first sheepdog

weatherbyfoxer

Hi lads,..im Looking for some info before i buy my first sheepdog.main purpose for the dog will be driving sheep from the pen into the race for drenching/injecting..etc..also loading trailers.

Have exsperience training gundogs but i know its a alot different..so any tips or advise would be great!..like the look if the pure bred kelpies and was wondering what there like?..anyone much experience with them?..or would i be better of with the tried and tested collie?

ganmo

I'm weighing up getting a dog myself. The one we have only has ears for my dad. But I'd need one for field/hill work mostly

razor8

How much money have ye to spend on one? Average dogs are making €500 up to the top end of €1500/€2000

rangler1

razor8 wrote: »

How much money have ye to spend on one? Average dogs are making €500 up to the top end of €1500/€2000

Never paid more than 150, present pup cost €75 and she turned a bunch of twelve ewes out of a corner his morning and she's only 9mths old, but you need to know the parentage and that both parents are workers

razor8

Sorry I was talking about a trained dog. Pups are a different matter. My father occasionally trains other dogs and the amount of pups that are useless because of poor training methods by owners is very common

You really have to be very committed to training a dog and require a large amount of patience

rangler1

razor8 wrote: »

Sorry I was talking about a trained dog. Pups are a different matter. My father occasionally trains other dogs and the amount of pups that are useless because of poor training methods by owners is very common

You really have to be very committed to training a dog and require a large amount of patience

''It takes a week to train a dog and five years to get rid of the bad habits you let him get during that week''

razor8

rangler1 wrote: »

''It takes a week to train a dog and five years to get rid of the bad habits you let him get during that week''

So true, it's sometimes the owners that need a few months training, seen great dogs sold and owners returning with the dog a few weeks later scratching there head why they dog won't work, told to work the dog at home only to see they have the commands either arseways or using completely new ones

One guy I kid you not sent the dog off with the command "bring that spotty ewe back here"

weatherbyfoxer

Planning on buying a pup...posably a kelpie..dont need a trial standard dog just somting to save me jumping in and out of the pen to fill the race...wont be bringing ewes off mountains or huge blocks of land..moving ewes and lambs from paddock to paddock here is usally just a matter of opening the gate and closings it afterwards..

rangler1

weatherbyfoxer wrote: »

Planning on buying a pup...posably a kelpie..dont need a trial standard dog just somting to save me jumping in and out of the pen to fill the race...wont be bringing ewes off mountains or huge blocks of land..moving ewes and lambs from paddock to paddock here is usally just a matter of opening the gate and closings it afterwards..

Be careful with a young dog in a yard, they can get pinned to a wall by a ewe and be hurt enough to be nervous after
Make sure that they're well used to fighting with ewes before you introduce them to tight spaces

jmrc

try find an a bigger sheep farmer that might have an older dog who wouldnt be up to a full days work any more... kinda semi retired..
we managed to get a ould lad about 3 years back and hes a god send. young dogs will run sheep through the country... an ould dog for the hard road.

jmrc

try find an a bigger sheep farmer that might have an older dog who wouldnt be up to a full days work any more... kinda semi retired..
we managed to get a ould lad about 3 years back and hes a god send. young dogs will run sheep through the country... an ould dog for the hard road.

sonnybill

I've a lovely bitch 3.5 months, she is bright as a button and will sit 250m in a field for 20 mins without moving a muscle 2 ears pricked until she is called by a single whistle.

She wants work and fast only have sucklers but was going to get 5-10 cheap lambs to get her used of commands .. Cows too strong yet and I don't want her confidence dented .. Would ewe lambs be more manageable or no difference if I squeezed a few ram lambs or would I bother as no other sheep

charolais0153

sonnybill wrote: »

I've a lovely bitch 3.5 months, she is bright as a button and will sit 250m in a field for 20 mins without moving a muscle 2 ears pricked until she is called by a single whistle.

She wants work and fast only have sucklers but was going to get 5-10 cheap lambs to get her used of commands .. Cows too strong yet and I don't want her confidence dented .. Would ewe lambs be more manageable or no difference if I squeezed a few ram lambs or would I bother as no other sheep

Shell be no good . ill take her off your hans for free. She d be more of a nuisance to u if anything. Dogs only drive cattle cracked

tabby aspreme

Ram or weather lambs would be easier to handle than ewe lambs , at 3.5 months the dog may not be fast enough to turn lambs and may get into the habit of just chasing after them

sonnybill

charolais0153 wrote: »

Shell be no good . ill take her off your hans for free. She d be more of a nuisance to u if anything. Dogs only drive cattle cracked

Her father is a good cattle dog and mother sheep dog. I need a good dog just to skip ahead and block gaps when moving them etc she'll be fine

sonnybill

tabby aspreme wrote: »

Ram or weather lambs would be easier to handle than ewe lambs , at 3.5 months the dog may not be fast enough to turn lambs and may get into the habit of just chasing after them

Good point

sonnybill

charolais0153 wrote: »

Shell be no good . ill take her off your hans for free. She d be more of a nuisance to u if anything. Dogs only drive cattle cracked

Cheers for offer :-) this is her

rangler1

sonnybill wrote: »

Cheers for offer :-) this is her

Looks the part alright, she's a beaut

charolais0153

sonnybill wrote: »

Cheers for offer :-) this is her

Fine big dog for 3. 5 months. Have a pup here ourselves born april . havent done anythi g with him yet. He does plenthof barking at sheep and cattle though. His mother and father are both cattle and sheep dogs.

charolais0153

Around 4 ish months here

charolais0153

tabby aspreme wrote: »

Ram or weather lambs would be easier to handle than ewe lambs , at 3.5 months the dog may not be fast enough to turn lambs and may get into the habit of just chasing after them

Was looking at rams there the last day and your man was bringing them and he had a great dog really intelligent and concentrated but i couldnt get over how slow she was in comparison to our own dog, she had nearly ran the lenght of the field before she had overtaken them. Uou really underestimate how fast our own dog is and while shes raw its still fierce handy to be quicker than the ewes

sheepfarmer92

Have four bitchs here, 3 collies and 1 kelpie, kelpie is brilliant in thr yard but not great in the field, i find the collies are more of an all round dog, my advice is if u get a pup, let her run with a trained dog for a few weeks and she wont be long learning the ropes

sonnybill

sheepfarmer92 wrote: »

Have four bitchs here, 3 collies and 1 kelpie, kelpie is brilliant in thr yard but not great in the field, i find the collies are more of an all round dog, my advice is if u get a pup, let her run with a trained dog for a few weeks and she wont be long learning the ropes

Yeah I agree my neighbour always has the young dog learning from the established bitch , only downside I suppose so if the older bitch has bad habits or weaknesses the young dog will get them too

sonnybill

sonnybill wrote: »

Cheers for offer :-) this is her

She 8 months now and a cracker ! Lovely dog but no big shape at cattle yet but she mighty at sheep .. I'm hoping that her courage for sucklers in time will come with age