How to Raise a Good Sheep Herding Dog

In every litter of puppies, there will always be that one that will grow up to not be any good at sheep herding. It will run away from the flock or it will harass them. If the dog is raised like this, it will soon be too late to change its behaviors. You have to start "training" the puppy practically from birth to have a good sheep herder.

The first step is to raise the puppy with the sheep that it will eventually be herding. This starts a bond between the animals. The puppy should be living full time with the sheep by the time it is about five weeks old. It should not be removed from the flock completely until it is nearly sixteen weeks old. It is common sense to think that the dog should grow up with the flock.

A strong bond between the owner and the dog is very important to. Do not completely leave the puppy with the sheep, there is a possibility that it may begin to believe that it is a sheep. This could also happen if you place the puppy with the sheep before it is five weeks old. The dogs owner should regularly play with the puppy and let it play with the other dogs every day. The dog needs to bond with its owner just as much as it needs to bond with the sheep. This will allow the dog to respect and follow directions, and know how to carry out his job completely.

Out of instinct, when the puppy grows up and sees a predator coming towards the sheep it will run towards it. The first several times the dog does this will not be out of defense. It will simply be trying to figure out what this strange new animal is. The predator will most likely be startled because his hunting pattern was interrupted, and run away. If not, the dog will fight with it. If a fight erupts, the dog will know next time that it needs to work harder to keep the other animal away from the flock.

So, to raise a successful sheep herding dog, you much raise it with the sheep from a puppy. The other most important thing it to not stop the first few fights that it gets into with a predator. If you stop the first one, then the dog will think that you can always protect the sheep and that it does not need to even bother with other animals. But of course, if the fight gets life threatening towards the dog, then it is time to intervene.