Training a Huntaway (as a pet dog) – personality traits & common behavioural problems
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Huntaways are strong, intelligent dogs who love life and having a job to do.
The New Zealand huntaway dog breed is the only breed from New Zealand origin that’s recognised by the NZKC.
They were bred by combining many different breeds to work and move stock (sheep and cows), through barking and driving the stock away from the farmer. Hence the name “Hunt Away” (versus the New Zealand “Heading Dog” who are similar to border collies, and were bred to ‘head’ the stock (run around to the front) and bring them back to the farmer).
Because they’re bred solely to work stock and perform a job (rather than being bred for certain looks, like most pet dogs are), they vary a lot in size, colour and coat type. They’re typically 25-45 kgs, and usually black and tan, with a medium length coat. They can also be brindle, or black, and sometimes have longer, wiry coats like a Beardie.
Huntaways are frequent members of our NZ online dog training course, Canine Chaos to Calm, which is why I created this Huntaway training guide with Huntaway dog breed information and insights into training a Huntaway.
Huntaway Dog Training - An Overview
In this Huntaway dog training guide, we’ll be covering:
The unique qualities of a Huntaway
Keeping Huntaways as pet dogs
The Huntaway breed personality & how it affects training a Huntaway (including points that most articles DON’T cover)
Huntaway Dog Training FAQ
Unique Qualities of a Huntaway Dog
If you have a Huntaway as a pet, you’ve quite possibly been searching for how to stop a Huntaway barking.
The most distinctive feature of a Huntaway is their bark – they LOVE to bark, and can do it for long periods.
Which can cause issues when keeping a Huntaway as a pet, because (unless you teach them not to) they will bark ALL the time and drive everyone around them nuts.
The good news is, a Huntaway CAN learn when it’s ok to bark, and when it’s not, which makes life much easier for everyone!
Huntaway dog Temperament
Huntaways are typically friendly, happy go lucky, extremely intelligent dogs. They are big clowns and love bouncing around being goofballs, but can also be serious, intelligent and a force to be reckoned with when working.
They love a good cuddle and don’t always have a good sense of “personal space” – they’ll often lean on you with all their weight for a cuddle and issues like jumping up or accidentally knocking children over can be a problem unless they’re trained to be more careful.
More Huntaways are ending up as pet dogs, either because they don’t want to work as young dogs (or have health issues that prevent them from being able to work), or because they’ve retired from working life and moved to a pet home.
Keeping Huntaways as Pet Dogs
Retired Huntaways are much more easy care than young ones, and make great pets
Huntaway Training for Older, retired Huntaways
Retired, rehomed Huntaways tend to be very easy to have around, as they’re usually lovely and steady and have been well-trained. So they tend to have great manners and listen really well.
The main things people who adopt older, retired Huntaways tend to need training help with are toilet training (they’ve usually never lived inside), adjusting to town life (lots of cars, weird noises, new sights etc – thing they never encountered on the farm) and pulling on the lead (they’ve often never walked on a lead much before).
Huntaway Training for Younger Huntaways (failed work dogs, or rescues)
Because they’re bred solely for working (not for dog shows), Huntaways can be a variety of shapes and colours - black, brindle, black and tan (with various amounts of tan), and sometimes even have white points, like this Huntaway puppy.
Training a Huntaway puppy is totally different than adopting an older, retired (already trained) Huntaway.
Yes, Huntaway puppies are SUPER cute, but once they become teenagers/young adults, they can be a real handful if they’re not trained well.
Teenage/young adult Huntaways are big, enthusiastic, high energy, loud, and have no real sense of personal space.
They’re also super intelligent and quick to pick things up, which means if you’re inconsistent or have loopholes in your rules, they can quickly figure out how to get around the rules and do what THEY want to do, instead of what you want them to do.
They can make great pets if they’re trained well, and have plenty to keep them busy physically and mentally. These are dogs who are bred to run around on steep hills all day, every day, using their intelligence to move stock according to both the farmer’s directions and their own quick thinking in the moment. So expecting them to sit around all day in a small backyard without getting bored out of their minds and making their own fun (digging, barking, pacing, escaping etc) isn’t really going to work!
Many Huntaways and Huntaway crosses end up in pounds and rescues for this reason – they’re super cute as puppies and many people don’t realise exactly what they’re getting themselves into, or just how much energy and intelligence these dogs have.
So, if you’re considering a Huntaway as a pet, make sure you have time and space to give them all they need physically and mentally, and are ready to put in the training to help them be steady, well-rounded and well-behaved pets.
Personality Traits – 5 Things to Remember when Training Huntaways (as pets)
Things to remember about the Huntaway temperament, #1: Huntaways LOVE to bark (but can be trained not to)
Huntaways LOVE to bark (but they can be trained to stop barking if it’s not appropriate in that situation)
Most people who are familiar with the Huntaway breed know how much they love to bark (and how loud it can be!). They were bred to bark repeatedly as they move stock, often out of sight of the farmer, so it comes VERY naturally to them.
Because they’re so natural at it, some people believe that you can’t stop a Huntaway from barking and you just have to put up with it (even if it’s driving you nuts). The truth is, Huntaways are totally capable to learning WHEN to bark.
It is a natural activity for them, so they do need to so it sometimes, but that doesn’t mean they can’t learn rules around when they can and can’t bark.
You can train a Huntaway to not bark in the car or at passers-by, to be quiet on command, and to not bark demandingly at you when they want something.
It’s important to teach them those things, because the last thing you want is for an intelligent dog to think they can call the shots and boss their owner around (or annoy them until they give up and give them what they want!). Because if you don’t, they’ll quickly cotton onto ways to get what they want (like barking at you until you give them something), and they’ll do it allllllll the time.
If you’re looking for how to stop a huntaway barking, check out our online dog training course, Canine Chaos to Calm. We have lots of Huntaways in there, and teaching them to stop barking is often one of the major things we help their owners with!
Things to remember about the Huntaway temperament, #2: Huntaways are really intelligent, but that doesn’t mean they’ll always do what you want.
It’s a common misconception that intelligent dogs are easy to train, because they pick things up quickly. While this is technically true, it also has a hidden pitfall that many people don’t know about.
Intelligent dogs do pick things up really quickly. The problem is, if there are any small inconsistencies or loopholes in your rules and commands, they’ll also learn THOSE really quickly too.
Which means that when they really want to do something that’s NOT what you’re asking them to do (like chasing after something exciting at the park, ignoring your commands when guests turn up, or sneaking off to do something they shouldn’t when they can see you’re busy getting the kids ready for school), they use those loopholes to get around the rules.
So if you have an intelligent, working breed dog, you often have to be extra consistent and onto it with your consistency and closing up any loopholes, to make sure they can’t be exploited by a clever dog.
It’s totally normal for dogs to do this too – just like if you found a shortcut to work that saved you 10 minute’s drive, you’d use it every chance you got, our dogs are just looking for ways to get what they want out of life.
Your job as their trainer is to make sure that the ways for them to get what they want out of life also suit YOU and what you need and want your dog to do.
For example, teaching them that listening reliably and behaving nicely is the key to getting let off to have fun at the park (rather than accidentally teaching them that the best way to have fun at the park is to run off and ignore you and refuse to be caught until they’re ready!)
Things to remember about the Huntaway temperament, #3: Huntaways need a job, and if you don’t give them one, they’ll make up their own.
Huntaways were bred to “hunt” (or drive/push) sheep away from the farmer. They LOVE to work and need a job to do.
Most people are familiar with the concept of a working breed (Border Collies, German Shepherds etc) needing a job and something to do. The key difference with Huntaways is that they’ve never been bred as show or pet dogs.
With almost every other breed, there tends to be “working” lines and “show” lines, as well as general “pet” lines.
This means that there are many dogs in that breed who have not done any “work” for generations (i.e. their parents and grandparents were all pet or show dogs too).
You can often notice a huge difference in the drive, intelligence and energy levels of a working line German Shepherd, versus a show or pet line, for example (the working line ones are WAY more full-on, and much harder to have as a pet)
With Huntaways, ALL dogs would have had at least one parent or grandparent who was a “working line” dog and worked on farm (or had siblings who did). It’s actually against the breed standard to show them, because they were bred to do a job and do it well (not for looks or anything else).
Which means that ALL Huntaways are the equivalent of having a working line German Shepherd. They’re another level again from your typical “working breed” dog.
Some are quite cruisy (even lazy!), especially if they decided they didn’t want to work sheep and were rehomed as a pet because of it. But as a general rule, if you’re getting a young, untrained Huntaway, you need to be prepared to give them the exercise and mental stimulation they need (and it will probably be more than you think).
The good news is, one of the best ways to give a busy, active dog mental exercise is to teach them to stay still on command, even when they really want to do something else. We’ll go into more depth on that in a later section…
Things to remember about the Huntaway temperament, #4: Huntaways don’t naturally have great sense of “personal space” but can be taught it.
Huntaways are similar to Labradors (unsurprising given that Labradors were probably used to create the breed) in that they love getting in your “bubble” and don’t really understand the concept of “personal space”.
This means they can be pushy and demanding about getting attention/being in your space if you don’t do something about it, and it also means they can easily knock over small children without meaning to.
The good news is, the right training, done consistently can train a huntaway to give people space when they want it, stop jumping up or pawing people, and be more careful around young kids.
You’ll generally still have to manage a young huntaway around small children to keep everyone safe and happy, as even a well-trained dog can knock over a small kid without meaning to, especially if they’re excited. But training can definitely help them learn to be more aware of their size and other’s personal space.
Things to remember about the Huntaway temperament, #5: Huntaways LOVE food.
Again, this one probably comes from the Labrador contribution to the Huntaway breed. Huntaways can be as “eternally hungry” as Labradors are. Which can lead to them becoming overweight and get joint and health problems as a result.
A Huntaway will happily try and convince you that you didn’t feed them, even when you did, or that you didn’t give them enough the first time and they’re now “staaaaaarving!”.
It’s important to keep them lean and fit to avoid joint problems like hip dysplasia or arthritis in later years.
Their love of food can also mean they can be sneaky at grabbing food they’re not supposed to, like off benches or out of kid’s hands. Which means that training your Huntaway to leave food that’s not intended for them can be really important to make life with them easier.
Training a Huntaway – Summary
Huntaways are amazing dogs (one of my favourite – growing up on a sheep and beef farm I’ve had Huntaways as my best friends since I was a baby!).
They have a lot to offer as a pet – they’re loyal, intelligent, friendly, happy clowns who love a cuddle and living life to the fullest. They do need good training to help them be the best they can be, including rules around barking and personal space.
They also need a lot of physical and mental exercise, since they’re bred to run around on steep hills all day, every day, and young Huntaways are not always the best fit for many pet owners (retired Huntaways are far more easy care!)
Being an online dog trainer in New Zealand, we have quite a few Huntaways in our online course, Canine Chaos to Calm, and the training system we use is super helpful for helping Huntaways young and old to become incredible pet dogs who are a joy to have around.
Training a Huntaway FAQs
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Yes. While Huntaways are bred to bark, and need to do it sometimes, it is possible to train them WHEN to bark (and when NOT to!).
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Huntaways can make good pets, as long as they get the right training and plenty of mental and physical exercise. They’re bred to run around on hills all day, so need more exercise than many people realise.
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While any dog can be aggressive, Huntaways are generally happy, friendly dogs with people and other dogs. Their bark is (usually!) worse than their “bite” - they make a lot of noise but are usually big softies.
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Consider adopting a retired Huntaway working dog - they’re far less work than younger Huntaways and are already better trained than most pet dogs.
Huntaway Training Tips
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