Herding Instinct On Agility Course

[sheena]

My Border Collie seems to have a very strong herding instinct which causes distractions during agility trialing. When other dogs are playing, or chasing a ball, she is more interested in rounding them up than joining in the game. The only time she makes contact with them is when they stop running & she will go in with a left hook to get them to run again. She always has to have something in her mouth, usually a leaf hanging out like a cigarette paper. Problem is when she is on the agility course, if she sees a dog running around in the far distance it distracts her for a moment which is just enough to cause her to miss a weave pole or pause on top of the A-Frame (she gets a better view up there). At training she is fine & almost perfect even with other dogs doing their stuff at the same time, but if she sees another dog running around free in the distance, she has to sticky beak. I have been told she will grow out of this, she is nearly 3YO. I have cured her of smell distractions on course & if I could fix this then seconds would be cut from her times & she would be tops.

[Vickie]

None of what you are describing is herding instinct.

You just need to focus on making yourself & agility more rewarding than any other distractions, be they food or other dogs.

[sheena]

Vickie....why would you not describe this behaviour as "herding". ;) We are on a farm & she "herds" the cattle in the same way by running around them in wide ever decreasing circles until she has gathered them all together & then will put them through a gate. I have been on farms for most of my life, be it sheep or cattle & this is the way our working dogs mostly worked, especially the BC's. It is exactly the same thing she does when around other dogs & when she sees a dog running around in the distance she thinks it should be 'gathered" like a stray sheep. She has a very good recall, so that's not a problem, just that it loses valuable seconds on the agility course (or a missed weave pole). She hardly ever knocks a bar even when her head is turned towards the distraction.

[Vickie]

Vickie....why would you not describe this behaviour as "herding". ;)

Problem is when she is on the agility course, if she sees a dog running around in the far distance it distracts her for a moment which is just enough to cause her to miss a weave pole or pause on top of the A-Frame (she gets a better view up there).

I am not sure how you could describe a hesitation/sticky beak in agility as herding? What you are saying is that she is stimulated & distracted by other dogs movement when she is on course. This would apply to many dogs in agility, herding dogs or not.

What I am saying is that it really is no different to any dog being distracted by anything outside the ring. A dog that is distracted by anything when running agility needs to find agility more rewarding than any distraction in order for this behaviour not to occur. I am not sure how calling it herding instinct will help you solve it .

My dog has as much herding instinct (on livestock) as any dog I have ever seen. The only thing that has ever distracted her while running agility is a paddock full of sheep next to the course .

Edited September 2, 2010 by Vickie

[sheena]

Whatever name might be put to it, obviously I need to have her complete & utter focus on me & the obstacles. I do lots of "focus" work with her & she loves to work with me & she is perfect at training with all the other dogs. What I'm wondering, am I expecting too much of her being that she is not quite 3 & this is her first year of trialing. I have been told on numerous occassions that this problem will disappear when she matures (at about the age of 5). So there is no other way of dealing with it except to keep up the "focus & drive" work & it will all fall into place?? This is the first agility dog I have had, all the BC's in the past have been working dogs. So it's important to me that I get as much advice as possible so that I don't ruin a very good dog. ;)

Edited September 2, 2010 by sheena

[Kavik]

I had distraction problems when I first started with Kaos (among other ones regarding him running off, placement and delivery of reward - my fault). I have found that with time and more training he has improved a lot as both his and my confidence in our training and handling has improved. Our biggest issue at the moment seems to be kids on the side of the ring (he has left the ring to visit a couple of times and gotten distracted by a baby crying as I have a child). The trial atmosphere is distracting and I think in itself is one of the challenges of competing.