brookcove
Posted : 2/2/2007 2:20:49 PM
Hey, cool. Kind of. OK, not so cool but it's neat to think it's "in there", right?
OK, first of all, it might be helpful to work out some terminology. She's not really herding since there's only one creature involved and he's not a herd animal, lol. This is the "piece" of herding I call "control freak" or bossiness.
The control freak within is easily quelled with a two pronged approach. One, you'll have to be able to get her attention. She's in her own little world and you'll have to get in there and remind her who feeds her. I'm sure you've already tried her name, calling her off, maybe even a few impolite words. [
] You can try a couple other things - Things Falling From the Sky, and getting in her face.
What you want is the
second you see her react in any way - an ear or tongue flick, a slight turn of the head, a blink, a change in intensity, ask for something incompatible with what you don't want her to do. A recall is a really obvious choice. "Watch me" is another good one. Now here's the key - no matter what she gives you at this point, tell her she's a good girl, and see whether you can ask for more, then praise again, ask for more, etc. If you "lose" her, go back to trying to get her attention, until you get it, then see how far you can go.
Another important point is to work on this
before she gets really stimulated. Then you can get her in the habit of whipping her head around when you say her name, or "ah-ah", and get that when she's gotten herself more worked up.