My husband and I recently got an Australian Shepherd/Australian Cattle Dog puppy to train to travel with me and be my carriage dog. Does anyone have any good resources (video or books) for training a dog to ride on the carriage and what steps should be taken to desensitize both the dog and the horse?
Thanks in advance!
Probably good basic Obedience training would be a good start. And with livestock involved, he MUST do as told, no allowing “sorta, kind of” doing what he is told to do, like Stay. He will quickly decide to make his own choices because things are so exciting, enticing, he thinks he as that option. Around the horse? No, that is dangerous for him and you.
These dogs are crazy smart, both breeds, have a lot of “want to please you” in them, so keep things as fun as possible.
Horse probably should be somewhere near, when you play with the dog and he barks. They do seem to bark often! Horse needs to get over any excitement with that noise, not respond to it. I would NOT let dog run around the horse in pasture or paddock, trying to herd it at all. Dog and horse get excited, dog may get harder in pushing horse with nips so horse reacts by going after dog, running thru a fence.
Dog has to be trained enough to over-ride his chase instinct and STAY when told despite the excitement in front of him. As a puppy, maybe letting him watch from his crate so puppy can’t get himself in trouble if you don’t have anyone to hold and silence him during horse lessons.
Have you trained Obedience dogs before? Shown them? Getting them well trained is a bit of work, striving for perfect, correcting wrong things RIGHT NOW, but not punishing either. Praise is a huge factor in dog having a good time, some treats maybe for really hard stuff.
My friend has a Heeler, great Obedience dog. But the dog needs a job most of the time to prevent it “being creative” in making herself a job. Friend has trained dog to pick up yard trash that blows in, put it in her basket. They walk and pick up road trash often. Dog will fetch sticks that fall down, do a series of tricks. All work to keep dog busy, helpful and not destructive.
ADS rules say no tying the dog to the carriage, EVER. Depending on size of dog, style of vehicle, dog may sit beside you, on the floor at your feet, many sit in the back in modern carriages because steps are easy to get on with. I would make sure dog has something grippy for under his feet, no slipping on metal floors or plastic seats in rougher going or with some speed. Our big dog likes sitting in front on the floor, but she can jump up there herself. NOT picking up an 80# dog!
Classes with your puppy will help socialization, letting him learn to pay attention to YOU wherever you are with him. Trainers usually have several ways to work with a dog and owner who are not communicating well at certain points in training. Don’t feel like all the other dogs are doing better, they just have DIFFERENT issues with their training. Ha Ha.
My dogs are not little robots to be show ring perfect, but they are obedient. They sit and stay when told to, here at home or in crowds of thousands. They stay with us in a heel position, slack leash, not lunging off on the leash, I hate being pulled by a dog! They are civil, friendly, do as requested, come when called despite any distractions. They don’t chase horses or other things when told to lay down and stay, don’t yap when told to be quiet. They are nice dog citizens to have around, take places.
THIS TOO can be your dog, with a little work! Ha Ha 10-15 minutes a day is enough to work your dog, gain on his skills towards being well trained. Just has to be pretty much daily, keeping it enjoyable for both of you. Best of luck with him, probably will be darn cute with that cross of breeds. Keep him busy, he will be very happy with a job.
I’m big on obedience, but have never competed. What you’ve said is along the lines of what I was thinking. I had hoped there was something out there with troubleshooting and how to introduce it as safely as possible. He hasn’t been around the horses much yet and is still pretty afraid of them. Something to work on.
Hoping my Doberman puppy can learn to be a carriage dog or even run alongside like a coach dog. She followed me closely last weekend for the first time when I drove at my friend’s house and had her along. For 16 weeks she’s amazingly well behaved,although I admit to sometimes feeling I have a special needs child when she’s chewing on my arm and trying to sit on my neck when I’m trying to read.
My Papillon picked it up quite naturally. I always have my dogs with me around the horses so learning respect for the horses is not an issue.
OH Doc! Your Doberman will be lovely along side or in! My favorite breed bar none, but this puppy hood will leave you wondering… yes will be worth it!
Something that needs to be clear, is a Carriage Dog on the ground, needs to follow or run under the vehicle. NEVER is it out to the side of the carriage where it can get hit by another vehicle, car or carriage. Dog has his “trained” location to run in, needs to stay there at all times while vehicle is in motion, sit when halted. Dog is NOT attached or tied in place, he is trained to be where you want him staying.
Reading the Rules for Carriage Dogs in the ADS Rule book, Pleasure Driving section, may help you get a clearer view of what dog is expected to do while out with the carriage. ADS may not be consistant with your idea of how Carriage Dogs behave, so you need to know this and are not training dog to act wrongly.
In the “olden days” a Carriage Dog was protection for the horses and vehicle. He ran under the Coaches, came out to run off dogs that might attack from farms they passed by. Dog stayed with vehicle while unhitched, again to protect it from thieves looking to lift some items in the vehicle if grooms were not looking. Now having a dog that might attack is not a good idea, so goals are different these days. Dog running under or right behind a carriage is still an attractive look, as long as he consistently stays in place. The UK have Carriage Dog competitions, have standards to meet for grading them, choosing winners. Maybe there would be information in their BDS Rulebook that could be helpful. A lady on another forum is working with some Dalmation folks to get their dog points as a Carriage Dog. She says having passengers to ride along is fun, dog is a great traveler behind for a lot of distance traveled in the carriage. Dog is doing very well on and off leash now, staying in place as expected. She is quite enjoying herself with pony and vehicle at the grading competitions with the dog.
A dog who rides in the carriage is going to need different training about staying quiet, seated firmly to not get in trouble or around your feet.
It honestly does make things easier if the dog has been bred as a carriage dog. We always had Dalmatians, and they were almost automatically good carriage dogs.
In the past ten years I’ve had a collie mutt, two border collie mutts, and my current youngest is a year old Aussie shepherd/ Australian Cattle Dog cross, same as the OP’s dog.
All had basic obedience training and all took to accompanying me on trail rides like a duck takes to water, and after an initial bout of running around settle down to a steady pace, usually right under my stirrups. Even my heeler mix has refrained from any nipping at horse heels once I’m in the saddle. All of my herding mitts have felt free to at least try to micro manage the horses at other times.
Since I haven’t a carriage, I can’t speak to carriage manners, but surely not so different from what is expected of the dogs when they ride in the car or truck, i.e, sit calmly and no exits until given the okay.
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