J.E.S

Genie, you really should try to get out there. I've been going there almost my whole life. My parents used to take us there all the time as kids and I've taken my kids there also. My favorite painting hangs there "Gainsborough's Blue Boy" here is a link to their webpage.. http://www.huntington.org/

do you know who put them on? Were they any good? I'm just curious as to who is doing them in that area. Joan

Did they have sheepherding demos there? I used to do a lot of sheepherding demos at all the Celtic Festivals and Highland Games in So CA. I've since moved to Idaho and they only have one Festival here that I know of and of course it wont' be till next year now. John McLean Allan is another very good piper whom I've seen a lot. I love the bagpipes. My cell phone ringer is Scotland the Brave and my boss asked me yesterday if I liked bagpipes because my phone rang..LOL Joan (Clan Little)

I have a Robin Penland dog. He is strictly working bred and could have been registered AKC as well as ABCA. I said no to the AKC reg. and only registered him ABCA. Of course I am going to neuter him also so it really doesn't matter anyway.

First, I would be furious if a trainer I took my young dog (11 mos) to put him on cattle without my consent and let him get kicked many times. Second, in quote from the other thread regarding the HD, you don't seem to be very sure if the dog did indeed get kicked. You just state you are "I'm sure this involved a lot of getting kicked in those early stages." Did your trainer later tell you the dog did get kicked a lot? If so, why did the trainer not start the dog off on stock a bit more safe for a puppy?Anyway, it sounds as if you are only hoping the dog did get kicked and that is the reason for the "unilateral" HD. I have a dog that was diagnosed with unilateral HD. One hip was perfectly fine the other not so fine. He was never injured and most of the other pups in this particular litter came up dysplastic. One so bad he was put down. My dog is neutered. Joan

I'm so glad to hear the good news Linda!

I got to meet several of the SAR handlers and their dogs. I worked with a group that put on a sheepdog trial where we did a tribute to the 911 dogs and handlers. I made their flight arrangements and drove them around to their hotel and the trial grounds. I took a couple to my kid's Civil Air Patrol meeting. One of those dogs was Pepe the dog in the picture shaking "paws" with President Bush. I got a picture of Pepe shaking paws with my husband. If I can find it, I'll post it later. They told the kids what they had been through and let all the kids meet the dogs. They were wonderful people and of course the dogs were great. I met "Cowboy" too.

I once volunteered at a ranch where I taught beginning herding classes. This woman had what she called a Pharoah Hound X. Why you would bring a Pharoah Hound to a sheepdog class I have no idea. The dog just chased sheep around. I asked her why she thought it was part Pharoah Hound as she had indicated she got the dog from a shelter. She said the dog looked like a Pharoah Hound and having read up on them, had the breed characteristics of one. I pointed out how few Pharoah Hounds there are in this country and the likelyhood of her dog being a cross wasn't too high. I also pointed out that the only reason the dog resembled a PH was because she kept it shaved. It normally had a long thick coat. Needless to say I didn't win her good graces and I never taught her again. I didn't mind as the dog had absolutely no herding talent.

I think goats are more intelligent than sheep. I've raised both. Goats can be worked. There are 5 goats in this picture. But goats can be mean. Your dog has to be up to the challenge. This particular doe had a gnarly set of horns on her too..and knew how to use them. Meg knew when not to bite also.

My dogs started out with goats because that's what I had. I raised goats long before I got Border Collies. Goats can be hard to herd as they will split and some even learn to just stand still and look invisible. Some fight back. Goats rear on their hind legs then jump forward to butt. But my dogs all worked the goats just fine. Some breeds are easier than others I think. Angora goats seem to be better. I had some Angora X goats but they were kind of stupid and skittish. Lots of people use Border Collies to work their goats and there are some trials where they use goats.

I'm so sorry to hear about all the trials you are going through Linda. I'm glad you have a board full of members who are so supportive. I will think positive thoughts for your nephew and hope you find a good home for Otis. Please do not feel bad about him not working out. Not all dogs work out in all situations. Its best for you and the dog to rehome him.

Boy, you are good Linda. I wish you would stop in next time you are in CA. I'd love to meet you in person. Not all the dogs in that pic are mine. I have 5 and she had 5 or 6. We've had more than that before and they all got along ok..with supervision. We used to all get together with our dogs and haul sheep out to the desert to work all day. We'd always let the dogs run before and after. Now those friends have all moved to different states

Ahem...not to be nitpicky but... Scottish Deerhound...

I only have 1 dog that likes to fetch. If there are other dogs over that also like to fetch, they usually concede to him and just shadow him, but he is the one that actually fetches whatever toy he is playing with. Out of my other dogs, one likes to shadow him and nip when he can. We discourage that. Another likes to hold something in his mouth and follow the fetching dog. If I don't kick the ball in due time the "following" dog will come give the ball a nudge to get the game going again, even though he will never actually fetch the ball to me. He also will never try to get the ball from the fetching dog. The 4th one of my dogs could care less about playing at all and would rather watch the sheep. Fetch? Not if her life depended on it. Is this too many dogs to play fetch with? There were more dogs here that day but they are out of frame. We never had a problem allowing all these dogs to play together.

I've talked about this film before but wondered how many on this list have watched it and/or read David Kennard's books, "A Shepherd's Watch, and "The Dogs of Windcutter Down?" He has a new video coming out for kids called "Mist The Sheep-pup." His video "Year of the Working Sheepdog is really great for showing what these dogs can do and depicting a year in the life of David's dogs. The scenery is breathtaking. I highly recommend watching this video and reading his books. He writes with the same flair as James Herriot. Anyway I loved the video and the books and I wish his new video would come out soon.