ON TYPES OF CATTLE FOR TRIALING

by Dorothy DeLisle

AKC asks you to run cattle on what is essentially a sheep course, with
judging rules based on sheep behavior.  No matter how good the dog, one
cannot hope to be able to put down a qualifying run unless you start with
pretty nice cattle.  Same goes for any line course with sheep scoring.

AKC does have a rather restrictive size limit on cattle (700 pounds). Perhaps,

this is because they do not expect AKC dogs to be regular workers of cattle

and therefore do not want the extra toughness of larger and/or mature cattle.

But one should also realize that there are not A course layout changes for cattle.

It would be exceedingly difficult to fit a group of full-size cattle through the

Z chute which is built for passage by sheep.

The ASCA course has obstacles that are better for cattle and is only a quasi
line course with the judges giving a lot of weight to the actual work done
by the dog.  Thus, one can successfully use a wider range of cattle in ASCA.
Still one generally wants to avoid cattle that only a small per centage of
the dogs are able to work.  Not only doesn't one want injuries as Peggy
said, but one also wants to avoid stock that will psychologically harm a dog
through their sheer aggressiveness.  This is supposed to be fun, not
damaging.

WCDA is not a line course.  It's simply points for making each obstacle and
timed to break ties, there are no titles so no qualifying scores.  Thus, one
can successfully use even tougher stock here.

Also, as we goes from AKC to ASCA to WCDA, the per centage of actual using
dogs competing increases.  So the dogs and handlers are more prepared for
tougher stock.  Many dogs in AKC and ASCA unfortunately never even see
cattle outside of a trial.  I've gotten cows in WCDA that were only worked
by dogs in large groups, so had to do a bit of breaking during my runs.
This is fine for that type of course provided everybody in a class in on the
same go-round of the cattle.   I did not at all enjoy using up my runs at
the Tejon/Lebec trial in June dog breaking the cattle so that later runs
could get easier cattle and better scores.  (They used the same cattle ~3
times per class and it hardly seemed like the same cattle by the end of the
day. This is especially annoying when one considers that some of the winning
dogs would not have been able to even work the cattle in the first go.)

As indicated above, naive cattle can be quickly dog broke using good dogs.
However, roping cattle are not naive.  They have had a lot of bad habits
trained into them.  They do not get better with each work.  They are a lot
tougher to work than non-broke cattle.  And I speak as one who has worked a
lot of unbroke stock.  Also, ropers prefer horned cattle.  I know of no
rural area in the US where they aren't plenty of folks who keep cattle.
Trial organizers just have to get aggressive and knock on doors and start
making connections.  I've gone to the town hall and looked up ownership
records when it wasn't apparent what door to knock on.  This is a much
better option then going to a roping arena.  .

When breaking stock, use strong dogs to prevent bad habits from developing.
Cattle must learn that they must move and turn off a dog.  Not that they can
ignore or escape off or chase a dog.  Semi-strong dogs should only be used
with a handler who will back the dog up and insure success.  If a cow tries
to chase a weaker dog, the handler should be in there administering a crook
correction to the cow.  Strong does not mean aggressive.  Dogs should go in
when the stock doesn't move, but then pull off when they obey.  They should
not be gripping without purpose, only when necessary to make the stock obey
the dog's orders to move, turn or stop.

some types of cattle temperaments
range cows - used to fighting off coyotes to protect their calves, tend to
want to fight dogs
bull fight cattle - specifically bred for aggression
dairy cattle - separated from their mom's soon after birth, in some areas
raised individually, tend to have screwed up social behavior
Pasture cattle - have some exposure to people, semi- protected - are the way
to go
heavy - initially they just stand there when approached by a dog -just
need to be taught to move off a dog, can be broken very quickly
light - start off fearing the dog and flee when approached, need to be
taught that the dog is not to be feared, just respected.  Take a while to
break and need to be broken by a dog with a lot of control on it.

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