Dawns Dog Sheep Thursday 4 October 18.00

Thu, Oct 4th 2018 at 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm

Dawns Dog Sheep Thursday 4 October 18.00

Dawns Dog Sheep Thursday October 4 @ 18.30

Dawns Dog Sheep Thursday 4 October 18.00

DAWN’S DOG SHEEP

The title of Thursday’s talk – Dawn’s Dog Sheep – created a good deal of speculation among members as to the possible content of the talk.  Was the title a misprint? Had there been some cross-breeding of a most unusual kind? Or had Dawn succeeded in training sheep to act as dogs?  All was revealed when Dawn Green explained that her “dog sheep” was a lamb that she had rescued after it had been abandoned by its mother because of a defect in its feet.  Dawn had brought the lamb up in the company of her dogs, as a result of which the lamb – now a young sheep – now thinks of itself as a dog, and behaves like one.  Dawn showed a short video of her sheep playing with her dogs and acting entirely as if it were one.

Having a sheep acting in this way was extremely helpful when it came to acclimatizing dogs to a sheep, and was very useful as a means of encouraging positive interaction.

Dawn, a specialist in dog psychology, said that her particular objective was to emphasize the need for dogs to have appropriate training.  In particular, Dawn emphasized the need for dog owners to ensure that their dogs are under control when in an area known to have sheep or cattle.  Indeed, she went further and insisted that dogs should be on leads when there is a possibility of there being farm animals in the vicinity.  Current statistics suggest that as many as one in ten dog owners fail to take this advice.  With 7.3 million dogs in the United Kingdom, ten percent is a lot of dogs having the potential to put livestock in danger, and, themselves, being in danger of farmers taking action against them.  Linked with this, Dawn reported her concern that some 71 percent of dog owners do not believe that their dogs would worry sheep.

As evidence of the outcome of the irresponsibility of not having dogs on leads, Dawn showed some lurid pictures of sheep that had been attacked by dogs, and visual evidence of the consequences for some dogs caught attacking farm animals.

Associated with this good advice on keeping dogs on leads where this is advisable, Dawn emphasized the importance of early training of dogs, and the need to maintain a consistency in the training.  In this context, she illustrated the use of a clicker to gain the dog’s attention, with treats being used to reinforce the dog’s attention and good behaviour.

In answer to a question, Dawn suggested that there were considerable differences in dogs’ inherent ability to respond positively to training, with Labradors being particularly good.

Thanking Dawn for a very informative talk, Ken Murray, Speaker’s Host, and a dog owner himself, agreed that there was much for dog owners to grasp in terms of ensuring their dogs were kept under proper control at all times.


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