THAT MAGICAL FEELING
I really don't want to give out the best kept secret!
How to influence your dog with the power to move him into action from hundreds of feet away. Seeing a dog drop on a dime, turning right or left - all with just one word. Most people only get that within a 20' range. Still more folks only have control of their dog as far as the leash will reach. Then there are those that can give their dogs all sorts of commands from hundreds of feet away and the dog obeys fluidly, without resistance. How magical is that!
That's what really separates the great trainers from the maestros. That ability to move dogs. Yes, almost magically. It doesn't matter what breed it is. It could be a German Shepherd, an Australian Shepherd, an Australian Cattle Dog or yes, even a Border Collie.
You really want to know?
Well it's easy. Lots and lots of hours of watching OTHER people work their dogs. I mean really watching them. What do they do when the dog miscues. Do they allow a dog to keep continuing running about when they where asked to lie down? Or what do they do when the dog doesn't slow down. Don't just watch, but really watch and see what is going on. LOTS and lots of hours of working WITH your dog. Lots and lots of hours helping others with
their dog.
And most important of all = having a proper functioning relationship with your own dog.
I firmly believe a dog must have a relationship with YOU and YOU alone. The majority of dogs I see do not have any relationship with their owners. They have it with the squirrels outside, the neighbors dogs, the other dogs in the same household...but even more insidious, is a dog's relationship with FOOD and/or TOYS.
What makes them behave, move around, stay with you, moves them to obey a command. Truly ask yourself this question...what makes your dog move. That is what is the pack leader. Now ask yourself...is it really YOU or is it the tasty tidbit of FOOD or the TOY you tease them with?
That will be your key to working with your dog on livestock. Working livestock doesn't start the first time they are exposed. IT starts the second they made first contact with YOU. You either show them you can make them move or you will get something else to get them to move. Food distances YOU from the dog's world. If you are only a candy machine, you will be treated like one. Have you ever seen the folks that get frustrated at a candy machine and bang it around? Your dog bangs you around, and most folks just give it more treats to make the dog stop. If you miss a day of work, your boss gives you your weekly paycheck and you see it's missing a day of pay...do you rattle your boss about? I am pretty sure you still won't get that missing pay day no matter how much you try.
To work as a partnership with your dog, you need to be the PACK LEADER.
You basically need to get the dog sensitive to your body language and voice. You want to get the dog sensitive to working off YOUR pressure. You want the dog to move from just a look from you, or just a slight gesture. Getting the dog sensitive to this is the key.
When a dog has no thought of his owner, you see the owner struggling with just a simple down command or walking on a loose leash, yeh right...they are usually dragging the owner everywhere.
Getting the dog to move from constant feedings or toys and play, I believe, causes the dog to work with you less. They ignore you, make you struggle to get them to do even a simple command. I see too many dogs just being downright rude and obnoxious. Does the term Brat sound familiar.
Many people confuse those behaviors with the dog being confused, not understanding what you are asking or being soft. Remember, dogs are predators. They are born figuring out how to get things. They are the master mainipulators. They get what they want. Don't think for a moment that you are better at this than your dog is.
Dogs will display behaviors that get them something. Good or hindering. Either a good euphoric feeling, a full feeling - like eating, or an emotional feeling, or controlling what happens to him..by manipulating the handler, to either getting something or taking away something.
That said, watch others work. See exactly where their realm of influence is with their dog. Where is it with your dog. IF your dog only moves because you are in close physcial proximity to him.. because he manipulates you into physically putting him in a down etc, then it's no wonder that he doesn't listen when you are 30' away. You need to MOVE and manipulate that dog from as far away as you can. Once your personal space starts to creep from 1' away to 30' away, that's when you get that magical power, like a laser beam shooting out the end of your cane.
Just remember, the more dominant one or leader is the one that MOVES the others around. Is the dominant one your piece of cheese or the squeeky toy??
Just how much are you having to move to get your dog to do something. Be it in the wild, with a pack of dogs, with people or on stock. And usually the leader can move the others with just a look. Just who is moving whom around?
IF your dog makes you move more than you make him move, then he is in charge and you need to physically be there to make him move. Even though you have made him move, he still wins, because he had you move to him. Then you really struggled to get something very simple accomplished.
When you can make the dog move from 30' away, then you are at the start of you being the leader. You might struggle being 30' at first, but then you'll start to see that now only the look of the lion will move your dog. Are you a lamb or a lion?
Jean and the Wicked Gang