04/05/2024
Lambing is finally over for us! So I thought it was a good time to share this post I wrote about sheep proofing your dog!
Sheep proofing.
As sheep farmers we are always happy that people want to try and prevent their dogs causing livestock worrying, plus to work your dog on a shoot depending where you are you may need to work your dogs in a field with sheep, so here is my top tips.
Firstly a couple of donts. Please don’t try and start sheep proofing your dog between January and May, the sheep are either heavy in lamb or have lambs just born and are at their most vulnerable to being distressed, aborting or abandoning lambs. It’s also when farmers are at their most stressed and most likely to shout at you, get angry or potentially point a gun at your dog. Yes they do have the right to shoot your dog if it is “out of control” in their field. Out of control is a woolly term that none of us like so just don’t push it!
Next where to sheep proof, so there are some farm shops, farm attraction type places that have small flocks and are dog friendly (please check they are dog friendly). These sheep are very used to seeing dogs and the farmers allow dogs here you can get close to the fence lie with your dog with out causing to much distress.
Obviously we all walk past fields of sheep regularly you can use this if there is a very secure fence line and your dog is on a short lead. I do not recommend using un fenced foot paths that run through sheep fields as a place to train. Yes you have a right to walk through that small section of the field, but your right is to move through that field as quickly and calmly as possible with the dog ON LEAD causing no stress to the animals. This is not a training location unless you have spoken the the farmer first.
No matter where you are training if the sheep start to become distressed running around, stamping feet, panting stop and move away IMMEDIATELY no matter what time of year it is. They aren’t your live stock and you do not have the right to be causing them undue distress.
If you have a puppy start by socialising it with sheep, this does not mean running around near sheep but being in proximity to sheep whilst being calm and being able to focus back on you. Eye contact and settle are great exercises to do this with.
If you have an older dog that has never chased sheep, doesn’t have a strong chase drive, you can do similar to above with the puppies. You can also move on to the next stage which is to contact a farmer (outside lambing time!) and ask if they would kind you training near some of their sheep. If worded correctly and at the right time of year a lot of farmers won’t mind this and allow you to train near the ewes not in lamb or the older lambs. If the dog has been completely calm around sheep so far and shown no interest in them with the farmers permission start with your dog working on a long line in a adjacent field, something they are really good at and stay focused on you, for my boys that’s retrieving. For most spaniels hunting would be hard here as they are more likely to then potentially pick up a scent run and scare the sheep, a moving sheep is far more interesting to chase than a standing one! Slowly build this up, and never trust your dog around sheep, I have sheep my dogs see them daily and have worked in a flock of sheep picking up I still put mine on lead around other peoples sheep!
For dogs that have already chased sheep, this is a hard one and I suggest seeing a trainer about this. You are also going to need an understanding farmer who is willing to pen up a small number of sheep so that can not run around to much. As first you need to habituate your dog to still sheep, much less fun to chase.
Finally thank you again for trying to reduce livestock worrying and being sensible about it :)
