Amazon Reviews
Sheepdog Training and Trials by Nij Vyas published by Crowood Press
By Jo Deacon 22 July 2010
This book is fantastic for those who love dogs in general and more specifically border collies. It has fabulous photographs of dogs working sheep and picturesque countryside scenes. The author is clearly knowledgeable about his subject and offers some interesting new concepts about training dogs such as the passive resistance theory and the concept of opposites. I have found this book to be a perfect addition to my library
Hi Nij
I trial and breed Border Collies in Austria.
I am currently reading your book and enjoying it a lot! Firstly I appreciate your honest approach in telling your readers about your dog's faults (and their solutions) as well as about their talents! Usually, when one reads a training book or watches a training DVD one can get the feeling that the trainers who write books never own dogs with difficult behaviour!
And I very much like your excellent descriptions of the training stages and the systematic approaches to different problems. I am surely going to recommend your book!
All the best wishes, Synve
By Wolfie 17 August 2010
I challenge anyone who reads the first sentence of this book not to feel compelled to join Nij Vyas as he describes his journey from buying his first Border Collie pup to achieving international success at sheepdog trials. His book is written in such a readable style that it will be enjoyed by laymen with a fascination in the skill of sheepdog training and those engaged in the craft. The many tips and insights into border collie behaviour are also invaluable to anyone seeking a greater understanding of their own dogs. The author is willing to share his mistakes and successes with refreshing honesty. He has put his soul into this book, a very brave thing to do. With excellent photographs and clear diagrams throughout this is a beautiful book by a very talented author.
By Winnieborder 20 February 2011
This is just a great book for all Border Collie and sheepdog trial lovers! Nij s devotion and love to his dogs makes this book a very special one. You will be able to discover the true love of your BC: the wonderful world of working with sheep. Whether you are a beginner or an advanced handler - there is surely something to read for you in this guide. Apart from the wonderful photographs! I personally found the book extremely helpful and very interesting!! So for me it is highly reccommendable!!
By Bronte 31st August 2010
An excellent read, and certainly a book which I shall enjoy revisting time and time again. Nij will take you on a journey to demonstrate how this 3 way partnership of man, dog(s) and sheep develops through skill, patience, trust and respect.
There is so much information, presented with humour and guaranteed to hold your interest.
By Jayjaw 23 July 2010
This is a lovely book which is written in a very readable style. It is obviously aimed first and foremost at people who want to work their border collies on sheep, but it would also be very useful to anyone who just wants to understand how their dog thinks, no matter what breed of dog. I don t own a border collie, but found it interesting and useful in helping me work out how my dog ticks. It also covers breeding, training, nutrition, health and injuries. The photos are lovely and the illustrations make the more difficult concepts easily understood. I really enjoyed reading it and would recommend it to any dog owner. I am sure I will keep on referring to it when I have any issues with my dog
By Julie Flyte - 02 February 2011
Although written as a manual for training a working sheepdog and/or sheepdog-trial-dog this book should also be very useful for Border Collie-owners who wish to really understand this wonderful but demanding breed.
It is not only clear that the author has a deep understanding of these dogs and is able to train them to a high standard. The reader also gets the feeling that he doesn't hold back any essential insights and knowledge. He shares with his reader not only his dogs talents and successes but also their peculiarities and personality quirks. In many other training manuals the trainers dogs never seem to have had any problems, leaving the reader alone with many unanswered questions.
Nij Vyas offers many systematic exercises for building up a solid working relationship with the dog, built on trust and respect.
For anyone aiming to understand the working sheepdog better, this is a wonderful book. In addition it has many beautiful pictures of Border Collies in working situations.
Review 2
Review 3
Review 5
Review 7
Review 8
Redthefox1
I've read most of the well known books by sheepdog handlers and I've watched countless hours of sheepdog "how to train" videos but, hand on heart, no-one has been as honest and forthcoming with advice and problem solving as Nij has with this book.
We jokingly refer to it as "the bible" because every time I run into trouble I pick that book up and ask "So what does Nij do?"
For me, the real strength of this book is that it dares to delve deeply into dog and sheep psychology but always with the purpose of finding practical solutions to the inevitable problems you come across when training a working sheepdog.
Nij takes inspiration from world famous horse whisperer, Monty Roberts, and applies the same theory of "pressure on pressure off", a form of training I now have huge respect for. In my case, after only 4 or 5 short sessions (and I'm not exaggerating here!) using this method, the tear away pup I had that would see a red mist every time he came close to sheep will now happily sit in a small pen with 4 hoggets and just sniff them.
He will walk past sheep without displaying too much interest unless asked to herd; he will pull sheep out of the tightest corners of a pen or field and uses his nose to push them off a fence.
One major reason this book stands out so much from any others I've read is to do to with Nij's own ethos towards his dogs. It's clear, unlike many handlers, that when one of Nij's young dogs is less then perfect rather than sell it on (which is the usual way) he works through that dog's problems and is determined to solve them. Because of this he has a wealth of knowledge that others may have missed and he very kindly and clearly shares that knowledge with the reader.
To sum up, this is a book for folks who want to train a dog and stick with that dog through thick and thin.
I couldn't recommend it enough.
