Author Topic: Lead training sheep! (Read 6353 times)

plumseverywhere · « **on:** June 16, 2012, 02:51:24 pm »

The halter arrived yesterday. Tried it on Nimble the sheep that wishes she was a labrador...here are the results...

1) Tempt dopey sheep towards you with feed...

2) pop halter on (keeping everything crossed its on the right way) try not to laugh at expression on ewe's face when she realises she now looks like a goat, try to work out how to stop ewe dropping to knee's in stubborn attempt not to be led

I had the rings so the rope pulled downward and controlled the head - am hoping I got it right? That's not me in the pic's obviously - its Milli my 10 year old

YorkshireLass · « **Reply #1 on:** June 16, 2012, 02:56:52 pm »

Can't see from the photo, but if I were to be fussy, the leadrope part should be on the animal's left

I googled pressure/release halter training and got a thread here [size=78%]http://www.accidentalsmallholder.net/forum/index.php?topic=17215.0[/size]

plumseverywhere · « **Reply #2 on:** June 16, 2012, 02:59:44 pm »

was just glad to get it on her! but will bear that in mind. So when showing animals that are not dogs the animal walks on your right hand side then?
That's going to confuddle my poor brain that is

princesspiggy · « **Reply #3 on:** June 16, 2012, 04:34:38 pm »

rem u can tie the halter by the chin, so it doesnt loosen off when she walking nicely and fall off her head. some halters are worse than others, especially if they have a ring, and can come off easily. not funny if its a cow ur leading ...lol

Remy · « **Reply #4 on:** June 16, 2012, 04:52:17 pm »

I always have the lead to the left of the sheep, don't know that it makes any difference unless you're showing? Some of mine have taken to it very easily, some have taken great exception and have absolutely refused to be led anywhere ! These are the ones who throw themselves onto their backs and won't get up again

I've only succeeded in properly training two of my rams, but am so glad I did as it makes life SO much easier to move them from one place to another. My original Ryeland ram just isn't having it, it might be because I've left him till he's older - the other two were ram lambs when I trained them.

omnipeasant · « **Reply #5 on:** June 16, 2012, 04:57:22 pm »

Try pressure and release as I do when training horses to walk on a light rein. 1)Keep up asteady pressure on the halter but don't pull. 2) As soon as the sheep takes a step forward release the pressure. Let that sink in then try again. It seems to work on most mammals.

Also you could try having someone push fro behind to start with, but beware, once you have them moving forward they might not want to stop!!!!

VSS · « **Reply #6 on:** June 17, 2012, 05:33:25 pm »

Quote from: Remy on June 16, 2012, 04:52:17 pm

My original Ryeland ram just isn't having it, it might be because I've left him till he's older.

You can train them at any age - I halter trained a six year old tup earlier this year. It was quite hairy to begin with and he was extremely strong, but got the idea...... sort of

It is easier when they are younger but be careful when they are very young as it is easy to damage them and they can get very stressed so keep the sessions very short.

in the hills · « **Reply #7 on:** June 17, 2012, 06:24:45 pm »

Plums - That looks brill to me and my ten year old. We've just been laughing at the thought of posting photos of her training our girlies. They would be action shots.

Oh, apart from the ewe who decided it really was best to play dead. We came to the conclusion that it could be included as some kind of extreme sport - especially with the horns.