Week Three

Jed and Price, from 1 generation to the next

Jed and I learned a lot about each other this week. He's smart, I'm tough, but fair and completely consistent. These are the stand-out lessons. Jed learned the meaning of the word "cookie," and his ears perk up immediately in anticipation. About 80% of the time, I would say, he keeps his feet to himself. Unlike, Star, the last puppy I raised, Jed is not the least bit hesitant about coming to me when I call, and seems to prefer my close company.

5 Things:

1. The sound of my voice
2. An hour out
3. It's all the same
4. Quick release
5. Quiet

One of the benefits of keeping Jed with me in the house now is that he learns what I sound like under different circumstances. I am able to interact with him, correcting him or praising him as need be, and he is learning the fundamentals of correction and encouragement. And those, of course, are the building blocks of training a working sheepdog. I give him a low growl when he chews on my rug, runs off with my shoe, or puts his feet up on the furniture. He gets my happy voice if he comes when I call, submits to being picked up without being chased, goes in his kennel without a fuss. When my attention is not directed at him, he is simply learning me. How I move, and what those movements mean. How I smell and what my actions mean to him. It is all fundamental to learning to please me, which will become oh-so-important when the real training begins.

Nice ear

Still sleeping inside at night, I began putting him in the dog yard for a couple hours at a time with the big dogs, and he did well. Whenever I sat him down inside the gate, I got a "huh?" look most of the time, but I have never heard a peep from him while he was out there. My dog yard has lots of big boulders just right for climbing on, and jumping over. I think this encourages balance and athleticism in my dogs, and I like to initiate that at an early age. I read a biography of Ty Murray, arguably the world's greatest rodeo cowboy. In it, he describes being utterly focused on his chosen profession from his earliest memories, and orchestrating exercises throughout childhood that encouraged balance. He walked miles of fence line, rode a unicycle, learned to juggle and trained with his high school gymnastics squad, despite never competing with them. He was single-minded in his pursuit to be the best, and he achieved that by a mile. My single-minded pursuit is for Jed to be an excellent working sheepdog off and on the trial field. I too will orchestrate exercises that encourage balance, strength and athleticism in him. He goes for long walks with the big dogs to encourage stamina. He has trouble keeping up, but not for long. I lay him on his back, then let him struggle to right himself, we play with a tug toy and he chases Dexie, who chases a ball. I don't yet know whether he has the talent to attain my goals for him, but I will make sure he gets every opportunity.

Routine is very important to dogs in their daily life. Stability gives them confidence and courage, and while I like to mix things up on the training field, the mechanics of living remain predictable. I feed Jed at the same times each day. And so he will like it, I always feed him in his crate. When he rides in the truck, I always crate him. Some day that may change, and he may earn the keys to the co-pilot's chair, but not yet. Good manners and respect first, privilege later.  We feed the animals in the morning, the sheep go out and in at the same time, we walk after we work in the big field. These things and more are constants in Jed's life. He can count on them, he knows what is coming and where is his place among them. He doesn't have to wonder, and most importantly, he doesn't have to worry.

Jed's breeder, Llona Brandenburg, did a good job of creating a naturally clean puppy. By that I mean a puppy that prefers not to soil his immediate living area. Llona provided a whelping box that allowed the puppies to move away from their main living area into another one designated by a low bump the pups had to crawl over to get to. When given the chance, Jed always empties outside, and always after moving a considerable distance from me. Yes, some dogs are naturally clean, but it never hurts to give that idea legs whenever possible. One of the ways I encourage cleanliness is to release Jed from his crate immediately upon hearing him cry, when it's been a while. If he has just been outside and fusses when first crated, that's another matter. But, if he has just woken up from a nap, or at zero-dark-thirty in the morning after sleeping for 3 or 4 hours, when he cries, he goes out. Jed has responded to this really well, and almost always empties the minute he hits the grass. Also, because he knows he will get out when he needs to, he is happier about being crated. It's a trust thing.

So, what about when he cries in his crate just after coming inside? I correct him. Not harshly, understand, but I give him a low growl to let him know I don't like it. I may tap on his crate, and there has been a time or two when I raised my voice, but I resort to that sparingly so that it means something when I do. In the first paragraph I mentioned that Jed and I learned a lot about each other this week. One of the things that I learned is that I can talk to Jed, and he listens. When raising any dog, observation is a critical tool that is all too often overlooked. I observed Jed, and realized that I can converse with him and convince him to abide by the rules. When he fusses, I may say "no" and get another bark. I follow that with "quiet" and may get a "roo, roo, roo." I come back with "knock it off," and by that time I usually get some quieter grumbling just before he picks up a toy and entertains himself. He must be quiet. I will absolutely not tolerate anything else. He may not bark...ever. You have to be stronger with some dogs than others to get your point across, but this is Jed's story. With him, you can talk it out.

Dexter and Jed - Two peas