HEBER CITY — Training dogs takes patience, persistence and a fair amount of confidence in yourself and the dog you’re working with. And even with years of experience behind you, there can still be much to learn for both the human and the canine, particularly in the world of competitive sheepdogging.
About a dozen local sheepdog handlers and their dogs participated in a private clinic in Heber City this weekend. The two-day clinic was conducted on Saturday and Sunday by world-renowned sheepdog handler and five-time South African national champion Faansie Basson.
His goal was to help the handlers better understand their dogs and the sheep, then give them a blueprint for improving their training exercises.
“If you don’t have control (of the dogs), then you can’t figure the sheep out,” he said. “We try to make people understand how these dogs operate, what makes them tick and what you need to know to get them going to prevent bad habits.”
Basson has worked with handlers worldwide, including in Scotland, Australia, his native South Africa and more recently in the U.S. He said training methods can often differ depending upon the breed of dog and the type of sheep.
“You have to be able to adjust because not all dogs are exactly the same,” he explained. “This is what I try to train people as well is to understand how to change and adapt according to the dog, but still have the same end results and principles.”
Marlene Warner, of West Jordan, has been involved with the sport of sheepdog competition for eight years and owns four animals that she regularly trains for contests. She said that as a handler, learning the nuances of positioning for the dog and herself can be the difference between a good day and a poor showing in competition.
“Just learning the things that we have here today — it makes so much sense that we can take it home to work at improving,” Warner explained. “You don’t even need a large space. I only have about an acre to train my dogs and if you get these (principles) properly, then it can translate to the big fields and (competitions).”
Over the Labor Day weekend, thousands of spectators are expected to watch Wanter and other handlers and their dogs at the annual Soldier Hollow Classic — one of the world’s foremost yearly sheepdog trials.
Jhoane Robinson, of Roosevelt, was inspired by what she saw at last year’s event and hopes to one day bring her border collie Khimber to compete.
“I was just amazed at the abilities of the handlers and the dogs that were working as a team,” she said. While new to the world of sheepdog trials, Robinson grew up training Arabian horses for competition. That experience, she said, has prepared her for what it will take to become an elite sheepdog handler.
“It’s the practice and discipline, the watching others and seeing how they do it and learning from them,” she said.
For the participants at the clinic, being able to watch various handlers display individual methods for training and receiving guidance from a world-class champion like Basson was a worthwhile experience.
“We have to learn to be a better handler, to see what’s happening out there and react in the right way,” Warner said. “I have more fun training the dogs on a field like this than going to an actual trial.”
E-mail: jlee@deseretnews.com; Twitter: JasenLee1