An acclaimed working dog trainer in Western Australia says more women are taking on the challenge of training pups for a life on the land.
Tenterden farmer and kelpie breeder Jenny Parsons runs workshops in the Great Southern region and says she has noticed sheep and cattle handling becoming the domain of women on their farms.
“Men are generally very busy doing their cropping and the women are taking over the livestock enterprises,” Ms Parsons said.
Farmer Lyn Mathwin is a regular at Ms Parsons’ workshops.
“We enjoy it. It’s something I think women like to do,” she said.
“The dogs make my life so much easier on the farm. I can pretty much run the entire sheep operation on my own.”
Despite having had her dog for seven years, Ms Mathwin said mustering always brought something new.
Training the handler, not just the dog
The ABC’s Muster Dogs TV program host Neil McDonald has dedicated his career to helping stock handlers understand their dogs better and said it was a field anyone could get into.
“It’s up to the individual … you’ve got extremely good ones and you’ve got ones that battle,” he said.
Mr McDonald recently came to Tenterden to offer his expertise at one of Ms Parsons’ workshops.
With more than 70 years of experience between them, Ms Parsons and Mr McDonald know a thing or two about working dogs and herding.
The key, they both agree, is understanding how the animals think and how they interpret instructions.
“The trick then is to draw the dog over to the way that you see things, so you are both on the same channel,” Mr McDonald said.
Stock handlers also need to shake off any awkward feelings and embrace some of the over-the-top body language involved.
The common training tool for this is the garden rake, which may look like a weapon but is used as an extension of the arm to get dogs to understand certain movements.
“In the early years, it was hard to get people to understand that they needed some extra instruction,” Mr McDonald recalled.
“And to do [it] of course in front of other people was a little bit daunting for them.”
Mr McDonald’s approach focuses on building a structure and keeping the dog calm.
“I’m helping them be a situation creator, to create situations which bring out their natural instincts, and then label them so the dog understands your commands,” he said.
“We learn to work animals with less urgency and noise, and we teach the dogs to be less rushed when moving the stock.”
“Neil teaches everyone to slow down and to manage the movement of animals in a calmer atmosphere,” Ms Parsons said.
She said it was common to see farmers who brought in dogs that switched off and did not seem to be able to work with their owners.
“Too much pressure on the dog, when you are training, can shut them down,” she said.
“Sometimes I just have to figure out the individual dog, but with time I can get them to work again. I enjoy that.”
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