The importance of the more than 270,000 stock-herding dogs across rural Australia to the country’s farmers and property owners cannot be underestimated – and Clermont musterer Frank Finger knows it.
The winner of ABC's Muster Dog program has been training working dogs for over 20 years on his property in the Isaac and is now using his platform to share his tips with farmers across Australia.
Frank said farmers are “well aware that a well-trained dog provides benefits to a farm well beyond its sale price”, which is why he’s always preferred training dogs from puppyhood.
“[You must] start small in all facets of a dog’s training,” he said.
“The initial training is all about showing them what to do until their instincts come out.”
From birth, Frank said it is essential to nurture working dog pups through their early weeks and work with them at nine weeks in short bursts of training.
“As small and cute as they are, it’s important to bond with them,” Frank said. “But not too much until they are working.”
“If too much bonding occurs before they’re working, they can become accustomed to it and come to expect it too much later on.”
Frank said to “think small” when training a small pup: incorporate small livestock such as goats or even ducks, train in short periods, and don’t overwhelm the little nippers.
“Training time and size of livestock can increase over time as the dogs grow,” he said.
“Once the dog is nine months of age, we increase the cattle size and the number of them in the yard.”
Frank said notes that one often overlooked aspect of training working dogs is that a dog's line of sight extends no higher than a trainer's knee when nearby - this is especially true for pups.
“Remembering the dogs’ eye level when training them is important,” said Frank.
“This is why we use a plastic garden rake to act as an extension of our arm and ensure we’re in their line of sight. The rake is also used as an indicator to get the dogs to stay next to the trainer and not move in front.”
And most importantly, Frank said that simple commands are the key to success.
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