Harford's Apprentice

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1Movementup fieldDRIVE 1Drive 1To begin, attach a long cord tothe dog for one or two sessionsand position it three or fouryards behind the sheep andyourself slightly forward and tothe right. Then ask the dog totake just a few steps forward at atime directly behind the sheepby quietly saying ‘Walk On’.SheepDogHandlerFirst stage Drive –Close ‘in-line’ positionwalking forward.Movementup field2STOPYou will find the dog only walksa few yards before headingoff-line to try to get to theopposite side of the sheep toyou. At this point immediatelygive it the Stop command, noflank commands.SheepDogStopDrive 1HandlerDog begins to move‘off-line’ to the left–instinctively trying toget to the ‘head of thesheep’.3DRIVE 2While the dog has stopped, stepacross between it and the sheep,so that you are now on the dog’sleft. With the dog repositionedto face the sheep, ask it to WalkOn again, moving forward in astraight line – albeit at a slightlydifferent angle up the field thanbefore.Movementup fieldDrive 2StopDrive 1HandlerDogSheepCreating new‘in-line’ formation –Walk across betweenthe dog and sheep, untilit is once again in line.By repositioningyourself and the sheep,the dog never has towalk backwards orflank. You do the workto keep the dogwalking slowly forwardin line with its sheep.22
Movementup field4STOP 2The dog will no doubt thenquickly try to flank on theother, right side as it doesn’tyet understand that it issupposed to walk straightbehind the sheep.Immediately Stop the dog.Drive 2StopStopDrive 1HandlerDogSheepDog instinctively triesto move ‘off-line’ tothe right –again trying to be onopposite side to youMovementup field5DRIVE 3Correct the formation bywalking across between thedog and the sheep so you areonce again on its right and thedog is set facing straight ontothe sheep ready to begin a newDrive. Now ask the dog to‘Get up’ and ‘Walk On’.SheepDogDrive 2StopHandlerDrive 3StopDrive 1Correcting dog backinto ‘in-line’ –Make sure the dog hasstopped before you repositionyourself andthe sheep. Don’t walkbehind the dog or he’lllook back at you ratherthan at the sheep.Movementup field6DrivePERFECTINGTHE DRIVEAim for longer Drivedistances and fewercorrections as you move upthe field, the dog walkingstraight behind the sheep overlonger distances withoutcommand.SheepHandlerDriving for60-70 yards –Ultimately, you canstand further backfrom the sheep andleave the dog to drivethem ahead withoutcommand.Dog23
Page 1 and 2: HARFORD’S APPRENTICETeaching the
Page 3 and 4: HARFORD’S APPRENTICETeaching the
Page 5 and 6: An introductionYou have a young dog
Page 7 and 8: Some dogs showing excellent potenti
Page 9 and 10: STAGE 1As with any young dog, a Bor
Page 11 and 12: RECALL commandAlthough from a very
Page 13 and 14: STAGE 2The youngest age to contempl
Page 15 and 16: STAGE 3At around 8-12 months old yo
Page 17 and 18: Whether in the open field or in a p
Page 19 and 20: (Some people crunch a paper bag or
Page 21: There seem to be two main ways to t
Page 25 and 26: Look backOnce the dog understands t
Page 27 and 28: Some dogs have natural authority wi
Page 29 and 30: The Importance of WhistleCommand So
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Harford's Apprentice

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