Pogo’s sheepdog exploits

Lesson 2 - Im getting addicted !

A couple of weeks after our first one to one lesson I was back for a second lesson at the end of November. As I had been away teaching in Denmark Pogo had not had the same exercise as she normally does so I was expecting her to be a little full on at the start of the lesson.

As Andy penned the sheep up so that there was just a small group, I made sure that I just made Pogo aware that even when the sheep were about she still had to listen to me. I got her to do some heelwork and a few tricks but mainly just to be attentive to me when the sheep were about. I know you never want a good sheepdog to take its eyes off the sheep but as she was not working the sheep I still wanted to make sure I had some control.

Pogo started off well and was not as ballistic as I thought she might be. Her main fault is that she can come in too close to the sheep so we started off trying to get her to stay away from the sheep. The white stick you might have seen in the video is helpful for this, not I hasten to add to hit the dog but just to extend your arm to wave it at the dog to stay out. She was a little naughty as she would go out wide then as she gets behind the sheep, she still runs round but comes in a bit so she can have a little nip if she feels like it.

While working her, the sheep decided to get into some thistles on the banks of an old filled in pond. Well Pogo was not keen about going into the bog to get them out and it took a while to get them moved, I’m not sure how much it was her or me who got them moving.

Next it was time to get her to move behind the sheep as they were coming towards me. This was when I had noticed last time I didn’t move very quickly as the sheep always would seem to run past me. So this time I made sure I moved back faster and tried to stay calm, getting Pogo to go into a down to prevent her getting too close. 

On the whole she had a good session and I felt much more in control than I did last time. Now its really just repetition it seems to get her to give the sheep some distance. Its so amazing to see her working the sheep, I still cannot believe she is doing it. Im enjoying it as well as it is something totally different from any sport I have done before and already I can see how doing this with her has in fact improved our relationship even further.

Lesson one

For as long as I have had Border Collies there has always been one thing which I wanted to do with them but I have never had the chance to fulifil that goal as to train a sheepdog you need sheep ! I had often wondered if my blue merle collie Pogo would be any good at sheep work as she would often take an interest in livestock but I had never let her off to see as you don’t know what will happen.

When Pogo was about three I looked into starting sheepdog work a bit more but the people I contacted or spoke to all tended to say that she was a bit old or I needed my own sheep, not exactly encouraging. Its also very hard to find anyone who does sheepdog lessons at beginners level and even more harder down where I live in Southampton. So as my initial enquires didn’t result in anything it wasn’t until I found another website www.workingsheepdog.co.uk which was advertising a new training dvd for beginners that I started to look at sheep work again. I was thinking that if I got some experience then when I got a new pup I would start that one off doing some sheepdog work but that might not be for a couple of years. Anyway I ordered the dvd to gain some more knowledge and it was very beneficial as it showed new dogs starting off and most importantly showed what happened when it is going wrong.

After watching the DVD I went back to the website and to my delight they were advertising beginner sheepdog days in Worcester which were basically where you to go along and see if your dog was interested. It said that it didn’t matter what age the dog was so in a moment of madness I paid for a place with Pogo.

I was really looking forward to the day as it make a change to be a student on a course but I was a bit cautious as Pogo had never been off lead near sheep before and with her previous obedience / trick training I thought she might not do anything. I thought it best not to mention the fact Pogo was four and a half as when I had mentioned this to other sheepdog trainers they basically had said no chance.

Andy Nickless a sheepdog trainer was taking the day and we each started off by getting into a pen with the dog and sheep to see what they would do. Now I know that whatever dog sport you do there is always a cross over of skills as any dog related activity benefits from good obedience. Pogo has competed and won in obedience as well as Heelwork to music so I knew at least when I said down she would do it. What I didn’t know was that where I have taught her to run in a big circle clockwise and anticlockwise on command for HTM that this would transfer so well onto the sheep.

After a couple of sessions in the pen Andy told me to that I could try moving the sheep around the paddock which was a little scary as up to this point she had been a sheepdog for about ten minutes in total. Well I couldn’t of asked for better and im sure many of the other students as well as Andy didn’t quite believe this was her first time on sheep. Whenever you do well at something its like someone giving you a big reward so with Pogo doing so well I was eager to have another go.

Where’s the oxygen !

Having had such a good time with Pogo on the last course I was looking forward to the lesson. Andy is a very patient and calm teacher so I was glad to have his experience on hand. When you have never taught something before you don’t know if you are doing right or wrong so Andy was able to tell me where I should be. Now you might think it looks quite sedate wandering around a field with a dog herding the sheep, it doesn’t look like you have to do that much well in training a sheepdog that’s totally different.

When we started the lesson I could sense Pogo was full of energy and her confidence was quite high after her first experience, so it was with some trepidation that I let her off. If the first half an hour had been filmed I think it would have looked good set to the Benny Hill theme music ! there was me trying to run around keeping Pogo a little further away from the sheep as she was coming in a bit close. I can see why there are no fat sheepdog trainers in the country as it was a full on aerobic workout running around, dodging sheep and shushing the dog out further

I must admit after that first half an hour session I was thinking where had my lovely under control sheepdog that I had worked on the taster day had gone as Pogo was like sheepdog possessed. After a short rest we got the sheep back for another session. This is where Andy tried to calm a rather panicky handler’s voice and movement down to see if that helped. What I haven’t mentioned yet is the fact that I feel its human nature not to want your dog to touch the sheep in anyway. So when the dog does nip or rush off after a sheep the inexperienced trainer in you panics and you start shouting down in a louder voice and running around to stop the dog. That is where it’s good to have an experienced trainer on hand who can tell you that’s all normal for the first time really on sheep.

So after taking a deep breath I set off again and this time she was so much better. The calmer voice and body movements conveyed to the dog so she worked well, the stupid thing is I tell handlers the same thing in HTM but of course when you are in the situation you cannot see it. By the way if you are a teacher of anything I totally recommend learning something that you have never done before as it gave me a new insight into what it must be like for a new handler coming into the dog sports I teach.

Then Andy told me just to stand still and not say anything to see what she did. Having circled the sheep and stopped I was told to walk off to see whether she would balance herself behind the sheep. Upto this point I felt that Pogo was just doing what I told her ie run clockwise lie down etc and unlike Andys dogs she wasn’t really naturally balancing them. So as I walked off it was amazing to see her move around of her own volition, staying behind the sheep which I hadn’t really been able to do when I talked to her. As with all training sessions you should finish on a high so I was more than happy to put her on the lead and leave it until another day.

So what did I learn from this session well firstly I think I should write out a hundred times “ I must stay calm” before the next lesson! secondly no matter how much training you have already done with your dog when that natural instinct comes out its previous training can go out the window. Above all though I think I saw just a glint of a sheepdog in my little Pogo which made me very proud.