I’ve always had a propensity to view dog training as “art” – along the lines of taking and developing photographs. Before you ever “click” the camera you need to have a concept in your mind of the visual rendering you are trying to create.

Each work session is equivalent to taking “snapshots” for your photo album of a finished dog … hopefully “all the while” you are building these images into a panoramic view. The snapshots you take can never be replicated by anyone else’s but the “end product” (a dog working correctly) will still be recognized by sheep and handlers alike.

After you have enough snapshots you move on to the developing room. At the onset all you will see is a blurred image of a dog and sheep – but with work, time and patience the pictures become clearer and sharper until you have a physical entity to match the original image in your eye. “By the way” … the key word is “develop” not Photoshop:~).

Do the snapshots you are now taking measure up to the refined image you are trying to expose. Or do your snapshots portray a dog flanking tightly, flying past balance, not stopping or listening. If “this is the case” … the picture you are endeavoring to develop will never come into view. You can’t take blurred images and end up with a crisp, sharp picture. If you are only taking black and white shots you will miss out on that beautiful color portrait you see when a good open dog runs.

The key to a proficient finished dog is learning to take the correct snapshot exactly when it’s happening. Your timing will “make or break” how your dog’s portrait unfolds.

Let’s say you are working on outruns and your dog tends to run tight at the top. So, in an effort to widen him out – you have been giving him a stop and then a redirect. One day it “clicks in his mind” that when he hears the stop … he’s TIGHT and needs flank out. So, instead of stopping he goes wider … which is exactly what you have been trying to communicate to him.

BUT: instead of saying “YES … you’ve got it! That’s what I want”! (“There by” encouraging him to problem solve). You choose to make the picture “black and white” and focus on him not stopping. However; the problem is – he wasn’t thinking about stopping he was thinking … “got it” … go wider! So although you may have thought you were properly correcting him – you weren’t – because that was NOT his thought process. So, now instead of “developing” a dog that is confident in his ability to “figure out what you want and adjust accordingly” … the snapshot you just took is of a dog hesitant to think for himself.

That “split second” is the difference between a trainer and a great trainer. It’s not only understanding that these dogs do process, think and learn but it’s that impeccable timing that rewards him at the exact moment he was thinking correctly. Work with his mind not just his body *his mind understood what you wanted … but you were more concerned with what his body was doing*. If you give corrections in relation to what YOU are thinking instead what HE is thinking then you will never achieve a full color portrait. When you get to the developing room all your photos will be black and white or “at best” dull muted colors.

Good trainer’s snapshots are crisp, sharp, in focus with great “depth of field”. The corrections and rewards come at the most optimum time … “there by” building confidence between dog and trainer. Creating one of the most significant training tools there is … the confidence the dog acquires in his own abilities to think and find solutions to difficult situations.

So, if your finished image is of a dog thinking and working with you then you need to understand how to let it develop. If you don’t spend the time to get each snapshot focused … then you will loose that picture as if it was exposed to sunlight … fading until you can’t recognize it any longer.

However, there is good news.. A picture once developed is forever frozen (“that is” unless it’s photo-shopped :~)… not so with training. You can alter your final portrait by deciding to take different snapshots to add to your photo collection. So, “picture” in your mind what you want your finished dog to look like and start timing your “snapshots” to achieve that goal.

I was at a trial when a friend I haven’t seen in awhile came up to talk. We touched on the subject of how she was not enjoying trialing and was looking for some “input”. I told her perhaps she was trying too hard and with that not handling her dogs the way she use to. She seemed to be listening and open to what I was saying. I wanted to make sure she knew that I wasn’t making a “judgment call” but only trying to help “sort through her problem”. We talked for quite a while and after the talk I felt she had understood what I said and hadn’t taken it personally.

This got me thinking of trials and the differences in people that trial. Why do some people seem to enjoy them selves and others are almost always miserable. I started reflecting on the different stages I went though in trialing. I can remember when I first started in novice I was overwhelmed at everything. What I remember most about “this time” was the people that were helpful to me. It was all so new to me I felt I was learning with each outing and even though I was apprehensive about the unknown – it was always exciting and fun. I have always enjoyed learning new things and this was how I approached my early trialing. The mistakes I made (and there were plenty) only meant that I needed to go home and work on that problem. Although winning was not my driving force it was always appreciated. I shortly moved up to Pro-Novice and did well enough that I felt confident to move up to open. This was my enlightening time! I crashed and burned … big time. Open is so much more difficult Than PN it’s hard to imagine until you get there. I tried to keep a good attitude most of the time. I worked long hard hours figuring out why I wasn’t doing well. Then spend many more hours working on the areas I was having trouble in. I remember when my goal was just to FINISH an open course. Eventually I not only finished but started placing and then winning. When I did win it meant a lot to me because – I felt I had paid my dues. I don’t think anyone really values winning if they haven’t worked for it.

However, winning is nothing more than recognition for those hours of work – NOT a statement of a person’s worth. Wining doesn’t always mean first place – sometimes it’s just walking off the course knowing you and your dog worked together as a team. I have come in second at trials and kept a vivid recollection of the run. The reason being that “second place run” best personified a working relationship between myself and my dog. I like to remind people they are the same person whether they win or lose. I believe a lot of bad sportsmanship comes “to play” when people gauge their own worth on winning or losing, thereby feel worthless if they don’t win.

My most difficult time came when I had won a few large trials and was placing fairly regularly. I felt people were expecting me to do well every time I went to the post. Since I still wasn’t that sure why I had been winning I began feeling tremendous pressure. I was taking losing personally which made me try harder and of course that only compounded the problem … a lose-lose situation. The harder I tried the worse I ran – becoming a vicious circle. Thank heavens due to the fact that I enjoyed trialing more than winning it didn’t last long but was painful! I soon went back into my “trials are like tests” mode – “in other words” did I do my homework correctly? When you are in the right “frame of mind” trials can give you a goal as to what you need to work on instead of where you have failed. It was this attitude that kept me trialing and prompted me to improve.

I “stumbled” through this detrimental state and was more than ready for the next. I wanted to stretch my dogs, myself and my abilities. At the time I was only attending local trials. However, I knew that if I wanted to improve my skills the only way to achieve this was to go to as many places as I could. So, I started traveling around the country in order to learn how to work different courses and sheep. Since, I went with the attitude that I was “broadening my horizons” I enjoyed most all of the trials. Don’t get me wrong: I had a “drive” to do well and worked long hard hours trying to accomplish that. There were times I got upset and wondered why I ever got into this and other times I wanted to give up. I think everyone who competes feels this on occasion.

The point I’m trying to make is my overall attitude was: I wasn’t there to “just win” but to do the best of my ability. It was looked at as a time to learn all I could about trialing and dogs. I would sit at the fence and watch the good handlers in order to learn. I didn’t do it to complain they received better treatment than I but to find out what made them good. How was it they seemed to finish a course when most were not? How they might not win every trial but they were in the top 10 most of the time. I wanted to improve and this was what I was aiming for – to be consistent. It wasn’t to win every trial I entered but to handle consistently. My dogs and I improved and did it with enjoyment. I didn’t resent anyone else’s wins because I didn’t feel they had taken something away from me. So, beyond the wins I was enjoying the traveling, trialing and visiting with all the people. I met people that I would have never known if not for the trials. If I only enjoyed the winning the rest (which I can assure you take most of your time) would have meant nothing. I would have lost a LOT. I met so many enjoyable people that even if I hadn’t been “following my passion” I would still look back on “that time” with fond memories. I went places that I would have never normally gone. I’m the type of person that always has to justify travel and this was a great one! Go dog trialing and see our country. In my travels I visited, Virginia, North Carolina, Wisconsin, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Arizona, Canada and many other really captivating places. I relished every location for its own special charm. However, even more important were all the people that went “out of their way” making their trials memorable and comfortable for the contestants. I can’t begin to name all the people that have picked me up from airports giving me a room or bath. It was always appreciated and remembered.

Some people seem to go to trials with a totally different attitude. I’ve been to trials where for the entire two days there is nothing but tension. Some competitors seem to thrive on turmoil and spend all their spare time stirring things up. Unfortunately there are ramifications to this type of behavior. The most damaging being the host of the trials will get tired of all the hassle and just stop putting on trials. Not to mention the judges that are doing their best when all they get is grief. Our sport is subjective not a timed event needing no judging. If you don’t like the judging – don’t go back.

The main point of this article is to get people just starting and others that are at a “crossroad” WINNING is NOT the most important reason to trial. You always do the best you can and the rest you have no control over. You can complain and be miserable or you can work hard and enjoy the dogs. I get upset when I see things that aren’t fair and I can complain with the best of them. I know there are times when we should speak out to “right a wrong”. I also know watching every run with the thought of finding something wrong with it won’t do anything except make you miserable! If you go to the trial with the attitude you must win and IF you don’t you aren’t a good handler you will not enjoy trialing. If your attitude is to run your dog as well as the circumstances allows – your “overall” approach to trialing will be better.

I would like to end with the fact that I received a very nice note from the person I talked to at the trial thanking me. Made me feel good that maybe I had helped a friend regain her enjoyment of trialing. So, novice people – enjoy your trialing: it’s a SPORT … not a “life or death” situation.

This morning I was out training a couple of young dogs of ours. One is a 19 month old smooth coated female and the other a 15 month old red rough coated male. One was a delight to work and the other I walked away from the work session just exhausted. When I came back in the house I was dissecting the difference between them. They both have aptitude, both are well worth putting training time into but they are as different as night and day and I am biased as to which type I like. Through out this article I will attempt to explain the differences between these two and then to spell out the reasons I tend to prefer one type over the other. I will be comparing the two to give an idea how totally different two dogs can be even though they both have potential and a strong desire to work. An underlining reason for this article is to give some insight to people that might have only trained one or two dogs and don’t really have a feel for the different types of dogs there are.

Here is some background on the two pups. The male wanted to work at around 8 – 9 months old and was fast enough even at that age to start serious training. Some pups are too clunky and slow at 8 months so they aren’t capable of heading the sheep. This wasn’t the case as he was physically very capable of working but, and this is a very big but, he wasn’t emotionally mature enough to take the training. So I chose to put him up and waited until he was over a year old. The female was around 10 months when she first began to work and once started was in full training mode and we haven’t looked back since. What I mean by that is with some dogs it’s best to start them and then put them up and let them mature more before you really put pressure on them. You can start a dog and allow them to learn about sheep without putting a lot of pressure on. However, once you start serious training, for instance off balance work, it takes more pressure than a young pup can readily take. That being the case you would be better off waiting until they are capable of taking intense pressure before you continue with that concentrated of training.

The male is chase oriented and although the female is quite capable of chasing it’s done in a totally different fashion. He wants to work but doesn’t have the eye or natural about him that she does. He never bends off sheep and won’t unless I put that in him. She will go straight towards the sheep but will blow herself out…she can’t help it, it’s just in her make up. I didn’t train her to do this but I did cultivate it. When she chased I would fuss at her and when she backed off I would praise her. I will try to do the same with the male but will have to do more than just fuss at him. The “more” I am referring to is to MAKE HIM give (translated – mechanical training) when he gets close to sheep. The way I do this is by making sure each and every time he approaches his sheep I am always in a position to put pressure on him in order to back him off. I didn’t have to do that with the female because she felt the pressure of the sheep on her own. I didn’t need to be the one to tell her to get back, the pressure of the sheep told her. The male doesn’t have that “program” in him so I will have to insert it by repeating “get back” only when I am in a position to make him. This will be repeated time after time until I eventually construct a pattern that will be ingrained in him. (This is the reason I waited longer to start the male. I could not just let him work on his own because his “own” was nothing more than sheep chasing and he was not emotionally mature enough to take the pressure of me perpetually saying “get back”.)

One of the problems with this sort of dog is the time involved…since I am “putting” most of his skill in him instead of “developing” it’s much more time consuming. If this is your only dog then it’s possibly not a considerable problem but when you are working a number of dogs a day the difficulties multiply. When totally finished he might make a better trial dog than her but be assured I would rather have pups out of her than him. The obvious reasoning behind this – what she has is “natural” increasing the odds of her abilities being inherited. The male’s offspring would need a good trainer to get the best out of them. When you are breeding dogs the training doesn’t go with the dog only the natural!      

Now on to the main point of this article…the amount of time and effort it takes to train a dog. We often get calls from people wanting started and/or trained dogs. The thing that brought this article into focus was a call from a lady looking to buy a started dog. She described how much training she wanted the dog to have. She wanted a least at 200 to 300 yard outrun, set on its flanks and possibly the beginnings of a drive. Then she proceeded to quote the amount of money she wanted to spend and it almost wouldn’t buy one of our pups. This started me wondering if people ever think how much time it takes to train a dog. If we ever calculated it in hourly wages we would never sell any of them. I work dogs 6 days a week and could not begin to tell you the hours it takes to get one really running right. I am trying to communicate to a novice person all the effort put forth trying to mold a potential trial dog. I hope to achieve this objective by going into more detail about the two young dogs that I began the article with. The term “started” dog sounds so simple but if you will read on you will see that’s usually not the case. The examples offered are dogs with talent so you could easily double your training time on a so – so dog.

I will also endeavor to give you a notion of what I like and don’t like in each. I will start out with the male. He is a bold, confident and workmanlike dog with a lot of qualities about him that are exceptionally nice. He has a great nature and is people and dog friendly. He wants to please me and he has a great passion for his work. He’s not afraid of anything on four legs (or two) and has power to burn. On his first trip to sheep he ran through the middle and scattered them (on his 30th trip too I might ad!) These dog broke sheep knew for safety’s sake they needed to regroup and return to me. However, between myself and the flock was one lone sheep and a little red dog. The sheep figured “what the heck, he’s not very big – I’ll go over him”. Mistake! He met her in the air taking hold of a nose and he never flinched. For me he is not an easy dog to train because he takes most things personally and gets his feelings hurt quite easily. Since he’s soft you have to make sure he understands what you expect of him, but once that’s accomplished he will give 100%. If he thinks you are upset with him he will cop a bit of an attitude (substitute pout). You can work him for a long period of time without him becoming sour and I’m sure he would take to drilling without a doubt but I hate drilling and very seldom do it. He will walk on straight to his sheep and push almost to the point that he ends up in the middle of them. Unfortunately he will take a tremendous amount of time to train. I think (one never knows until you’re done) he will finish into a good dog.      

I owned both his parents and his father was natural – almost to a fault. His mother was a really good trial dog but was not a natural and in order to have her running correctly you had to do a lot of drilling, which is why I never really enjoyed her. The female on the other hand is naturally gifted and all I have to do is guide her talent in the right direction. This doesn’t mean she is without fault. She is extremely high strung and wired most of the time making her almost impossible to live with. She’s a bit unusual in as much as her tension does not carry over to her work – once she’s on her sheep she relaxes. It’s an uphill battle to stop her because she can’t stand to be motionless for a second. She wants to leave your side the minute she thinks sheep are anywhere in the vicinity. She has a stronger desire to “work” than to “please” so it takes a strong hand to keep her right.

However you have to be careful because she’s touchy and once she concludes you are upset with her she starts worrying more about you than the stock. In other words, she loses confidence easily so I have to make sure to encourage her immediately after I “get on her”. This particular fault is irritating to me at times. I prefer a dog that will do something even if it’s wrong as compared to one that slows up trying to evaluate whether you are upset with them. She’s quick as a cat and you better have your timing “dead on” or she will over run your commands. She doesn’t get along with people or other dogs (and would make a terrible pet) and I have worked hard to get her familiarized with people, dogs and horses putting out her sheep. She flanks just the right distance and when you “get hold of the reins” she has pace that won’t quit. When she started I was concerned about her power, believing her not to be an especially strong dog but since have changed my mind somewhat. Much of what I was reading as weak seems to be more trepidation about me … in other words we are back to lacking confidence again. The event that made me reconsider was watching her bring “wall to wall” sheep out of a barn. She had to go over … through … under …etc. the sheep in order to get to the opposite side and push them out – all accomplished without once biting.      

Though she will run in and bite, she doesn’t yet have the confidence to walk up and take hold of a nose. On the drive she will hold a line better than some of my finished dogs. She is a gifted dog and ranks up there with one of the best I’ve ever started. You can never be sure how they will finish but I couldn’t ask for a better beginning. She is a joy to work. To summarize … The basics of what I look for and the repercussions when these basics are lacking.

1. I think first and foremost I want eye and balance …
The male has very little of either but does have enough to keep his sheep together. He has NO PROBLEM with push but I will have to constantly work on keeping him at the correct flank distance as this will never be natural with him. The female will need to have her confidence worked on more than her balance. The male will take a much longer since he doesn’t have the built in flank distance and I will have to put this is in him and we are talking a very time consuming program! If he had any less eye I would be truly concerned as I really prefer a dog with a little more eye.

2. Power …
This is a hard one! I’ve had dogs I watched sheep run off when they were young and yet when matured would take on anything. So, I try not to worry unnecessarily about this issue. I feel it can be developed to some extent. The male, as I have already mentioned, is not lacking and will not need a lot of work in this area. The female will need more work and encouragement before I will feel completely comfortable with her. One way I will accomplish this is by backing sheep in a corner and have her walk up and touch noses with the sheep and then teach her to “take – hold” on command. This will take some time but I don’t feel I need to rush it. I’ll make sure not to overmatch her with a sheep that will grind her into the ground and knock all the confidence out of her. I started her on dog broke (i.e. easy to move sheep) and will “work up” to sheep that have more resistance to them. I will let her go in and take hold if at any time she acts unsure and I will always be there to make sure I can help her if needed. I will do the same with the male even thought he doesn’t need it as much as she does.

3. Biddable …
I want a dog to listen!! This is of course of prime importance when you are dealing in trial dogs. It adds up to more than that because it is what makes working a dog enjoyable. If you have to fight a dog every step he takes then eventually it will take the pleasure out of working. You need a dog that wants to cooperate and help you, not one whose goal in life is to make yours more tedious. It’s difficult to explain because it’s not a tangible thing but you know it when you have it. Some dogs glance at you to say “OK now what”? Some just cock an ear to hear you better. It doesn’t matter how they do it as long as the message is “I want to interact with you”. It is more than “I want to work sheep,” it’s “I want to work sheep with you.” I sometimes think this attitude is one of the most important things a working dog can exhibit. If, when you put pressure on him (training is pressure!), he cops an attitude refusing to give 100% then obviously it is impossible to get the best out of him. If he carries this attitude to the extreme he will quit you. I am not talking about being unfair while working. This will cause even a reasonable dog to get “an attitude”! I am talking about the formidable amount of pressure it takes to train a dog to Open standards. If you think of the hours and hours it takes to get a dog to trial standards you will understand why most trainers are very choosy about the dogs they keep for themselves.

I hope this will give you a portrait of what occurs while trying to train a dog … all of the trainer’s thoughts on how to correct faults, the worries and concerns about how to best communicate to the dog and then the effort to bring out the best the dog has to give. None of this is included in the price of a dog but believe me it is there!

While working a dog I have in for training I ran into a problem that seems to emerge as a common thread running through numerous dogs I take in. The problem child I was referring to is a really nice yearling bitch that has a lot of potential with an amazing amount of natural talent. We were having a beneficial session working on balancing and the basics of reading sheep. I laid her down, called her off to set her up in order to send her again. I do this quite a bit – so young dogs don’t associate “That’ll do” with the dreaded “not being able to work anymore”. Then out of the blue she decided not to come when called. So the rest of the training session became one of calling the dog off and working on her “coming when called”. I didn’t stop this exercise until she was controlling herself even when I wasn’t standing right next to her. This is a major prerequisite for a dog – it has to come when called. When I say coming when called I don’t mean coming when he has exhausted every reason it can conjecture up not to.

I often wonder if people realize how much time trainers spend teaching basic discipline to dogs? During the years I have taken dogs in I have depleted training hours teaching dogs such basic things as their names and coming when called. Novice people need to realize that just because a dog looks at you after you have said his name 20 times does not mean he knows it. In the same vein just because a dog finally comes after being told to 20 times does not mean he will come when called! I see this as a big hole in novices training. They think the dog is doing what it has been told and it is not. It’s doing something it was told when it felt like doing it. It came when it finally got around to it not when it was told. This is not a trained dog, it may be a semi-conditioned dog, but is not trained.

If you are paying someone to train your dog to work sheep your money would definitely be better spent on sheep work than having the trainer teaching your dog what his name is. In my estimation Border Collies need owner guidance more than any breed, that is if you want to have a functional relationship with him. The reason for a Border Collie needing this attention and direction is because of their intelligence. A dog this bright requires interaction with his owner. If he learns to listen and mind when told, both you and the dog will appreciate each other more because both will know what is expected of them. Dogs do not resent discipline, they need it and become unsettled if they don’t receive it. I think this perception is one beginners have a difficult time understanding. A dog feels safer and more confident if he know his pecking order in the house. The majority are much more comfortable if they feel someone above them is in control. I could relay hundreds of problems that occur when people do not perceive dogs’ actions accurately.

I had one dog in for training that eventually was put to sleep for aggression against people. When he first came here the owner permitted him to lunge at everyone that walked by. The owner thought he was trying to correct this behavior by saying the word “no” but not once did he truly correct the dog or give any body language indicating he was displeased with the dog. (Another way of putting it was the correction did not fit the crime!) I worked the dog on sheep and corrected him hard and fast at the very beginning so he had respect for me and I didn’t have a major problem. He was a strong willed dog and you could never let up or he would take advantage but if you kept on him he would listen. I had him in for training off and on for a year. During this time he behaved once or twice in an aggressive manner with me and he was immediately and very strongly corrected. It didn’t take him long to understand if I wasn’t feeling threatened and being aggressive, he was not to behave that way. He was fine here but whenever he went home the aggressive behavior was once again being rewarded (not on purpose, I’m sure!) So, unfortunately he matured into a very combative dog, that eventually was put down. I have another example of a Border Collie that was left at home all day long by himself. He soon learned how to jump the fence so he could go down the block to visit and play with school kids. He would come home before his owners so they never knew he was leaving. However the day came when he discovered girl dogs and didn’t bother to come home on time! He was another one that was put down because he was impossible to confine. Neither of these cases are about people not caring for their dogs, quite the contrary, they care, they just don’t understand. These are usually the people that have their dog in the house with them and although they love their dog they have never demanded anything from him. They let the dog get away with murder customarily because they are not sure how to discipline correctly. Students are always saying to me “why is it that my dog listens to you and not me…tell me the words to use”. There isn’t a word that will fix all your behavior problems. It is a total package of body language and the dog knowing that you mean what you say. Often people tell a dog one thing with words and their body is saying totally the opposite. I will undertake to give an appropriate illustration of this. If for instance, you are saying the words “lie down” and simultaneously patting your leg while backing up. The words being spoken are lie down but what is being communicated in body language is a very strong come to me. This is a detrimental mistake that beginners make saying and doing are not the same thing. Just because you say the same words as the trainer does not mean the dog will respond in the same manner.

If you will take the time to observe dogs interacting with each other it will be time well spent because you can learn a tremendous amount about dog psychology. Understanding dog behavior will benefit the union between you and your dog. Observe when a lower ranked dog growls and notice not one dog in the pack even blinks an eye. However; let the pack leader growl and every dog around is suddenly on their best behavior even if they weren’t doing anything wrong! Both dogs growled (said the same word) but the difference between the two growls are that there would have been consequences to the pack leader’s growl and believe me all the dogs know it. The subordinate dog’s growl was all “bark and no bite” and the dogs have no trouble distinguishing between the two. This example is the difference between a dog electing to listen or ignore a command. They have to accept it as absolute that if they don’t respond when told to do something there WILL be a correction, each and every time. I want to repeat EACH AND EVERY TIME. This means that you have to stop and correct a dog not just when you feel like it but every time you tell him to do something and he doesn’t comply. For example, let’s say you have told your dog to come and he doesn’t. So you repeat the command … what message have you given him? You have just communicated to him that he is safe ignoring you at least once. Then depending on how many times you repeat yourself will decide how many times he will be comfortable dismissing you. In other words, if he comes on the fourth time you’ve called him, four times is the number of times you don’t enforce what you say. This will be his comfort zone knowing he is safe in blowing you off at least four times. Then, of course, he will start pushing that number higher until he will eventually not come at all. This scenario will happen in all aspects of his training if you keep allowing him to not regard your words as absolutes. The first rule of training is never say anything you are not ready and willing to back-up with a physical action. When I say a physical action I do not mean striking a dog. I mean pressure enough to make the dog stop whatever he’s doing and try to figure out what you want because you (substitute pack) are more important than what he was doing. Depending on the dog and how sensitive he is will dictate how much pressure will be needed to give a correction. If you watch a dog fight you will observe it usually sounds worse than it looks. Listening to all the snarls and growls you would expect to find holes in the recipient of the attack. Very seldom do dogs resort to getting so physical they harm one another. Nevertheless, be assured they might not leave teeth marks on the skin but they leave no doubt on the other dog’s mind they meant business! People get confused when told to discipline their dog believing it means getting rough with a dog. It isn’t how rough you get but how well you get your message across, how consistent you are in your discipline.

In another context you could look at this as a matter of respect. Your dog needs to believe you mean down when you say it even if he is running full tilt after sheep. If your dog won’t down 2 feet from you, do you really think there’s a chance he will 200 yards out? Start up close and stay up close until he is reliable 100% at hand. I see people go to the post with their dog on a leash. If when you are walking to the post you can’t trust him to listen to you … are you hoping the further away he gets the better he will listen and mind?

OK, you say you have the idea, now how do you fix it? Set it up to happen so you can work on it when you are not doing other things. Don’t wait until you need control in order to find out you have none. Let’s start with what I started this article with “coming when called”. Most people say come and when the dog doesn’t they go get the dog and pull it to where they wanted it to go. Good idea not to repeat a command but bad idea to go and make the dog go somewhere by holding him. He wasn’t minding… he was being controlled. In other words, he had no CHOICE so he couldn’t choose to come. He has to learn to control himself and to mind because it is not acceptable not to. Yes, you should have gone over to him but then you should have corrected him, let him go, and called him again. This gives him freedom to choose to come. Don’t start this in a 20 acre pasture or you will lose…he has four legs, you only have two. So make sure you start in a small area. You are working on his “mind” and trying to convince him coming to you is in his best interest. Again, you do this through the mind, not by physically hitting him. When I say you back it up with a physical action, I mean you walk over and correct him again if he doesn’t come to you. A correction is anything from, when you are walking to him, he cringes and comes running to you …. up to grasping him behind the ears and shaking him. Watch him and judge as you are walking toward him, if he is cringing when you get there…..that’s enough discipline…don’t shake him. If he is smelling the ground when you get there, he is ignoring you and needs a stronger correction. This is usually a problem that begins early so pay attention and begin working on it when he is just a pup. Most people wait until they have a problem and then start worrying about it. It happens with all pups so just plan on it. Go places with just enough distractions to help you get your point across and not enough he won’t be able to focus on you. You want to make sure you start in a safe place where he can’t get hurt if he tries to run away. Plan ahead in order to find a place he can’t get away. It can become a habit if he learns that the way to avoid discipline is to run. You can use a long line to help convince him you have the ability to correct even at a distance. You need to build up in his mind that you have super natural abilities.

I want to touch on another reason some dogs won’t come when called and that is they don’t feel safe in coming. Someone has “intentionally or not” disciplined them for coming. Watch your timing and as I mentioned earlier if you are walking over to discipline him and he comes up to you cringing don’t pick him up and shake him at that point. The reason being you would be communicating to him is it is not safe to come to you. You always want your dogs to feel that you are going be there to help them. I bring this up because this will come into play later on in his training. If when he is working a sheep that turns on him, he will need to know you are on his side. He needs to think of you two as a team and feel like you would be there to come and help. If he is afraid to come to you this is a sign your timing is off. So, make sure the correction fits not just the crime but also his response to your disciplining him.

However (it seems like there is always a HOWEVER doesn’t it!) you can’t have him coming to you when you tell him to down. This is a different issue than being afraid to come. This is an issue not of “timing” but of “pressure”. If you tell him to lie down and he starts to run toward you, you need to put pressure on him to back him away from you. The minute he stops his forward motion, you stop putting pressure on him and repeat the down command. This is a dualfold problem…on one hand you have “yes, he isn’t doing what he was told” (which was to lie down,) but the other hand “why isn’t he doing what he was told?” Is it because of confusion? If you have a desire to be a good trainer you need to discover the difference. There is a consequential distinction between a dog disobeying because of confusion or one disobeying with defiance. Both need to be mended but require different approaches. When working on confusion you need to resolve certain communication problems. When dealing with defiance, you need to determine why the dog is challenging you.

“Illusions of Control”

Control – just how much is enough? When does enough become too much. This is a common novice query. As usual, a problematic question to answer “on paper”. The first supposition most make is – “too much is when the dog quits” (but that “begs the question” … how did they quit – mentally or physically?) Actually there are circumstances and dogs that need to be pushed to “the quitting point” in order to get a message across. This is why it’s difficult to answer any question “in one dimension” – you can’t see the dog/handler interaction while attempting to “fix” a problem on paper. I’ve pushed dogs to the “quitting point” and they ended up “the better”. BUT, I also know WHY I’m doing it … “taking into account” when to do it, how far to push, and when to stop. This is the dilemma for novices – knowing when they should “push” an issue and when they should “back off”. Usually the dogs that benefited from being pushed to “the quitting point” were ones that had consistently “gotten the better of” their owners (usually novice) and needed to understand they couldn’t have their sheep until the trainer allowed it. Nevertheless … “as a rule” putting that much pressure on a dog is not useful. That’s why it’s so important to understand the “fundamentals” of control – how much is needed and what you are trying to achieve while applying it. To use control as “a power trip” will benefit neither you nor your dog.

I’ll give an example (that occurred years ago) of being “right but ending up wrong”. I typically work my dogs “free flowing” meaning I try not to down them incessantly but instead teach them to rate themselves with the sheep while working. Unexpectedly, I was noticing when I said “lie down” the dog would quit working. At first, I would “get after him” and send him back “onto” his sheep … but after it happened a few times (and “a big clue” … with different dogs) I decided that I must be communicating something unintended. So, instead of just “blaming the dog” I spent time trying to grasp exactly what message I was conveying.

The end result was a “two fold”. First, since I didn’t routinely use a down while working, when I did say it usually it was in context of calling them off (either to set up another outrun or to quit all together). However, the second reason was more important. When I did down them “on stock” it was usually an intense down. When calling them off I used a different tone – so in essence they heard it as “that’ll do”. If I wasn’t “in tune” with the dogs I might have punished them for something I was causing. By saying – “lie down” (in a softer tone than the usual down) and then saying “that’ll do” … they soon learned that the soft down was a precursor to a call off. So, to solve the problem I started using softer lie downs during the work session. A simple solution … which could have easily been made into a “confrontation for control”.

Not being in control is obviously non-constructive. However, not being in “total” control isn’t always a negative thing. With some dogs there are advantages to not expecting every move to be perfect. Novices do not have a preconceived “picture” of what they want a dog to work like – so they don’t have the desire to “handle” a dogs every step. They’re usually hesitant to “make” a dog do something and are more inclined to just let a dog “just work”. Where an open handler knowing exactly what they want would “demand” specific moves. . There are a number of dogs that are natural with a soft nature … good dogs but aren’t able take a lot of “cranking on”. These types of dogs usually work better with out a lot of “control” and since the novice isn’t continually demanding perfection – they are well suited for each other. I’ve seen dogs that didn’t run well in the hands of some top handlers become good dogs when handled by a novice. Why? The novice, not knowing enough to “get on them” made the dog more relaxed without all that “precision pressure”.

What’s more detrimental to a dog than too much control is too much control combined with bad timing. The dog never feels comfortable with himself, the handler or the stock. Dogs characteristically react to “bad handling” in two different ways. Some loose “heart” just going through the motions … obeying every command but not REALLY working stock. Some get so tense they run through every command (instead of turning off – they just go faster). Both “types” may have started out trying to comply with the trainer – but when the conflict between what their instincts were telling them to do and what the trainer was making them do – they lost trust. In essence it’s the same problem but due to the nature of the dogs you end up with two entirely different results. Fundamentally both were taught that nothing they did was right … some lost “their drive” and waited to be told what to do (or some just wouldn’t work). Others (usually the “high drive” kind) listened to the livestock more than the handler and started running through commands trying to keep control of their stock.

In conclusion: Dogs do need to have someone in control but the “controller” needs to understand this breeds amazing intelligence and instincts and work with these attributes not against it.

So the question Novices need to ask themselves – – – do you want to view “control” as management or power?

I’m constantly telling my students to keep the push in their dogs while trying to “tone down” the chase. After observing their confusion between the two terms I thought an article might help clarify the concept. So, I will attempt (as usual complicated on paper) to differentiate between chase and push so hopefully a novice can begin to observe and decide which action their dog is taking and acquire the steps to “sort out” this problem. To a novice the two may look identical (rapid) but there is a “world of difference” between them. The significant difference being that a dog tends to be in balance with the sheep when he’s pushing, but “more than likely” not when he’s chasing. Even if you, as a novice handler, don’t know the difference – I can promise you the sheep do.

There are numerous things that will cause a dog to have a too much “chase” about him. It’s a compilation of how much or little eye the dog has, what the mental attitude of the dog is (he’s just running and not thinking), how much pressure the dog feels from the handler (if the handler is “strong enough” it will automatically tone a dog down) and the sheep (are they light, heavy, etc.). So, as you can see (or I guess that’s read) it’s a multi-factored problem and can’t be “solved” with just one approach, but I will give one technique that helps me “sort through” dogs that have too much chase about them.       The key to “curtailing” chase is to incorporate pace into the dogs working agenda. A few dogs are born with pace – the majority are not. Either way, I just assume it’s something I will have to work on and automatically integrate it into my training program. Often, I spend many months working on a dog without a lot of natural pace and with others (less frequently) just a few weeks.I know “cut to the chase” and on to the inevitable question: how can I put pace in my dog? My first response usually perplexes them – stop downing your dog. Then I take them out and demonstrate how to work on pace and “guess what” … part of the time I down the dog. Sound confusing … welcome to sheepherding 101!

A concept a novice needs to appreciate is that a “down” can convey many things and there are various reasons and ways to down a dog. A talented open handler with a down whistle can bring a dog to a “screeching” halt or slow it down to a “crawl.” They can use the down to stop all motion or just as a pause (half-halt) in order to “warn” the dog they are going to give a redirect. So, to get pace in our dogs we need to learn to communicate very subtle downs that our dog will learn to translate to slow down.       Try to begin with a nice group of sheep (remember, when possible use sheep to your advantage). If they are too heavy a young dog will loss confidence is his ability to push … “on the other hand” runners will do nothing except bring out the chase. Initially, I let the dog work off a “bit of steam” because not only do I use the “appropriate” sheep to get my message across but I endeavor to work with the dog. (If you need to work on fast flanks do it at the beginning of a session when the dog is still eager and fast. If you need to work on pace – wait until the end when the dog is tired and not as “hard running”.) I have the dog go around and I say “there” to have him start fetching. When he starts to push too hard I say “take time” gruffly (not in an “asking” voice). When he doesn’t respond (because he doesn’t know what it means) I put pressure on him (lean towards him or push the sheep towards him) and say stand (mine usually don’t have a clue what that means either) and finally I say lie down. That’s the command I expect them to obey and if they don’t – they will get a correction but immediately as they lie down … I say “get up” softly (actually, I usually use a “clucking” sound as you would for a horse) and back up (release your pressure). Keep in mind you’re not working on the “down” but the “slow down”. Usually when they get up its fast and furious so you need to be prepared and repeat this exercise … take time (gruffly), stand, and then again down.

Now to the biggest impediment to using this technique – getting the novice to understand that sheepdog training isn’t “black and white” – so much of it is “feel”. For that reason, if you want to become skillful at this sport you need to start perceiving things as a dog would. If you were a young dog, keen and “on the hunt” and someone downed you and proceeded to let your sheep (in the dogs eyes) get away – what would your first reaction be? My” point is” when you down the dog … don’t make him lie there while the sheep run off because the dog will get stressed as they sense they are loosing their sheep. If this occurs they loose confidence in you, so when you do get them up – all they have on their minds is to play “catch up” (to solve the problem they think you just created). That’s obviously not what we are trying to accomplish. We’re attempting to “grind them down” so they understand that if they will JUST go slower they won’t have to lie down. The trick is to keep the dog pushing on without changing the distance between the dog and the sheep. So, remember you are working on keeping distance and not “the down” so if you say take time, stand, and down and you get your “take time” then let him keep working … that’s his reward. But, if you say take time, stand, down and he doesn’t slow down (or you if you say down without the take time in front of it) … then give a correction and make him lie down. Later, “on down the road” I do the same things with whistles – using a there whistle, that slides into a take time and finally into the down whistle.

Lastly, don’t forget to “intermingle” all this slow down with some fast walk ups. That’s another “all or nothing” issue that often occurs with novices. They get a lesson and proceed to practice nothing except that “component” of training. You have to have to be balanced in your training – mix your take time with “get up, get up”, fast flanks with the slow flanks, letting them work on their own with making them obey immediately. Hopefully this will allow you develop that “well rounded” dog we are all looking for.

Right Angle

I was flipping through the TV channels the other day struggling to find something interesting to watch (not easy task “to be sure”) and happen to run into an enticing horse training show. One of the reasons “a horse show” caught my attention was that years ago one of my student’s husband (he has since retired) trained Grand Prix jumping horses (one of my passions – watching not riding!) and I’ve have spent many captivating hours conversing about the similarity between horse training techniques and dog training. He was a firm believer in “harvesting” the horse’s natural ability to the fullest, as I am with the dogs.

This TV trainer was standing in the middle of a “round pen” having the horse go around him, changing directions and tempo with just the movement of his body. I was fascinated with the way he used his physical presence to “guide” the horse, all the while comparing this to how we use body pressure to “push out” or “pull in” our Border Collies. Doesn’t matter what animal – it’s all about angles. He was circling back and forth changing his angle in relationship to the horse in order to get the horse to go a certain direction and speed. Creating more pressure/less pressure by changing his angle. To an “untrained eye” it appeared as if he was “performing magic”. When in reality all he was doing was using slight body movements to either head the horse or push the horse in order to “give it clues” as to which direction he wanted and the pace he needed.

I’m sure you’ve all seen the equivalent illustration with dogs. A dog is running through the middle of his sheep with the owner “yelling and hollering” when in walks the “Magic trainer” and “Poof” the dog is off his sheep, flanking correctly. It isn’t as magic as it sometimes appears to Novices … it’s all about angles. The trainer knows dogs and sheep and exactly where to stand in order to push the dog back off and then (just as – if not more important) when they themselves should back off to get the desired results. Good training is a fusion of timing, angles, and most of all communication.

Since it’s often difficult for beginners to figure out where “to be” let’s approach this problem backwards and try to figure out where you don’t want to be. Let’s generate an example of a “just started” pup. All you “require” at this stage is to get your pup to the other side of its sheep without running through the middle of them. Let’s envision a couple of situations that can occur and try to work out what the consequences of “the angles” we are talking about would be.

Let’s begin our “hypothetical illustration” with the handler standing in the ever present: sheep at 12:00, dog at 6:00 and the handler in the center between the two, facing the dog. So, by standing “there” – what do you think your body language is convening to your dog? There are a few “basic” signals you convey to your dog just by where you stand. (In reality body language conveys many shades of pressure – but for this demonstration we will observe just the very basics). One is bend away from you (push) the other is come toward you (pull). The third is difficult to define but it’s just enough pressure to tell him – he’s in “the right place” (so in essence, you’re not pushing or pulling him but also you are not releasing pressure or putting more pressure on).

So, let’s see what happens when you block your dog from the sheep? Depending on the nature of the dog – different “portraits will develop” One possibility is the dog leaps up from his down position and tries frantically to get to his sheep, with out a single thought in his head except “get there”. His “agenda” is to “get” to the other side of the sheep as fast as he can and you (in case you didn’t notice) are in the way. This type of dog is considered a “go getter”. A different category of dog might leave very hesitantly, watching you all the way and going too slow. This dog is a “worrier” and when things “get tense” he’s of the nature to go slower and slower. Typically the “worrier” is more concerned about not getting in trouble than he is in “doing something”. We will apply these two examples, although again in reality dogs’ natures are more intricate and complicated than that. You can have a “go getter” that is incredibly sensitive, causing him to exhibit both behaviors. However, in this article we are trying to get you to the “right angle” rather than dealing with the different “traits” of dogs. The point of this illustration was you were not standing in the most “optimum position”.

So, back to our image … what message do you think “your angle” (which blocking his sheep is) has conveyed to our dog? With the first dog, you convinced him that he needed to go as fast as he could to get around you, in order to get to his sheep. I’m sure not what you had in mind! On the other hand, the second dog was convinced you didn’t mean – he should really get “those” sheep? You assumed you were telling him to go, but because of his nature blocking him was translated as “don’t go” or “go slow”.

By picturing a circle in your mind we can begin to figure out “body positions” that convey an incorrect message to your dog. Let’s slowly work our way around this entire circle until we find “the best angle” to accomplish our goals. We have eliminated straight in front of the dog, and let’s say, 2 feet to either side. Let’s try standing on either side of the sheep (a little beyond our 2 feet) again you facing the dog and the dog facing the sheep. Ok, this time you send him and he runs straight toward his sheep. Once more you were at the “wrong angle” meaning, you either put no pressure on him or incorrect pressure. At this point, we have found two areas in that circle that we aren’t in a position to influence the dog correctly. With this information in mind you need to keep repeating this exercise, moving to different spots in our circle, until you find exactly where you need to be to push the dog out – without blocking him. Remember, you can move forwards and backwards as well as side to side. Training = moving. You can’t train a dog by standing still.

A good “visual clue” to look for is … if he turns his head away from the sheep when he gets up to leave the more likely he is not to “pull” in, at least until he turns his head back toward the sheep. So try working on making sure, as he gets up his head is not drawn toward the sheep, knowing this will bring him in. You also want to remember if you put too much pressure in the direction of his head he will stop. On the other hand, too much pressure on his rear and he will go faster. You are trying to push him out – so focus around the shoulder area, which will tend to push his head out resulting in his body following.

What if he starts out correctly but then speeds up – what happened? You put the pressure at the right angle but forgot to take it off. In other words, the moment the dog takes a few steps – the angle between you, the dog, and the sheep changed. More than likely you just stood there and didn’t move in order to counter balance the new angle. A major part of training is moving around changing the balance of the sheep in relationship to yourself and the dog. So you need to either stop him (least preferred) or growl at him. Try to communicate to him “something is not quite right”. Again, it depends on the dog as to what will signal to him that he’s “off track” but hasn’t totally derailed the train.

If he starts out correctly and goes ¾ of the way in shape but cuts in at the top – what happened? Well, more than likely you put enough pressure on him to get him around his sheep without cutting in but then you released all pressure and this drew him in (remember our basics above, push, pull and even pressure – well you needed the 3rd). He needed to feel your presence with out you pushing him farther out or pulling him in (which is in exactly what you did by releasing all pressure). To correct this mistake instead of putting more pressure on him (which is usually the first reaction – you know the old “get out of that”) you might put pressure on the sheep. In other words you push the sheep on top of him thereby making the sheep push him out. Or, possibly you need to walk toward his rear (follow the circle he made) so the minute he tries to cut in he finds himself in an “unbalanced position”, consequently making him self correct. So, simply by changing your angle, you have communicated to him that it’s not permissible to cut in at the top and all this without having said a “verbal word”.

Then (I can hear you now – oh no, not more to think about) more important than possibility anything is his attitude. Did he get up running full tilt ahead? Or, with our second dog get up walking? You have to remember at all times training is getting through to his mind via his body. If his mind is in the “wrong spot” then he isn’t working correctly even if his body happens to end up where it was suppose too. He needs to get up thinking about where you are, where the sheep are, and where he has to go to get to the correct position. If he gets up running as fast as he can then it’s not possible for him to be thinking clearly. It’s not just the destination but also the journey that counts. He needs to consider how he’s getting there as well as the direction he’s going.

For all you Novices I want you notice all this information on a training session on just “how to get your dog to the other side of the sheep”. Then consider all the “bells and whistles” a top Open Trial dog has and add up the hours of training that was needed to get them there. Amazing isn’t it!

Semi-Breeding

I was sitting at lunch with some friends and we were (surprise!) talking dogs. We have a mutual acquaintance that for lack of a better word dabbles in working dogs. She has a couple of Aussies and a couple of Border Collies. She has trialed a couple of times, and when she takes lessons it’s every couple of months. She wants to do the dogs but has other things that are more important. She can’t find the time to go to clinics or read books, magazines etc. I have no problem with that. There are only so many hours in the day and we can’t all be as obsessive about working dogs as I am (Good thing!) If you want to make working dogs a hobby and just do it part-time and enjoy yourself I think that’s great for owners and dogs.

However; when I was informed she was breeding one of her Border Collies was when I became annoyed. Just because you own a female does not mean you should breed her!!! If you decide to get into breeding dogs then you need to spend time understanding the qualities that make that breed special. I’m confounded as to what motivates people like this. If I owned another breed of dog and had never put any time and effort into researching that breed, I would concede that fact. I wouldn’t have a problem acknowledging that I personally did not have enough information to determine what to breed for (that’s why my Jack Russell is neutered). Consequently it would never cross my mind to breed. She doesn’t have a clue what makes a skillful working dog yet she feels competent to determine what male would “compliment” her bitch. To make matters worse, this female isn’t working for her; she’s so soft she quits her frequently. At one point in time the woman was trying to find a home for her. She was going to give her away for free if the people would spay her. However; she wanted money if they wouldn’t spay. Is that because she was a quality bitch worthy of breeding or because if she couldn’t make money off the dog – no one else was?

I think of the hours that responsible breeders put in to studying pedigrees, watching dogs work, and understanding what a good working dog is. Then there is the other “type”. The type I am referring to are breeders that aren’t in this for the dogs and breeding quality working dogs is not their objective. So, what happens when a novice buys from this type of breeder? If they buy it as a “pet” and it doesn’t work out what recourse do they have? The so called breeder is not going to want the pup back; they don’t want the responsibility of placing a grown pup. If the buyers want more than a pet and decide they want to work the pup these people can’t help them, they couldn’t even train the mother – so how are they going to help them train their dog?

However; the most confusing thing of all is since the bitch they are breeding isn’t trained then how do they decide which male to breed to? What do they use as a STANDARD to IMPROVE upon, when they don’t know what needs IMPROVING? Have no fear, they have the answer – they are breeding to a red dog!!! If you don’t have enough knowledge to gauge how to breed you use the easiest (substitute most useless) yardstick….looks. I guess if you change the color of the pups it will make up for the fact that their mother wouldn’t work. I believe breeding good working dogs takes time and effort. If you are not willing to put the hours needed to study pedigrees and watch how dogs work – don’t breed. There are people out there that chose dogs that wouldn’t suit my breeding program. However; they spend time, money, and effort to breed a good dog. It might not be my kind of dog but they went about it the responsible way. I have nothing but respect for that, just as I feel nothing except exasperation for the other type.

I can’t begin to tell you the “number of times” I’ve had to find homes for dogs that were bought from a person who just “felt” like breeding. These so called “breeders” have no prospective customers to call in order to place an older pup. So, what would happen if we weren’t able to find a home for the pup? I relish taking pups I have bred back because I know what is behind the breeding. They have been bred uncompromisingly for work, each parents working abilities complimenting the others. I have usually trained one or two out of the litter so know what to expect. I feel confident that I can start them and sell them into a working home in as much as I’m always getting calls for started dogs. If they don’t demonstrate working ability then I have enough insight to know if they will be suitable as a pet – – – not all are! What credentials do the semi- breeders pups have? There is no assurance that they will be a decent pet and the odds of being talented in the working department are remote at best.

I get around 10 emails a week from people thinking they want a Border Collie and I usually talk them out of it. We all know Border Collies are not for everyone. When these part-time breeders run their ads in the paper, do you think they SCREEN their buyers? They don’t even screen the dogs they are breeding. So why should they worry about a little thing like is the dog suited for the people. Then a couple of months later when the pup is driving the person crazy, what happens? The breeder doesn’t want it back. Remember, they didn’t even want the mother, so why would they want a pup from her? They have no contacts to place a pup so they send them to me. What am I suppose to do…. I deal in WORKING dogs. (I sense this is getting into a previous article I did regarding people not realizing how hard it is to breed first-rate working dogs.)

They seem to have the belief that if a dog is capable of chasing sheep then it must have the potential of being a great working dog. I want to reiterate in order to have a quality dog, only the best should be bred. If you think it’s so easy to train just any Border Collie to work, come out to my place and watch. You will see and appreciate the ones that want to work more than anything else. The ones that want to work because they have been bred for nothing except work and every fiber of their being is geared to that one goal. You will also see the ones that work when they feel like it that is as long as you aren’t asking them to do anything. I spend hours trying to convince a run-of-the-mill bred dog to work sheep correctly, many will work as long as its chase and action oriented. Then you try to push the dog off in order to get the dog to balance up and his attitude changes to….”I don’t want to work that badly”. I can’t begin to tell you how frustrating it is to plead with a dog trying to persuade it to work. Watch and decide which you would rather spend a day trying to train. It might be a touchy subject with me because I’m the one that is expected to “fix” all the problems. It is so much easier to have a natural dog instead of a “man” (or is that “woman”) made one. I have numerous people calling me to help train a dog that they bought from a person that owned a male and female and figured “Why not breed them”! They come here for training and possess so little instinct that I have a hard time even getting them to look at sheep. The owners love them and don’t want to give them up, so I end up spending hours just trying encourage them to chase sheep. If I can get them chasing, hopeful we can at some point slip in herding.

I’m one of the first to admit that just because a dog is quality bred doesn’t mean it will have quality work ability. I am saying it’s hard enough to have a good working dog when you breed for nothing except work. So, when the people say to me “oh, your well bred dog doesn’t want to work” it’s not a contradiction to what I am saying but confirms it. If we still have problems when we have bred for nothing except work what would you have if you bred for anything else? You would just be intensifying the problem.

I’ve had numerous dogs in for training over the years. I have tried everything imaginable to help a dog work to the best of his ability. This task is so much easier when the dog knows what to do and I, as a trainer, just bring it out. When you are striving to train a dog that hasn’t a great deal of natural about it, you spend most of your time trying to artificially create the parts that are missing. You have to compensate for the lack of ability by artful handling. For instance: let’s assume the dog doesn’t have a strong desire to work, you will spend half your time pleading with him to work. The other half will be spent making sure you don’t demand too much from him, otherwise he will quit. If you have a dog that doesn’t have natural balance you have to spend a lot of training time placing him in the right spot. If the dog has a great deal chase to him, you spend most of your time trying to put pace into him. I could go on but think this begins to give you an inkling of my concerns. I wonder if people realize the amount of time that go into training these dogs. If to the normal training hours, you add the extra hours of trying to compensate for what nature didn’t put in, it can really add up. I have spent months training a dog to master a skill that a dog bred right could have picked up in weeks. So, you might have saved money on that pup when you bought it but believe me you ended up paying a lot more in the end.

I ordered a pup from Britain one time, since I was on my way over there. I had a rude awaking when I heard you should get a bitch pup not a dog because if she doesn’t work you could always breed her. I don’t think I said anything (unusual for me!) but you can be assured that thought never crossed my mind! These dogs are astounding because of their intelligence. One of the most advantageous ways to gauge their intellectual ability is to determine their training. If the dog isn’t trained, you need to ask yourself “WHY”? Is it not trainable? I’m not saying the only thing is training, I’m saying it’s a very important consideration. You also need to look at how they respond to all aspects of training. If you are looking at a novice dog … you have no idea if his ability will measure up and allow him to finish out. There is a big difference between a started dog and a finished one. You can’t compensate for what is lacking if you don’t know what isn’t there!

The best brood bitch I ever owned was not a trial dog. She was finished dog and a great work dog and I TRIED to run her at trial … once. She was a very strong, unyielding; bitch that thought stopping was an option and it wasn’t a pretty sight at a trial. However, she could move anything including charging rams and would work until she “dropped”. She threw some of the best pups I’ve ever owned and I wouldn’t have traded her for the world. (I also wouldn’t have ever tried to run her at trial again!) She was an exceedingly bright dog, and passed this intelligence on to her offspring. I was careful not to breed her to a hard male as I didn’t want to compound the hard headed problem. I required a male that was a good listener and biddable. I could use a male that is not a power house, as she was. She was crossed with six different males resulting in only one cross that I was disappointed in. The reason for the disappointment was pups lacking quality in their work not lacking a desire to work. Knowing this I never made the cross again albeit I still owned the male. I’ve had many pups in for training out of her that I would purchase in a heartbeat. I owned and trialed 3 out of her (one placing 4th in the National finals) with 2 of them having different sires and none were for sale. I think this is what most good breeders endeavor to do in their breeding program …… breed consistent first class working dogs.

I would like to end by saying I know there are many breeders out there breeding really top-notch pups. I think we as trainers need to show an appreciation for these breeders. We also need to inform people just because the Border Collie they own has papers doesn’t mean it is worthy of breeding. We need to let novices know BREEDING does make a DIFFERENCE!

“STYLING”

One of the questions I hear a fair amount from beginners is “what do you mean when you say style?” Oftentimes I find myself having difficulty explaining what my impression of style is so I thought an article would help clarify my thoughts and allow me to revaluate what I intend to convey by this word “style”.

I am a firm believer that style includes so much more than the customary answer “eye”. I presume a creeping image is what comes to most people’s mind when the topic of eye or style comes up and this is not the picture I envision or want to convey to the reader. Sure this is “part and parcel” of style but it’s not that uncomplicated. I have seen strong eyed dogs that are “upright” in their work. True, they are not inclined to creep and crawl but instead stand and stare at sheep and are difficult if not impossible to flank. I want a dog with enough eye to keep sheep together but not so much that it freezes the sheep. I want enough eye that I find watching the dog work an enjoyable experience. I have seen dogs that were proficient on sheep but I don’t get that unexplainable thrill when I watch them work. It’s a difficult concept to convey verbally but “oh so” extremely evident visibly.

However style adds up to categorically more than just making it a pleasure to watch a dog run. It’s functional in that it furthers the ability to move sheep with a smooth, flowing movement. Dogs lacking style usually don’t work fluently but instead lean more toward a “stop and go” movement. The over all impression I get when watching a dog with style is how effortless herding appears. This “steady pressure method” generates less stress on the stock. I wonder if perhaps the word “method” might be a little closer to what I mean when addressing style. Yet, I feel it’s more than that as I have seen dogs that had a certain presence enabling them to move sheep easily but I did not relish watching them work. They had an immense amount of control over the sheep (which, I think is one of the end products of having method) but it did not give you “goose-bumps” to watch them work. Though, as I say this I need to take into account that the dog I am picturing in my mind (with presence but without style) was handled to perfection. So, I wonder if that dogs performances would have looked that noteworthy if he had not been handled so perfectly?

All this brings me to what I feel is one of the major benefits of style … I consider them easier to train due to the fact that I try to train as naturally as possible. A dog with a lot of innate natural ability about it – makes my job a lot easier. I think the people that train more mechanically tend not to like a dog with style. If they do get one with a lot of natural about it they have to spend more time “breaking” them. In other words, they are looking for less “built in” finesse.

I have heard and can understand some people’s concerns about a dog with style. They equate style with too much eye and then conclude that a dog with too much eye will be sticky. I agree that the WRONG kind of eye can be sticky but I don’t feel a sticky dog just has too much eye. There is a big difference between having eye and being sticky. I don’t want a sticky dog! I consider a sticky dog one that has a imaginary perimeter around sheep that he doesn’t want to penetrate with the usual outcome of this being a dog that will stare at the sheep. They refuse to walk up on them and when you insist they proceed to break that perimeter by running in amongst the sheep, instead of walking up. This is not conducive to smooth even sheep work and is not what I am looking for. I have seen exceedingly strong – eyed dogs that have no qualms about walking up and pushing, as well as loose – eyed dogs that stand and stare at a sheep and won’t move. So, it is a lot more complicated than just the amount of eye. It is a whole package as to how the dog approaches its sheep.

I have always been interested in “Nature programs”. A friend and I use to have discussions trying to figure out why animals act as they do. We would watch the reactions of wild animals seen in these programs then do a comparison to our domestic animals in order to find a correlation. We would observe a lion walking across the plains not in “hunting mode”. The herd of zebras or “whatevers” would glance up at it and continue eating. The lion might even be staring at the prey but not hunting. They would keep a wary eye on the predator but were not overly concerned. Then, later on in another scene, the same lion would be stalking (and eyeing) the herd with “dinner in mind”. The end result was totally different. It wasn’t just that the lion was looking at them. It was the intention of the lion that changed and with that his body language. It’s a combination of many different factors that communicate intention to a prey. We, as humans, can not conceive of all the complex expressions being communicated between a dog and a sheep. The dog has generations of instincts behind him equipping him to read prey and respond in a moment’s notice. The prey on the other hand has an ingrained reflex of attempting to get away from a predator. (Which is why no matter how dog – broke sheep get they can’t help but move away from a dog.) This brings us back to eye…one of the reasons our Border Collies have this uncanny ability to read sheep is because of “eye”. Border Collies have a natural built in mechanism to read and react almost in unison with the sheep. We don’t have to train it because it comes pre-packaged. We only have use it to our advantage. The next time you are at a dog trial watch some loose eyed dogs working. If at some point in time, without warning, one of the sheep takes off running the loose eyed dog will be as surprised as the handler. More than likely the stronger eyed dog will be leaning before the sheep ever takes off. It is eye that gives our dogs that “FEEL” of what a sheep will do next. It’s a special attribute that can never be put in words but “can you ever see the end results”.

I’ve often curiously watched my guard dogs’ interaction with the sheep and analyze the difference in body language between a working dog and a guard dog. The reaction of the sheep will be altogether different (although they obviously know both my Border Collies and guard dogs). Even if the guard dog runs and chases them, their behavior is dissimilar than when a Border Collie is eyeing them. Again, I want to underscore that I feel it is more than just eye that gives our breed that special style. It is the total impression of the dog and how he communicates to the sheep. You can watch the same group of sheep act quite differently when a change in dogs occurs. I can remember one time I was at a very good trainer’s place watching while he worked the dogs he had in for training. He had an assortment of 20 or so of crossbred ewes and had them set at the top of a hill enabling him to practice outruns. These particular sheep were well dog broke and understood the rules of the game. They would watch the dogs come up the hill and move away only when the dog was in the correct position. With some of the dogs the sheep would move slowly and with others you would see them step up their pace in accordance with the strength of the dog. At one point in the day my friend went and brought out a big old sable colored dog. When the sheep saw this dog coming up the hill they immediately seized the opportunity and took off for the barn. They knew they could outrun that dog and proceeded to take full advantage of it. It wasn’t “just” that they knew that particular dog, although I’m sure they did, it was they were processing information as the dog ran. They intuitively knew they could make it back to the barn perceiving the dog’s movement wasn’t quick enough to turn them.

Re-reading this article generated thoughts of contrasting dogs I have run. One of the best dogs I have ever owned was a bit weak at the shed. It was this deficit that made it necessary for me to improve my own shedding skills in order to compensate for him. He more than made up for his lack of shedding skills in other areas as he excelled at outrunning and driving. Another dog was one of the few loose-eyed dogs I have ever owned but I have to admit he was fun to handle. I think it was because what he lacked in style he made up in desire and by giving 100%. He would respond in a heartbeat to any command given and I really hated to miss a panel with him since the only conclusion was – I had commanded wrong. He never minded being pulled off balance since he didn’t have a clue where balance was. Yet I always appreciated him because he was a dog that made me improve my handling skills. I couldn’t rely on him to read the sheep because he usually wasn’t on the pressure point. So I had no choice except to become more proficient at placing the dog where he needed to be.

These are just small examples of how if you approach things in the correct manner you can learn from them. This particular dog taught me a number of things. One, as I mentioned, was to handle better, another was a better understanding as to what I did and didn’t desire in a dog. After running him I began to recognize I wanted a dog with more eye, style and feel for their stock. This particular dog also introduced me to the concept that a dog could be too wide running as I sometimes I had difficulty keeping him on the same field as the sheep. Until that time I didn’t think that was possible. The “light bulb turned on” when he crawled through a hole in the fence in order to do a 300 yard outrun in an area that needed at max. a 100 yard one. It wasn’t until that point in my “dog career” it dawned on me a dog could be too wide. (I had spent so many, many hours of my training time saying “get back!”.) It was also the beginning of tailoring my training and handling methods to the dog instead of the other way around. I have had many dogs since then and feel I have learned a little from each one which brings us full circle back to the original concept of this article, “style”. I still haven’t clarified it but I do know it’s “something special” that is unmistakable and I look for it in the dogs I run.

If you want you can compare some professional sports to dog trialing. Take professional ice skating for example, all of the participants have spent years training and all are more than proficient with the technical aspects of skating. However, usually only one or two will have that special style that makes you stop whatever you are doing and watch. Perhaps the best way of phrasing it – is it’s a special gift to turn ability into art. One of the purposes of art is to allow you to get through the difficult times in life. I think “style” is something that helps you through all of those long tedious training hours. This is also why even if we don’t participate in the sport we are watching we can still appreciate it as an art form.

To me this is some of the complex meaning of the word style and it isn’t that a dog looks pretty when he is working. It is his whole heart and soul is into what he is doing. It is a matter of loving his work and not just going through the motions. You can see it in some dogs even before they leave the handler’s side. They are the ones that stand and almost tremble while looking for their sheep. The trembling I am referring to is not nervousness but the exhilaration of looking forward to the work. Don’t misunderstand me; in the wrong hands some of these dogs can be useless. If not taught to focus they can become too high strung and consequently run senseless. In hands that demand total domination they can lose that special something and become robots. So, not only is style inborn but also a trait that has to be cultivated and nurtured but definitely directed. Otherwise you will lose it one way or another, one by “hammering” it out of the dog or the other extreme of allowing the dog to run undisciplined with no direction.

I’d like to conclude by endeavoring to tie all these abilities or the lack of them together. The ability to be fine tuned almost to the breaking point is so that what you end up with is an athlete (be it human or animal) on a razors edge. True this intensity can plunge over the edge when it lacks direction or focus. However I think the really “great ones” of anything, be it people in sports or dogs trialing, have a unique ability to focus on one goal and the exceptional ones do it with STYLE.