dog's first time on a farm

[liztorrey]

I have a 4 year old shepherd/dobermin mix that has moved from the town into the country on a farm. It is a cattle farm and so far I have kept her away from the cows that are grazing, and the ones in the barn she doesn't seem to pay any attention to. However, she chased the one sheep we have on the property the other day and bit its tail. I am now concerned that she will chase the cows as well if given the chance. She is very good at staying with me, and I have put the sheep at the other end of the farm from the dog. What can I do to train her to this new environment? I don't want to have to pen her up all the time when I am not watching her.

 

[claire1976]

I have a Doberman that is also intent on chasing sheep. But she is fine around horses and cows. I would imagine that since she has met the cows in the barn and hasn't reacted she'll probably be OK. I think that cattle are generally quite intimidating to dogs and usually stand their ground whereas sheep run. I would try her on a long line walking through the field of cows and see if she tries to run, if she does you can stamp on the lead to stop her. If she does try to chase them then you will need to do some distraction training, such as taking her in the field on the lead and shaking a tin of coins/pebbles if she shows any interest, once you have distracted her then reward with a tasty treat. You will have to spend a long time training as a dogs instinct to chase is strong. I find that my dog is fine on the lead around sheep with the training but once she's off the lead its a different story and I've resigned myself to the fact that I can never let her around sheep. Good luck...