Stockmanship and Sheepdog Training Days
Our training goes much deeper than simply putting your dog in with the sheep and teaching you what to do. The theory sessions explain the “why” and the practical components show the “how” of training a sheepdog. Understanding why your dog reacts in certain ways will help you to determine what you need to do in any situation, minimising the need to keep coming back for more and more training sessions.
My experience is with heading dog breeds, such as border collies and kelpies and their crosses, in broadacre farm and trialling applications.
At my training schools I will try to help you encourage your dogs to make good decisions and lay a good foundation of stockwork. If you are able to help your dog get itself in the right place, you and the dog will be able to learn how to handle stock better as a team. Every dog and every person is different, and no handler and dog team works exactly the same way, so I try to find ways of helping each person get the best out of their dog. The goal will be to give you the tools to understand the basics of how your dog and the sheep think so that you can go home, do the work and achieve what you want to with your dog in your application, while providing future support through the various stages.
What to Expect
Stage 1
- Instinct
- Selecting the right dog for you
- Circle yard – assessment and development of your dog
- Basic commands
- Basic livestock reading
Stage 2
- Revisit circle yard
- Begin mob work in small paddock
- Farm work training (for handler and dog)
Stage 3
- Revisit small paddock work on small mob
- Refine training for more precise stock management
- Begin trial obstacle work
My Training Experience
I struggled for a long time trying to adapt other people’s methods of training to suit me, and it’s taken hundreds of dogs over many years to find my type of dog and my way of training them. But over the last few years, winning a few State Championships, being a State Representative several times, winning the 2019 Dog of the Year, making the Australian Team twice, and having being working and training dogs for nearly 40 years, I can share the benefits of my successes and failures and hopefully shortcut your training journey.
During my second presidency of the South Australian Working Sheepdog Association we started holding sheepdog training schools, with myself as principal trainer, with support and input from several other members. During the 3 years of my term, over 100 people attended our training schools and the feedback was always positive. I’d love to help you get the best out of your sheepdog, too.