Gus is now coming up 13 weeks old and it’s a good time to have him around the sheep. One of the main reasons I like having a young dog around sheep is that they are not too full on yet. At this stage Gus could not hurt a sheep if he tried to chase one. By being close to another animal with me around Gus can feed off my body language, so it’s important for me to stay calm so that Gus can stay calm.
If I was to wait until Gus was a year old before introducing him to sheep he would act completely different as he would be so much more full on and that could have him wanting to chase one of them. So I’ll keep him used to the sheep from an early age this way he will know to be calm around them.
Over the years I have seen two types of stock proof dogs. Dogs that are comfortable around stock that will track a pig through the middle of stock and dogs that are scared of sheep because their owners have giving them a hiding or acted negatively to the dog when around sheep. This causes a dog to stop tracking that pig when it goes through a block with sheep.
Another very important thing to remember when around stock with your dog is how you act because the dog will take notice of your body language. Even I can tell when I have a Hunter with me that does not trust their dog around stock. One of the big signs is when they hear a sheep bleating they quickly become nervous and try calling their dog to them. This can have a very negative effect on the dog because the dog will be thinking that it’s owner is scared of these sheep so he needs too protect him. Always act calm around stock and your dog will get that calm vibe from you.