Some advice on dogs and sheep

[sunnyday3]

Hiya, we are getting a dog soon (older pup) but where we live we have sheep in the fields around the house that are not ours, what advice could you give me to train the dog not to go near the sheep

 

sensible please

[kittybee]

put the pup on a long lead or rope.

walk near the sheep, and correct the pup with a firm NO! as soon as he shows interest in the sheep, pulling him back with lead as you say no.

Its never failed me, but may take a bit of time to train him to.

just out of interest, what kind of pup is it you are getting?

[sunnyday3]

hiya its a lab

[kittybee]

okay, was just going to say, if it was a border collie, its very hard to take their well trained minds off sheep, as it is a natural instinct.

but labs are a lot easier... , good luck with the pup!

[mhutch]

yes , dogs will generally train fine wi praise n non praise , just have to keep an eye on it n see

[JordanKZ]

Both of my parents dogs are collie crosses so naturally they want to run towards the nearest piece of wild life and "play" with it.

 

As cruel as it can be sometimes at young age you must be stern with a puppy. The worst thing you can do is praise bad behaviour. Good luck with a Labrador though, I hear they can be a real handful

[Esther.R]

We trained our whippet to leave our free range chickens alone using the above method, despite the breed being notorious for chasing small fluffy/feathery things, he has lived with freerange chickens in the garden for 2 years now and runs unsupervised with them and has never harmed a single one. Not that I would advocate getting as complacent as that with someone else's sheep, no matter how good the dog.

 

Labs are usually ok with good training and plenty of exercise.

[crofter-amy]

Sunnyday3, have you had dogs before?

 

I would like to just add that interest in the sheep should cover looking at them with any interest what so ever, and I would say a sharp jerk on the lead rather than trying to yank the dog back from the sheep. I never used "no" as I found a good sharp "EH" had a better ring to it. The Dog Whisperer on the telly has good tips if you get a chance to see it. One of the most important things is your body language so don't worry, go in with confidence and show the dog what you want from it.

[sunnyday3]

I have lived with dogs, all labs since I was young, father trained them as gun dogs. Have a young family now and really wanted to bring a dog into their lives. We had 2, 4 month old pups that got out ran to a field near by and were shot by the farmer, thankfully both survived. I just needed to know what methods some people have used to prevent them running for the sheep.

[momo]

Would also add that everyone in the family has to agree on what comands to use. Me and my husband take turns to walk the dog so it took us quite a while to find out we were using different ones. Poor dog totaly confused.

[mhutch]

am not 100% sure of the technicalities , but am quite sure the farmer has to be able to prove his stock has been worried , as in , the dog in this case has used its teeth on his animals , this wont stop the more zealous tho

[crofter-amy]

It must be hard for sheep owners to see dogs among there sheep. They will probably have had poor experiences with owners in the past. I mind being attacked by a pair of labs and the owner came and called them off me then when I confronted her she said they were not attacking me The big whelt on my thigh told a different story

[momo]

Am I alone in thinking that there are very few good places to walk your dog here. We got our dog when we were living down in Fife where there were lots of woodland walks you could take your dog on. I remember thinking when I moved back that there would be lots of open ground to walk him on & being surprised that I never noticed when I was living here before that everywhere is fenced off with sheep on it. My lottery plans definitely include buying a couple of fields & planting a wooded public park.

[sunnyday3]

I live in the country here in shetland and I have a few hills to wander up and down, i must admit I grew up in St.Andrews and there were so many places to walk the dogs i miss it, when you could see and smell the change in the seasons, i loved it.

[lynnR]

The thing to remember is that if they ever does chase anything (sheep, cats, cars, etc.) is not to hit/shout at the dog if and when it returns to you. Doing so will only make it think it was told off for coming back and be less willing to do so the next time. I have found that physically tiring the dog out isn't enough, it has to work ie. 'Hide n Seek' with a toy.