Articles – learn more about sheep behaviour & training

There can be many reasons why a sheep starts limping, but the first step is always to assess the situation. In this article, I will focus on how to evaluate a lame sheep. To do this, you first need to catch the sheep. This is one of the main reasons why halter training using positive…

We have had sheep for 10 years. Every one of them came to us as an adult, already carrying previous experiences of routine procedures such as shearing and hoof trimming. In very few homes are sheep systematically trained to understand what is expected of them during these procedures, so the result is often a sheep…

Understanding your sheep’s emotional state The most important part of sheep training is understanding the behavior of the animal you are working with. Training is the process of building a shared language, and to succeed, you need to understand what your sheep is communicating through its behavior. That is why the first section of my…

How to begin training a sheep? Sheep training begins with the human having a clear idea of what they are doing and what they are trying to achieve. Only when the trainer has a clear goal can they effectively guide the sheep. Using rewards adds motivation for the sheep, which is essential if we want…

In my articles, I have written about the emotional state of sheep in different training and handling situations, and about how fear directly affects a sheep’s ability to learn. In this article, we look more closely at the subtle signs of stress in sheep and what sheep behaviour tells us when the animal does not…

Have you ever stopped to think about how the halter you use actually works?And more importantly: what does it feel like for the sheep? In sheep halter training, the halter is never just equipment. It is a communication device. It shapes how the sheep experiences pressure, how safe it feels, and whether it is able…

When you decide to start preparing your sheep for shows, you also step into the world of animal training. Sheep showmanship training is, at its core, animal training. Guiding a sheep’s behaviour can be very demanding or surprisingly easy, depending on how well you understand sheep behaviour, emotions, and learning. Frustration is a natural reaction…

Sheep training with positive reinforcement is not just about using food rewards or scratching. It is about timing. Timing is everything. Many people already use rewards with their sheep. They give food, they scratch, they talk softly. But if the reward comes at the wrong moment, the sheep is not learning what the human thinks…

Sheep are intelligent animals, even though people often think otherwise. They learn quickly what is beneficial for them and what is not. Every experience, including using a halter, is always connected to an emotion. The emotion a sheep feels when a halter is put on her head depends entirely on how the halter has been…