Is it possible/wise to do agility with a working sheepdog?

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Patterdale

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As title really....18 month/2yo collie, will doing agility with competing in mind affect her sheep work?

Some people say no it'll be fine, some say it will affect her work and I shouldn't do it.

What are the opinions on here?

:)
 
as you’ve said patterdale, there are mixed opinions and there are certainly those who do both with success! IMO it very much depends on 2 things. Firstly how your dog is wired and secondly how serious you want to be about each discipline. You are asking the dog to work in 2 different ways and some will cope better than others with this. You may have to accept that you can be really good at one thing or mediocre at both...
 
I have known people that do agility and do a bit of sheep work with their dogs and have done well at agility, but they don't do sheep work for a living, they just have a few sheep that they work their dog with or go to someone to do a bit of sheep work with their dogs.
 
Thanks for the replies!

Not sure what to do as if I ruin her sheep work it will be awful as she's v good. Only works at home, she doesn't do trials but she's really handy.

Think I will leave it and persevere with the terrier, probably not worth the risk :(

Or do you think anyone would notice if I just bought my own pup?? :D ;)
 
aww patterdale thats really sad :(

only you can decide what to do but for what its worth - i got a pup when my baby was 9 weeks old and Ive found since I had him (my baby) Im actually doing more training/competing. Im lucky , I have my equipment at home to train and its much easier to take a baby along to agility comps that horsey things:cool:
 
Re: Is it possible/wise to do agility with a working sheepdog?

Strangely, I've seen many dogs which have been bred for and have performed a main task, but then, often by chance seem to have acquired a second string to their bow, and this versatility has improved their stance at their main role. I can't explain why, secondary interests should be so beneficial, but it often seems to be the case, so yes, try and see what happens!!

Alec.
 
We have an 18 month old working collie who is just back from 12 weeks training as we didnt have the experience to do the fancy bits, she is brilliant with the sheep but she is also a pet, she comes out with me on the horse and she comes in the house when we are about. We also take her to the beach and on holiday. I think she would excel at agility as she is super quick but has a good stop, I just don't have the time really. Anyway what I am trying to say is that she is capable of many tasks and although some farmers may disagree and think they should only work sheep, I think some collies would be fine. We have 350 breeding ewes and 700 gimmers every year so she has a fair bit of responsibility but she has such a lovely nature that it seems a shame to leave her in the kennel when she is not working and our well respected trainer seems to agree.
 
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