Herding dog trainers may recommend that you keep your dog in a pen and only take him out when he is “old enough” to train. They may tell you that good dogs have to be kept penned up or they will run the stock.
They don’t know this breed!
The American Working Farmcollie is descended from basically the same genepool as several other working breeds and herding breeds, including the Border Collie and Australian Shepherd. There is no way to devise an "event" that will test for the special working character of an American Working Farmcollie. An American Working Farmcollie pup at three month old is very into pack, routine, and territory. This, and not prey drive is the basis of his working character.
Because of this pack bonding basis for the working character of the American Working Farmcollie, a pup needs to go to his new home no later than the age of four months. He needs to be bonding to his owner, the owner's livestock, and following the owner around learning the routine and territory. I could "start" an American Working Farmcollie pup, but because his instincts are based on bonding, territory and routine, if I sell him as a "started pup" to someone else, he may know "sit" and "come", but he has totally new people and livestock to bond to, and new territory and routines to learn. A cowboy who had seen my farmcollie, Chico, working strange calves in a strange place for me (because Chico loved me and wanted to please me) once offered to buy him- I told him I might as well cut off my right arm and sell him that- because it would work just as well for him as the dog would, and I would miss it as much!
An American Working Farmcollie works his own territory. Evaluations of his working character MUST take place there, or what you wind up with is, in effect, a border collie. A border collie is generally a much better herding dog to take somewhere else to work, but his instincts are based on an inhibited prey drive. They usually don't have enough oomph to work rank cattle, whereas a bossy pack drive dog when mature, will not take any sass off of the big dumb pack members!!! It is rare to find a six month old American Working Farmcollie that can work as well as a prey drive dog, but it is rare to find a prey drive dog that can work as well as a mature American Working Farmcollie does for his master on his territory. Many of them will also work for their master elsewhere, but selecting only for this trait will not maintain the correct balance of working character and temperament for the breed.
Those prey drive dogs with enough agression to work rank stock cannot be trusted alone on the farm loose with the livestock, whereas the nature of the American Working Farmcollie is to maintain the status quo on the farm. He will enforce the rules of his master even when the master is absent. If you have livestock he will learn the routine and territory and keep everything where it belongs. If the bull gets out, he puts him back in and keeps him there until his master can get there to fix the fence!
We have a very, very diverse breed. Good American Working Farmcollies come in sizes from 35-85 lbs. The best size depends on predation problems unique to the area. Dogs from different lines of American Working Farmcollies may differ significantly in color, size, and working type. Some are strong herders. Some are better guardians of young stock and some lines also exhibit excellent hunting skills! Most lines are a blend of all three working areas, but the balance varies from line ot line as the needs of farmers has varied in different geographic locations, and types of enterprises. Since we have such a small population, (we have been undergoing a rapidly narrowing bottleneck since the 1950s) keeping this diversity is absolutely essential to maintaining both a healthy genepool and the balance of working characteristics needed on our individual, diverse farms.
Our dogs are selected to be a "one dog does it all", and their dog aggressive natures are not conducive to breeders keeping large kennels of these dogs. Our breed's paramount need for socialization and bonding with humans makes this breed a bad choice for someone to mass produce.
There is not a better dog in the world than a properly bred and socialized American Working Farmcollie, but for this breed in particular, that socialization is essential!!! When this essential socialization can take place, American Working Farmcollies, with their keen intelligence and their intense desire to please, are one of the most versatile working dogs in the world.
The American Working Farmcollie is bred to LOVE the rules! Don’t hesitate to be as strict as necessary with your pup. Be sure to be firm and consistent in teaching the rules, and when you get a new puppy in a few years he will enforce the rules on the youngster, taking much of the trouble out of training! If you have livestock he will learn the routine and territory and keep everything where it belongs. If your job interferes with your time with the pup, be sure to spend a lot of time with him when you are home. Enroll in an obedience class if possible! Remember, if you don’t make the rules, he will, and you might not want to live with his!
An farmcollie is watching the people all of the time focused on what they are doing and trying to help- the photo of Holly in the slideshow helping with the lumber, or Buddy bringing the shovel, or Buck and Bailey K helping to dig are good illustrations of how this extends past just herding duties...
A dog with a lot of herding drive like a Border collie might be useful even if kept penned most of the time. I know of lots of BCs that are kept penned and lots of BC trainers that tell you 'if farmdogs are "any good" you have to keep them contained so they don't harass the stock constantly'. If they have enough work to properly exercise the dog it works well for them- You have a herding chore- you take the dog out of the box- you let him herd and you put him back.
A well trained BC is a joy to watch and own, and selection for this kind of farmcollie is based on trial competition, so it is pretty easy to perpetuate the breed even in the face of the disappearance of the small farm. Herding behavior is complex, but in comparison to the multipurpose farmcollie, it is relatively simple.
ES and other types of farmcollies that are herder/guardian/hunters are a different kettle of fish- they may look very similar to border collies, but they have very different motivations!
The combination dogs work from pack order, routine, and territorial boundaries.
You leave the BC (the kind that those trainers say are good ones) out and go to town to get parts to fix the tractor and he runs the livestock through the fence. You leave the combination farmcollie out and go to town to get parts to fix the tractor and he lays on the porch seemingly doing "nothing", but then the hog gets out-
He rushes to put the hog back in and keeps him there until you get home.
Why does he do this?- because he is bossy and enforces the rules. Because the rules about the territory (hogs belong here) are very important to him, and because hogs being in the wrong place is not part of the normal routine. He maintains the status quo. He is into pack order he is above the livestock and below the people. He runs intruders that are not part of the pack off or kills them.
The farmcollie must learn these things- he learns what is normal by following his master around in the daily routine. He learns his place in the pack and what is pack and what is prey by watching what his master pets grooms caresses or feeds and what his master shoots or runs off. He learns what kind of livestock belong in each pen by being there with the master to guide him constantly. It does not take a lot of extra effort to raise a dog like this but it takes constant effort and consistency, and the dog cannot learn this if it is confined elsewhere.
I cannot think of even one multi-purpose farmcollie of any breed or cross that has been raised in confinement rather than with the farmers and has turned out well. It does not matter how well bred your pup is he must have the opportunity to learn what is expected of him- the more time you can spend interacting with him and the environment, the better.