Don't Get Squished: 4 Rules for Safe, Well-Controlled Livestock
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RSS Feed This week on The Instinctive Australian Shepherd, we're talking about something that doesn't get talked about enough: safety when you're working livestock. Jacque opens with the story of a dear student who was hit by two sheep and ended up with two broken knees and an ankle — months off her feet and surgery, all because the sheep ran into her while working. It is a wake-up call: as instructors, we owe our students, their dogs, and ourselves better than "hope it doesn't happen."
Jacque walks through her four non-negotiable rules for safe, well-controlled livestock:
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No part of their head touches you. From the nose to the pole, a sheep or cow's head is never allowed to come in contact with your body — and when it does, it's not an accident. It's dominance, it's dangerous, and that animal needs to go (or get penned where it can't hurt anyone). She shares the story of a beautiful show ram that turned aggressive and went straight to the sale barn — life is too short to get bashed around.
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They don't run through gates. Gates are the most dangerous place on any ranch or farm. Stock that bolts through a gate needs to learn — with the dog covering heads and turning them back — that the gate is not their escape. Run the lesson three or four times and they'll walk out quiet.
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When the dog stops, they stop. Controlled livestock understand pressure and release. If your stock keeps running when the dog takes the pressure off, they're being chased, not controlled.
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Be reasonable. Cull the crazy ones. Calm genetics make safer cows and safer sheep — and they raise calmer babies. Keep one or two hard ones for advanced students and difficult-stock practice, but never keep anything dangerous.
Plus: why she uses lambs for beginner lessons, why she discourages dogs from heeling cows (there's no steering in the heel — the head is where the control happens), why cows get "kicky" when heeled, and why dog-broke sheep are worth every penny if you're starting out.