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Melanie Leigh-Deux, who is working on a project towards “Preserving the Working History of the Original McNab Dogs in California” asked Bud and I to give her our recollections of the McNab dogs we have known. Following is the information we sent to her.
I was born on a farm in Oregon in 1932. My Dad’s insistence that us kids be “Good Neighbors” has led me through a very interesting life. I have worked on ranches or with livestock most of my life. I always had good dogs, so I had lots of practice
To expand on Bud’s statement about placing livestock and have them stay where you want them to without the use of fences: The traditional way of driving livestock is to get behind them and force or frighten them to move away, hopefully in the direction you want them to go.
When Bud starts a cow dog, the only thing he wants the pup’s mind on is the cattle. He is very careful not to distract it from the stock. Even if the pup had been schooled with obedience commands, he never uses them the first few times he takes it
I have been asked to give my opinion about the feasibility of herding livestock in open range conditions. I have been involved in this type of livestock work for a good many years and consider it not only possible, but preferable, under many conditions, to using fences to control the
This is how I teach a dog to continue driving the stock in the same direction when I get out of sight or go out to bring in more stock. You will need to adjust some as each dog is different, but the principle will be the same with any dog.
Stress is an important component of livestock health problems and effectively limits performance. Sources of stress include shipping, weaning, acclimation to new surroundings, processing, pen riding, treating, and sorting. People can be trained in stockmanship and management techniques that eliminate stress during these procedures and, in fact, make handling episodes
Here is an excerpt from a letter I received from Zimbabwe, Africa. “…..Cows calving at a good pace, but my ‘friends,’ the leopard and cheetah are still trying and in some cases causing havoc with the new born calves. Still pursuing with your principals of handling cattle with the emphasis
People who are familiar with my method of working livestock know my number one aim is to work my animals with the least amount of stress possible. In fact, I have found ways to work livestock that actually takes existing stress off of them. It is just a bonus to
Yes, Allan, you are correct in saying the herder should be able to just go to the herd once a day, start them grazing in the desired direction or move them to a new area and settle them there and then leave. But, probably anyone who is vitally interested in
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