Talyn Australian Cattle Dogs Win Win

As published in Front and Finish February 2003

by Joe Kapelos

When a boxer trains and prepares to make boxing his profession, he spars with other boxers so he can perfect his moves within a winning situation. He does not spar with boxers more proficient then he. He needs to build his confidence in himself and create an extremely tough attitude. It would be detrimental to his psyche, his spirit, if he was pummeled to the likes of a whimpering puppy. A boxer in training, over time and feeling good, feeling brave, becomes strong; not just physically, but mentally as well. With each Herding still wants to play, I’ll teach her a new skill. successful step of the way and with a good foundation slowly constructed, he builds a winning attitude and can then take on a challenge.

Consider what would happen if this fledgling boxer was hit extremely hard, even badly hurt or pulverized at the start of his career. Would he care to go on? It would be a rare case to overcome such abuse before confidence was instilled. My beliefs in dog training go hand in hand, or should I say, fist to fist (no pun intended) with this example. If students return from an unsuccessful trial where they couldn’t move the stock, be it sheep or cattle, they’ll usually tell me, “My dog needs to practice on harder stock.” Well, the fact of the matter is all dogs have their limits. My job is to take each dog to its limit. Perhaps that dog met his match that day with that particular sheep or cow. But that same dog will move most sheep and cows in many more trials to come and had moved most stock in numerous previous trials. The dog’s success was due to a good foundation, time and the most important ingredient—always winning with the stock. The worst thing a person can do is put a young, green dog on stock that is too tough. Sheep that face and that the dog can’t move are a recipe for failure. Even worse is putting that same young, green dog on cattle. If that dog gets kicked, stepped on, chased or just doesn’t move the cows when they face, all he’s learned is he’s a big loser. A failure. Now it’s going to be difficult to build up any confidence. I get many a macho type here, not necessarily men either. I’ve seen a few women that are trying to prove something too. Mostly they are proving to me that they don’t care about their dog’s safety. But I’ll get a “cowboy wannabe” out here that tells me he’s put his four month old Cattle Dog on his bull. He’ll brag, “He was hanging onto the bull’s nose!” Wow, sounds impressive. But I don’t care how tough a little four month old puppy is. The first bad experience he has, where he becomes scared, hurt or both, could ruin that pup’s herding career. Oh, I’ve heard it all. Back twenty, thirty years ago, it wasn’t uncommon to hear how a tried and true method of picking a good Cattle Dog pup was to put the entire seven week old litter in with the cows and the one that survived was a “good one.” I shudder to think of what happened to some of those pups.

Proper stock that move off a dog are a must to properly train a dog. I’m not only talking about sheep and cattle. Ducks need to move nicely from a dog also. If ducks are opening their mouths or lowering their heads at a puppy, the handler needs to push those ducks with his hands and praise the dog for moving them. A training error too many people make, and it’s either laziness, or they think the dog needs to work it out on its own, is that they don’t help the dog. Aaaaaagggghhhhhhhh!!!!! When you keep hearing the statement, “the dog can work it out on its own,” over time it can send you right over the edge. There is a basic training philosophy that should be known and practiced by all who teach or proclaim themselves to be teachers: HELP YOUR DOG!!!!!!!! If your dog can’t move the livestock in training, move your lazy (fill in the blank) and poke the cow, sheep or duck with your crook and praise the dog. Let the dog rest. Switch to easier moving stock. Be particular about what stock you give to each individual dog. It can make a world of difference.

The welfare of your stock should never be sacrificed for your dog to win. There is a big difference between gripping and biting and, if most people would help their dogs, there wouldn’t be so much biting in the first place. There is always going to be a time and place where you are going to have to help your dog. Remember, dogs are supposed to win with the stock but that means you back the dog off when the stock turns to move away. If you have stock that doesn’t turn away or move off of a dog when the dog does the proper things to get them to move, then get rid of that stock. If I can reach a few people that read this and get them to incorporate this basic principle into their training methods, I feel I will have accomplished something important. Why not try to build your dog like you would a good boxer? Just don’t let him bite off any ears like one boxer I know of.

Thought Of The Month: Handlers tend to forget that herding is a partnership and, if one partner needs help, the other comes to his aid.

Well, “HAPPY HERDING” for it’s time for me to go “AWAY” and say “GO-BYE.”

Email: Talyn-acds@ak.net