vpwolf

Quick, easy way to set up a temporary panel in your field is get a "T" post pound it into the ground and slide a pallet over it thus creating a "wall" of some sort on each side.....not exactly "specs" but it works and gives you something to aim for. It is also easily moved about. Also, I quick freestanding pen I've used round pen panels (with stakes to hold them up of course). If your short on posts there is of course the good ol' twine and duct tape LOL. Kris Wolf

Horses were dropping dead at an alarming rate in Minnesota this year to. This is the only good reason I can think of for the cold weather. Kris Wolf

Inci, Hey, this method works great, used it on one of my dogs also, he was just as you described yours to be. I did add a "twist" to it though. I handed out doggie treats at the door and as they sat and ignored him they did so with a doggie treat within reach if he decided to approach and be friendly they were instructed to let him have it without eye contact. This dog is now the premier goose dog at one of the most well established golf courses here......and he does well with all people but this process did take over a year to complete.....patience is a MUST. Kris Wolf

Yes Denise I agree on the 600 outrun thing but typically most local trials here are not to that extent. Infact I'm lucky to have any trials at all here in Northern Mn. Traveling is 99% of the reason I don't trial much if at all. Though I would love to I just have too much else happening here with the farm to leave for an undetermined amount of time. Who would feed the critters (horses, sheep, dogs mine and rescues)? I just took the poll on Kims webpage, nice poll I encourage everyone to use it. It may give us some starting point to see where some of our dogs are at? Maybe we could set up more of an intense poll on the ABCA website? Covering a bit more ground? Such as the goose dogs, ect... and have a spot to enter a number of how many for that catagory of dogs we either have or have sold for such purposes or own. We could include in it our registered rescues also as most are ABCA just what the dogs are doing? I don't know, it's a thought. Such as in Kim's poll (though it is a good one) For the rescue's that are registered I could've checked "agility" and "goosedog" but didn't check agility because I've only ever done it once with mine so I didn't count it as really doing it. Make sense? I know I can account for all offspring and count them and what they are doing. And how many of these dogs are spayed or neutered? I think that is a concern too as those dogs aren't really diluting anything so do we really need to count them? I don't know how we'd find out how many AKC trialing BC's there are that's a good question. Kris

Charles, Depends on the sheep. Kneeknockers will do alot for and "obedince trained" dog and they will complete the course. Not all trials have tough to handle sheep. Kris

Britta, Hi, the problem here would be the same as in all the other posts. Who would administer the test? Who would make up the test? and most of all what farmers would actually take time to take the test let alone pay the fee? Who would fund this endevour? If a video who's gonna watch them all? And some of those "orange pool dogs" ...... who's gonna decide? Some of them are only good as breeders not herders so who would say then? This is part of the issue. And of course the farm dogs work but to what degree and who would decide what the dog was lacking by a test? How would it be determined if it was a lack of breeding or a lack of handling skill? Tests aren't as simple as they sound (as is the AKC insticnt test). Of which I must say the only dog I've seen failed from an insticnt AKC test is one who was chasing lightning instead of the sheep! Even then they gave that dog a "fair chance" and continued the session for a good ten minutes.....just incase......???? (now if that don't make ya cringe!). Also I don't know of the dogs that are on farms how many farmers can take time to travel two hours (or more) then stand all day at a trial waiting thier turn??? Trialing is a sport, farming to many who use the dog is a family income. Robin, I don't think the answer is in the "difficulty of the course" but in the manner in which the dog excecutes the manuvure (chore/course). You can train a dog to do any course no matter the difficulty it's the "attitude" and herding abilities that is being looked at. Just because a dog doesn't finish a certain course doesnt mean that they are not worthy, it could be the handler and with a different handler the dog would work perfectly. Then again.......it could be the dog. Back to the genetics, yes, I believe we need a large gene pool from which to pull good dogs, outcrosses are often needed to improve ones stock but if overused can "muddy" things. Kris ------------------ Kris Wolf Victory Pass Farms Pine City, Mn

Bill, I'm with ya here. I think eventhough there is alot to be said on breeding "red" to "Red" there is alot to say about breeding "red" to perhaps "orange". I think alot of the orange dogs are being bred to the yellow dogs and that is where we are loosing alot of the gene pool. These are the "pet" border collies. Close monitoring and "culling" is very important where the "red" / "orange" is crossed, as in any cross. (culling=neuter/spay) I had a orange dog here for a few years and bred him a few times to a red dog my result everytime was red pups that worked well and the farmers were thrilled. I still get requests for working pups from that mating. Out of one of those red pup litters I kept back a pup, sold the orange dog (neutered)and am hoping that as the dog grows it will prove it's self worthy of the breed (better than orange). I used her in demo's this year and she showed wonderful promise with good balance/fetch ect... and such for a pup her age (6mo). "For the record I would like to state that I am not satisfied." Well for the record I'd like to say that breeding for a purpose rather than herding ability should give folks an "all night nightmare"! We do BC rescue and NIGHTMARE is the correct word. The agility dogs are bred for speed and agileness. This in my experience translates to hyper idot with an obsessive "tweak". They are our "long termers" here because they have the attention span of a gnat. Who could herd with that? I could go on and on but that would be futile as you all get the idea I'm sure. What I hear the most from folks is about the nightmare border collie that can't sit still and they unfortunatly identify it with the working BC. In my experience my working BC are able to think clearly, accuratly, be calm (on and off stock)yet have good energy to apply when needed. But then again any working BC should have these abilities along with a very long list of others needed to produce quality offspring. I think alot of the responsibility falls to the breeder as to what is done with the pups. Are they letting intact pups who don't "cut the muster" go intact to homes? Or are they being responsible and requriing spay neuter before registration papers are surrendered? or spaying and neutering before sale? Why don't they require spay / neuter of all pups unless the "right" person is allowed to take an intact pup who is responsible enough to spay/neuter if the pup doesn't prove itsself? "It is not easy to breed a top level working Border Collie. Selection must be kept heavily on working ability to ensure high quality workers. You will never be able to maintain the high quality in a population (even though the occasional individual may be produced) if non-working criteria are also used in selection. These are just common laws of genetics folks. Period." I think that's where the responsibility of the breeder comes in. If a pup is sold that is "not worthy" why is it leaving intact? This is helping create the poor gene pool. NB papers atleast should accompany this sale or a contract and no reg. papers transfer names until the pup is proven spay/neutered! Or if the pup is old enough simply alter the dog before it leaves (yes this is an adventure of the pocketbook). Remember, your name is in the "grandparentage" and if that dog is bred to an "unworthy" dog your name IS in the backdrop of those then produced possibly unworthy dogs. I see it this way. If there is a pup I consider unworthy to breed and I allow the sale of that dog intact.......the next crappy generation is MY fault! Hence adding to the diluted nightmare currently happening. Yes Bill, I think the orange dogs that "produce good uns" are important to the breed along with many other considerations. God, I hope I made some sense! Denise, I am very intereseted in seeing those numbers. Kris

Had the vet out to my place today and she told me that yes, the dog's eyesight issues that have been recent certainly could be from the ProHeart 6 injection. She says it will clear up after the 6 month period. HA! Now, I'd like to see her herd our sheep with limited vision! Kris

Hi, I have a couple of dogs here that did the "proheart" thing (they weren't mine at the time). I was wondering if it can have any effect on their sight? Would affecting the sight in this particular dog be a CNS thing, he is an older dog and I've never noticed sight issues with him before. Thanks.

Maybe if you put a "tag" rope on him like we do the weanling foals? A rope about 12 inches, just let it live there. If it works ... why fix it? I have a horse, he opens gates (chained gates) but he will not open the gates as long as there is a rope on the end of the chain about 12 inces long. So my gates all have rope hanging from the gates....it works, don't fix it. If the rope bothers you, that's a human false pride issue, buy a prettier peice of rope. I never roll down a window enough for a dog to jump out of it eventhough my dogs aren't window jumpers. It just makes sense to me to be "proactive" rather than always having to be "reactive". Meanwhile, persistance and repetitiveness in your training is ok on a daily basis. I know my one dog took four years to mature. Border Collies can be very slow to mature, they can also be "passivly challenging" your athority. ------------------ Kris Wolf Victory Pass Farms Pine City, Mn

Hi, I don't mean to sound like a smart ass but....don't let go. There is a training glitch here that you need to go back and work on. Start from the begining. "sit, come, stay, here" repitition, if he's a pet (ie. not herding) use treats to reward him for thing he does well, make a big happy fuss like he just won a million dollars (milkbones, hehe). Praise, Praise, Praise him, I can't stress that enough. Never scold him when you call him even if he has done something wrong. Never, Never call a dog to you then scold him. Is he running to something particular? Another dog, house, person, lake? Go to a puppy obedience beginner class and work with him. Personally, I don't allow my dogs to run loose anywhere except in our yard under close supervision and when herding. If I ever thought any of them were gonna leave the yard I would either bring them in the house or kennel them before they got a chance to run as I wouldn't want a bad habit created. It sounds like you need to work on making comming to you a funner thing than leaving. (I know "funner" is not a word). You also it sounds like need to get some respect from him and this will come from working with him. ------------------ Kris Wolf Victory Pass Farms Pine City, Mn

Why the heck would you allow her to "herd"....chase things at all? It is a bad behavior (as you have found out) and leads to all sorts of unwanted problems. ------------------ Kris Wolf Victory Pass Farms Pine City, Mn

A very simple method. If dog pulls on leash, quit walking until there is slack in the leash, repeat, repeat, repeat until dog learns that slack leash = forward movement Kris

In my opinion if you don't have enough time to take and train the dog, individually, you shouldn't have the dog. Kris

Gene, it's not good on a dogs joints to work it (jumps ect...) when they are young take cholla's suggestions, go slow, don't ruin her joints. She's a good pup, every pup I've sold that has gone to agility or obedience has ended up at the top of it's class, this year some of them will begin competition, I'll let ya know how they do. I wonder how she'd do on sheep? Your welcome to come to the farm here if you'd like. Her sire has awesome eye and balance, he'll do anything from ducks to sheep to really peed off hogs, he's a good dog, very bright, very loving. He was my first "real" border collie. By the way, how is she with thunder storms? Ty hates them. Kris