Question: . . .I have a year and a half old border collie. When I started using him I was determined with this one to send and shut up and only push him to where I wanted him to go like Bud always said. This has worked well and he responds good and really goes around to the other side and gets them going but as soon as they start moving that’s it. He just sits there and watches. I’ve tried just leaving him and once and a while he will move up but won’t push. Somehow he is just confused about what I want him to do.
The other thing is that if I send him with another dog that knows what to do he is fantastic. I love his style. He keeps his head up and watches all over and doesn’t get hung up on any one thing to long. Doesn’t even have to stick right by the other dog either just gets to work. I just don’t want him to have to be dependent on another dog and maybe I started doing that too soon.
Answer: I’m afraid that I’m not going to be any help with this question except to say that there’s nothing wrong with working him with another dog at this point. Bud always liked to use two dogs on cattle. The cattle responded better and neither of them had to be nearly as rough to get the job done. We always had a lot of dogs. Of course, Bud tried to make each dog as near perfect as he could, but he was always willing to “take what each dog could give him.” A year and a half isn’t that old. I’d think that if you worked him with another dog, doing actual work (not just training sessions) for a while until he actually got it in his mind what the complete job was all about he would start to realize that “the idea is to put the cattle through the gate” or some such thing. Sorry I couldn’t help more.
Comment: . . . . That was lots of help. Just knowing Bud worked two dogs together will help a bunch. I know Bud really loved dogs and I do to. That video you sent and the things he has written are priceless. If I can keep learning what he (you) was teaching I know things will work well. Every part of our operation, dogs, cattle, marketing is affected every day by what you have done for us. Hang in there and thanks again.
