by Kay Spencer
Congratulations on your new English Shepherd pup! If he or she is a nicely bred dog from useful working parents, you have the biggest hurdle over with. The road to owning a good farm dog starts with buying a pup with the genetics to instinctively want to be a good farm dog. That means a dog who innately wants to learn how to please you, a dog who instinctively takes responsibility for guarding and keeping order around the farm, and who is born with both the desire and ability to control livestock.
Many people want to know what to do with their prospective herding dog while they are waiting for him to grow up. Generally speaking, formal herding training rarely starts before one year of age. But don’t tie your dog behind the barn for a year and then expect him to magically turn useful! Neither can a farm pup be ever left to run wild. He will learn some very bad habits that way and probably do damage as well. He must be contained while he is not with you, until he is responsible enough to be trustworthy. That can take a good long while, so be patient.
Your dog’s genetic inheritance can only be brought to flower through a proper environment which you must provide.
Suzanne Brown’s Rune, submitted by Strongwind Farm
To begin with, teach your new pup the things which all good dogs should know – basic obedience and social skills. Commands like come and stay and lie down can be taught, gently and happily, as soon as you get your pup. Generally working farm breeds learn these things very rapidly. Note that all puppies have a very short attention span, and lessons should be held to a minute or two at first.
For a prospective farm dog, one of the very best things you can do to prepare him for his future life is to take him everywhere you go. Not just to the store and to family gatherings and puppy classes and walks in the fields, but also daily when you do your animal chores. ON LEASH.
The leash is to keep your pup safe, and to keep him from freelance herding (which can closely resemble chasing and biting at this age). You don’t want your pup learning that he can mix it up with your livestock any time he feels like it. Your pup may launch out barking, or hide behind your legs, that’s not important early on. What is important is that he stays with you and learns the routine, and begins to feel like a team member. Yes, it is awkward doing chores with a pup tied to your belt, but surprisingly soon he will begin to pay attention to the job and not get in your way as much. Many pups will start trying to help at a very young age, and you must encourage all attempts, no matter how misguided or fleeting they might initially be.
Here is the critically important thing to remember whenever your pup and your livestock meet: your dog must win. If an old ewe decides this barky little pipsqueak on a leash needs to learn a lesson, you must wade in and teach that sheep that you and your dog are a team and you will always back up your dog. Make her turn away and if at all possible make the pup think he did it himself.
Maple Grove Farm pup
At this stage, even if your pup takes hold of a leg or grabs a hen, you can’t really punish him. Just rescue your stock without making a big deal out of it. If you punish your pup, you run two risks. One, he will connect your displeasure with his working stock at all, and will quit trying. Many a sensitive stock dog has been ruined for working this way. Or, two, he will get anxious and bite even harder next time. He made an attempt at controlling stock, so just calm him down, praise him for trying (after you pry his jaws apart), and move on. Later, when he knows the rules, a reprimand would be in order, but not now.
A basic stockdog command that you can start teaching now, on leash, is “that’ll do”. It means, we’re done here, quit working, come away with me now. Make it a happy command, pat your leg, tell your pup he did good even if he didn’t do anything, and take your pup back to the house or to the next chore. A keen dog is not going to love this command naturally, so you have to make it as pleasant and as habitual as you can. Yet another reason for the leash.
When your pup starts showing interest in controlling stock and has a pretty solid ‘that’ll do,” a common first real job to give him is keeping stock off feed bunks. You definitely want to start on leash, and with something easy if you have it, like poultry or lambs. The stock want to come in to eat, and his job is to keep them off until you say “that’ll do”. Once they get the hang, dogs generally love doing this extremely useful job. At first you may need to support your dog’s efforts with a menacing stock stick. Remember the dog must always win. You are building his confidence in his ability to control stock, step by step. The command is “watch ‘em” or something similar. If your dog is uncertain, be enthusiastic. If he’s too enthusiastic, tell him “steady” which means, take it slower, calm down.
Snickers, submitted by Mary Peaslee
Try to think of other simple chores you can do together as a team, such as driving your cows to pasture (you walking with your dog), or putting the hens to bed. Yes, they were going to come in anyway, but let your dog think he’s responsible for it. One day, you will find him bringing in that hen who decided to nest in the woodpile instead of coming in, because he knows both that all the hens belong in the hen house at night, and how to move hens (slowly and patiently). He will learn these things by making the rounds with you and observing or helping you as you put things right that aren’t.
Then you will find, when your dog is ready for more formal lessons, that he already knows how to conduct himself around livestock, how to listen to you while working, and how to be a team player. You will be far ahead of the game.
Have fun with your pup, be his team captain, let him know you are happy with him when he does right, and you will make a good dog out of your good pup.