Herding

Belgian Sheepdogs and Their Tracking, Herding, and Other Abilities

The Belgian Sheepdog is a highly intelligent breed that must always have plenty to keep him busy. Unlike many other breeds, he is not content to just stand beside you and wait for something to happen. They need to be busy doing something whether it's herding, assisting the blind or disabled, working with agility exercises, or working as a police or guard dog. They must be busy at all times or they will find their own entertainment, which may not suit your idea of a challenging activity. [...]

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Specialized Events For Different Breeds

Each type or breed of dog has been bred and developed to fill a particular niche for humans. This may be a very general job such as a companion dog's role, or it may be very practical such as a breed that has been developed as a gun or hunting dog, as a working dog or as a herding or flock guardian. Each breed, regardless of its size or abilities, has a special type of event or competition that they could, with work and practice, start to compete in. Some competitions will require that the dog be a registered purebred, while other events, typically the hunting and working trials, will be open to all dogs regardless of registry or lineage. Other events may be sponsored completely by one breed association and may be restricted to dogs that are registered through that group, club or association. [...]

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Border Collie - The Right Dog For Me?

There are a great number of reasons why a Border Collie may be just the right dog for you and your family. As with any breed of dog there are also some important considerations that may make a Border Collie a poor match for your home and lifestyle. No matter how much you may want to own a Border Collie, if it isn't the right match for your life then it really isn't fair to the dog, or to you either. Making informed decisions about a Border Collie before you bring a puppy home makes it easier on everyone. Often people that want a Border Collie but don't have the right lifestyle can find another breed that has the traits they want without the traits that will make owning this beautiful breed a real challenge. [...]

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Training The Border Collie

As one of the smartest dogs, training a Border Collie is often very simple initially, but then difficulties start to set in. Usually these difficulties or challenges occur because the human member of the dog-person in the training program starts to deviate from the original commands. When this happens the highly intelligent Border Collie starts to think that perhaps this is a new command, and attempts to figure out what you want him or her to do. The owner, who may not understand that he or she is the cause of the problem, quickly become frustrated with a dog they see as being stubborn or willful. [...]

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Training and Socialization of Akitas

The Akita is unique among some of the working group in that they are more comfortable being an only dog or as a pair, rather than being a true pack dog. This may be caused by their fighting heritage or because of their role in the rural areas. It would have been uncommon for people to keep more than one or two of these very large sized dogs, even when they were used for hunting or for herding and protecting flocks, which were a major part of the early Akita's role. [...]

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