Sheep Herding in Indiana!
We’ve been watching a lot of Dog Whisperer lately. On one of the episodes, Cesar recommended that the people take their dog to sheep herding classes. We were amazed that such a thing existed, and a week later we too found ourselves at sheep herding classes.
I took this little video of it (This was the last thing she did during her second session):
I also took a few pictures:
1. The meeting between the woman and the dog could have gone smoother. Dakota was shy, and just wanted to sniff the woman. Dakota was very tentative, and the woman began petting her while she was in that state of mind, which only served to re-enforce her shyness. This caused problems throughout the lesson.
2. The woman was not very clear with her signals, or consistent with what Dakota was and was not allowed to do. I was never really sure as to what she was wanting Dakota to do, and I could tell Dakota was just as confused as I was.
3. At several points the woman hit Dakota in the face with the rake. Once she hit her pretty hard. I was not pleased. Cesar would not have allowed this probably. Maybe I need to be more assertive… Had I known the woman, I would have said something. Had she done it any more than she had, i would have said something. I could tell she wasn’t harming Dakota, but I could also tell that she lost all respect from the dog, and made Dakota simply afraid of her and the rake and want to just stay away from her.
4. Most importantly, I could tell that for at least half of the lesson (there were two sessions, each about 10 minutes) Dakota was loving it. It was like she had died and gone to heaven. There was this magical place with these magical animals that this magical woman let her chase!!!
5. All around, best $15 bucks I’ve spent in quite a while… We’re going to try out another place (which is twice as expensive) and see which we want to go to. One thing I know for sure is that I hope to do this at least once a month…
The place was called “Stock Dog University“. The woman’s name was Ferrah Hiatt. She was really nice, and I think if we had been able to take a little more time to get to know her and talk about what we wanted out of this and what was expected of the dog and what she was trying to get the dog to do, I would have enjoyed it more. I did like it enough at least to definitely consider going back, despite how negative some parts of this post may have sounded…
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The other place we are going to try next is Dogwood Farm. They are twice as expensive, and twice as far away…
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July 24th, 2009 at 9:08 am
Man, that’s pretty awesome. I’ve never heard of taking a domesticated dog to sheep herding lessons. Never heard Cesar mention it either and I’m a big fan. Anyways, I was watching the video and kept imagining Dakota just going crazy and mauling a sheep. Glad to see it didn’t happen. I’m curious what you think of the next place, how you think the lessons benefit your dog (other than getting a slice of heaven), etc. All I know is that anything Cesar says is pretty much gold with dog ownership, so it must be good.
November 1st, 2009 at 10:36 am
As a 3-dog owner of powerful breeds and an agility and sheepherding dog, I can tell you to stay away from any trainer that leaves you feeling uncomfortable by hitting your dog!
You should really have put your foot down about Dakota being whacked, especially in the face! Never never allow a so-called trainer to abuse your dog under the guise of “training”. Unless Dakota was ripping into a sheep, there’s no need for her being it. As you saw, it only intensified her fear/shyness and now a new fear of rakes, sticks and anything a humans wields.
Common sense and confidence is what you need – Dakota’s shyness is fed from your shyness and fear of being assertive to bullying people who read your shyness. If Dakota were your human child, would you let a person whack her in the face? You do nothing wrong in protecting your pet. Just ask Cesar! I hope poor Dakota is doing much better with a better trainer.
November 1st, 2009 at 11:42 am
Thanks Cesar fan! I never went back. But since there is no alternative close by, Dakota’s sheep herding days are probably over.