Hi All; I'm thinking ahead. My puppy will probably be coming into contact with sheep & horses. I'll probably have access to a range of fields and could well come into contact with them. What's the best way to train your puppy to ignore these two potential hazards? Cheers now.
Re: Sheep & Horses No idea personally, but David posted something yesterday in Ewe there! so might be of help. And Jen has had great success with her BAT in helping with everyday "reactive" behaviour. I hope someone else can help with this. My answer is "stay on the lead" - not what you are looking for!
Re: Sheep & Horses Walk through on the lead as many times as you can, they learn to ignore them. If they pull toward them a sharp 'No' or 'Leave' will set it right. Away from the Sheep and Horses, teach your dog to retrieve. Living in North Wales (sheep country) our dogs have to retrieve game in fields of sheep, once they switch on to retrieving they are ignored.
Re: Sheep & Horses Also give treats for focusing on you, not the animals. Start at a distance and only work closer as the pup can handle it in a calm way. Definitively achievable
Re: Sheep & Horses What I didn't post in "Ewe Here" was that when I started the off-lead work she was just about 3 years old and already steadying down and had already done some retrieving including the occasional retrieve among sheep. She'd had lots of lead work before that and as Indy says, consistent "No" and pull back as soon as the dog takes any interest in the sheep will do the trick. I also made her sit calmly on the lead when we in among sheep walking through flocks on foot paths. It's difficult to reward not doing something though, eg how do you reward not taking an interest or not lunging. I'm also fairly lucky having a farmer friend who let me train her with his sheep. His suggested solution though was "traditional" in that he said put her with ewes with lambs. A few good butts will sort her out! His second in command thought the rams would do a better job! ;D I believe there are training courses around to steady dogs with sheep. Might be worth looking around. I think the other aspect is that even though my dog is now pretty ok with sheep, I always feel I need to keep a really close eye on the situation and act at the least sign of waywardness. They can be little devils you know! ;D No probs here with horses as the dog gives them great respect and keeps well clear so I'm lucky there.
Re: Sheep & Horses [quote author=David link=topic=5979.msg77513#msg77513 date=1400141700] It's difficult to reward not doing something though, eg how do you reward not taking an interest or not lunging[/quote] Food treats
Re: Sheep & Horses Yes but the dog hasn't done anything so what does it associate the reward with. ;D I've been struggling with stopping her rolling, especially in fox pooh. How do you reward not rolling when 99% of the walk is not rolling. She now knows she mustn't roll but all I've done is created a crafty dog. Spotted her this morning when she thought I wasn't looking. Super quick drop of the shoulder and sliiide then stood up and looked at me with an expression of "Who? Me?" ;D
Re: Sheep & Horses Poppy says communication and mutual respect while accepting cultural differences, is the way to go: Of course, having a fence between dog and the sheep helps too… :
Re: Sheep & Horses Haha, good photo. You reward with a treat when the dog is aware of 'the stimulus' (the sheep) but not reacting to it. Has to be under those circumstances (stimulus present, dog calm). So you are not rewarding 'doing nothing in response to nothing', you're rewarding 'staying calm even though you can see sheep'. It's the human's job to arrange to do all this at a distance at which the dog can be aware but calm. The goal over time is to narrow the distance.
Re: Sheep & Horses I walk through a sheep field every day, it is on a very popular dog walking route so the sheep see dogs every few minutes, they ignore them completely and stand inches away from the path, which is not fenced. I still don't trust Tatze round them and will always keep her on the lead, but she does ignore them. Hopefully, if we come across sheep accidentally she will still ignore them. Horses ditto - I pop her on the lead when I see/hear horses.
Re: Sheep & Horses We live rurally, our neighbour is a sheep farmer so come across this every day when out and about. I think everyone else has pretty much covered it, slow conditioning to ignore them is the way. Can I just add though, however well trained your dog is - please don't let him off the lead when sheep are in the same field, ever. Field trials excepted although I wonder at the sense in working dogs in a field full of sheep We did use the ram to put our dogs off going anywhere near sheep forever and we still slipped him back on the lead if we were going through the sheep fields. S Same with horses, always better, on this one, to be safe rather than sorry.
Re: Sheep & Horses Yes - agree with that one. It's good to know the dog is ok with sheep for the occasional unexpected encounter, or if she has to work around sheep, but personally I always put Lady on the lead in any proximity to sheep just in case ... That especially applies if there is more than one dog. Most cases of sheep worrying, I believe, involves two or more dogs running in a pack when their feral nature is aroused.
Re: Sheep & Horses There were sheep being moved through the next field during Puppy Romp on Tuesday. None of the puppies took any notice. However, walking our dogs back through the field liberally sprinkled with fresh sheep treats was a nightmare. It was like walking a pack of those stupid nodding dogs that people used to put in the back of their cars
Re: Sheep & Horses Poppy is fab Karen does she not react at all? I havent encountered sheep yet, but would make sure I kept Harley on lead
Re: Sheep & Horses [quote author=Naya link=topic=5979.msg77628#msg77628 date=1400171944] Poppy is fab Karen does she not react at all? I havent encountered sheep yet, but would make sure I kept Harley on lead [/quote] I wouldn't trust her for a minute with sheep. That photo was taken on holiday - there were sheep all around, but the property was fenced securely. She was WAY too interested in them for me to feel at all relaxed about her attitude to sheep.
Re: Sheep & Horses Ta V. Much people. I guess retrieve training and gradual conditioning is the way to go but being safe rather than sorry by using the lead whenever possible. Hopefully I'll be up to it
