Merle and Sandi Newton explain how they nurture a cow dog’s natural instincts into winning performances.The name of his game is control, and he has a full-blown addiction to his job. He thinks quickly, sorts slowly, and has the innate ability to read a cow’s next move.

Much like his working partner, the horse, a good cattle dog’s “cowiness” is part of his makeup, and the training it takes to sculpt his instincts into a useful herding tool remains an art form.

Merle and Sandi Newton of Red Bluff, California, have been fine-tuning cow dog skills for more than 25 years. With a trunkload of regional and national cow dog championships under their respective belts, the couple is known for training dogs to work stock, and, just as important, teaching owners to work dogs.

The couple has been referred to as the Don Dodge and Barbara Worth of the stock dog training world, and with attitudes akin to those required to produce good cow horses, Merle and Sandi insist that putting a strong foundation on a cow dog is key to his success.

Stage One

While their canine students rarely take up residency before 9 or 10 months of age, the Newtons say that what happens during the entire first year of a pup’s life is vital to his future training on stock. Of course, the best prospects will have a huge dose of herding instinct afforded by their genetics, but the Newtons say that what is done with that instinct early on matters most.

“The good ones have an interest in livestock right from the start,” Merle explains. “But that interest is deep rooted in a dog’s predatory nature. How those instincts are handled during his first year of life usually has a significant bearing on our future training efforts.”

The Newtons caution that a common mistake made by many dog owners is letting a pup “work” or chase stock from outside a fence or in a pasture. On his own, without guidance, the pup’s “killer” instinct can become overdeveloped and is tough to rein in during later training.
The flip side of this mistake are the owners who scold a dog for working livestock.

“Think about it,” says Merle. “Would you scold a cow horse for wanting to work a cow?”

The key to properly handling a young dog, he says, is to control the pup’s environment and establish yourself as the “head dog” so he acts only on your say-so.

Another mistake sometimes made is letting weaned pups hang out together. Merle and Sandi recommend weaning at 5 weeks of age; but they also prefer that the youngsters be completely separated from their littermates at 7 to 8 weeks. Otherwise, they say, there is the tendency for the pup to bond with the other dogs rather than with a person.

“Sandi and I might each be starting a pup from the same litter,” explains Merle. “But we will keep them totally separate. Each puppy needs to begin to develop a relationship with a person, and to see that person as their master. We keep them in their own pen when they aren’t with us, and give them limited free access to other dogs.

Read full article in the April issue of Performance Horse.