By Shane Scallan
(photo credit to Amy Bayle)
I started herding around 2015 with my first dog Lucy, but only really started to get serious about it all around 2020/2021. I have had some successes and have competed at three national finals so far, but my definite highlight so far was coming 6th in the double lift finals at the Bluegrass Classic with Sam in 2024.
Driving is a massive part of what we do when herding, farming and trialing on livestock. It can be quite challenging and somewhat daunting to teach a dog to drive. Knowing when to introduce driving and having a good method is key to being successful in this phase of training.
To start introducing the drive, the dog needs a solid foundation. This includes having a good stop and a good recall. I tend to introduce driving when I feel the dog has a good understanding of balance and off balance (in other words has a decent understanding of flanks).
The stop and recall are also very important so that you can reposition yourself and your dog when driving, as most dogs will want to keep finding the balance point. This is also why the dog should have a good understanding of off balance flanks. Once the dog has this solid foundation, the dog should be competent enough to start driving.
The main challenge in this phase of training is where the dog wants to slip around to the balance point and hold the sheep. This is where the recall is very important to stop the dog slipping around to balance and to teach the dog to push from behind. Another issue at the introduction of driving is lack of momentum. This can be caused by over flanking and stopping a dog too much to keep the sheep on a perceived “straight line”. For the dog to understand the task of driving, going in a general direction with momentum is much more beneficial in helping the dog understand the task of driving. Once the dog understands the task of driving then you can move on to more precise direction.
Flanking is very important in driving, so keeping good clean flanks is essential to the process. However when driving a lot, it can tend to tighten up the dog's flanks as they anticipate the driving task. So it is good practice to keep working the flanks, especially off balance flanks, while driving.
So with that all in mind I use a method that incorporates all the basics of starting dogs; stop, recall, good flanks etc; into a system that lets the dog work and learn how to drive, but where I am in a position to correct them when it inevitably starts to go wrong. Good positioning and movement from the handler really helps in all aspects of training and especially with driving, as dogs respond well to body language. As the dog progresses in the training, the movement of the handler can be reduced, but all the same principles should still apply.