The opinions you will find on the best way to train your working cow dog will vary almost as much as those 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 NE New Mexico. They are far from complete, but they can give you practical knowledge on how to train your working cow dog.
• First, you must establish a friendly, yet authoritative relationship with a working dog. I recommend not even approaching a cow until you have done this. An untrained cow dog is worse than a bull in a china cabinet, so shut up if you have to work with cows when they are too young and not trained to work effectively.
• Spend time with your working cow dog. I am not one to insist that a working dog should be kept separate from other dogs. My dogs were always part of the family. As you train them at home 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 on the go and still young. If they are already listing, they will have much less trouble when they first work in a herd. They must be around six months before they can understand much of what you have to teach them.
• Before taking them to the herd, take them with their horse 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 likely be tempted to herd their horse. I usually teach my dogs to jump horseback with me, but you must be sure that you are on a smooth horse if you do this. It can go a long way towards calming a herd if your dog disappears, but it can cause an accident if your horse is not used to it and your dog jumps while being chased by an angry cow.
• When I first trained, I always used a long strap 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 them. This can easily take months of training out of 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 are dispersing the pack. That is one of the reasons it is good to have a leash on your dog in the beginning. Follow your herd with your dog on his heels and only send him forward when a cow slows down too much. Most of them instinctively know how to bite the heels of cows. Then remove them when you have finished your work.
• One of the hardest things to teach a dog is to work quietly. There are many lines of thought on the best way to control a dog when he barks or runs after a cow. The method I found best was a little ear roll, just enough to let her know that I wasn’t satisfied with her actions. Usually only a few of these and your dog will get the message.
Hope you found these helpful tips. I would love to hear from you how your training is going. You will really enjoy when you have a well trained working cow dog.