Kelpie breeder Peter Hogan from Glencoe, NSW, shares advice in new DVD

Most farmers who speak to Kelpie breeder Peter Hogan have one of two questions. And neither has a simple answer.

Tips and tricks: Kelpie breeder Peter Hogan has released a DVD.

MOST farmers who speak to Kelpie breeder Peter Hogan have one of two questions.

“Some will just ask how much they can pay for a dog and I tell them they’re not a stack of lawnmowers on a pellet at Bunnings, worth $450. There’s no one-size-fits-all,” Peter says.

“Other farmers call me and say they want a sheep dog. But that doesn’t help me at all. Do they want it for a paddock, yard or cattle, I need to know what sort of sheep they’re working, what sort of country they work, the size of the flock.

“It’s all about matching the right dog with the right owner.”

For 35 years Peter has run Peterson Kelpies, on his 70ha farm at Glencoe in NSW, breeding up to four litters a year. He holds an annual farm sale, and his top dog sold for $10,000 a few years back.

Each year he holds about four schools on his property — the next being run on March 21 and 22 — with up to 14 participants, teaching both the canine and owner working dog skills. He also trains up to 40 dogs a year, one-on-one, for up to a month, to re-educate problem farm pooches.

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With half a lifetime around working dogs, Peter released his first DVD at the end of last year, with the 70 minutes offering all his tips and tricks for $75.

“If I sit down and have a beer with someone I’ll give them the advice for free,” the 59-year-old adds.

As a breeder, he says 90 per cent of the hard work is in the genes.

“I want a pup who naturally starts on his own, with an instinct, a pup that wants to be with me so we can be a team together.

“A lot of farmers think that a working dog has that instinct, but when they see a 10-week-old pup bred for it, put out to work, their reaction is ‘wow’.

“I can’t teach a dog to work sheep, otherwise I’d be training poodles and Labradors.

“A well-bred dog with the right genes will teach a farmer to work stock.”

As for that remaining 10 per cent in training, he says the trick is for owners to be consistent in behaviour and expectations, and they should be open-minded and prepared to change their style.

Dogs should be respectful and attentive, with good manners.

In the blood: Kelpie breeder Peter Hogan.

“Dogs are searching and desiring for leadership. What they want is a big strong leader, and if an owner doesn’t step up, they will,” says Peter, who is well-known on the yard trial circuit, where he has won numerous championships.

“I have a very clear line in the sand. When I’m training I don’t yell but whisper to the dog. If they’re doing the wrong thing it’s not because they can’t hear but because they’re not listening or because they think they can get away with it.”

One of his well-used quotes is that “dogs don’t understand English” — in other words, “show don’t tell”, a phrase many dog trainers adopt, including the use of a raised voice or a foot stomp.

Peter said the two most common dogs he’s asked to train are either neglected dogs who “don’t even know their name”, or dogs that are “fur-babies” — spoiled, and showered with affection.

“The fur-baby is hardest to train because they have no respect or discipline. They look at me and I tell them it’s boot camp here.

“Owners often come back and say the change in their dog is a miracle. Some even suggest I should train wayward kids.”

Peter grew up on a mixed livestock and grain property in the Riverina and while his family had working dogs, he admits his father wasn’t a dog man.

“He’d tell me to get the dogs behind. A lot of farmers do that, get their dogs off the sheep because they’re frightened what they’ll do. But the dogs I breed are all about getting in and letting them work, then bringing the sheep back to you.”

Peter is largely self-taught, reading widely, but also working with breeders and trainers.

“What I love about working dogs is seeing a 10-week-old pup in with the sheep, his eyes saying ‘get out of the way Pete, I’ve got this’. A natural pup, that’s what spins my wheels.”