Oaks and Co

Oaks and Co Dog Training. Teaching you the language of dog. Pet Dog Training

Sheep Dog Training for both pet dogs and farm dogs.

We are fully insured and are based in Dromara County Down.

08/11/2025

I thought I'd post this clip of Patches to show that not every run goes quite as well as you hope.
Patches is just about to start her fourth week of training, she has come on fantastically but still, she is a young dog, just starting out, needing to gain experience and is going to make mistakes, and that's ok. We do need to show her how to fix them, though.
Remember, the sheep want to stay together so when one gets split off, it can create a domino effect as the others try to follow.
We have to teach the dog to "Look back". In other words; get away back and pick up the sheep you lost.
You can see Patches gets confused and wants to come back to the bulk of the flock but I keep sending her back until she figures it out, gathers the strays and brings them back up to the rest.
You can't expect a young dog to work flawlessly when they are learning. Every mistake they make is an opportunity to teach them something new, along the way to becoming a great sheepdog! And in return, they'll teach you what patience is! 😜

08/11/2025

Do you all remember Jess? I popped a post up with her first day with the sheep a few weeks back.

Look at her now!! She made it out into the acre field and did amazing for her first go out of the pen.

Couldn't be more proud of her and to see her so happy is just the best. Her confidence is building with every session! Good girl Jess.

05/11/2025

Let's talk livestock desensitisation and recall training for a moment.

We work with a lot of dogs who have chased sheep/deer/squirrels etc. The one thing we hear the most, is that training will never work, their dog loves chasing squirrels, etc too much, drive is too high, he'll never listen to me and call off.

This is Ruadhri, he has just turned 2 years old. We haven't had him since he was a young puppy. He has a drive and excitement for sheep herding that is off the scale. He lives to work sheep. It's what he was bred to do, the only thing he wants to do and he is amazing at it.

If you saw the video I put up of him running up the field ahead of me, on stories, earlier...that was us in this same field, headed out to start today's training. In this clip he has just finished a sheepdog training session on long run in and lift drills so his adrenaline is pumping. This is us coming home through our other small flock of sheep. His commands are; "Leave Them" to...well...leave them alone and "That'll Do" for recall, which he gets just before he arrives back at the bike, in this vid.

How did we get this? Repetition, consistency and a fair bit of patience! 😜

It can be done!

Struggling? Give us a shout.

30/10/2025

This video deserves it's own place on the grid!

Yoda out in the main field for the first time with her amazing owner Sarah. What a super team they make!

Couldn't have been more proud watching them this morning. Even the cows came to watch!

Well-done guys! 💪💪💪

25/10/2025

Did you know we offer sheep Desensitisation sessions?

Perfect for getting your dog settled round sheep, especially if you plan on walking the Mournes.

Max was rehomed after a sheep chase so his amazing new family are making sure it doesn't happen again.

Pablo and Audrey have personal space issues! These are our quiet flock and very used to dogs and people, the ones we start your dog with before moving onto the sheep dog training flock who are a lot more energetic.

Give us a message if you are interested. Sheep desense is booked in blocks of 4 sessions.

02/10/2025

Brucey Bruce!

The sweetest, headstrong lovebug! 🤣 Bruce LOVES to skittle the sheep and then look at you with the happiest, sweetest, look on his face! 🙈🤪
Once we have his head in the game he does amazing and loves when you praise him so lots of "good lad" is helping keep him focussed on the task at hand.
We have started his run ins and building his distance as he now knows his sides, spot on. Once we pull it all together he should be able to hold his head better. A touch of youthful over enthusiasm at the moment but a bit of experience and age will look good on the big fella. He'll be fantastic when he learns a bit of patience and we are on it.

01/10/2025

Budgie.

Two weeks into her training. She was a blank canvas when she arrived, no down, no recall and had only had a "self employment" moment with her family's sheep, before. 🙈 It happens!

Two weeks in and she has both her sides in, her down is coming on lovely as is her recall away from the sheep. Today we started running her in to the sheep and we will begin to widen her outrun. Not too shabby for 7 months old. She is a lot of fun to train as well which is an added bonus!

That's not a dog in my shed!! Naughty Pablo took himself for a dander! 🤣
09/09/2025

That's not a dog in my shed!!

Naughty Pablo took himself for a dander! 🤣

Address

285 Rathfriland Road
Dromore
BT252EW

Telephone

+447772535380

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Oaks and Co posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Oaks and Co:

Shortcuts

Share

Category