What are some jobs I can give my Australian Shepherd to do?
Does anyone know of any "jobs" you can train your Australian Shepherd to do? I need some ideas considering we don’t have any animals for him to herd. I would also really appreciate training techniques on how to train the task to the dog.
ThAnKs!!!!!!
Although the majority of my Aussies are trained for herding, I also train a few for Search and Rescue – and they are excellent SAR dogs. It is a lot of work, and takes a lot of time, but the rewards are worth it. If you have a team in your area that takes volunteer members (many areas do these days), you can talk to them about training assistance.
If you don't have that much time to spend and are just looking for something to keep your dog active, agility is a great way to help him burn off energy. Working your dog in agility is also a great bonding experience, as it truly is a team sport. There are several places on the web to purchase course obstacles, but many of them can be made with stuff from the hardware store for a lot less.
Check with your vet or your local AKC chapter and see if there's any agility groups in your area.
austalian shephards are great agility dogs and it gives them lots of exercise
References :
You could have an obstacle couse and train the dog to go through it. Along with that though you could have the dog keep specific items organized in the course (i.e. balls go in one section, frisbees in another).
References :
Your dog should automatically be protecting you and your family, since you are his 'herd' … and that means he's doing his 'job' even when you think he's just sleeping in the shade of a tree. There are some cute tricks you can teach a dog … like carrying a bag or something for you … when I was a child our dog could carry a small paper bag of money with a note to the store, and then carry the purchase (small, she was a small dog) home in the sack … the clerk always gave her a stick of black licorice as her 'treat' and we'd give her the bag and the 'treat' back and she'd tear it up to get her licorice, which she loved. I doubt you could send a dog into a store these days, but THINK about what YOUR dog does that is 'cute' and see if you can't bring that up to doing a nifty trick … but ALWAYS give a treat at the end, so the dog will WANT to do it every time you tell/ask.
References :
Well when you walk him you can put a dog back pack on him with his water and your key in it, his health and age will determine if you want a few waters or just enough for him to drink.
References :
Teach him to play FlyBall. Seen a few aussies that learn to hit the trigger just to chase the ball.
References :
Although the majority of my Aussies are trained for herding, I also train a few for Search and Rescue – and they are excellent SAR dogs. It is a lot of work, and takes a lot of time, but the rewards are worth it. If you have a team in your area that takes volunteer members (many areas do these days), you can talk to them about training assistance.
If you don't have that much time to spend and are just looking for something to keep your dog active, agility is a great way to help him burn off energy. Working your dog in agility is also a great bonding experience, as it truly is a team sport. There are several places on the web to purchase course obstacles, but many of them can be made with stuff from the hardware store for a lot less.
Check with your vet or your local AKC chapter and see if there's any agility groups in your area.
References :
I have a Aussie puppy. I trained him to sit, lay, rollover, get up, and sit again whenever I snapped my fingers. Also, he was herding geese at our park last weekend. So you might want to teach him a few tricks…Aussie's LOVE to learn!
References :