We all have our own way of doing things, don’t we?

For instance, when it comes to starting my young dogs, I don’t let them randomly circle and bite the stock. As for the circling, you can read more on this topic HERE

Instead, I prefer to properly educate them on how I want the stock moved. This means that I need to have a clear picture in my mind as to what this looks like. I want the dog to feel confident enough to move stock, knowing it can grip, but NOT needing to grip.

Read more about biting & gripping in stock dogs HERE

Something I like to do with my dogs is to get them really comfortable working in a tight space and to teach them how to move the stock without needing to grip.

Of course, most dogs will go through a bit of biting as you see in the training session with young Annie, but I discourage (from biting) & then encourage (get back to moving the stock) her to get my point across as to what's acceptable.

Ultimately, I need the stock moved and it's up to me to teach her the benefit of moving them the way that I expect. If I discourage & then encourage then she always gets rewarded by working the sheep. For the working dog, this is the ultimate prize.

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