I've referred to the packed pen method of training in the past here on the blog. Yesterday some friends and i got together with 3 fifteen month old dogs and did a lot of packed pen work. We got a bit of video and i thought i'd share it on here.
This first video is Zeke and it's his first time ever in the pen. Normally i'd start a dog on a 6 foot leash but Zeke is pretty calm and has a good idea what the flank commands mean, so i just left him loose. I want him going calmly around the sheep and not flipping his direction. You'll see he figures this whole thing out pretty quickly and his confidence grows a lot in a few short minutes.
This next video is of Moon, one of the Zac puppies. She's done just a little packed pen work before this video. It's been a terrific training method for her as she's been quite the determined little gripper. With her confidence growing, she finds she doesn't need to be biting, and even when she does, it's mostly nice and workmanlike. She really reminds me of her grandmother Spottie in this video.
5 comments:
nice work !
I'm glad you posted this video so we newbies can see how it is done. How likely is a dog to be hurt doing this? I know you're protecting him from the sheep, but it looks a little scary when the dog is squeezed up against the fence by the sheep.
I've probably had 2 or 3 dozen dogs in the packed pen and not had one get hurt yet. Occasionally a toe will get stepped on but it's just a yelp and go on. It might be different in a different pen with different sheep but the motion is pretty contained in such a small crowded space.
We did this with Sprite & you're right, it really helped boost her confidence. Zeke is a real looker...is he related to Moon & Tug? I am not in the know on all your dogs but for a minute I thought he *was* Tug but I see he is from ND.
No relation to Moon and Tug though he is Bill's half brother!
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