` WORKING DOG VERSES SPORTING DOG WHAT ARE WE REALLY ABOUT?'

                   

This page concerns my personal beliefs on a long over due debate in Australia on the subject
of the effects on both the working dog and stock handling of
the growing interest in herding as a sporting phenomena. 

The pleasures and challenges of stockdog training are more subtle, more varied, and more
infinite than those of any other form of dog training, never fully mastered and therefore never boring.

I"m a Sheepdog dammit

A rough tough devil- may- care, red blooded working sheepdog

*I thank the Working Kelpie Council of Australia for the following articles by John White a veteran of  
stock dog trialling and a renowned breeder of Working Kelpies in Australia, They say all that needs to be
said about the real working dog in Australia. They may not be literary master pieces but the tone of the advice
given as it is, arising out of many years of experience with all aspects of the rural industry in plain earthy language
convinces the reader that they were written after much careful thought and straight from the heart of a true
working dog fancier. However much of what he has to tried describe will be lost on many of the sporting fraternity,
and maybe some of the farmers too, but at least they will be in a position to read, digest, assess and put his
words to good use. Those who can grasp John White's attempts to explain what the real
working dog is will have no problems with the sentiments expressed on this page I am sure.
 

Some Reasons Why The Breeding Of Your Dog Is So Important

by John White

Over recent years, interest in working dogs for farm and station work and also trials has increased
significantly. The standard of handling is improving mainly due to the dog training schools which are
being held throughout Australia. Also with the higher cost of  laborthe value of good dogs is finally
being realized. The handlers who conduct schools say that more time is being spent educating the
owners how to handle their dogs than teaching the dogs how to control stock.

The dog that has any value has most of the working ability bred in him so it only required the dog to
be kept on the right track, and not be allowed to develop faults. For this to be the case the first and
most important consideration when selecting a pup or a dog is the breeding of the parents and the
selection that has gone into the breeding for the desired characteristics. Many different types of dogs
are being bred to suit many varying types of work, terrain, stock, and climate. The best advice is to
try and obtain dogs from a breeder who has dogs which are required to do work similar to your own.

The reason why breeding is so important is because you can't keep  temperamentor disposition,
balence, strenth, and brains in a dog other than through inheritance. Most dogs of any real worth have
years of  selected breeding behind them. There are many dogs which have been bred haphazadly on
properties that are considered by their owners to be useful. But they can in no way match the skill
and ability of the well bred dogs in handling live stock of any kind. Some people bred for looks but
in a working dog the most important consideration is it's working ability. It is a bonus to have a dog
that looks grand.
However confirmation is important. If a dog is not put together right it will not be able to stand up to
the workload expected of it.. in the days before motor bikes and vehicles the dogs had to prove
their fitness and toughness by running behind the horses and stock, any that could not keep up did
not survive. Under todays conditions it is much more important to breed from dogs with athletic
ability and stamina to do the jobs required of them.
Let us consider which are the traits we require in a good working dog. Firstly I would say
Temperament or disposition, unless a dog is prepared to accept it's owner as boss dog it is unlikely
to reach it's full potential. this ability to work with it's master and accept some interference with
it's natural instinct is very important. Many good dogs subjected to severe screwing down or intense
pressure require of a dog for trial work are are discarded as failures by insensitive trainers, good
trainers know when to take the pressure off, but it is true that dogs that resist control of any kind
are worthless.
Many dogs that are discarded as failures turn out to be useful dogs in a different environment, the
important point made is  that the dog must be willing to work under it's handler's direction, but still
retain the ability to work and think for it's self when required to do so. Generally speaking the type
most likely to succeed when intense training and strict control is required is the outgoing  friendly
dog or pup.
I consider balance must be bred in the dog as it cannot be put there with training. Balance is the ability
of the dog to know the point of control of stock no matter what the number, when pups with balance are
first put on sheep they will move into position to control them. At this stage they have no regard for the
handler. They then have to be taught to balance to the handler. Natural balance should not be confused
with balancing to the handler which can be quickly taught in training.
 Another most important characteristic which can only be bred in dogs is strength, also called force or power.
 A strong dog is required for  work on cattle, goats and crossbred sheep, and is also necessary on most merinos
when the situation warrants its use.  Strength and power should not be confused with aggression. A confidant
dog is most often the strong dog because he knows he can handle situations. This is done through the use of
eye and position. The dog with no confidence will run in and bite causing stock to run or fight thus losing control
of the situation, whereas the strong dog will use force or bite if required but only in a controlled manner. remember
that  most dogs can be taught to bite but it is almost impossible to make a weak dog strong.
They can be built up in confidence with careful handling. The tough aggressive dog usually needs a handler that is
had enough to gain control and also to make them handle stock in the correct manner. The dog with good strength
will work off his stock using balance and the amount of force required. this type of dog will quickly command the
respect of all types of stock.

Finally brains in a dog or the ability to work out situations itself is probably the hardest characteristic to breed in a dog.  
A lot of people believe that dogs only learn through repetition, but there are some dogs that have above average intelligence.
These are the dogs that will adapt readily to any kind of work and are the real champions of the working dog world.    
 [ Published in the WKC News Bulletin Jan 2007 ]

         WHAT MAKES A CHAMPION TRIAL DOG BY JOHN WHITE

The dream of most people who compete in sheep dog trials is to breed a champion. We will look at
the characteristics in the makeup of a potential champion trial dog.
He should show a strong natural instinct to work, and at an early stage should develop anticipation
of what sheep are going to do, he will also show a tendency to stay off his sheep and work at a
distance which will allow him to be in control of the situation.
For this reason there should not be any tendency to race in and bite something that is often evident in
less gifted dogs. When sheep break he should show a nice break-out off them and return them
cleanly to the mob.
A good Temperament is a must, being sensitive to command but not over sensitive to correction.
He should be a confident and careful worker with the ability to find the point of balance or control
with a tendency to steady, stop and hold when at that point.
 To be an outstanding  three sheep trial dog he should have a strong heading instinct
but this trait must be controllable whenever off balance work is required. he must not resent command
or the finely tuned control that is required for trial work which demands responsiveness under pressure.
The outstanding dogs show confidence in what they are doing from the commencement of training.
Despite the natural correctness of their work it pays to gently bring the commands and control in,
and to resist the temptation to over force or over pressure the dog in the early stages. wait till the dog shows
maturity. Aim at retaining the natural ability whilst working to control his moves when necessary, at the
same time building his trust in your judgment and decisions. 
Despite his natural ability he still has to be taught the basic commands. Once he has learnt to focus on
you and to balance sheep to you he can then be taught side or directional commands. This is best done
by positioning yourself correctly in relation to the sheep so that you get the right reponse from the dog.
This will sometimes mean having to move the sheep yourself to make the dog go to the required position.
Always keep the lessons short and try to develop the dogs keenness and anticipation.
The standard of dogs working in trials now is very high and it is nearly impossible to do well without a very good dog
that has been well trained. If you are lucky enough to breed or obtain a dog with most of the above mentioned attributes
then with care and patience you should have a dog with which you can win sheep dog trials.
[Published in the WKC News Bulletin March 2007]

[Harvard University Press, 1989]Ritvo points out that the Dog Show crowd and the Animal Rights
crowd spring from the same root-stock of sentiment, and in both cases the animals are the side-show,
not the main event.Ritvo writes that in the Victorian era and into the 20th Century dog
show folks "elevated standards that had no basis in nature or aesethics but reflected the ignorant,
self-interested caprices of fanciers who wished to boost the prestige of their own stock in order
to associate themselves with people of good breeding." And, of course, it paid, with show winners
being sold for cash -- a quick way for people of low rank to buy themselves up the social ladder.
If one had a dog that was "best of breed," then surely the owner must be of similar worth, right??

Footrot Flats . "The Footrot Flats Dog and Wal's Take on it All " by Murray Ball

   I know I can't fight progress, but I do have a concern that the increasing interest in trialling and the fact
that many hobbyists having had little contact with livestock beyond what they need to train a dog,
will change the working strengths of the stock dogs. The keen desire to work and the herding instinct
            can be lost if they are never tested in a working situation. The dog who works for hours and days
at a time or follows a horse or four-wheeler for miles before he faces difficult work on stock
is tested far differently than the dog who is trained for half an hour a day and works for
fifteen minutes in a trial.

The beauty of a working stock dog is not how they look, but how they work. [photo by Sam Weaver]

There is little that is more thrilling than watching the special partnership between a man and a dog on the farm.
Making the most of interspecies communication, these teams epitomize a working relationship that
has fostered livestock farming for hundreds of years. Without herding dogs, there would have been no
British or Australian wool industry and farmers throughout the Old World would have been hard put
to get sheep and cattle to pasture and market.

Working stock dogs whatever their breed, are dogs of many coats and colors and always with a
workaholic personality. Black, red, tri-color, blue, grey or mostly white; long-coated, medium-coated,
or short-coated, they are obsessive-compulsive workers of immeasurable value to the sheep farmer.
Few other dogs can match their dedication or innate skills. Like the canvas upon which the artist
releases his incredible  talent to create a whole picture, the stock dog needs an equally dedicated
handler to hone his skills, direct his energy and create a whole dog.

     Although several breeds once herded livestock, over many years they have retained little of the
instinct having become show/companions, champions in their  own right but NOT WORKING DOGS today, 
they are often now lacking the true stock dog combination of eye, intensity, and working style,
characteristics developed for the rural industries of the Western world. Stockmen produce a breed
of dog that make raising flocks in inhospitable country a profitable venture. Without the dogs, the
cost of manual labor would  be prohibitive; with the dogs, an economy can built on wool/meat etc.

Dogs make it possible for stockmen to control large flocks on varing terrain  Today, of course,
they also bring to obedience and agility trials the same character and dedication that marked their work
with sheep, but it is in the paddock with the stockman and the flock that the dog's  true purpose is fullfilled
and it is there that they excel.

   All the training in the world cannot instill the instinct that makes a well bred stock dog a great working dog.
A dog has a sense of how to deal with sheep, or he does not. He has a working style that sheep can tolerate,
or he does not. He can make decisions on his own when out of sight and sound of the stockman, or he cannot.
Training can make a dog steady and give him confidence in his own ability, but it cannot give him that ability. 

       Some people believe that there can be an inherent trade off in choosing a trial dog over a "real"
working dog, and if ones interest is strictly in producing  trial dogs, for sport and pleasure then some may
be willing to sacrifice some independent decision making skills for a dog that is more biddable to the
handler's direction. Then of course there is the third equation rarely given any thought at all by the
weekender who takes their dog to handle stock in a competitive mode, much as they would in agility,
show, tracking etc, and that is the stock  themselves, the living breathing animals that are the point of it all really.
What of their welfare?, as they spend long hours being chased and tested  in order to add another
title to the dog handlers/owners pride.

In Australia the rural industry is under constant attack these days by Animal Rights Organisations such as
PETA, and VOICELESS
what sort of message do we as people who spend their lives in the rural industry and community want to
send about how we view animal welfare?,

THIS
        
OR THIS
         

Lesson One in the world of dogs is that if you put anything above breeding for utility, you will start to lose working abilities.

"In working dogs, utility is beauty, and "beauty is as beauty does."

  Remember cardinal rules of stockdog training:
 No dog has any business inside the flock.    
No sheep has any business outside the flock

   The contents of this page represent my opinion only. I am interested to hear and
 publish comments from all sides on the subject.  the comments will be available for viewing on 

http:// realworkingdogs.blogspot.com
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