Customer Reviews

Training and Working Dogs for Quiet Confident Control of Stock

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I have noticed in other reviews, regarding books on learning to control stock with dogs, that a number of people have found that there has been little or no emphasise placed on working cattle. If this is the case for you I would highly recommend finding a copy of this book for yourself. This comprehensive, easily digested book covers a number of interesting and important topics: breed selection, rearing procedures, training methods, training faults and corrections, and working multiple dogs. There is also an interesting section at the end of the book regarding the development and functioning of your dogs brain.

This book tells you how to bring up a cattle dog, from selecting the pup's parents to raising the pup up right and training him or her. The other herding books I have come across are too much designed for Border Collie owners, too focused on sheep, and don't talk enough about raising a working pup. And the appendix on dog brain chemistry is fascinating,useful, but demands concentration. An essential book for owners of cattle dogs and any loose-eyed herding dog. It's great for Border Collie owners, too, but others can really benefit from it!

If you own an Aussie, or an ACD, you don't want books on Border Collies - totally different style of working stock. It's nice to have the "loose-eyed" viewpoint represented.

This book is the one I always refer back to. From the fine points of raising pups of these strong willed, intelligent dogs to principles of herding, the reader will be glad he/she bought this book. Unfortunately there is a common bias against Australian Cattle Dogs. Lithgow doesn't promote this bias and instead helps the novice or advanced handler understand his/her dog so they can better work as a team. The Appendix- A Rationale for Rearing Procedures is especially helpful in regard to understanding serotonin and epinephrine reactions in dogs. Some of the best herding instructors have their breed preferences, but they should revere Lithgow's way as a Teacher, and do away the petty politics of breed clubs. Until this rampant immaturity ceases, it would be best for a novice handler to seek an instructor who has the same breed.

Lithgow's book is a good training manual. It covers the key points for training purpose-bred dogs working in bush conditions.

I found this book to be quite useful. The author lays it out in a common sense sort of approach that really makes sense for the most part. I have goats not cattle though and it is very cattle specific so I cannot use some of the stuff in there.

Scott Lithgow's book has good information for working with a stock dog. His experience was not limited to the competition field because he was an actual drover with experience training Australian Cattle Dogs, Australian Kelpies and Border Collies. I recommend it because it is a good book.