By Mary Thompson
Photo credit to Mary Thompson
There are many reasons why a novice handler might send their pup or young dog out to a professional trainer to start; lack of time, knowledge, mobility, access to dogged sheep, or non-workable facilities. The reason also might be to correct a fault, or to advance the dog’s abilities. Whatever the reason, I believe it to be a sound decision. Often when the dog is returned the results are outstanding, and the novice is thrilled with their dog’s new found confidence and abilities. However this euphoria fades quickly after several weeks go by and the novice handler starts to see things beginning to fall apart. Often the lie down is not as quick, or becomes non-existent, the slicing of flanks begins again, and the dreaded chasing or gripping rears its ugly head once more. And the owner thinks “what have I done wrong”.
Well, for the most part, it’s not “what have you done wrong”, but rather what have you not done? Having the dog professionally trained is a smart idea,...but I feel you also need to take some transition lessons with your dog and the professional trainer before bringing it home. You need to find out how that trainer put the confidence and new abilities on your dog, or at least what you need to do to persevere and enforce those newly acquired skills and to recognize early on when things are beginning to slide backwards. This isn’t always easy if the dog has been sent a long distance away, but I feel it worthwhile to include this expense into your training budget.
When you watch the professional work your dog, don’t just stand there and marvel at how wonderful your dog looks under their tutelage, but rather pay close attention to the pace on the fetch, around the post, and while driving. Also the shape of the flanks and outruns, and the response to the lie down command. Memorize what this looks like, so that when you don’t see it under your own direction you can step forward and demand it. In other words, you need to enforce, advance, and literally take over from where the trainer has left off. AND…keep taking lessons to build and move the partnership forward.
The other thing that I’m going to suggest is that you request that the dog be trained to suit your experience level, and not that of the professional handler. If you are still at the point where you need some time to think and your timing is not sharp, you will want the dog to take a lie down on the fetch and drive/wear portion to give you time to think. The trainer needs to know that you are not yet equipped to handle a dog working steadily on its feet and a lie down is imperative. I find that a young dog that is more advanced than its handler often loses faith, stops listening, and takes over because it feels that things are getting out of control. Choose a trainer that you admire and who handles/trials their own dogs the way you want your dog to compete, or to do farm work. A talented experienced handler should be able to train many different personalities, temperaments, and manage the hard headed or soft minded types accordingly, and be successful.
One other important point is not to be coaxed into doing something with your collie that you suspect that both of you are not ready for. A highly excitable sheep herding situation, with a hyper young dog and a novice handler, will generally end unhappily with livestock, property, dog, or handler being injured or damaged. Consider first the consequence if something were to go wrong, and what detriment this might have on your dog and yourself. Try to keep your herding experience a joyful one for both you and your border collie.
Happy herding everyone!
