Most however, start to show interest between 12 and 20 weeks. One minute they are walking near sheep and not taking any notice and next minute they are showing their natural ability. It is a great thing to see. The young puppy will try to move around the sheep away from the owner and block them. It will then try to push the sheep back towards the owner.
Different breeders look for different traits in their young dogs.
They are watching closely to see the future potential of the puppy. Many of the puppies will make a lot of mistakes when they first start. They may get too excited and over-run too much. They may break up the sheep into two or more groups or they may run right around the sheep again and again. Some dogs will bark a lot at stock when a puppy but not as an adult.