Training a Working Cow Dog

The opinions you will find on just how best to train your working cow dog will vary almost as much as those on horse training. These tips are just some of the lessons I learned while working with some of the greatest dogs in the world on our working cattle ranch in NE New Mexico. They are far from comprehensive, but they can give you a working knowledge on training your working cow dog.

• First of all you need to establish both a friendly, and yet, authoritative relationship with a working cow dog. I recommend not even going close to a cow until you have done this. An untrained cow dog is worse than a bull in a china closet, so shut them up if you have to work cows while they are too young and not trained to work effectively.

• Spend time with your working cow dog. I am not one of those who insist a working dog must be kept separate from other dogs. My dogs were always part of the family. As you house train them and teach them to follow normal commands they will learn to pay attention to you.

• Simple commands like, "Heel" can be taught while you are afoot and they are still young. If they are heeling already you will have much less trouble when they first work a herd. They need to be around six months old before they can understand a lot of what you have to teach them.

• Before you take them out to a herd, take them with you horseback often and allow them to get used to following a horse. This will also give you a chance to judge how much cow they have in them as they will probably be tempted to herd your horse. I usually taught my dogs to jump up on horseback with me, but you need to be certain you're on a gentle horse if you do this. It can help a lot to calm a herd if your dog disappears to them, but it can cause a wreck if your horse isn't used to it and your dog jumps up while being chased by an angry cow.

• When first training I always used a long leash or piece of twine 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 trainee along with them. This can easily take months of training off your time frame.

• The most difficult part of training is usually getting the dog to back off. By nature they want to keep up the chase even when they're scattering the herd. That is one reason it's good to have a leash on your dog at first. Trail your herd with your dog at heel, and only send him forward when a cow slows down too much. Most of them instinctively know to bite at the cow's heels. Then pull them back when their job is done.

• One of the more difficult things to teach a dog is to work silently. There are many trains of thought on how best to control a dog when they bark or run off after a cow. The method I found best was a little twist of the ear, just enough to let him know I wasn't pleased with his actions. Usually just a few of these and your dog will get the message.

I hope you have found these tips helpful. I would love to hear from you about how your training is going. You will have a great deal of enjoyment when you have a well trained working cow dog.

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