Pipedream Farm

Mark and I wish to thank everyone for participating in this trial benefiting our brother-in-law. Sue Asten helped keep a fun, relaxed environment for all those nervous novice handlers! We also owe a special thank you to Todd Layfield and Peggy Simpson. Without their help, the trial would not be possible. Mark and I donated all costs for running the trial so that all donations and entry fees could be contributed to HELPHOPELIVE on Tim's behalf. I am pleased to say we have raised over $3,200! Todd and Peggy again outdid themselves hosting a delicious handler's dinner. They also generously offered to donate dinner donations for Tim as well. Trial photos are available through photoalchemy.co Lynn of Photoalchemy has graciously offered to donate a portion of photo sales to HELPHOPELIVE for Tim. It is truly touching to know what a caring community of handlers we have that came out to show support. Again, THANK YOU! Renee Saturday: Ranch 1. Pam Gardner Midge 2. Kyra Costanzo Tess 3. Kim Baker Skip 4. Emily Falk Gabe 5. Dan Weeks Tilly 6. Monroe Williams Moss 7. Peggy Simpson Davy 8. Dan Weeks Anna 9. Sandy Hornung Meg 10. Sharon Nunan Will Pro-novice 1.Renee Billadeau Tally 2. Mark Soper Gyp 3. Mark Billadeau Eve 4. Sally Molloy Sid 5. Robin Mongold Chad 6. Elayne Holbrook Glenn 7. Pam Gardner Kelsea 8. Michelle Dobbs Flora 9. Karen Karkow Moss 10. Karen Karkow Calvin Novice-novice 1.Pat Romano Tip 2. Sandy LeFevre Nym Sunday Ranch 1. Monroe Williams Moss 2. Nancy Starkey Rye 3. Kim Baker Skip 4. Pam Gardner Midge 5. Emily Falk Gabe 6. Emily Falk Spain 7. Mary Brighoff Lance 8. Pam Helton Ellie 9. Dan Weeks Anna 10. Robin Mongold Tanner Pro-novice 1.Karen Karkow Moss 2. Mark Billadeau Eve 3. Pam Gardner Kelsea 4. Irene Trewitt Boston 5. Sally Molloy Sid 6. Mark Soper Gyp 7. Irene Treweitt Gwen 8. Karen Karkow Calvin 9. Michelle Dobbs Flora 10. Morgan Dawkins Gilly Novice-novice 1. Sandy Lefevre Nym

Here I (Mark Billadeau) am at home using our farm account. After we move to MD with our first Border Collie, Duncan (purchased for a pet from Dick aka somewhereinusa), I tried working sheep with Duncan. This was facilitated by NCStarkey (small world ain't it). Renee and I both got into herding and we always thought that if the stock options from my company gained enough value we would purchase a farm. The stocks went up and we got our first farm which we had though was just a pipedream. Mark

To answer Sue's question (and others I'm sure); we are working on having clinics at geographically dispersed trials that are well attended. I do not want to name trials until ALL details are worked out and I'm sure the clinics will occur. Mark

Thank you Nancy and co. for all your hard work before and during the event. This was the first clinic of several to come and will be used as a guide on how to organize and run the rest. I will post announcements of future clinics when the details are finalized. I can tell you we are looking at several trials around the country before the finals to have one of these clinics and we're working towards having one at the finals. Mark Billadeau

There may be a bit of confusion here about the definition of "DNA Test". The next step in the process for early on-set deafness is to confirm the markers of interest and develop a focused test for these markers. Then, more testing will be needed to demonstrate that dogs with the markers of this test do in fact develop early on-set deafness. Once we have confirmation that these markers do in fact lead to the disease we will have the final Deafness Test similar to the current CEA test. Of course the focused marker test will be available sooner than the final deafness DNA test. I have asked Dr Neff for his latest estimate on the time frame to when the focused DNA marker test will be available. Currently, there is no way for anyone to know how long it will be until we have the final deafness test like the CEA test Mark

There is nothing definite yet. When I have more information I'll post it. Mark

In my mind "herding" is more complex than performing one or two behaviors that are part of "herding". You certainly wouldn't say that a child banging on the keys of a piano is really "playing the piano" even though the act of striking keys is part of playing the piano. One wouldn't realistically claim that every child that bangs on the keys of a piano will be a pianist so why claim that a dog that heads something is "herding"? Mark

My old dog Moss had it when he was 14. He just progressively lost balance and coordination within the course of a day. In his case, it would be way too dramatic to think Lyme disease. I thought he may have suffered a stroke. For about a week he was very uncoordinated and had to eat and drink while lying down. He did get better. Actually I'm not sure if they actually get better or learn to adapt. He lived for another 1 1/2 years without incident. Renee

Here are photos of our 3 day old pups from Lyle Lad's Shep and Renee's Bette. Mark

I'm up loading photos now. Bette and the pups are doing very well. Kitchen reconstruction has started today. Mark

Here's the breakdown: 2 tri males 2 B&W males 1 tri female 4 B&W females Many have white faces with splashes of black like Bette and Joni S's Lew (Bette's sire).

Here's all you get for tonight. There will be more. Mark

Nine (a female) and Bette appears to be done. Photos will be coming.......

Bette's temp had dropped 2 degs by yesterday morning. After waiting all night she started labor at 11 am today. We currently have 4 boys and 4 girls. Mark

I've seen our new guardian dog play bow to the sheep. The sheep don't get it yet, but who knows maybe they will eventually. Renee

You know, you would be very underwhelmed with that. She's very long and lanky so she carries it very well. It hasn't slowed her down a bit. She was still keeping up with the sheep until recently. Actually no one is doing anything with the sheep right now because of all the snow --except the new guardian dog of course. Renee

That's the only description I've read that ever made any sense. I did get a noise somewhat like blowing in a bottle. I also got really light headed so I think I'll stick with my metal whistle so I don't pass out on the trial field! Thanks for the description! Renee

I think it can also be easy to incorrectly think a young dog is hard headed when it really is just showing typical young dog enthusiasm. My young dog BJ was very pushy and grippy when she started. She didn't want to stop for anything. Now, at 3 she's still pushy. She doesn't particularly want to stop, but she does. She stops and listens because she has a good relationship with me. In spite of all her wildness, she always wanted to be a good dog --a shock collar would have ruined her. Renee

Could mean it would be willing to stay put while the others drifted off to get a shed. I don't typically try to shed off a lamb at a trial, but if that's what presents itself, I'd go for it. Renee

In terms of mind, I guess it's a toss up which I prefer. I have one of each right now. I am fortunate to have two good dogs right now. Bette is very talented, but she really wants to please and is likely to wait for direction at times. I'm sometimes frustrated by this because she's got plenty of brains and talent to make her own decisions. As far as if it was trained or just in her. I've seen this trait in her from the beginning (I've had her from a pup and trained her myself). I more or less let her train herself because I saw this in her, plus she was quite talented and really didn't need much other than let her work. I can take her out to do chores and know that I'm not likely to have anything too chaotic happen. I'm not always up for a big adventure first thing in the morning! Bette's pretty cool headed which I love. BJ on the other hand is much more likely to fly off the handle. She's more likely to "do" first and ask questions later if she encountered an unusual situation. That can be good or bad, just depends on what you're doing. I had to train her much more mechanical than I like. I knew early on that she was the type of dog that needed a solid stop or I'd never be able to do anything with her. She needed to be trained this way. Although she has plenty of natural in her, she needed to understand what I expected of her early on. She's the type that gets so wound up because she's so keen. In the end she's turning into a pretty good listener. With her, I'm not as sure if it was in her or trained in her. I would agree with Denise, though, that she'd default to do her own thing when the chips are down. So I guess I like having one of each for a well rounded arsenal so to speak. Again, neither type would be any good without talent. Renee

Julie, perhaps Pheobe just needs lots and lots of work. When you describe your frustrations with her it reminds me of BJ and me. Since the move though, I've been using her constantly for chores with the focus more on getting things done rather than schooling. At first it was really frustrating, but right now we're at a really good place together. The constant work has done a lot for her. I've had trouble in the past with her not being deep enough on her outruns, but now it seems (fingers crossed) to be falling into place on its own. The work itself has taught her more than I could ever show her because she is a bit more independent than I'm used to. I've also tried very hard to stay calm myself no matter what she's doing. She's actually started to respect my opinion more than she used to --maybe she just needed to grow up a little more. Anyhow, good luck with her. I know first hand about training a dog that as you say, makes you question yourself a lot. Renee

Don't offend her Mark. It's Adrianna, not Angelina. Yay! We finally have internet service again! Renee

Wendy, The other reason I don't like posting here is I never know if the OP is reading the situation and dog the same way I would read it. Mark

Darci, I really don't teach flank commands this early in the training. You want him reading your body language; so if you think he's (not you) getting bored they you need to change things up more. You don't want him mindlessly circling; but always watching where the balance point is and getting to balance. IMHO the primary goal at this stage is to help him develop a good feel for his sheep and fine tune his feeling for balance. If he needs to circle to stay relaxed to develop his feel for the sheep; then I would let him circle as long as he is not doing so mindlessly. Can you tell if and when he tunes out or just starts becoming stressed? Mark

One of my first dogs, Moss was a one person dog. I got him as a fully trained dog from my instructor. When I would come over for a lesson, Mary could not be anywhere in sight for him to work for me. We literally had our lessons with two way radios. Mary would watch what we were doing from inside her house. Eventually, he transferred over. We always did have a bit of a problem if Mary was holding sheep for him on an outrun though. Renee