Australian Shepherd Puppy Training

Australian Shepherds were bred to work and they love to work. They were bred as herding dogs to help the rancher bring in the cattle in rough land where it wasn’t always possible to ride a horse through. The dog, being smaller and more agile than the  horse, was able to chase the cows out of the brush in Australia and help round them up. They were the right hand helper for the rugged cowboy. Their longer coat length helped to protect them against thorns and thistles and their medium size was perfect for enduring a long hard day of work running after the cows. Even in the United States they are still used frequently to help run the cattle through the corral for any treating, shots or branding that needs to be done. They still help bring up the cattle on large ranches, and small ones. They help run the roping steers down the shoot to the correct area for the cowboys to rope them.

 

In today’s day though, frequently Australian Shepherds are kept more as pets instead of working dogs. They still however maintain their high level of energy and need to work. As a result this creates a dog that is easily trainable but needs a job. Australian Shepherds excel in high activity sports such as flyball, agility, herding competitions, jogging partners, obedience, and other sports. We will go into some of these sports in another page on this site.

 

Australian Shepherds are loyal partners, eager to obey, eager to please, quick to learn and fun to be around, happy dogs. The important thing to remember when getting your Australian Shepherd puppy and beginning its training is that they need consistency, rewards, gentle voice, and lots of love. Avoid speaking harshly to your new puppy. Reward correct actions or behavior and soon your pup will learn what you want or expect and be eager to obey. They thrive on your praise and quickly pick up on what you are trying to teach them.

 

Some fun things to teach your new puppy include:

Sit

Lay Down

Stay

Shake

Roll Over

Wait (for a treat or for dinner. This also teaches them not to grab from your hand)

Come

Fetch

 

These are some basic commands and we will go over how to teach them in another page. If you decide to pursue some of the exciting high energy sports with your Australian Shepherd, then you will need more advanced training.

See Also :

 Australian Shepherd Training Tips

How to Teach your Australian Shepherd to Jump

 Australian Shepherd Basic Training