I have an Australian Shepherd. The best thing I did was to clicker train him. Best thing ever, and it is so so so easy. When you have a chance, read about Karen Pryor, and even better, watch the youtube channel of Kikopup. She is an amazing clicker trainer. My dog will ignore a hot dog left on a table, at his level, because of the training I did with him. For the first couple of weeks we had him (I brought him home when he was 6 weeks), I hand fed him. My boys (2 and 7 at the time) also sat by his food bowl, dipped their hands into his bowl and fed him from their hands. It's fantastic that he will be on a ranch! Lucky dog!
