Prepare them for THEIR future..

When breaking young dogs, everything you do, should prep them,  for things in the future..that are still yet to come.

I spend countless days on fence lines allowing young dogs to catch breakers, do they grab ? Well hell yea they grab, I’d be lying if I said they don’t. What’s this prep for? Heading.. heading a single heading a shed.. catching a runner..does the grab go away? Yes it does, if you take the proper time.

It’s easy to train dogs to gather and drive in a triangle, if that’s your goal .. well then you win, but you don’t win the dog trial.

There are so many facets of work, trials, and of winning. Holding a shed, holding a single.. that will get you a trial win under the right judge.

Redirecting on an outrun, that’ll save your ass when you least expect it.  This can be taught at hand.. people don’t teach it, they just move on as the circle looks good. Pace means pace, teach gears in your dog, pace doesn’t mean take away forward motion, it means slow down when I ask you to.

“I don’t want my dog to lose the natural way”, well in reality the natural way is usually chasing sheep. If you slow your dog down you will notice it still has balance (and probably better balance) even when walking.  It’s hard for a dog to read a sheep when it’s running full speed, it’s sort of like you trying to figure how where a driveway is at 70 mph.. it’s only when one slows down can you see a clearer picture.

STOP .. well it’s not negotiable, and for those that think it is, need not apply.. cause frankly you don’t apply it. You don’t have to over use the stop but if you need it, it should be there. A dog without a stop; well that in itself is an autricity.  Dogs are not hard to teach to lay down, if you refuse to enforce it, that’s on you. If this is the case you should pick up a new hobby that doesn’t require it and frankly it’s just being lazy.

Enthusiasm is good in young dogs, but it’s no longer enthusiasm in 4 years when the dog won’t stop. Training dogs to obey some simple rules does not need to be opressing. It’s simple communication, and expectation.

I often see dogs are really good trainers of humans. They will run the show given half a chance. You don’t have to be a natural sheepherder human, to get the basics taught; you have to be a dedicated hard working human, with more determination than the natural sheepherder dog.

Train your dog today with next year in mind, if I mold this and do that, next year it will be perfect. Set the foundation for all the steps.. don’t skip the steps that are hard. Seek higher help, be a better partner, afterall your dog can only do what you teach it.

The Best Is Yet To Come

The best is yet to come..

It’s not rare for me to raise up 3-4 pups a year. I put a bit of hi and bye on them throughout the rearing and maybe some lie downs in the shop for treats on cold nights..

We chore together cleaning and mucking, a pat here and there.. but I don’t make pets of them, until they’ve earned it.

The goal here is to produce the best working dogs I can.. I observe them along the way, but they live a very structured life on a schedule.

My philosophy is you don’t get paid to be pretty.. you haven’t earned pet status yet.. when you show  your worth I’ll consider it. I love all the dogs that come thru my hands, but until the day I say WOW on the sheep, you are still just a dog. A dog, a companion, a friend, a partner in a job. No boss offers a raise in your first days or months or year. You must prove yourself in order to level up.

Some  dogs don’t want to level up they are fine where they stand, yet others want to surpass all expectations and more. It is up to us to bring out the best in our dogs, but it’s up to them to want it.

As I finish raising the  bunch to working age it’s interesting.. some are always right there, some you hardly see until the next schedule.. when you let them out some stick by and some go explore. Some lay idly by quiet but watching.

The attention seekers usually aren’t the ones, but they grab our hearts due to loyalty. These ones we always hope they make the team. the one that’s quiet and unassuming is usually the one.

Is it hard to raise hope? Yes it is, but in the end they always land in the best place.

This years projects are just about to show me what they’ve got. I’ve seen some samples on a few outings here and there….

Who will stay.. stay tuned for episode 2..

Keeping Ewe

Are EWE Training?

Are you training, or working? Working and training are very different. Working is a casual session with a young dog that keeps things fun, but also while being responsible for the sheep.

Training is well training. Training is giving information to your canine partner to help them understand what is expected of them in the handling of the sheep.

Working young dogs vs training can be quite counter productive. If you are training outruns during a training session things need to be taught, but if you go the next day and send the dog and accept mediocrity then that’s the bar you set.

Communication has to be clear. Things need to be taught, enthusiasm needs to remain, however… if you are in the middle of a project, such as training an outrun, mediocre work can’t be accepted.

If you want to work vs train (time constraints, etc) you need to just cruise.. don’t send on things that are a work in progress if you aren’t willing to follow thru that day. Go on a walk about, fetch figure 8’s drive a circle, but don’t inhibit progress of the things you are “training on”.

It’s a disservice to the both of you when you muddy the waters. Each session should have a goal in mind.

When I’m training dogs I rarely just work unless one isn’t keen, then it’s just building drive. When you commit to training you need to stay with it. I’m talking about yearling dogs, not broke dogs (disclaimer)

If you and your partner haven’t committed then you can free for all, but business is business and should be kept to such. If a training commitment has been made.. no I don’t go drill dogs daily, but I do pick up where we left off the day before and have a very regimented agenda in my program.

Working is nothing more than playing.. training is training.. 2 completely different things that need to be graduated to as the dog becomes responsible in working the sheep. Keep in mind we train dogs to work sheep responsibly. Sheep should always be the main concern and how the dog is treating them. Dogs here get to “work” when they’ve shown responsibility toward their stock, otherwise, welcome to training day.

Don’t muddy the waters, if you don’t feel like training, then don’t do things your training on, do stuff they already know and what they are good at. Working pups that just start as sheepdogs in training, need not be mixed with “working”. Train your dogs, work your dogs, but Focus  gives focus,  don’t make things blurry. Be straight forward in the task at hand.

Lacking stamina? Or lacking mind control ..

People often holler that dog lacks stamina.. yes plenty do; but also plenty don’t. Often times we confuse stamina with a hot mind (not a cold blooded animal) this mind is a warm blood.. a bit harder to handle, just ask the horse folk! If you take a warm blood out and work him 12 minutes on the sheep he may be exhausted, first thought? He lacks stamina. Now take the same dog out and run him 3 miles, he’s got more miles in the tank, it’s a warm up. If the dog truly lacked stamina the 3 mile run would end the same way, exhausted.. but it doesn’t.

A hot minded dog shall not be confused with one that lacks lungs.. those are a no go. We can control the mind of a dog, but not the physiology. Lungs are lungs.. brains can be fixed. Hot minded dogs need to be run quiet and slow. They need stopped more and they need paces more.. (this goes back to keeping their mind slow).

Hot minded dogs can grow up and grow out of being that way but it takes time.  We shouldn’t put labels on certain traits unless we’ve actually tested them. Drawing early conclusions about dogs never gets us far. We should always have good knowledge of why things are going the way they are before saying such.

If you think your dog lacks stamina, take it for a run, check it’s lungs, if there is no work involved and it wants to keep running chances are you’re stamina is fine, you need to check your training.

Know what you have before you label it!

Soaking Ewe…

In young horses we call time off “letting them soak”. Training young dogs we can also use this method and this terminology. But why?

I think when we give too much too fast the young brain gets full. Often times the result is being naughty. We’ve been working hard and  being good, then one day everything just goes to shit. You have a rough session or two and you both are at the breaking point. With some youngsters it seems they offload excess information with bad behavior. It’s almost like they’ve gotten so much information that all they can drum up is chapter 1.. which if you’re in chapter 3, it usually reverts back to a mess. When young dogs get confused or overmatched, they typically revert to the beginning. That beginning may be breaking a stay and busting thru because the sheep ran off, worrying them. It may be simple disrespect from the dog to the handler causing the youngster to blow the commands off. It may simply be too much information too soon. When I see things really go south I analyze why is the dog just being an ass? Is this to hard? Are the sheep making the dog feel over matched? In scenario 1.. dog being an ass, I’ll turn up the heat and correct the behavior.

In scenario 2 ..is the work to hard.. I’ll try my best to turn things around and for a bit I will  let  the dog do what it’s good at.. giving the mind a break.

In scenario 3.. dog overmatched by the sheep.. I’ll typically call it a day and next time use more suitable sheep for the dog I’m training.

In any and all instances after a hard day of bad work, or mediocre work I let them soak. Think about the bad, think about the good. I don’t leave them off long, but I will do 24 hours. After 24 hours in the think tank, (their normal house) they usually come back with a free mind, a lesson learned and a new attitude!

Don’t keep grinding the axe, know when to say when! Sometimes we need soak time as much as they do!

Keeping it real

Just like us, every dog  has limitations. Very few people stop to consider this, and it’s a lesson I learned myself while apprenticing for a trainer 26 years ago..At the start of my apprenticeship, I told myself that if I worked hard enough, trained hard enough and put enough time and effort in, I could make every dog that came through the training barn a world champion. I figured it was just me and my lack of ability that was stopping every dog I worked with from being great. Within a year, I had just about sent myself crazy because I couldn’t get every dog  to be as good as I wanted him to be. Finally, I realized my expectations were unrealistic. Not every dog is going to be as good as the next or the one before him, and that’s OK.

Look for each dog to do his individual best – no more and no less. You see if we have unrealistic expectations, we ruin the moment, we ruin the future and we lose the point of why we do this.

We as humans have limitations when it comes to training these great dogs...a lot of limitations. Mobility, stock sense, stock availability..  but the human element rarely takes accountability for these limitations. People expect machines.. I told you so do it..  

There is so much more to it when we are teaching and training.  We must keep things in proper perspective when training and also know when to say when. Learn to recognize the dogs ability.. and build on that! 

Feelings for EWE

Sensitive… what about it…

often times people think a sensitive dog is one that can’t be corrected, because he / she has feelings. The sensitive one is allowed to get away with shit, because ummmm its sensitive. Sensitive dogs do have feeling but feelings have nothing to do with being obedient. Lying down is not a hard task, but if the sensitive one says ehhhh I don’t feel like it often times it’s not enforced. The more you allow them to call the shots, the more training you’ll need to do later. Sensitive doesn’t mean quitter, quitter means quitter. Sensitive simply means the dog gives a shit what you think and you can’t just beat it down. Sensitive dogs can be great dogs, but they can also be a nightmare if you allow them to manipulate how you train. If you aren’t asking them to jump off a bridge, they should what you’re asking (There are those that would take the leap but you probably can’t train that one) I was with a student today, who’s dog is sensitive.. (I trained and owned the dog) he’s caring but not a quitter, but he will try and tell you he doesn’t like to lie down, because well he just doesn’t like to. She wasn’t correcting him.. (well I know he’s sensitive..she says) what does that have to do with stopping? Nothing.. walk out and make him stop, he’s got you scared to correct him.. he won’t quit, but he will lie down.

Dont take sensitive to a level it doesn’t need to be at.. work the dog.

Does one size fit all..

Does one size fit all?

I’m working with 2 completely different horses right now.. and dogs.

One is pushy and needs more pushing.. loves pressure; loves to work likes to be busy.

The other confused, but a quick study and doesn’t like pressure.. but if you give it all to her, with no pressure,  she takes advantage.. so she does need some pressure. 

Just what pressure.. what is pressure ..how much pressure? 

Horse or dog 1 is fun, pressure all day long not reactive.. I’ve had her since puppy hood, she’s not surprised to what I ask of her. But on the flip side can be a little hard as she’s so desensitized.. another minor issue..

I like them just on the edge of sensitive and dull. It’s a delicate balance to get that right.

On one hand you don’t want one over reacting, on the other you don’t want them not reacting to pressure at all. 

Pressure in training is mostly body language and more importantly  timing. Horses will tell YOU where your holes are; whereas dogs we see the holes.. (if you are experienced) 

So back to training.. 

horse number 2 confused and reactive.. like a kid running with scissors.. she just goes.. sort of checks out because she’s afraid to check in. This one makes me shrink my bubble.. I can’t get work done on Adrenalin or fear.. so I have to shrink my bubble down and make her question my worth. When she thinks I’m being submissive she takes advantage of it... ie last night I put her in a flat halter, (she showed to sensitive in a rope) but she immediately drug me until

I let go.. not my first rodeo.. new halter..

Oops she wasn’t half as confident.  I was able to get some work done. 

I have slowly introduced my bubble, she loves me for it.. she’s no longer reactive, but trying.. slowing down and coming back into my hands.  It will be fun to watch the two develop and more fun to train.

Remember one size does not fit all 

to be continued..

Keeping their mind slow

Keeping their mind slow..

I’ve worked with reactive dogs and reactive horses.. 

The more reactive they get, thee smaller I get. Not saying I let them kill me, but if they are in a true struggle, I let go of the pressure.. reactive  is Adrenalin based.. a horse can kill you when you can’t bring that Adrenalin back to center, a dog well it can kill a sheep, or just your pride. 

Fractious minds are hard to work with if you don’t have great skill. To a novice it shows great rebellion, to a professional it shows as stress. 

This animal tends to enjoy the endorphine, while you as a trainer struggle to bring it all back to center, it’s party time for them to watch you flounder. 

The more you train and pressure these types of horses, the more they rebel.. they will buck and blow up, they can get stiff instead of supple.. the dogs aren’t much different. These types of dogs show the same sign, race faster, run with no good intentions.. ears just shut down. No suppleness to their moves at all, everything is rash.

If you try to train through this moment, you can’t. You have to stop the motion. If you ask for something and they do fifty other things they are searching for the answer, if you don’t stop them from searching, and you turn up the heat, it really goes south. They aren’t afraid to fight back.. you’ve now entered the fight or flight zone. You’re trying to make your point, they are way beyond your point. Stop the motion.. bring the mind back down to slow.

If you keep their mind slow, they don’t react. The training process may take longer, but you can try to start to communicate again; whereas if their mind is going too fast all communication is cut off.. they no longer can team, they can only survive.

There are trainers that never bring this behavior out; things just always feel right. Owners can bring it out faster than a hot potato. Handler stress, uncertainty, bad timing, bad use of command, bad cues, bad body language. All these things can contribute to making this type of animal react. 

You simply must keep their mind slow. If you are struggling to get thru the basic fundamentals ask yourself can I keep his mind slow.. if you can’t, then this type of thinker is not for you.. 

I urge you to try.. let go of the reins and just see.. hopefully your partner will relax and come back into you.. as we say in horses.. drive from behind and let them relax in your hands. If they keep running they haven’t relaxed yet. 

If they can’t evolve into that working partner that suits your style, whatever that may be.. set them free..there’s another great handler out there that can…..

Keep their mind slow.

What should I expect from Ewe..

So exciting to get that yearling dog going. For some they’ve been sent out to trainers; other are the DIY type. Both types of person, the sender and the DIY have a lot to gain and lose when they start with their dog

The DIY (do it yourself) starts off slow and remedial, learning the alphabet of starting a dog..

The sender (dog goes to school for a month) has a more hold my beer attitude with a great deal of failure attactched to said beer! 

So what do I expect and see?

The DIY is very complex, over thinking the dogs every move. Over controlling at times to not want to let things slip.. ok I get it.. lighten up a tad.. you’re doing well.

The sender... knows the dog now has the beginnings of his career, but a big transition from professional to a DYI with more funds for education. Usually the sender has been kept up to date on the prospect and the project. The sender usually knows they aren’t fit for the DIY start, so now they’ve got the dog back and become a more advanced DIY’r.. the lessons start, the teacher knows the dog well... mistakes won’t be made.. under guidance.. of the trainer.. but the sender is so excited about their new toy they let important things go..  no you don’t need to control every move but as yearlings you control a lot. You start to give back as they give to you. They become supple, not argumentative, they become thoughtful.. most importantly.. they invite you to their party.

Lie down is first.. it’s repeated.. it was solid under the trainer, but because the sender got one or two, they let the others go.

The correction... it’s null n void if it doesn’t change the dogs mind.. I rarely lay a hand on a dog... my owners can’t seem to get their correction to sink in... WTF... the lack of respect is so apparent. You don’t have to physically beat a dog to make an impression..

You haven’t been mad enough.. I say turn up the heat!

The flank.. the easiest of exercises.. why is the dog running in tight? Lack of respect for your bubble! See the DIY has already learned all this... the sender needs to catch up!! The end result will be the same! A good harmonium between dog, handler and sheep.... but quit letting them slide.. ask and receive, give back, if you don’t get it go show them what you meant..

Expect your dogs respect, in return respect your dog.. don’t settle for mediocre crap!

Be the captain of your ship and your crew will love you for it!

ILL-prepared for Ewe

Let’s talk about preparation.. you want to send your baby to school, it’s not been in the world, it’s met few people. When you tried to have it be social, it was a foul experience, so easier not to push the envelope.

The dog is a hassle; therefore easier to leave it at home. Preparation for the real world isn’t hard, they are dogs.. they appreciate structure and leaders.. beyond that.. not much besides food. 

If the dog is socially ackward you must be the captain.. allowing the dog to safety up and embrace self preservation, is doing it no service. Bad behavior needs correction, good behavior praise.. it’s simple.  

An example is at meeker my puppies were a hassle to walk bouncing here and there, barking at various things... I took them to the trial, flags whipping, people everywhere, dogs all over. They barked and bounced, I said no.. you can rely on me, but I’m not coddling you. Walk and be quiet, look around and be happy.. one correction they were both perfect. 

You just prepare these working dogs for the real world. Things they encounter will be scary and weird. If it were a horse you’d prepare it, or you’d die. 

This dog arriving yesterday knew nothing but hiding. When things didn’t go his way, bolt, hide. Fortunately he couldn’t get away, but I couldn’t catch him either. 

Today, same thing, bolt, bite, run, climb. 

He’s a strange dog, but he’s my best friend after some tough love.. had he been properly prepared we might be working sheep by now. 

He’s happy and greeting me now, and I don’t have to fish him out of his dog house.. met me at the gate wagging, after a hard day for him.. he greeted me as if I was his boss, politely and brave. My work for today is done.. 

They aren’t children, don’t treat them as such. Prepare your dogs for the next step; you’re doing them a favor.

But Did you die?? No you didn’t

Most importantly, teach them how to learn!

To be continued ... 

Silence is golden

I know, what does this have to do with training? A LOT

I do practical work a lot.. which means I send the dog far off and I go back to what I was doing.. I glance a few times to make sure the dog is on track. 

Today my class had to do silent gathers...  omg they wanted to whistle. The purpose of the excercise is to see where the raw dog needs support and where they don’t.. you see, we often hop aboard on the lift and start nagging (snatching the bridle for horse people) and creating nerves in our dogs. We feel the need to override their part of the deal (the gather). Dogs need to be responsible, they need to handle a portion of this work. 

We first gathered heavy sheep, that were happy to come down straight with a lagger. The next group leaned hard on the dogs, some headed and took control, some followed the sheep where they wanted to drift. 

Most dogs did better without the handler interjecting.. some showed the weakness and holes, some showed thoughtfulness and pace! 

The lesson learned was the handlers got to watch, got to figure out in a real situation where the dog struggles and where the dog shines!  If the dog is coming too fast, you’ll certainly know, too slow you’ll know.. learn to interject and learn to zip it. We all feel the need to offer help, sometimes we need to know when not to! Our nature is to over control, when sometimes we just need to step back in training and see that raw side. These dogs aren’t idiots, but we may be! 

Once in a while we need to shut up and watch, weakness will show, strengths will shine! Don’t be scared.. send and you might just be surprised!  

Faulty Foundation

Faulty foundation..

Foundation is everything. Unfortunately, you don’t appreciate a good foundation until you don’t have it. Think about that. If you’ve got a well-built house, you don’t give its foundation a second thought. But if you’re living in a house with a faulty foundation, you’re forced to think about it every day. Why are the floors uneven? Why are there cracks in the walls? Why is the roof leaking? It all goes back to the foundation.

The same is true of dogs. If you have a dog that was started correctly and has a great foundation of respect in place, you find it easy to get along with him. Nothing you do is ever a big concern. The few times that he does react or hesitate, you’re able to get him on the right track with little problems thanks to his foundation. On the other hand, if you’re working with a dog that has no foundation in place, it’s evident every day that you are around him. Any time you try to correct a bad behavior, 10 more show up.

Examples: 

• Expanding the outrun, without proper flanks 

• Expecting a drive when you have no independent flanks 

• Expecting pace when you have no stop

Just a few examples of where lack of foundation can fail you .. 

Why the rush? I understand going from the small work to big work is exciting..

Don’t let your roof fall in.. make sure there is mortar between every brick!

Dumbing it down

“Your dog will not have the same enthusiasm if you do not have the desire, or give the dog your best effort in your mutual effort at herding”

Arthur Allen

We’ve got to stop dumbing them down. When buying horses you buy to your level, old lame slow, engine but safe, 16 or older been there done that.. you just hope you don’t get thrown. Even the best horse, grandma broke, will throw you off. When you buy a horse you step up your game. You see a horse can size you up quick, if you’re nervous they are too. If you’re lazy they are too.. we try and buy what suits our level, only because we don’t want to get killed. 

When we buy a dog we have none of those worries.. dogs are adaptable they aren’t prey animals. We figure we can mold them into our need.. until you buy a border collie.

I think some will fall into your needs, easy, adaptable, friendly, pliable.. then there’s the good one. The one’s pushing back say …

“Step Up your ability and we can be a team; otherwise while you get your shit together, I’ll do this”

We constantly expect our animals to dumb down to our level.. why not step up to theirs?

While the dog is doing that, you as a handler are floundering.. a great example is when Ron has run my dogs..”they don’t stop very good” .. well I don’t need them to stop “that good” I just run them. 

He needed the stop and think, which is fine until it just becomes an excuse. The excuse is you as a handler didn’t evolve with the dog, the dog is trained now and you’re still stuck in first gear. 

Step it up, learn to ride, you can’t get killed working your dog.. like you can a horse.. 

The equine can teach ya some stuff about your game, but so can your dog! Go forward.. evolve! Quit expecting the best working dog on the universe to get dumb! 

Designated driver..

Driving is a complex exercise. You put the dog behind the sheep and push them away from you right??

Sort of .. kinda like that..

Dogs taught to drive properly are few and far between, it’s easier to stear than teach balance to the sheep. You see up to this point the dog has balanced the sheep to you (ie: the fetch) the fetch of course being the pre programmed element of the border collie, unlike the drive it’s typically a trained element. (Before everyone jumps in and says oh you’re wrong, my dog drove natural; well good for you, most of us are training it) save that argument!

Dogs don’t always feel comfortable pushing the sheep away. In fact the first instinct is to swing around and fetch the sheep back (oh shit the sheep are getting away from you, I had better bring them back!! 

I start the drive walking along side, if the dog slips to the wrong spot, I stop them.. not hard. I let the sheep drift along and the dog drift along behind. I let the dog follow for a while, (not drive) I let the dog get comfortable on the back side of the sheep balancing to the sheep ... NOT BALANCING THE SHEEP..... TO ME 

So where is this going.. ???

I like to see the dog driving, walking, jogging behind the sheep (don’t confuse this with method of the dog) 

When a dog is balancing to the sheep; on the drive, you see subtle shifts by the dog when the sheep’s heads become unaligned with the line.. not a flank, just a shift. BINGO.

If you’re sheep aren’t bolting why aren’t you walking? Why are you flanking? 

If you teach your dog a methodical way of driving, slow, steady, and study, let your dog study the sheep as they drive along. Don’t settle for steering the drive, teach the dog correct and the dog will help you achieve a nice driveline, with minimal flanks. If you flank and block down the driveline, you can guarantee your judge is noticing, you will not stand up to the dog that owns and guided his line.

In the beginning don’t do too much steering…. just because you can steer doesn’t mean ya should!

What’s an outrun??

It’s a lot more than a big half circle.

It’s feel, it’s scope, it’s a compass, ...but most of all it’s understanding 

Great example is I have a not so natural..(god help me, I hate that trait) I want a natural outrunner..  my girl has finally got it.. or does she?

She knows where she needs to be to keep out of trouble... finally; but if the sheep are closer she may run the same trouble free route. She’s big, deep and wide, traits we all long for.. until we don’t. 

You see a good outrunner will gauge where the sheep are and adjust accordingly.. the bad outrunner doesn’t, they just run the trouble free zone. This is a training opportunity.. time to now bring the outrun in where before it was get the outrun out. 

When we throw too much info at the training we confuse, but when they show us the training has worked, we then can train more!! 

Let the opportunity knock, don’t worry about the beginnings, it will come, it’s the midway communication that says hey I can now train this element on the outrun! 

The perfect outrunner never learns direction, the mediocre one has handle!! Pros and cons of the natural!! 

Pace...When..

I often get asked about pace…when to install it and when to leave it alone. I always hear “I don’t want to take his push away”. Well you might not want to take his push away but you certainly need to take his chase away.

Often times you need to ask yourself, does the dog have a natural tendency to be slow? Or is the dog only slow on the elements he lacks confidence on and naturally fast on the things he likes?? An example is does the dog speed down the fetch line then drive off like a snail? Or does the dog race down the fetch line and turn and speed into the sunset on the drive? Does the dog have eye? Does the dog lack eye (making him more forward?) These are all things to take into consideration when deciding when to throw pace into the training bag. I believe all dogs need a transmission. You should have gears, Fast, medium, slow..but 9/10 of the times you need pace at the trial, if you don’t have it you’ll be stopping all around the course as the sheep won’t tolerate your chase. Just because you ask the dog to slow down, doesn’t mean you’re taking their “push” away.. usually the chase is coming from lack of confidence actually pushing. Often times people confuse the two issues, chase and push. You only know if the dog can push if you slow it down.. Will I slow down a naturally apprehensive dog?? Why yes, I will, because I have a gear shift.. I still have a trot and a lope..but when I ask for a walk, I want it. The chaser takes far more effort to slow down…miles of walking, reminding, “I WANT YOU TO GO SLOW”..You cannot achieve this goal from 200 yards away, Get off your ass and walk with this dog. Make sure the dog knows what the command means.. reinforce it if need be. Take their feet away if they get to fast. Work on sheep that allow the dog to feel and pace…Once the dog has a solid understanding of what the command means… Ramp it up ask for the trot, let them go fast, then ask for your pace…slow things down.. Start developing that transmission. Don’t be scared to get the pace..don’t fall into the trap of I AM AFRAID TO TAKE IT ALL AWAY. Know the dog you’re working, ask accordingly for the right speed for that dog. STRONG EYE.. you’ll need second gear…remember pace is the speed you want, it’s not necessarily the speed of a snail. Pace is a consistent speed, could be a jog, it all depends on the dog. A loose eyed dog’s pace will differ that a strong eyed one. My running pace is different than your running pace. Teaching pace is not different. PACE DOES NOT ALWAYS MEAN SLOW…it means go the speed I am asking you for and hold it.