This belief will build confidence that we will work towards increasing as we go. I will move around the arena in figure 8's as this encourages the dog to flank each direction, striving to stop the sheep from going around me. I want the dog in contact at all times. In the initial stages he's frequently too close so has to flank continually because the sheep are trying to go past me due too much pressure. I don't lie him down to relieve this pressure, instead I try to encourage him to figure just out how much is needed to push the sheep without upsetting them.
Some dogs are natural at it and some it takes a lot of time and patience.
If you get good solid basics on a dog, everything else progresses much easier. If a dog learns how to work sheep without being told every step to take, then even a novice person can handle him. So, if the dog is accustomed to working on their own and knows how to handle sheep, then all the novice person has to remember is to back up. Another common Novice mistake - laying their dog down every time it gets near the sheep. The end result is all the dog knows how to do is chase sheep.