Herding Class

Participating in what the breed was originally bred for? This is where you want to be.
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alspyce
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Tell us about yourself: I am in New York State. Got my first DS about 14 years ago (more or less as a rescue- lost her in Nov.). After years of GSD's, and a few dogs of other breeds (Rotti/Beauceron/Ger. Shorthaired Pointer/ Yorkie and my current Jack Russell) I now have another DS, 4mo female, no name yet, tho I have a few in mind.
Also have a horse-old quarter horse mare-32.
Can't wait for all the snow to get gone! Spring is coming too slow this year!
Location: Corinth, New York

Re: Herding Class

Post by alspyce »

There is one guy- has a great little dog- who works our rodeo, and I've seen this dog literally leap over the head and run down the bulls back to avoid the horns, then right back for more! Sometimes will run the top rail of the fencing to get into position to turn the bulls. He's saved lots of the guys, and the horses from getting seriously hurt at these events.
"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." Anatole France
Chris Carlton/Lyric
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felixone123
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Tell us about yourself: Rescued our first DS male on Dec 27, 2011. Approx 4 yrs. Rescued from NADSR. His name is Odin. Adopted a 2nd DS from NADSR June 27, 2012. Kai - 6 months.
Location: Fishkill, NY

Re: Herding Class

Post by felixone123 »

oh righty then, Odin will just have to pass on the herding thing :lol:

The sheep will be enamoured with Marco's looks :player: - no worries.
Barbara, Odin & Kai
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vneerland
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Re: Herding Class

Post by vneerland »

I know some Cattle dogs can make some K9's looks like sunday school class. Tough, tough tough.
ImageJudith Van Neerland Dutch Shepherds Image
Sugars Mom
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Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:16 am
Tell us about yourself: I adopted a Dutch Shepherd mix (without knowing what she was) from the SPCA here in Victoria BC and am now trying to learn everything I can about this breed. My husband and I work from home most of the time so I thought it was time to get a puppy! We have his 2 boys here half the time and we wanted a nice family dog.

Sugar looks like a miniature Dutch Shepherd with floppy ears, and has every ounce of DS traits in her little body!

I hope to learn from other DS owners and share doggy experiences.
Location: Victoria BC

Re: Herding Class

Post by Sugars Mom »

Only a couple more sleeps to see how Marco does! Scared yet? ;)
Sue (and Sugar)

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GSDNanny
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Tell us about yourself: Dogs are my life, what can I say. GSDs primarily for nearly 50 years til bringing in my first DutchShep about 4 years ago. GSD rescue for 9 yrs, nearly 200 thru my home, rehabbed, adopted out. Been involved in AKC ob, herding, tracking, agility; Schutzhund-DVG; scent detection (HR-water)&narcotics, some patrol work. Mostly herding training at present on my little farm.

Re: Herding Class

Post by GSDNanny »

You're gonna have lots of fun really. Herding with the dogs is one of my most favorite dog sports/jobs. It is like a long distance dance due to the finesse and coordination of efforts between you, the dog (s) and the stock. :luff: Yet with control of the dog too. Make sense?
:wtg:

Denise Gatlin & Zip, Shooter & the K9 crew

Livin' in the deep south - Louisiana
GSDNanny
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Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:13 pm
Tell us about yourself: Dogs are my life, what can I say. GSDs primarily for nearly 50 years til bringing in my first DutchShep about 4 years ago. GSD rescue for 9 yrs, nearly 200 thru my home, rehabbed, adopted out. Been involved in AKC ob, herding, tracking, agility; Schutzhund-DVG; scent detection (HR-water)&narcotics, some patrol work. Mostly herding training at present on my little farm.

Re: Herding Class

Post by GSDNanny »

vneerland wrote:I know some Cattle dogs can make some K9's looks like sunday school class. Tough, tough tough.
The thing I notice about Cattle dogs is that they operate in stealth mode, quiet yet forceful. Very observant.

Denise Gatlin & Zip, Shooter & the K9 crew

Livin' in the deep south - Louisiana
GSDNanny
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Tell us about yourself: Dogs are my life, what can I say. GSDs primarily for nearly 50 years til bringing in my first DutchShep about 4 years ago. GSD rescue for 9 yrs, nearly 200 thru my home, rehabbed, adopted out. Been involved in AKC ob, herding, tracking, agility; Schutzhund-DVG; scent detection (HR-water)&narcotics, some patrol work. Mostly herding training at present on my little farm.

Re: Herding Class

Post by GSDNanny »

Here's my little ACD, Bindi, her first time on sheep. She was a humane society rescue who never left. ;) The BC belongs to the friend pictured; triple herding champion BC, friend is a herding judge. :squee:
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Denise Gatlin & Zip, Shooter & the K9 crew

Livin' in the deep south - Louisiana
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Schlussdibusti
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Re: Herding Class

Post by Schlussdibusti »

I am happy to report no sheep got hurt, everybody survived and Marco had the time of his life! :cheer:

Beside him there were one Border Collie and an Aussie. Every dog got worked three times for about 15 minutes. They were all impressed how well Marco was doing considering he never had seen sheep before and his first time getting up and close to them. The trainer was so impressed with Marco that he took him in the last sesson out to the big field with the sheep, worked with him to separate some sheep and also let him herd back a single sheep that he put for him on the field which he said is very dangerous if a dog comes too close and scares the sheep they just run into the fence and hurt themselves. He said he never ever did this with a dog who was the first time there. Since I never did shepherding before either, I didn't know how awsome Marco did. For me it was already a success that the sheep didn't get hurt. :pint:

Since they all had never heard or seen a Dutch Shepherd, Marco represented the breed very well.

But enough of words, here are some pics but I did mostly videos (with my ancient camera who only does 20 sec clips) and I posted it on youtube for you. It shows very nicely the progress Marco made from session to session. What I understand so far, the objective is to keep a certain distance to the sheep and the dog has to stay behind them. In the first session the trainer had a rake to make Marco understand the distance, the second a herding stick (with a curved end) and in the third a stick that looked like the one the blind use. Here is the link: http://youtu.be/ABDDjCwAGV8
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Eva & Marco BH
Jupiter, Florida
GSDNanny
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Posts: 615
Joined: Wed Jul 07, 2010 4:13 pm
Tell us about yourself: Dogs are my life, what can I say. GSDs primarily for nearly 50 years til bringing in my first DutchShep about 4 years ago. GSD rescue for 9 yrs, nearly 200 thru my home, rehabbed, adopted out. Been involved in AKC ob, herding, tracking, agility; Schutzhund-DVG; scent detection (HR-water)&narcotics, some patrol work. Mostly herding training at present on my little farm.

Re: Herding Class

Post by GSDNanny »

Eva, Marco is a natural! He did absolutely wonderful from the video. I had the best time watching him and will again here. You could tell he was in his element and having loads of fun. The sheep worked perfect too without splitting or flighting, great for a starter dog. Please continue to keep us up on this venture.

Denise Gatlin & Zip, Shooter & the K9 crew

Livin' in the deep south - Louisiana
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Schlussdibusti
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Re: Herding Class

Post by Schlussdibusti »

Thanks! I already signed him up for another class in two weeks (next week was already booked, the trainer only takes up to four dogs in the morning and afternoon)

Too bad the memory card was already full when he took Marco out to the big field and when Marco brought the single sheep back. He was flying in lightning speed. They couldn't believe how fast a DS can be. :dshead:

We definetly found his 'calling'. There is a herder in the Hollandse Herder! It is awesome to see them in their element and their genes kicking in and doing things they didn't know about before. No yelling, not much correcting, no treats to lure them to do things. They just do what comes naturally. Amazing to watch!
Eva & Marco BH
Jupiter, Florida
Sugars Mom
Working Dog
Posts: 1734
Joined: Thu Mar 03, 2011 12:16 am
Tell us about yourself: I adopted a Dutch Shepherd mix (without knowing what she was) from the SPCA here in Victoria BC and am now trying to learn everything I can about this breed. My husband and I work from home most of the time so I thought it was time to get a puppy! We have his 2 boys here half the time and we wanted a nice family dog.

Sugar looks like a miniature Dutch Shepherd with floppy ears, and has every ounce of DS traits in her little body!

I hope to learn from other DS owners and share doggy experiences.
Location: Victoria BC

Re: Herding Class

Post by Sugars Mom »

:wtg:

That is super! Looks like so much fun! Was he all pooped out afterwards?
Sue (and Sugar)

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Lauren
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Tell us about yourself: I am a wife, mother of 2 kids, 3 cats, 1 Standard Poodle (10 yrs) and Xena, a Dutch Shepherd Puppy.

Re: Herding Class

Post by Lauren »

Wow! He did absolutely amazing! I hope some day with maturity Xena can show that much restraint. :roll:

It is rather addictive. I keep looking around for a place to keep sheep! :D
Lauren from Western NC
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alspyce
Working Dog
Posts: 1222
Joined: Wed Mar 23, 2011 5:51 pm
Tell us about yourself: I am in New York State. Got my first DS about 14 years ago (more or less as a rescue- lost her in Nov.). After years of GSD's, and a few dogs of other breeds (Rotti/Beauceron/Ger. Shorthaired Pointer/ Yorkie and my current Jack Russell) I now have another DS, 4mo female, no name yet, tho I have a few in mind.
Also have a horse-old quarter horse mare-32.
Can't wait for all the snow to get gone! Spring is coming too slow this year!
Location: Corinth, New York

Re: Herding Class

Post by alspyce »

Wonderful, natural, instinctive--All the words that came to my mind--looks like he has a career started!
"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened." Anatole France
Chris Carlton/Lyric
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vneerland
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Re: Herding Class

Post by vneerland »

:wtg: Standing ovation! Sooooo cool!
I know that I don't have many dogs that would be like him. Maybe one or two who are gentle enough, the rest way too roudy and yeah, bad for the sheep. It is cool to see the gentler side of the brindle breed. :stickman:
ImageJudith Van Neerland Dutch Shepherds Image
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felixone123
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Tell us about yourself: Rescued our first DS male on Dec 27, 2011. Approx 4 yrs. Rescued from NADSR. His name is Odin. Adopted a 2nd DS from NADSR June 27, 2012. Kai - 6 months.
Location: Fishkill, NY

Re: Herding Class

Post by felixone123 »

Great job Marco!!! Loved the video. He looked so good herding - :wtg:
Barbara, Odin & Kai
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Schlussdibusti
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Re: Herding Class

Post by Schlussdibusti »

vneerland wrote::wtg: Standing ovation! Sooooo cool!
I know that I don't have many dogs that would be like him. Maybe one or two who are gentle enough, the rest way too roudy and yeah, bad for the sheep. It is cool to see the gentler side of the brindle breed. :stickman:
Based on how crazy Marco gets when he sees cats and squirrels, I never would have thought he would do so well with the sheep.

I don't know much about it, but I think the sheep bring out a different side of a DS. It's like a switch is turned on and his mind is set on herding, genes are taking over or something. It's really great to see them 'on purpose'. But I have to say the trainer is excellent. Marco and him bonded right away. He has his way with dogs. :wtg:

Just a little side note.... The lady who owns the farm has rescued all animals there. Sheep, goats, horses, pigs. And the sheep herding lessons support the feeding of the animals. So we have fun AND do something good.
Eva & Marco BH
Jupiter, Florida
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vneerland
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Re: Herding Class

Post by vneerland »

Schlussdibusti wrote:Just a little side note.... The lady who owns the farm has rescued all animals there. Sheep, goats, horses, pigs. And the sheep herding lessons support the feeding of the animals. So we have fun AND do something good.

That's great! 8-)
ImageJudith Van Neerland Dutch Shepherds Image
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Re: Herding Class

Post by KellaA+dog6 »

Have fun, and don't worry about the sheep. An experienced trainer rarely lets the dog get that close until certain it won't "attack" instead of herd. ( I had a Border Collie, Baaad on sheep, great on Cattle)
Kella the maybe DS mix wanted to run from the sheep when first introduced . Havn't had time to go back due to family issues, but plan on trying again(along with other activities) in a few weeks time.
Kella's Person Mara
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