If you are a novice to working stock with dogs, even if you are an experienced dog trainer and/or experienced with livestock, it is highly advisable to start with a good instructor, not a book or video. There is hardly any way to get into trouble with a dog faster than to put an intense young working-bred dog on stock without knowing exactly what you are doing. Not to mention how hard it can be on the stock!
BOOKS: Although there are no books specifically about training Australian Shepherds, some general herding training books and videos are:
- Anybody Can Do It, by Pope Robertson
- Lessons from a Stock Dog, by Bruce Fogt
- Herding Dogs, by Virgil Holland
- Training and Working Dogs For Quiet Confident Control of Stock, by Scott Lithgow
- Moving ‘Em : A Guide to Low Stress Animal Handling, by Burt Smith
- Stockdog Savvy, by Jeanne Joy Hartnagle-Taylor and Ty Taylor
- Walk Up by Annette de Jong
- The Traveling Herding Teacher by Bob Vest
There are plenty of books about training Border Collies; be aware that the techniques used for training the Border Collie do not always translate perfectly to the Aussie. Also check out the large collection of training articles in our Stockdog Library.
VIDEOS: these are either about training Aussies or are directly applicable.
• Steve and Anne Shope Legends Aussies
• the Hartnagles Las Rocosa Aussies
• Steve Winn Slash V Aussies
• Jerry Rowe, J Bar D Aussies, Twin Creek Farm (now also available in Amazon Instant Streaming format).
• Ben Means theperfectstockdog.com
• Lynn Leach of Downriver Farm
