We work with Border Collies and Heading dogs. http://www.damaradorperinwesterncanada.com/Guardian%20Dogs.htm For those with large flocks I recommend the Heading Dog. With a few days training, the Heading Dog works already very well, an experience I never made with BC.
Their feet are much harder, the have a real summer coat . I would say in our situation a Heading Dog does the same work as several Border Collies. An other dog well working with aggressive Hair Sheep is the Huntaway. We invited different breeders of Bordercollies and other herding dogs to help us to move a large flock of African Hair Sheep. It was absolutely impossible with Border Collies. Actually it was easier to get the ewes with out dogs going than with dogs, as the ewes attacked the BC steady( a 2000 ewes with lambs on side). Heading dog are faster than BC and jump much higher, important when working in corrals. Huntaway move the flock with barking, so sheep at distance are moving on. Today we work with both breeds. When not working with the sheep, the dogs are with the flock by their own and don't do silly useless herding. They just lay with them in the shade. In the case they get the sense of a coyote, they have a good nose like and are able to track a coyote down. Several farmers in Canada switched to the two breeds, as working in the cutblocks is much easier with Huntaway and Heading Dogs. If some one is interested in pups, I can supply information. Regards Helmut Lang ----- Original Message ----- From: "Carol J. Elkins" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, June 10, 2003 9:24 PM Subject: Re: [blackbelly] The Great Sheep Dog Debate > At 07:32 PM 6/10/2003 -0500, you wrote: > > >(Carol? I think you had the coolest story. How do you get these dogs > >fully trained when you can't train them yourself?) > > You spend a small fortune buying a "started" (partially trained) dog. > > I purchased a 9-month old smooth-coat Border Collie. I could have gotten a > good used pickup for the price I paid. Started dogs go for between $1500 > and $2500. I do not regret ONE SINGLE CENT I paid for this dog. He is a > joy. And because of him, I can continue raising sheep whereas without him, > the ram, and thus my breeding program, would have to go. A couple months > before I purchased him, his owner brought him to my farm and worked MY > SHEEP with him. I compared his performance to another "started" dog going > for $800 and the other dog didn't follow one single command. Gage does > everything I ask him to do. I never plan to show him or put him in any dog > trials, but he certainly has the potential if I wanted to exploit it. > > It takes a long time to train a dog, and most Border Collies aren't even > ready to start training on sheep until they are 6-8 months old. Then it > takes many more months to determine if the dog will be any good. That is a > lot of time and energy to risk for an uncertain outcome. I happily paid the > price for Gage because I knew what I was getting and now I simply get to > enjoy him instead of train him. I am not a dog trainer, but I am definitely > a dog lover. > > As you research the different dog breeds, think about the risk of getting > an inexpensive cross-breed or a rescued dog or a puppy and weigh it against > the cost of getting a started dog that you have seen work. Each of us has > different needs and circumstances. To some, there will be less risk so > getting a puppy or rescue dog makes sense; to others, cost is the limiting > factor so there is little choice; and to others, such as myself, who don't > want to risk having to care for a "mistake" the rest of the dog's life > (regardless of how much he is loved), a started dog is worth the expense. > > Carol > > > Carol Elkins > Critterhaven Estate > Registered Barbados Blackbelly Hair Sheep > (no shear, no dock, no fuss) > Pueblo, Colorado > http://www.critterhaven.biz > NEW! T-shirts, mugs, mousepads, and more at the > Blackbelly Online Store http://www.cafeshops.com/cp/store.aspx?s=blackbellysheep > =============================================== > This message is from the Barbados Blackbelly Sheep mailing list. > To respond to this message, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > To unsubscribe or change your membership options, go to http://lists.coyotenet.net/mailman/listinfo/blackbelly =============================================== This message is from the Barbados Blackbelly Sheep mailing list. To respond to this message, send e-mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe or change your membership options, go to http://lists.coyotenet.net/mailman/listinfo/blackbelly
