CONFOUNDED BY COMMANDS & CORRECTIONS?
PART 2: WORKING DEFINITIONS

by Red Oliver

COME
We all know what this means. Our pup should know this and obey instantly and happily when called. The two commands "come" and "down" are the foundation commands for all future training in the non-eyed breeds and will be in the Border Collie or Kelpie as soon as he is started. For the novice they both require near perfect obedience before starting on stock.

There is a problem I should warn you of that may arise later on. It occurs when we are teaching our pup to balance the stock while driving along a fence and we ask the pup to come away from directly behind the stock and move out to the side or when we are teaching him to flank off balance between the stock and ourselves. To encourage the pup to maintain a good distance we often use the words "come" or "here" as an initial aid in getting him off the fence and out and back off from the stock or to flank wide toward the handler. If you use this method, you must drop the word "come" very soon or your "come" will change from "come to me" to "come toward me".

DOWN
This is the other command that we all know, and another one that needs to be perfect before we go to stock. At some stage, our non-eyed breeds, who hate to down, start to stand (and stay). When this happens, we often continue using the word "down" for a "stand/stay" and soon we have no "down" when we need it. Once your pup starts stopping in a stand, start using either "stand" or "stay" for an on-the-feet stop. Also, teach your pup that "down", "stand" and "sit" do not require an additional "stay" command. They are complete in themselves.

STAY
I am putting this in here as by this time you will want your dog to stop in the gate while on his feet and watch so that the stock do not come out. Too often the down (because of its finality) means for the dog to lie in the gate without moving even if the stock are escaping past him. If from puppyhood you have taught your pup with a simple "stay" to stay in the car, or in the back of the pickup, or on one side of the door as you are carrying in groceries, or to stay in a pen when you open the gate until you call him by name, this command will be old hat by the time you get this far in his training. Normally, you give this command when you do not care whether your dog is standing on his feet, lying down or standing on his head.

WALK ON
(Walk up, get up, there, some even use the word "steady".)
Means for the dog to advance toward the stock from wherever he is when the command is given whether fetching, driving or flanking. In early training, when the dog is flanking the handler will most often give a stop command before the "walk on". Some trainers use the word "there" to mean the dog should stop flanking and move toward the stock without any other command. In my earlier days I did this, but have quit because it is a lot easier to teach the dog one command to "walk on", regardless if he is running hard or standing still than it is to teach a pup to understand two commands for the same behavior.

The reason the word "there" is so often used to stop a dog when he is flanking and to turn in toward the stock instead of the words "walk on" is that it is part and parcel of the human brain-set. We watch our dog as he is flanking with nervous anticipation and when he gets to the right spot we yell "THERE". Why not "walk on"? Because it is not as nice a clear, concise sound in our minds.
If you do actually teach your dog that "there" means to walk toward the stock from wherever he is when the command is issued then you should drop the use of any other commands for this behavior.

THERE
This command normally means one of three things depending on each trainer's methods:

1. When the dog is flanking or when moving from one position to another, it means "stop where you are, on your feet and wait for another command".

2. A nice way of telling the pup he is in the right place when you are trying to position him a little differently than he is. Example: You're trying to pull the pup out on the balance point from behind the stock and when he does get there you say, "There! That's good!"

I use this word a lot in tracking when my pup has lost the track and crosses back over it, but may not hesitate there long enough to catch the scent and my "there" slows him down until he can take a good sniff. I also utilize this word in teaching a dog to position himself in preparation for doing something on his own. Example: I send my dog to the shoulder of the herd (near the head, but off to the side) with a side command (left or right) and when the dog gets to where I want him, the flanking is stopped with a "there". As I do not want my dog to actually stop in a "down", or to move toward the stock, and because is always a reason directly connected to my sending him to that spot in regards to controlling the stock, the dog learns this very fast and soon will take care of whatever it is that I sent him there for.

If I wish him to move farther away from the stock (take pressure off) or to move in toward the stock (add a little pressure) or to move a small amount to either left or right, or to hold that position, I will command him to do just that, but until I give another command he is free to use his best judgment in doing what he was sent there to do. If I do change my "walk on" command to "there", I will have to find some other word to use as described in this section.

3. When flanking: "stop the flank and move in toward the stock" (a combination of "stop" and "walk on"). Most people that use it this way are, when asked, unsure of just how they taught it and often times have difficulty in remembering when they taught it. A much more effective way to do the same thing is to use either "there" or "walk on", but not both.
If you are like so many handlers I know who find the words "walk on" inadequate when their dog is flanking and they want it to cease flanking and turn in toward the stock, I recommend replacing the traditional "walk on" with the command "there" at all times. It is, however, as easy to teach a pup to first flank one way, stop and then flank the other way and eventually to change directions without stopping as it is to teach the dog to "walk on" when stopped as well as when flanking.

THE BIG SIDE COMMANDS
The big command is the whole command ("away to me" and "go by" or "come by") and means for the dog to go clear around to the far side, while the small commands are meant to move the dog just a few inches or feet. The big commands should be well established before the small commands are taught.

1. Away to me: This is the full command and means for the dog to circle the stock to his right with his left shoulder toward the stock (counter clockwise). If the dog was taught this properly, it would mean "turn to your right and go to the far side of the stock". If given again, the dog should keep right on circling. If given during an outrun, the dog should widen his outrun.

2. Go By (or Come By): This is the big command to the left around the stock with the dog's right shoulder toward the stock. A good way to remember this command is to see it as "go by the clock".

THE SMALL SIDE COMMANDS
When the dog is mature in his training, there will be many times when you will want him to move just a few feet to one side or the other without moving one inch forward. You teach this by giving a soft partial flanking command and when your pup has moved just a few feet, you stop him and then give another soft command for the same direction. Later, you will stop your pup and then give him another soft command for the opposite direction. Finally, he should change directions without being commanded to stop first. A very easy way to teach this is to put the dog on the outside of a round pen with stock on the inside or to have him fetch the stock to a fence corner and then get between the stock and the dog where you can control its movements.

1. Way or Waay (slow and soft): This is the small command and when
given quietly and calmly means for the dog to make a small movement
(a few inches or a few feet) to his right instead of the big movement. If
taught properly, both this and the "byy" (see below) will move the dog
a few feet 90 degrees sideways without an inch of forward movement.

2. By or Byy (slow and soft): This is the other small command to move a few inches or a few feet to the dog's left.

TASK COMMANDS
Back on the farm, there are several task-oriented commands that tell the dog what to do, but not how to do it. Fortunately, the ASCA trial course incorporates a number of these in all three divisions: Started, Open and Advanced. I mention this here because as you get into post-advance competition, you should have these task commands well established in your dog's repertoire. The most important and useful of the task commands are:

1. "Bring 'em" (the fetch command): This is the universal command to have your dog go down in the pasture and get the stock. You open the barnyard gate and say, "Bill, bring 'em". You go about your other chores not caring which way he went and, lo and behold! like Santa's reindeer, the stock appear out of nowhere with of Bill in total command of their destiny. If you have reason to have him go left or right, you would have added the proper side command, such as, "Bill, away to me. Bring 'em".

2. "Take 'em" (the drive command): Again, you're in your farmer mode and this morning you want of Bill to put the cows in a new pasture. The gate's about a half mile down the fence and you opened it last night in preparation for this morning. You now open the barnyard gate and have Bill bring the cows out. You have Bill get them started in the right direction and then you simply say, "Bill, take 'em" and Bill drives them down the fence line. When he gets to the gate, you can direct him to turn them in if you have to or just give him that old recall whistle you learned from your daddy and the job is done. In both of the above instances, the farmer would never put up with having to tell his dog to "go right", "go left", "lie down", "wait for a drift", "get up", etc., etc. Like a famous Texan once said, "That old hound just won't hunt."

3. "Bring 'em out": To do just that from a pen. Most often, you will open the gate and be holding it, waiting to shut it when ol' Bill has done his job.

4. "Put 'em in ": To put them back through the gate into the pen once the gate is opened.

As stated in each of these four instances, the ASCA trial course is set up for their use: The take pen; the drive and cross drive; pulling the stock from the number two obstacles to the center obstacles; in penning the stock in the free standing pen; and the re-pen.

GET (Used as part of a lot of two word commands.)

1. Get Back: this and the word "THERE" are the two most abused commands in herding. They very seldom have a single meaning and are very seldom taught as a specific command with a specific meaning.

This command should mean for the dog to move straight back away from the stock when he is driving, fetching, holding the stock against a fence or up to the handler. But it too often means get to the rear of the stock; or get to where you were before the last command; or get to where you were before you just moved; or to widen the dog's circle when flanking; or anything else when the handler has run out of commands. Or so it seems.

2.Get Out: This should be reserved for a dog to widen his circle as he flanks around stock. It often means for him to move straight back away from the stock, or to get behind, or not on this side, or you're too far around, or to get out of the pick-up, or to get out of the house or kennel.

3.Get Off: This is an alternative command to push the dog out when circling the stock.

4.Get On Out of There: I'll let you figure this one out.

EASY/STEADY
This should mean for the dog to slow to a walk. When the dog has reached a sophisticated level of training, the good trainers will have introduced a lot of secondary commands that make the dog seem to be thinking rather than operating on blind obedience. The command "steady" is quite often used
instead of a "walk on" as it is given when the dog understands what is wanted and the handler is merely asking for quiet cooperation. It must be taught just like every other obedience command, by physical example and repetition.

The easiest way to teach it is to put a leash on your pup, take him into an alley with some flighty sheep and make him obey by giving the command and then giving a few short sharp snaps on the leash as the two of you go from a trot to an exaggerated slow walk. You can do the same when he is in the round pen and moving the stock too fast or even along a straight fence. Yelling "steady" at him when you have no control over him will not work. This will take several weeks and a lot of persistence. It is too bad that this command is not taught in obedience classes.

NO
For most corrections, an "UNH-UH!" or a "AAGH!" are much more informative to your
pup and have far greater tonal versatility than the "no". When you really have reason to jar your pup (when he is about to bite a sheep or duck), "EH!", loud and intensive, will do the job quite well. The "NO" should always be reserved for when the dog does something wrong, knows it is wrong and fully understands the alternate behavior. At any other time, it never tells your pup what to do, just that he is doing something wrong and you don't like it.

TURN BACK (or LOOK BACK)
This does not mean for your pup to get the one slow old non-exciting ewe that he just passed as she was standing there. That requires a correction. He shouldn't leave any sheep. The turn back is taught by first having your pup facing you and then as you command "turn back", you lift him and turn him so that he is facing away from you.

When in the field, split the flock into two halves and have him fetch one bunch to you. When you are about 20 yards off, give the "turn back", stop him and then give a side command. Later, when he is pretty well-trained, but has a tendency to take off before you can direct him to the left or right, you can give the turn back command and then follow with a walk on and a few yards later by a side command. This will teach him to listen to you.