Anyone train their Shelties as stockdogs?

[keeperofthehearth]

We have a 3.5yr old Sheltie, Abby, that we've had for only a few weeks. She's really taken an interest in "helping" me when I'm herding the Scovies and esp. when I am trying to separate out our big blue drake fm running our chocolate drake ragged. I was amazed at how well she did today considering the short time she's been with us and my lack of knowledge on how to train her to what I want fm her. I did find a stockdog trainer that is reasonably priced & about 1 hr. away.

Any stories about training your Sheltie or other breed of dog or the results of said training? Did you find it worth the time and money? What are your recommendations when looking for a trainer?

 

[lceh]

Check out the Yahoo! group for the American Working Farmcollie Association (AWFA). There are several members there who use Shelties as working dogs. (By "Farmcollie" they do not necessarily mean AKC Collies or Border Collies, but any of the old-style herding dogs.)

 

[keeperofthehearth]

TKS! I'll do that.

 

[Barred Rocks forever]

my dads sheltie loved to heard tires so id think theyed be good stock dogs lol

 

[babalubird]

Some dogs just learn by accompanying you on your farm chores. If she is really doing that well and is a help, do you really want her "professionally" trained? Do you really need an intense herding dog? Sometimes such training can make them too intense and cause them to want to chase livestock non-stop. Just a thought.

 

[keeperofthehearth]

I checked out the link for AFWA that Iceh suggested & was excited to read about "Farmcollies." I told my DH and he too is excited about it. A "farmcollie" is what we are needing and believe Abby fits the bill for us. You're right, babalubird, we don't want Abby trained that intensely. That said, the training fac., I found only trains as intensely as you want your dog trained to. It could give me some added structure if I find I can't do this on my own & has enough flexibility in its program that I will keep it in mind.

Abby did really well in the duckyard today and is beginning to watch and target the Scovy I want her to. I will need to come up with a few commands that I can use consistantly with her but with patience and time I think we can do this. She still needs to learn where our property lines are so she doesn't leave her territory even when she discovers something exciting before I can trust leaving her unsupervised for more than a few minutes but I think that is doable. She already has made some major adjustments fm her prior life and routines. She learns fast and has the Sheltie temperment of wanting to please. What's more is she isn't a big barker. She will run/chase/herd and stay silent ..... I love it!

Another plus, the Scovies don''t seem "afraid" of her if she is just running around looking at the trees for squirrels etc.. They do keep an eye on her, granted, but when it comes to SNACK time, they will come right up to her to get that pea that's within 6" of her toes.

TKS you all for your input and suggestions. Looks like Abby and I are going to have an exciting time.

Here is Abby, Abbers, Abigail:

 

[shadowpaints]

beautiful girl!!!

our male blue merle, Merlin, helps all the time.. with the goats and the chickens anyways! we didnt train him tho, he learned from following us around at chore time!

 

[PitterPaws]

Abby is Beautiful!

Makes me miss my sheltie all over again!

He "Jake" was the same color as your abby.

 

[keeperofthehearth]

Thanks! We think she is beautiful also.

We recently had to have our 10yr old Sheltie, Shelby Lynn, put down due to advanced CRF. I was devastated....wasn't ready for her to go. Really had considered NOT getting another dog but when I saw Abby listed on Craigs, (she looked just like a younger version of Shelby), just had to call and everything just fell into place quickly. Having Abby has helped tremendously w/our loss of sweet Shelby Lynn.

 

[halo]

My shelties adore herding the chickens. They love nothing more for me to say "git em" when someone gets out of their designated area. They not only herd them, but hold them down with their little footsies until I grab the hen. In fact the hens are getting so confused, they actually squat for the puppies now!

Punkin has been herding on the farm for nearly his whole life (18 months) even herding me on the tractor. I decided to take him to obedience training, figuring he'd be a natural. He hated it. Flunked out. Did pretty much everything right, but hated every minute of it. Miserable. As soon as we would come home, drive thru the gate, his head went up, ears and tail up, eyes bright again, all ready to start taking care of the farm.

Mine are totally farm dogs.

Here's a great sheltie thread, theres others, too:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=281413