The opinions you’ll find on the best way to train your working cowboy dog will vary almost as much as they do on horse training. These tips are just a few of the lessons I learned while working with some of the best dogs in the world on our working cattle ranch in Northeast New Mexico. They are far from complete, but they can give you some practical knowledge on how to train your working cowboy dog.
• First, you must establish a friendly and authoritative relationship with a working sheepdog. I recommend not even going near a cow until you have done this. An untrained sheepdog is worse than a bull in a china closet, so shut them up if you have to work cows when they are too young and not trained to work effectively.
• Spend time with your working cowboy dog. I’m not one to insist that a working dog should be kept separate from other dogs. My dogs have always been part of the family. As you housetrain them and teach them to follow normal commands, they will learn to pay attention to you.
• Simple commands like, “Heel” can be taught while on foot and they are still young. If they are already leaning, you will have much less trouble when they first work a pack. They need to be around six months old before they can understand much of what you have to teach them.
• Before taking them into a herd, take them on horseback often and let them get used to following a horse. This will also give you a chance to judge how many cows they have, as they will probably be tempted to herd your horse. I usually teach my dogs to jump with me on horseback, but you have to be sure you are on a gentle horse if you do this. It can go a long way to calm down a herd if your dog goes missing, but it can cause an accident if your horse isn’t used to it and your dog jumps up while being chased by an angry cow.
• When I first trained, I always used a long leash or string to keep them where I wanted them. This will help with the initial training phase. Now, if you already have a working dog, take your apprentice with him. This can easily take months of training out of your time frame.
• The hardest part of training is often getting the dog to back up. By nature, they want to keep chasing even when they are dispersing the pack. That’s one of the reasons it’s good to have a leash on your dog at first. Trail your herd with your dog alongside, only sending him forward when a cow slows down too much. Most of them instinctively know to bite the cow’s heels. Then remove them when your job is done.
• One of the most difficult things to teach a dog is to work quietly. There are many lines of thought about the best way to control a dog when he barks or runs after a cow. The best method I found was a little twist of the ear, just enough to let him know that he wasn’t pleased with his actions. Usually just a few of these and your dog will get the message.
I hope you found these tips useful. I would love to hear from you how your training is going. You will really enjoy having a well-trained working cowboy dog.