SHEEPDOG TRAINING AND TRIALS: A COMPLETE GUIDE FOR BORDER COLLIE HANDLERS AND ENTHUSIASTS. By Nij Vyas.

(2010) 2022 reprint. 4to (177 x 249mm). Pp208. Colour photographs and colour diagrams. Pictorial laminated boards.

The thinking man's guide to sheepdog, and indeed, anydog training, by an expert dog and sheep psychologist. Nij Vyas is a successful sheepdog trainer, handler and judge with many local and international successes to his credit, individually and as a member of the England Team. Comprehensive advice and instructions drawn from years of well-informed experience. Vyas's approach is not to baldly tell you what you should be doing - he discusses in detail how he arrived at his methods. This includes case studies of problems he has faced, comparisons of methods used by other trainers and occasional dips into the literature of animal psychology. "This ...invaluable book describes innovative ways of training sheepdogs and addresses a number of subjects that have not been adequately covered in previous publications, such as working sensitive dogs and dogs lacking in confidence, the 'square movement' method, and the 'concept of opposites'. ...Brimming with practical advice that will help handlers to find solutions to difficult problems. ...In addition, the author considers ways of optimizing a dog's health, energy, fitness and peak performance." Chapters include: Whether to buy or train your own dogs; Early training; The dominance debate; The passive resistance theory; How dogs think; The importance of scent to dogs; Working with nervous or sensitive dogs; General obedience; The 'pressure on, pressure off' technique; Early training with sheep; Broadening your dog's experience; Advanced training for trials and farmwork; Sheepdog trials; Health and fitness. The author includes concise case studies of his treatment of problem dogs, and portraits of successful handlers. These include: John Ryan Griffiths, Jim Cropper, Monty Roberts - 'the man who listens to horses', Tim Longton, Aled Owen.