Orchard Hill English Shepherds
Training Resources I have found to be helpful
Trainers:
Patrick Shannahan - I've taken Mace to two of Patrick's "beginner" clinics. He holds them each year in Caldwell, Idaho, where he
lives. Patrick is primarily a Border collie trainer, though he works well with English shepherds too.
Larry Painter - Mace and I attended his cattle clinic. Larry has also worked with other English shepherds, and understands how they
work.
Lynn Leach - Mace and I have taken lessons from Lynn on two occasions. She is very helpful with getting a dog started. She has
worked primarily with upright, loose-eyed breeds.
Videos:
An Introduction to All Breed Herding by Lynn Leach of Downriver Farms. I found this video helpful in seeing how upright, loose-eyed
dogs work. Lynn identifies different problems that beginning dogs might have, and gives you several techniques to address each one.
This video is available from Lynn on her website.
All Breed Herding: The Next Steps is the follow-up to Lynn's first video. Also available from Lynn on her website.
All Breed Herding: Getting Your Driver's License is the next video in Lynn's training series. It is due to be released in the spring of
2010. I expect this video will be as helpful as the previous two. The first two were beginning levels, this one gets to intermediate level
work.
The Shepherd's Pup by Derek Scrimgeour. This is a two-volume set that shows how Derek starts his dogs. These are Border collies,
but are not particularly strong-eyed dogs. I think his methods are especially good for a softer dog. I have used several of the
approaches that Derek teaches. I like how he trains and then uses a recall in more advanced training. Available from .......
The Stock Dog: Started Series by Tim Taylor. These videos (a set of six) follow two young Bouviers through the first year of their
training. Bouviers are upright, loose-eyed working dogs. They have a lot of prey drive, and the techniques in these videos would be
especially appropriate for strong dogs. We have also used these methods for Josie, who has a lot of prey drive but is very biddable,
and for Ember, who is very soft, and sometimes lacks confidence with livestock. This set is available from Tim on his website.
Training Your Stock Dog by Steve Winn. This video features Aussies, another upright, loose-eyed breed, and also shows a Kelpie
working. I didn't find this video as helpful as some of the others. The presentation is not as organized, and the explanations are not as
clear as those in some of the other videos. It is helpful in watching dogs that work similarly to English shepherds. I found that watching
Steve work with his dogs was more helpful than listening to his explanations.
Books:
The Farmer's Dog by John Holmes
Training and Working Dogs for Quiet Confident Control of Stock by Scott Lithgow
Herding Dogs, Progressive Training by Vergil Holland
Working Sheep Dogs by Tully Williams - I found this to be fascinating. I especially appreciated his analysis of natural working traits
and how they are inherited, and how various combinations of traits work together.
Training Your Own Stock Dog: You Don't Have to be Smarter than the Dog by Bob Hinds. Available from www.bobhinds.com.
I also read "How to Train Your Farm Dog" by E. G. Emanuel. Mr. Emanuel was an early English shepherd breeder, and past President
of the English Shepherd Club of America. I found some helpful tips there, but was mostly of interest to me to see how English
shepherd owners trained their dogs in the past. There are also hints into breeding/selection processes used by Mr. Emanuel. This
booklet, available from the International English Shepherd Registry, is compiled from articles written by Mr. Emanuel in the 1950s.
Websites:
www.herdingontheweb.com
www.workingaussiesource.com
www.ahba-herding.org