[QUOTE=cowboymom;8105898]
I’m not putting a bite on him, he is pushy with his face but not biting though he could if encouraged and he’s green as grass and just working off his gut. He’s very very responsive to me and feels like a BC or Aussie that is a strong gather dog. His mouthiness is diminishing as I work with him and as far as I have ever know, bite is bad with sheep. Definitely with bums. :lol:
I don’t need anyone to evaluate him, we’re just doing our own thing here. I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, I can see he has a ton of instinct and how to use it, I’m interested in the GSD aspect of a dog-job that has been taken over by BC and Aussies.[/QUOTE]
For a few years we trained border collies for cattle work and cattle trials.
We used a few Katahdin to start them, trained well, so the dogs could learn first to do things right, before using them on cattle that, even dog broke, may cause a dog to get aggressive before it learns to use it’s power without contact.
Our first herding dog was an aussie, then a norwegian elkhound, a dobie and rottie, so we had experience with working cattle with dogs.
I would say maybe the rottie was the closest to herd similar to a traditional GSD.
She was wonderful, could bring a handful of cattle into the pens where other cattle were loafing around water and go thru them and into the back pens still with the same cattle, not any more or less.
The cattle knew who she was after and some didn’t even get up, just watched go by and those being driven knew she was after them and kept on moving.
She kind of taught herself to use that instinct like that, we just supported her, but at that time didn’t know how to really herd properly, no telling what she could have done with real instruction.
Then a friend, that raised and competed with border collies but trained all other kinds for people, even some corgies and had a yorkie that herded and penned back his training sheep/goats when they got out at times, gave us one of his dogs and helped us train her.
He had been at it years and won some big trials with his dogs.
I will say, it is priceless to go learn from someone that knows what they are doing, so much easier on the dog, human and stock being worked.
If you already are familiar with herding and what you are doing, sorry, I didn’t catch that, then yes, I would train the dog you have in front of you, with whatever strengths it brings to the job, no matter what breed it is, as the individual it is.
My little terrier, as a puppy, when I was breaking ice, was trying to do outruns and bring them to me, all by her little self.
She went wide, balanced and was showing power, at six months old and maybe 6 lbs!
It is what instinct is in the dog, more than the breed, that we work with.
I didn’t do anything with it, she was too little and was an accident looking for a place to happen, but on trained goats, sheep or ducks, it would have been interesting to see how much she could do.
The important part here is control of your dog.
Herding can’t be taught, all we did is direct the instinct each dog brought to the game, always remembering the stock is not a dog’s toy, as our friend kept reminding his dog and human students.
I don’t know if you know to use a shepherd’s whistle.
If not, get one and practicing while driving here and there works well.
When a dog is very intent on herding and far off, the whistle is better than the human voice, more distinct and clear to the dog, the voice carries so much more extraneous information.
A dog that has herding instinct and learns to use it properly is amazing to watch.
