28/10/2026
If you can’t stop your dog you can’t control the sheep. Sounds simple doesn’t it? His constant movement without pause will snowball and have sheep worried, panicked or fleeing. But It’s very quick for a stop command to become optional for a dog. It’s just a matter of never enforcing it. A stop is a safety command for new handlers and is often called at the wrong time. A time when things are out of control and it makes no sense to the dog for it to stop. Asking, pleading, yelling has no affect. The dog’s instinct to herd and hold the sheep overrules your command. He ignores you. Step one in never getting a reliable stop complete!
There are two stops, which can create a degree of confusion in a dog. One is stop and be responsible. The other is stop and don’t move. Having different commands will help. A stop and be responsible means the dog can break a stop to hold the sheep. Nothing worse than telling a dog to stop and turning to see the dog stopped as the sheep runaway. I use stop-watch em’. Other use ‘wait’. It’s a pause in movement not a stop and quit working.
The stop and don’t move means just that. So stop- stay might be an appropriate command. Regardless of the word your using enforcing the action is most important. If you say it make it. It’s not optional! Be in a position to
Make enforcing it easy. Don’t turn your back on him.
Understanding where to stop your dog and working with his instinct in the early part of training will help develop more difficult off balance stops or stops when sheep are breaking. Good dogs will show you where to right place is as he will pause or turn in on the sheep when he feels he has control, hold him with your body in that spot for a few seconds. Developing a good natural stop and increasing the difficulty incrementally will help you work towards a reliable and most critical stop on your dog.
Simon Leaning
Marionvale Working Dogs ©️
