I covered in Part #1, the importance of staying calm and connected with a Border Collie. This post will cover early training — your relationship with either a pup or young or new dog to any handler/owner.
As our young pup, six months old Moses grows a bit more mature in body and mind/emotions; I am teaching him to respond to a few simple verbal “commands.” Moses seems like a “late bloomer” but six months is just about the age to start this training. Some handlers start full out training on sheep or ducks at this age, but you need to be careful about that. The biggest thing to keep in mind when working livestock or even with goose control is what is called ” good stockmanship.” Yes, that’s an old term that should maybe be turned into “good stockpersonship.” But working with herding dogs, sheepherding is a heritage going back generations. Most importantly it is farmers treating their animals kindly, with respect, and we should do that with wild geese too, no matter who may be annoyed at them. Puppies even if they can actually herd, are too playful on livestock, scare the sheep or poultry too much.
Moses has been raised like any pup we have had. With Tara our two-year-old sweetheart of Border Collie it was the same, except every pup, every dog has its personality, its learning curve. The relationship you establish along with the love and security and confidence you nurture your pup within its first year is very important. You can, of course, suffocate the pup or young dog with love and not allow him or her to explore the world and learn about the animals it will work with, the environment it will live and work in. The pup also needs to learn about good social interaction with humans and members of his dog pack and dogs outside, as well.
The simple verbal “commands,” I mentioned are the bases of you and your pups or adoptive herding dog’s relationship beyond the bond you share. The pup or dog’s name and a stop command “lie down” or “lie” and the recall ” come” or come here” should be thought and practiced until both you and your partner feel comfortable with the interactions. Having a Border Collie that ignores its name is a sign that you have a bad connection with your pup or dog. Border Collies are a very willing breed. And a goose dog or farm dog that does not stop when asked can lead to dangerous situations. A dog that can not learn how to handle his or her job with care and respect is not working at all properly. A recall command will save you a lot of time and aggravation.
In his excellent book on working Border collies, ” The Sheep Dog”, David and Charles, 1976, Tim Longton ( as written with Edward Hart) says that Border Collies were developed to save time and human resources on the farm. The breed was selected into a superior herding breed. And when the book was written it was getting harder to get farm hands or the ability to pay them in the UK. A tradition developed, that is how to handle these “collie dogs” and work with them. These herding techniques are time-saving with other efficient applications as well. All this applies to goose control. Border Collies are an effective, time-saving, human resources saving way to tackle problem populations of wild geese. Good goose control practice does not matter what State you are in, New York or Connecticut or Massachusetts…to name the ones we operate. Above all, as Tim Longton underscores in his book, practical and caring practices with Border collies, go hand in hand.