My biggest successes have come from being all-in and 100% motivated to make it work because I didn’t have a Plan B! IT HAD to work!

Well, today, is all about doing NOTHING. What you say? Are you crazy, Jen?

Sometimes in training we get much farther ahead by waiting until a dog matures. You have heard me discuss the Patience Game here in the series on a dog called Grace. LINK HERE

Well, this strategy has worked once again and this time with a little dog called Annie.

Annie was always super keen and committed to herding; however, she was quite tight on all of her balance work. You can see this in the video below. Here is Annie at about 9 months.

I know many people would likely chase Annie out, but as long as Annie approached the stock smoothly when she turned in from her gather (the lift), I allowed her to work.

Annie is what I call a more upright, looser-eyed dog and I could sense when she flanked around to balance to me, that her movement would naturally open up. Often these type of dogs will open up for the outrun, on their own, once they mature. If they are pushed off their sheep too soon, this will sometimes cause them to go too wide.

When you watch the second video of Annie at about 13 months, you can see how she has opened up a lot on her outrun. This shape is not trained, she has matured and cast out on her own. I will have to monitor that she doesn’t get too wide.

Too wide off of the stock causes the dog to lose contact with where the stock are located. For example, if running too wide on hills, the dog won’t find the sheep. The handler must be able to command the dog to come in and be directed to the sheep. We teach these types of commands in Module 4 of our Dore River Training Bootcamp Program. LINK HERE

So be careful what you wish for! Many handlers will pressure their dog to move farther off the stock; however, properly educating the dog as to where it needs to be to move the stock effectively is the answer.

You can follow all the in's and out's of training 3 young dogs (including Annie!) in Module 5 of our Dore River Training Bootcamp Program! We use a systematic, individualized approach to starting our dogs to ensure they are capable of not only being obedient, but most of all understanding how to think for themselves while working.

Need some fresh ideas for training with your High-Energy, High-Drive dog?

Join us today for a FREE Masterclass

REGISTER HERE