3 simple exercises to retrain a herding dog

DEAR OLD TRAINER: Rip, my 18-month old Aussie, is the perfect dog, but sometimes I’m shocked at what he does. Yesterday I was playing ball with him and my neighbor came over to watch. With no warning Rip ran over and grabbed his pants cuff, just above his heel, and started barking and pulling on the pants with all his might. Why did he do that?

DEAR ALEX: Welcome to the world of herding dogs.

A herding dog thinks he and his human are in charge of the world, so ordering sheep and people around is in Rip’s DNA. I suspect Rip wanted to tell your neighbor to quit interfering in his ball game and in the excitement that was the first solution that popped into his mind.

Joker, my youngest border collie, is a genius at finding loopholes in the rules. He never actually breaks a rule, he just thinks of a way around it and does something I never thought of training him not to do.

Every time it happens I say the same thing Prince Metternich, the Austrian uber-diplomat, said to an aide upon hearing that Talleyrand, his arch rival in devious diplomacy, had died, “Hmm, I wonder why he did that.”

You never specifically told Rip not to order your neighbor around thus, the loophole. So you don’t discipline him, you just add some additional training to remind him you are the boss

You can do that by using three simple training exercises. In all three you give the command in a normal voice, give Rip a few seconds to think things over, and pet and praise him when he complies with your order.

While walking Rip – on an expandable leash of course, leave the short leashes to the stolid folks of the dog show world – give the command “hold,” then tug on the leash to make sure he comes to a halt. Once he does, praise and pet him. Repeat the exercise five or six times, one right after the other, walk for a while, then repeat the process.

Include the training in your walk every day. Dogs learn this trick very quickly. Once Rip learns, take him into the yard without the leash and continue the practice.

The second exercise will be incorporated into the daily feeding. As you set the food down order Rip to “hold,” and use a hand signal the same as a traffic cop when he holds traffic. If you have to, restrain him with your hand while you repeat the command. After a few seconds, motion him toward the food and say “OK.” Don’t allow him to eat until you give the OK. Once he learns to obey you, vary your actions from day to day. Allow him to eat immediately some days, order him to stay on others.

The final step is to use the same “hold” command before allowing him in or out of the car or the house. Once he learns the command, use it every time he enters or exits.

These commands will psychologically extend your verbal control over Rip. Each time he obeys the bond between you becomes stronger, so you have more control the next time he becomes excited.

As always, the most important part of training is the petting and praise.

This story was originally published September 9, 2016 at 8:46 AM with the headline "3 simple exercises to retrain a herding dog."