when they think you can't get them.

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Hahahaha this made me laugh! Potato’s and lemons, that’s actually a good idea. Part of the reason i moved to a shock collar was also because she was so feral and when she knew she did wrong i couldn’t get near her, she knew she’d get a kick up the ass. .

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Originally Posted by tiroahunta

I was going to suggest that too….old school but works. Letting the dog run before you work it seems like the best thing. Seems like most of it’s there for a milking cow dog…


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No run beforehand today and she was average. Done her job but wasn’t with it. Looks like this is the solution.
She has so much potential to be a decent dog. She loves it but has a hamster going 100 miles an hour on a wheel in her brain.

foot in collar is a great tone them down trick....they hate it but carry on all the same....
sounds like you are on to it...realising it is a problem and doing "something" about it ,is big step to fixing it.
sounds like a fun dog to be around,would probably be two peas in a pod with my Meg......

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Originally Posted by Micky Duck

foot in collar is a great tone them down trick....they hate it but carry on all the same....
sounds like you are on to it...realising it is a problem and doing "something" about it ,is big step to fixing it.
sounds like a fun dog to be around,would probably be two peas in a pod with my Meg......

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Might be a good trick to use in the rabbit ridden paddocks we have where she’s tempted to bolt from the job.
She’s actually a really cool dog and has a good trainable brain, she just struggles to keep herself together and her wheels fall off. She tries hard so with the right training I think she could be pretty decent

Chelsea, me thinks you've got a good dog, possibly a bloody good dog. so all you have to do is work out for works for the both of you. Classic example this morning, took Skye for her walk and thought we may as well move the cows while we're at it. Only had to get them through a 10ft gate right behind my house, what could possibly go wrong.......well she was so bloody keen for some stock work she was right in there, like right up their dates in there. going left, going right, but not giving them time to sort themselves out. 50 odd carry overs through a 10 ft gate in 30 seconds aint a good look. But they all got through, and some more of them now know not to mess with a dog nipping at their heels. Should've just taken her for her walk and done the job 15 minutes later after we got back. My fault.
and rugerman, fully understand where you're coming from, it is a very rare occasion when I punish a dog after they come back [buggered if Im chasing them tho!] but this time she knew things were wrong and she knew she was in the wrong, so she got a good smacked bum. Thankfully this time it worked. The next time I praised her after she came back cos she had come back. And she knew she was in the wrong for chasing hares that time too. Having said that, when it is my turn to walk the bosses dog, I keep her under control for most of the walk, but there are some places I let her go, theres plenty of hares and dogs just gotta be dogs. Knowing that, I let her have at it for 10 minutes or so then call her in and if I can get her attention she comes back knowing that some places its ok to go crazy.