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Border Collie? Age to start working?

B

BROKEN FENCE

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Feb 17, 2007
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I am new to the Border Collie and was wondering at what age do you start your dog on cattle? This pup of mine is six and a half mo. and goes out with me to feed, the problem is that he is really wanting to work and I think he is a little to young. I have let him play with some lite calves and he is definately not afraid and knows what his teeth are for. Is this normal for these dogs to be this intense at this young of an age?
 
Tricky question.

You sure don't want one to get hurt too young as then they will be more apprehensive about going to stock.

If they never got around cattle until they were 1 year old, is a pretty good rule of thumb. Sheep at a younger age.

Good luck. :)
 
thanks Jinglebob. That is what I am hearing. All the dogs we have had before were red or blue heelers, it seemed those dogs were never really interested that young. This pup is going to think I am punishing him so I guess I will have to go buy some goats for him. Sheep are kinda hard to come by around here. What should I have this dog doing at this age?
 
BROKEN FENCE said:
thanks Jinglebob. That is what I am hearing. All the dogs we have had before were red or blue heelers, it seemed those dogs were never really interested that young. This pup is going to think I am punishing him so I guess I will have to go buy some goats for him. Sheep are kinda hard to come by around here. What should I have this dog doing at this age?
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Lying down on command, coming to you, when he's called.

Don't cuss the dog for wanting to work. And don't let him work unless you are there with him.

When he messes up, just kennel him. He won't mind his kennel as it's his house. Don't you like to go into your house? :)

The guy I learned from said it's always better to have 3 10 minute sessions than 1 30 minute session. His reward for doing a good job is that he gets to keep doing it. They are like hyperactive kids, going at full blast. :D

Oh and remember, their instinct is to get oppisite of you from the stock, with the stock in between, so as to bring them to you. Later, when he's more advanced, you can teach him to drive the stock away from you.

learn to walk backwards, real well, as you are going to be doing a lot of it as yoiu walk backwards and the dog brings the livestock to you.

Training a good Border Collie is much like training a colt. They can't buck you off, but they can dang sure agrivate you! :shock: :lol:

There are some good books out there and I imagine also some video's. Ask Sunraven. She's trained dogs.

Remember also, a Border Collie works because he wants to. An Aussie works because you want him to. A Blue Heeler.............well, I ain't real sure why they do what they do. :???:

:lol: :lol: :lol:
 
I have a half BC, half Aussie that worked at six months and is still super agressive at two years. I agree with JB, don't get the dog mucked out at a young age, it could set back or end their cow working days. Most BC should go to the head, stop cattle and bring them back to you, thats a head dog, if they heal cattle and chase them away from you, thats a heal dog, some work both ends, figure out what your dog wants to do and work with him, let him work for you, he's bred to do something, you have to figure out what that is.
 
I have a half BC, half Aussie that worked at six months and is still super agressive at two years. I agree with JB, don't get the dog mucked out at a young age, it could set back or end their cow working days. Most BC should go to the head, stop cattle and bring them back to you, thats a head dog, if they heal cattle and chase them away from you, thats a heal dog, some work both ends, figure out what your dog wants to do and work with him, let him work for you, he's bred to do something, you have to figure out what that is.
 
Sounds like you have a dog that has real potential to work. I would give the pup a couple more months to, like to 8 to 10 months of age, before you start any real technical training.

If it has been on light cattle and done alright, keep it on light cattle. Goats and sheep can cause some real bad habits for dogs that will be used on cattle. They are low to the ground and pretty quick. This can cause a pup to "belly bite" on animals that are too fast. And then when they go to cattle and try it, they will get beat up.

The main thing to work with right now is obedience. Have a good stop or down on the pup before you start any real training. If you have that, you will have it made. Also make sure the pup will come back when given the command.

When ready to start the pup, get some light 400 to 600 pound calves. Three is the best to start with. Get them gentled down so the pup has some confidence when approaching them. You don't want something that gets too tough with the pup or runs off every time the pup is around. Even though the pup shows alot of strength, calves that run off and are flighty can lower the confidence of the dog. Try to use a small pen to begin with, like 40' x 20', or any other small pen you have. I like rectangular pens, but round pens are also just as good.

Start slowly, let the pup circle and bunch the cattle the first couple times you start training. And don't use alot of commands, if any at all except down or stop. Figure out how the pup wants to work, then start applying commands as needed.

I could go on and on, but this should get you started and thinking. Charlie Trayer has a real good book on starting dogs that I have read several times when starting a new pup. There is also one by Scott Lithgow that is a very handy manual, along with several others out there. Every time you start a new pup, you think you got it all figured out, then something new comes along. It's alot of fun when you know you have a pup that really wants to work.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. I love bouncing ideas and training methods around.
 
Be their buddy, imprinting is number one, play the down game and then your problems are reduced if they get in the wrong position. As far as working cattle, too young can lead to injuries or unwarranted fear. We wait till the tail goes down when approaching the stock and we know their ready.

To many dogs are chosen from trials and all they are is positional animals. We want a dog that will face up and turn any animal here. Our two year old bench we have was purchased from a friend. Both parents were disqualified at each trial for biting. Not good for show but right for me.

We had to put down our 12 year old dog a month ago and those shoes are going to be big to fill. Have pups all over western Canada from her and there was a waiting list. Interesting on age to start them was proven by one of our dog customers,picked up the 7 week old pup and carried her into the house at 9 1/2 week old from being pumeled by a newly freshened cow. Took a long time before she had no fear!

CA
 
Pecos.jpg


Here is my new dog PECOS. He is about 16 weeks old and I had him out with the heifer calves today. I can't believe how smart this dog is.

I was wondering if anyone knew anything about this dog's pedigree. I am not familiar with the lines. I am a pedigree freak when it comes to my cattle and would be interested if anyone knew anything about these pedigrees. I don't know if you can read these pedigrees. If not I will post them on my website really big so you can read them. Sire and mother's pedigree below.

sire.jpg


mother.jpg
 
I don't know much about dog pedigrees either but your dog and my dog born back in 91 have a distant relation Zac 66166. hard to read some of those names. My 91 dogs and my 04 dogs from different places have some of the same relation as well. Small world in the dogs as well.
 

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