PHD Handlers' Academy #6

Welcome to the latest video in a series explaining everything herding:

Right on cue - The basic herding cues

This video briefly covers the basic herding cues.

Below is a cheat sheet giving simple definitions of the cues from the video:

1. Flanks are the circular paths that the dog takes around the stock. "Come bye" is clockwise and "Away to me" is Anti-clockwise or counter-clockwise.
2. Stop means to stop, stay stopped, and wait for the next cue. I use "there" but many people use "lie down".
3. "In" or "walk in" means move directly toward the stock and apply pressure.
4. "Back" tells the dog to back away from the stock while still facing it, to release pressure.
5. "Out" cues the dog to move farther from the stock while flanking, and continue flanking.
6. "Close" tells the dog to move closer to the stock while flanking, and continue flanking.
7. "Easy" or "steady" cues the dog to slow down one gait.
8. Hurry, cued as "chit-chit", tells the dog to speed up one gait.
9. "That"ll do" means the dog is done working the stock and should return to the handler.

With these 10 cues you can move your dog anywhere around the livestock and apply and release pressure on the stock as needed. There are many variations to these cues that are used but these are the most used, traditional herding cues.

Come bye to learn more about herding!

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