OFF TO A GOOD START - TRAINING LIVESTOCK GURADIAN DOGS

GUIDELINES FOR TRAINING THE YOUNG LIVESTOCK GUARDIAN - by Diane Spisak

Over the years we have tried a number of ways to raise livestock guardian dog puppies with our sheep. I have come to the conclusion that it is far better to instill good manners and proper behavior right from the start than to later try and correct bad habits.

The LGD is an active and athletic guardian that is often playful as a pup and adolescent, and as a result will likely develop bad play-chasing habits if poorly supervised. All pups require some guidance and supervision for the first year of life but those efforts will reward you with a superior guardian dog by maturity.

Some guidelines to get your new puppy off to a good start

It may be tempting to keep this cute white puppy in the house for the first few days after you pick him up from the airport. This is a mistake. A young pup is insecure and impressionable and it is important that he finds comfort and security with the livestock in the barn area. People will always be more fun to the dog than livestock so don't worry that he won't also bond to you. Play with the pup and start obedience training right away but in the barn yard. The dog will be less likely to try and escape to the house if he is first bonded to the livestock and barn. Afer a few weeks it won't hurt for the puppy to go out for a few hours to dog class or be socialized away from the barn, as the primary bond with the animals has been formed. All dogs, especially such large ones, require at least some obedience and socialization. Even a partially socialized dog will make much better educated decisions if he has varied life experiences than a dog always confined to a narrow, unchanging environment.

For the first month, and until the pup is well bonded with the animal species he will be expected to protect, human affection and attention should be given to the pup mainly in the barn area. A loafing area in an escape-proof wire enclosure where he can have nose contact with his animals is an ideal place for the pup to live. Take the puppy in with gentle livestock on a regular basis and supervise for any play-chasing or mouthing.

If you choose to raise the puppy with a few adult and gentle animals you must be around enough to be able to administer swift and firm corrections the first time and every time that the puppy stalks, mouths or play-chases. The puppy may be allowed to lick faces or rear ends, sniff and follow at a walk and show casual interest, but no more. Any active play with the stock must be discouraged.

MAKING CORRECTIONS

Until the puppy knows what you are asking him to do, gently guide him through right and wrong for the first week while he gets used to his new home. Correct him first by redirecting him to an acceptable object or behavior. Exceptions to this would be if the pup growls at people over food or chases livestock, and then he must be stopped and reprimanded immediately with a verbal correction.

The key is to know what level of correction to administer; is it too mild, effective or too strong? The intelligent LGD will ignore an under correction and not forgive you or be resentful for an over correction. If you make a correction and the dog repeats the behavior your correction was not firm enough or poorly timed. The pup will respect a well-timed correction and consider it fair and just. A dog is happy with a low pack order if he is sure this is his place, and your consistency is what relays that message to the dog.

It is also very important to catch the puppy in the act - a correction given even five seconds after the misbehavior will not be associated with the actual deed. If you can get in a couple of well-timed corrections the first time a behavior occurs you can often nip that behavior in the bud. If you allow the pup to pull wool for a week before you catch him in the act, a bad habit is already established and it may take months or years to correct the behavior.

To correct a pup for chasing stock, I use a riding crop with a broad leather flap on the end to swat the pup if I can reach him while he is in the act. At the same time I shout at him, "Leave it!" Swat the puppy hard enough to startle him and make a lasting impression. If you can't quite reach the pup, an empty soda can with a couple of pebbles in it when tossed near the puppy can also be effective by startling him which interrupts the chasing. Or if you are within arms reach, growl "Leave it!", grasp him by the scruff and give him a fast jerk to the ground. Immediately release the pup and go on with your business.

The dog will generally show less rough play behavior if kept with mature animals that are taller than itself. If your training is effective you can gradually allow the adolescent puppy more freedom with the animals.

THE CHEEKY ADOLESCENT

It is not unusual for a well-behaved puppy to start play-chasing when he reaches adolescence at seven to twelve months of age. So be observant and ready for this stage in his life. I don't allow any dog under one year of age to be alone unsupervised for any length of time with young lambs. It is too tempting for the playful puppy to join in with lambs bounding around the pasture. Before you know it the pup is trying to play with the lambs like it would with another dog. Lambs just don't appreciate mouth wrestling and are also more likely to be injured or killed.

You will also have to supervise the young dog through his first and often second lambing season. Take the dog in with you to see and experience the birthing process. Make the dog sit and wait until the birthing is finished before allowing him to lick the lamb or eat the afterbirth.

Another place to watch for bad habits to occur is when you work your herding dogs. Akbash Dogs are amazing in their ability to watch other dogs and mimic their behavior. Keep an eye on your Akbash Dog when you work your Border collie and discourage him from watching the chase. My Border collie works the sheep almost daily but not until around six months of age did the young Akbash Dog in one of the pastures actually watch my Border collie bring in the sheep. The very next day the Akbash pup started chasing sheep. Coincidence? I doubt it.

THE IMPORTANCE OF TEACHING COMMANDS

Teach your puppy to walk on a leash, and the commands come, sit, get back, wait, down and no from the moment he arrives. Use the pup's name first to get his attention and then add the recall command as you say, "Puppy, come". If you start calling the eight-week-old puppy to come to his food bowl, and also several times a day, rewarding him with a piece of kibble, then allowing him to go play again, you will have a dog that as an adult will reliably come. If you wait until the he is four months old and showing his independent nature, your dog will probably never have a reliable recall. "Come" can become a nasty word to the dog as it often means "come, you have to be penned up, crated, etc.". In other words the fun is over. Make an effort to call the dog a few times a day when you can reward him and let him resume what he was doing. Then "come" does not have a negative association.

Never tell the dog "It's okay," while he is growling at you or struggling in your arms. To the dog you are saying it is okay to growl or struggle. The proper thing is to say "NO!" and when the behavior ends and the dog is calm, praise him with a "Good dog". We see many people at our veterinary clinic trying to pacify their wiggly dogs on the exam table saying "It's okay," and actually reinforcing the wiggly behavior.

SUBORDINATION EXERCISES

With large guard dog breeds it is very important that you and your family establish the top positions in the dog-human pack. Guardian dogs have strong pack hierarchy instincts and are rather independent as they have to make decisions on their own while working. In the dog-human pack, however they must not be the dominant animal. What I strongly recommend is that every member of the family practice some subordination exercises with the puppy at least weekly. Make the pup sit still for a few minutes while you handle every part of the dog's body, make him sit before receiving his food.

Practice putting your hand in the food bowl and requiring the dog to tolerate it, and be ready to make that split second grab of the scruff and take the dog to the floor with a harsh "No!" if he growls. Release the dog the second he submits. Make the dog sit before he rushes through gates or doors, and never before you unless you allow him to. Another good subordination exercise is to roll the puppy on to his back and hold him down with your hand on his chest. The second the pup stops struggling and turns his head away from you, let him up. Never allow him up while he is struggling..

If you are consistent in both your praise and corrections you will find yourself with a wonderful protector and companion. If you do not you will end up with an unreliable dog who is unsure of his position and constantly challenging you for top spot in the hierarchy. Livestock guardian dogs are extremely intelligent, they learn quickly and will respect a person who neither under or over corrects them. A properly raised dog will develop into a loyal and responsible guardian and an asset to your operation.

CORRECTING PLAY-CHASING BEHAVIOURS - by Diane Spisak

When I sell puppies I include instructions for the new owner to make the puppy a large pen next to the livestock. The pup should only be in direct contact with livestock when owners can supervise him. I ask owners to use praise and correction to guide the puppy toward appropriate behaviors.

If you are present the first couple of times the puppy attempts to instigate play with the stock and you make a gruff startle correction i.e. a sharp “Aahh!” sound, that behavior will probably be extinguished after a correction or two. By nature dogs really do want to please us, but they have difficulty understanding our inept attempts at communication. By consistently using words like, "Good dog" for praise and "Aahh!" for correction we can help him to understand what we mean and teach him right from wrong. If you continue this supervision until the puppy is about 6 months old and you are pretty sure that he understands what is expected of him, then and only then can you allow him greater unsupervised freedom with his livestock.

Some people follow my instruction to a T and they have a relatively easy time getting their pup to be livestock-safe and reliable. But usually the desire to get that pup in with the stock is so great that people fudge a little and leave the puppy unsupervised sooner than they should.

Naturally the temptation for the pup to play becomes overwhelming at times and the obvious choice of playmates are his livestock buddies. This play manifests itself in pulling wool, ear shredding, grabbing and tearing of limbs, sometimes even picking up and shaking livestock. Some of this rough play can result in badly injured and killed animals. If the dog gets away with bad behavior a second or third time without correction, then the rough play is reinforced by the fun he has had, and a bad habit has developed which may take many months to break.

The problem is even worse if the pup is allowed to range further into the pasture with the stock. The challenge then is to make an immediate, long distance correction while the pup is in the act of chasing so that he understands he is misbehaving. Yelling from a distance may distract the dog, but does not really correct him. By the time you run out to a dog chasing stock, he has usually seen you and has stopped the behavior. Any correction at that point will not be associated with the misdeed. Putting a drag on the dog will slow him down and help prevent injury to the livestock, but it won't teach him not to chase.

The first thing to do is to bring the dog back up to his puppy pen when you can't supervise him. Then you need to bring a few sheep up close and into a small area where you can strictly supervise him. The key in training is to shape his behavior by correcting bad actions and praising good actions.

This means having the dog close enough to you so that you can praise appropriate behavior and make corrections each and every time he even thinks about any rough play or chasing. Usually if you spend a number of sessions over a month supervising the dog and are able to get in several opportunities to mold his behavior, he will understand what is expected of him and the play-chase behavior will be extinguished.

You must carefully observe your dog. His body language will tell you when he is thinking of initiating play. The ideal time to make a verbal correction is when you see the dog "thinking" about initiating play but before he is in action. Continue to reinforce good behaviors with verbal praise and correct any wrong behaviors with a sharp “Aahh!” startle correction.

Keep in mind, however, that any time the dynamic of the flock changes, like putting in new animals or during birthing, the dog needs to be confined and supervised once again until you are comfortable with the his response to the changes.

As an aid to your supervision and verbal training and in particular for long distance corrections, you may consider the use of an electronic training collar* for play-chasing behaviors. A properly used electronic training collar can reduce the training time and usually gets the dog back in with the livestock more quickly.

Even if you have a training collar you still need to work with the dog under supervision close up when you can, but you can also let the dog out in a larger area and be able to get in that well-timed correction. Some dogs are also smart enough to know not to play-chase in your presence so the electronic collar allows you to watch the dog from a distance where he doesn’t realize you can see him.

Dogs are more likely to play-chase in a larger area where lambs or young stock are more likely to run, so the advantage of the electronic collar is that you can get that well-timed,"in-the-act" correction from a distance. There is really no other way to make an effective long distance correction. Such a correction, not associated with you, can be very convincing.

A well-timed correction means that you apply the proper stimulus at the proper time. This means correct him only if you can tell that the dog’s intention is to initiate chase. Such an intention can be identified by a play bow towards the stock. If you miss the initiation, correct him during active pursuit which means he is running behind the sheep, or if he has his body or mouth on the sheep in obvious rough play. Do not correct the dog for appropriate or neutral contact like licking rear ends or faces and other nurturing behavior.

Often if a dog has just started play-chase sequence with stock and the habit is not yet ingrained, only one training collar correction may be required to extinguish the behavior, especially if the dog is sensitive.

Dogs who have been getting away with the behavior for longer periods may need to be caught in the act and corrected a half a dozen times before they are fully convinced to stop the rough play. But the problem can usually be extinguished within a month, if you are consistent with your supervision and well-timed corrections.

During this retraining period the dog should not get the chance to play-chase without a correction, so keep him penned when you can't watch him. When he is out with stock, he must be wearing his collar and you must be able to see him at all times.

As a training device the electronic collar can be a valuable tool for play-chasing behaviors, but use it correctly and humanely. Never use the collar if you are angry or frustrated with your dog, or with life in general. There is a temptation to punish the dog. If you abuse the electronic collar with any dog you are going to lose his trust and most likely he will become a problematic dog as a result of the confusion. Don’t even think about using an electronic collar if you are in a bad mood. When you order a collar make sure to ask for the contacts made for heavy-coated dogs. Two sets of contacts come with the collar, one each for long and short coats but they should provide contacts for thick coats as well. These work best on dogs like ours with the heavy undercoats.

*Inotec makes a reliable collar for $149.00. You can also purchase used and re-conditioned collars from Collar Clinic, 800-430-2010 or 231-947-2010 in Michigan.