How to teach "that'll do" to a collie

[Patches]

Ok, so Bess is now working twice a day to fetch the cows in for milking. She loves it, would hardly call it work for her!

Anyhoo....how do we teach her "that'll do" when we don't want her to send them anymore? It's easy for the milkers because they go in a shed and the door is shut. However we had to send our heifers out to summer grazing this morning. When they were in the desired fields, we found we had trouble getting her to stop sending them.....Lord knows where she was going to send them to, but she wanted to "run them".

We called her back (which ended up with her come here whistle and running in the opposite direction to get her out of the field, told her to leave and popped her on a lead before making much of her. Just got me wondering if she'll always try to send the cows if we let her free on the yard between milking. Will she sneak off and go and fetch them......an hour after they've gone out!

Is it a fine line between wanting them to willingly herd and having them effectively ignore them when it suits us? Should we really try and switch her off between fetching time, or can that be counter productive/confusing at this stage in her development? (she's almost 10 months)

 

[Stacie_and_Jed]

I am no help what so ever but this made me chuckle!

 

[Patches]

[ QUOTE ]
I am no help what so ever but this made me chuckle!

[/ QUOTE ]

It was quite funny, to be honest.

All the way through the farm, to the summer grazing, I was musing to myself about where the "closure" would be for Bess in this scenario.

Apparently there was none!

 

[Lucy_Nottingham]

ermmm guessing she will lie down whilst away from you now? (mine wont but hes a stubborn git!)

Maybe try making her lie down, stay and then call her to you..... and say the command that you want her to finish e.g. that'll do.........
or maybe say the command prior to her coming over to you?!

Not sure just an idea?!

 

[nicnag]

When training mine to sheep I keep them on a long rope, when I want them to come off sheep I'll say That'll do and walk away - start with a tug on the rope to encourage her back , reduce it once she has the gist until you feel safely in control to take the rope off. I make a fuss of mine but not in an overly enthusiastic way. I use the same commands no matter what they do. If they are at agility we use the same working commands - come by and away for directions and that'll do for finishing. I would'nt let her near cattle without a rope until your confident you have control, just don't let a bad habit start.

 

[Patches]

She's absolutely fine to send them up for milking. She will work side to side at the back of the herd, balancing them. She doesn't snap, bark, nip or anything. Just runs behind them and naturally drive forwards.

She will come back to us in this situation fine. Whenever she's called back or asked to move to the other flank in the field, she will. In fairness, the more times she goes out, the further away from us she is prepared to work on her own initiative to round up one lagging behind. We don't always have to go towards the loose cows now.

Once they are on the track to the shed, out of the fields, she will happily walk with us be that on or off the lead. She will also walk loose behind the cows, zig zagging along the track and watching them. Walks calmly, doesn't feel a need to make them rush (which is good, we don't want them stresed obviously).

As we approach the shed, she stands and waits for them to go in. She is asked to lie down (she does this 9/10 without problem) and a lead is popped back on her. She is really good in a normal sending situation.

I guess it was alot to expect of her to come with us to heifers through fields into a field. She was on a lead for the most part, just using her presence to help make the move forwards. Her mind is geared up to herding them though, I see that. They were already out in their summer grazing when we had her last year and the only time she has ever dealt/seen cows is when we were fetching them in for milking, or when we brought the heifers in for winter grazing.

Next time we're in that situation, we'll stick her on a lunge line. I never thought about that. She was let off the lead in the end because she began getting under Duncan's feet as he was physically running the heifers to turn them (we were trying to get them to cross diagonally through a field you see). As you suggest, the lunge line would've solved that problem and it would be a good help in getting her to see there are more aspects to her work than just sending cows up for milking. Problem is, we don't do much herding in that way, only two or three times a year. The majority of her work will be the twice daily fetching in for milking.....which she just seems to love.

As for the horse, ducks, geese, hens, cats etc....she won't run them. She may adopt a crouch and look like she's considering it, but one little whistle and yell of "come", plus a treat and a big pat, and she's back by our feet under close control.

It's such a fine line. We really need to find someone locally that can help to train us, so that we can train her, in the correct methods for herding.