Training A Working Dog 3
For this lesson, I chose Dusty, a one year old female who had never been worked on cattle before. I chose her to work by herself because I recognized her ambition to work by the way she barked at the cows every time they approached the fence by the yard where the dogs are kept. I wanted to see if she could take charge by herself without a trained dog to lead her. She immediately approached the cows when given the opportunity. My goal in this lesson was to push the cows from near the barn out to pasture after feeding time. The cows were very cooperative with my plan. This could have been a bit more difficult to accomplish with a first time lesson as the cows are used to the dogs taking them to the barn for feeding.
Dusty immediately approached the cows to push them toward the gate shown in the picture to the right. Notice the cow on the other side of the fence. Her first goal was to get the cows together in a herd. I used the command "drive" when she approached the 2 in the lot.
I helped Dusty move the cows over to the north fenceline to push them west out to pasture. It is easier for a dog to learn to push the cows down a fence as they usually move in a straighter line than just out in the open, especially since she was working by herself. As you can see, Dusty really stepped up & took over driving the cows.
The cows stop & the outside left cow turns to look at Dusty.
Dusty follows the cows through the gate & the command "gather" was used when the 3rd cow joined the other two so I was able to capatilize on Dusty's natural insticts to ask the cows to "join up".
As mentioned before, turning the dogs body sideways pushes all the cows & the dog weaving back & forth keeps them together & moving.
But Dusty is persistent & keeps them moving gently down the fenceline. Our goal is accomplished & Dusty has puppies to return to. She did terrific for her first time moving the cows.