# Herding Dog



## redhorse (Dec 27, 2012)

This past summer I aquired an Austrailan Shepherd pup. I was really only looking for a dog that would be good around the farm, and be my riding partner as my faithful mutt is getting up there in age. Little did I know how much I would fall in love with this breed!

Wrangler comes from proven working lines. His parents are 'pets', but successful working dogs at shows, mainly ducks and sheep. I wasn't exactly looking for a dog to train for herding since I do not know how to train one personally. He certainly is a very smart dog, performing all sorts of tricks. He has the good ones down at 9 months such as sit, lay down, heel, come, stay and load up (in the truck bed). He also has a bunch of fluf tricks such as speak, growl, bang (play dead), spin, through (figure 8 around my legs), sit up, crawl, limp, hide his eyes (cry), jump through my arms or a hula hoop, and limp. He fetches a ball great, but will wait for me to shoot a squirrel, then go get it and bring it bak to me like a well trained retriever. I wish I could post a video to show off my kid!

But lately, he has impressed me even more with his natural hearding abilities. We have a mini mule that can get through the fence. If Wrangler sees her out, he immediatly chases her back in. Not chasing her just anywhere, he seems to know exactly where she belongs, and herds her back. I am looking into finding a good dog school that will assist us both in learing to hone that awesome instinct of his. My old dog will herd to some extent, but he more or less is just with me while I am horse back, and nips along at the back of the herd to help. Mostly just with the cows. Nothing like this pup.

Needless to say they are my best friends, and truely my partners around the farm. There is a blog I follow, Sugar Mountain Farm http://sugarmtnfarm.com/home/, that has a pack of LGDs (Livestock Guardian Dogs) that also pull double duty as herders. I would love! to have a pack of dogs like this someday, but alas I am to close to a road and other neighbors to incorparate unsupervised work pups like that. If you get a chance, check them out. They have homesteading down better than most of us on here, and have been able to make a living on it.


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## alwaysready (May 16, 2012)

Herders are smart dogs they learn fast and want to please. Sounds like you have a good one.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

I'm jealous!

Winter only seems to want to herd Roo or the cats.


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## FatTire (Mar 20, 2012)

Very kewl! Sounds like a great dog


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## camo2460 (Feb 10, 2013)

My daughters GSD herds children. He likes nothing better that to get all of the children in a group and then play, if one strays he will bring him back and continue to play. Last Forth of July my daughter had a party at her house with friends and lots of children, when the fire works began to go off Sargent became very upset and herded all of the children away to what he considered a safe distance and kept them there until they were finished. Herding dogs are amazing and fun to watch them work, you couldn't ask for a better pal.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Congrats on the Austrailan Shepherd pup!


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## Dixie (Sep 20, 2010)

*I would love to see pictures of everyone's furkids. *


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

I'm sure everyone would love to see more pictures of Winter...


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## FatTire (Mar 20, 2012)

I love dogs.. most dogs a better than most people.. will be nice when I can have one..


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## BillM (Dec 29, 2010)

*Speed and Drive*

My wife's granddad had two good cattle dogs .

The smartest was a dog named "Speed".

He could tell Speed to go get the cows and he would go all by his self into the holler and bring every cow to the barn.

Once when he took the dogs to a neighbor's farm to help him load some cattle, a man came to granddads farm and bought two cows.

When they came home , granddad sent speed to bring up the cows to milk. After he milked all the cows , he couldn't find Speed . Speed did not come up to the farm house to eat. Grandpaw had to go all the way down in the holler with a flashlight and show Speed the bill of sale for the cow, before he would stop looking and come back to the house.


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## Woody (Nov 11, 2008)

I don't have a herder or gatherer. I have a finder. My American, field stock black lab will NOT stop until she has accomplished her 'mission'. She has more drive than any of my other black labs did. You tell her what you are looking for and she will GO until she has it and brings it back to you. NOTHING stands in her way. She has gone through all manner of brush, swamp, whatever to achieve her goal. Not around it, THROUGH it.

It is actually a fun game for her, and good for me too as I do not have to keep throwing stuff... We can go to the park and I'll send her off to find a....a...a... FRISBEE!... You send her off in a general direction and command 'keep going, keep going..." and she will zig zag in whatever direction you send her. She will [email protected]@k back occasionally and you can direct her left, right, keep going, or give her the 'I don't know where it is'. She will NOT come back without something.

Back to the OP. it is YOU that needs to set the training for what you want. Use their natural instinct and train them for the behavior you require. It is not magic! It does however take a LOT OF TIME! Lots of frustration also, but, it all pays off in the long run. It is also dependent on their age and attention span. At two years old my gal is doing great, even when overly excited. At one year old, she was totally out of control. I could not get her to come, sit, stay for the life of me!!! I went with the flow and adapted my training to her ability and level of control. Now, if she starts to get out of control I can tell her to 'take a break' and she will hop off the side, lie down and drop what she has, waiting for my next command. At a year old she was like 'yeah, right, I'm going to RUN OVER HERE!!!!!!!!!!!"


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## Dixie (Sep 20, 2010)

Beautiful dogs!! The Border Collie takes her job seriously! She's just a blur, lol.

Boy, Winter looks nothing like her dad. She has pretty coloring and looks like she loves Roo.


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## talob (Sep 16, 2009)

Woody said:


> I don't have a herder or gatherer. I have a finder. My American, field stock black lab will NOT stop until she has accomplished her 'mission'. She has more drive than any of my other black labs did. You tell her what you are looking for and she will GO until she has it and brings it back to you. NOTHING stands in her way. She has gone through all manner of brush, swamp, whatever to achieve her goal. Not around it, THROUGH it.
> 
> It is actually a fun game for her, and good for me too as I do not have to keep throwing stuff... We can go to the park and I'll send her off to find a....a...a... FRISBEE!... You send her off in a general direction and command 'keep going, keep going..." and she will zig zag in whatever direction you send her. She will [email protected]@k back occasionally and you can direct her left, right, keep going, or give her the 'I don't know where it is'. She will NOT come back without something.
> 
> Back to the OP. it is YOU that needs to set the training for what you want. Use their natural instinct and train them for the behavior you require. It is not magic! It does however take a LOT OF TIME! Lots of frustration also, but, it all pays off in the long run. It is also dependent on their age and attention span. At two years old my gal is doing great, even when overly excited. At one year old, she was totally out of control. I could not get her to come, sit, stay for the life of me!!! I went with the flow and adapted my training to her ability and level of control. Now, if she starts to get out of control I can tell her to 'take a break' and she will hop off the side, lie down and drop what she has, waiting for my next command. At a year old she was like 'yeah, right, I'm going to RUN OVER HERE!!!!!!!!!!!"


This is good to know, we have an Aussie just going on a year old, talk about a high energy puppy, I call her my PITA dog, wife says she needs a job goats- sheep? The poor chickens sure dont like this herding thing, she sure does love babys though has a strong protective instinct.


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## *Andi (Nov 8, 2009)

Our herding dog, a Dutch Shepherd ...

http://cdn.preparedsociety.com/forum/attachments/f2/4949d1367802610-large-wolves-may-191.jpg


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

Dixie said:


> Boy, Winter looks nothing like her dad. She has pretty coloring and looks like she loves Roo.


I know! Its hard to believe she is half springer and half corgi. Most people think she is a beagle or a basset mix. 

She is Roo's best buddy. If Roo were sleeping in a bed not the crib Winter would be sleeping with her at night.


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## alwaysready (May 16, 2012)

*Andi said:


> Our herding dog, a Dutch Shepherd ...
> 
> http://cdn.preparedsociety.com/forum/attachments/f2/4949d1367802610-large-wolves-may-191.jpg


She looks great! Looks to be about 65 or 70 lbs perfect size for a Dutchie.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

This is Mephis, our male cardigan corgi!


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

This is Blue, our female Cardigan Corgi!


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

tsrwivey said:


> This is Blue, our female Cardigan Corgi!


I LOVE the pretty merled coat on that cardi! Wish Winter had the bat ears...


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

tsrwivey said:


> This is Mephis, our male cardigan corgi!


Any puppies in the works? I LOVE your pups!


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

No pups yet! It just never seems to be a good time to have a litter of pups under foot! Blue's ears had to be taped everyday for weeks, I can't imagine doing that with an entire litter.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

tsrwivey said:


> No pups yet! It just never seems to be a good time to have a litter of pups under foot! Blue's ears had to be taped everyday for weeks, I can't imagine doing that with an entire litter.


Taping is not always required. Our first 2 corgis had different types of ears. Killian the Pembroke didn't need his ears taped but Guinness the Cardigan needed one ear taped. With Guinness I opted not to tape his ears because it gave him personality and it was cute. Plus they were spoiled house pets so looks were more for me than for show or field.

Winter being a mix I wasn't sure if taping was a good idea. She has the corgi ear shape but they have the hang of her dad the Springer.

If you do have a litter let me know.


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## tsrwivey (Dec 31, 2010)

Thankfully we didn't have to tape Memphis' ears or our first corgi Star's. Blue's are just so big I don't think there's any way they would've stayed up on their own. 

Star was our first corgi & our once in a lifetime dog. She was awesome & very near & dear to our heart. She was red so your dog reminds me of her. 

We need to breed these two, we've got a lot of time & money invested in getting the ability to do so. Turns out cardigan breeders are Nazi's, they like to control what you can do with your $1200 dog.


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## Grimm (Sep 5, 2012)

tsrwivey said:


> Thankfully we didn't have to tape Memphis' ears or our first corgi Star's. Blue's are just so big I don't think there's any way they would've stayed up on their own.
> 
> Star was our first corgi & our once in a lifetime dog. She was awesome & very near & dear to our heart. She was red so your dog reminds me of her.
> 
> We need to breed these two, we've got a lot of time & money invested in getting the ability to do so. Turns out cardigan breeders are Nazi's, they like to control what you can do with your $1200 dog.


My folks are brittany people and when they got their current dog (13 years ago) the breeder was calling twice a year to see if they wanted to breed her. As soon as my mom opted to spay her they stopped calling and now they don't want to sell her another pup. Which is fine because Elle is deaf and blind now with bad hips. She was a decent gun dog til she started going deaf.

Same thing with their male brit that passed during the summer. His breeder wanted to know the moment they bred him. Now my mom is suppose to be the top of the list for a pup in the current litter and the breeder can't commit to allowing my mom to have the pup she wants (lots of orange in the coat and roan). It hurts my mom because this litter are the product of the sister of their male dog (frozen sperm- there is a 12 year age gap between them). They wanted to get a pup from the same blood line as the male. He was a great gun dog. Didn't mind guns but would freak out when you could hear the fireworks from Disneyland. Go figure!


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## redhorse (Dec 27, 2012)

Here is Wrangler, the Aussie, Gunner, the Rot, and Ruger, a rot-red bone-lab-corgi-golden retriever 

These are a little dated, Wrangler is now about 60 pounds and just a bit smaller than Ruger. 

I have tried to get a picture of him herding the mule, but by the time I get my phone dug out of my carhart inside pocket, he already has her back in the fence  One of these days I will get it.


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## redhorse (Dec 27, 2012)

Woody said:


> Back to the OP. it is YOU that needs to set the training for what you want. Use their natural instinct and train them for the behavior you require. It is not magic! It does however take a LOT OF TIME! Lots of frustration also, but, it all pays off in the long run. It is also dependent on their age and attention span. At two years old my gal is doing great, even when overly excited. At one year old, she was totally out of control. I could not get her to come, sit, stay for the life of me!!! I went with the flow and adapted my training to her ability and level of control. Now, if she starts to get out of control I can tell her to 'take a break' and she will hop off the side, lie down and drop what she has, waiting for my next command. At a year old she was like 'yeah, right, I'm going to RUN OVER HERE!!!!!!!!!!!"


I am thinking of working with him and ducks and geese this spring. I would try on the bigger critters, but I am worried he will get flattened until he learns a bit more respect for the big critters. He isn't allowed to chase the any of the birds, although he would love to. But he does get as close as he can to them and lay there in a crouch position. He does have a lot of patience for a high energy dog.

I am ordering some training guides, I know it isn't rocket science, but it is something I have no clue about, other than being the one doing the herding from horseback. Time and patience I have lots of 

I love seeing all the pictures of everyones furry kids. There are some beautiful pups on here.


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