concrete

Iv'e been feeding ProPlan for seven years now and have never had any food related health problems with any of my dogs and I've had quite a few dogs through during that time. Kevin

My dogs howl regularly at night with the coyotes that have moved into the fields just over from their kennels and my wife tells me they also howl every morning after I leave for work. Kevin

Hey Firchow I appreciated you commenting on this if for no other reason than it reminded me that it's better just to read this stuff and shake my head than to actually try to point out that stuff like stealing other people's dogs is bad. Kevin

I think if you are going to take a squeaker toy to interact with the pups you should be fine. Kevin

In Ohio to get the State tax exemtion on my livestock feed I have to give the feed store my name and address (which they know anyway).And as Bill mentioned I already use Government supplied Id tags with my farm ID on them on all my sheep. I think people are making much ado about nothing. Kevin

My sheep do not particularly like white clover but they do eat it without any adverse side effects. It gives my horses the slobbers though. Kevin

This seems like a really cool thing until one day the dog decides to jump into your arms when you are not expecting it and cracks you a good one on the nose with it's head. Kevin

My favorite herding title is 'Conquistador" with "Viscount" running a close second. Kevin

I have used 20 Mule Team Borax in my carpet and had great success with it when I had a very bad flea out break some years ago. Bombing and spraying insecticides did not work . Since then I frontline once a year in the spring and have had no more problems. Kevin

This web page has a database of Border Collies that you can search using registration number, name and other fields. I have found it to be very useful in looking into pedigrees. http://db.kennel.dk/ Kevin

This is the one of the best descriptions of putting a good foundation on a dog that I have read. You should think about writing a book Carol you have a gift for translating dog training into verbal form. Kevin I've edited this to include the fact that my command of the english language is poor at best and I have no accomplishments whatsoever in this area.

I've seen a lot of training advice on the internet from people who speak with a lot of authority giving the impression of great knowledge of dogs when in fact they know little and understand less. I can not say this applies to you "GR" as I have no idea who you are.But the fact that you choose to not sign your name causes me to suspect what you say. That is why I for one question your advice. I also question what you say because I believe it si incorrect but that's not the real point of my post. The point is sign your name. Kevin Brannon

I agree with you that when sheep bolt from a dog at the top of the outrun the dog is probably well into the flight zone. I also agree that the sheep are rarely the cause of problems it's almost always the dog or handler's fault. My question was do you train your dogs to run too wide at home so that when you go to a trial they will be correct? I find that dogs naturally run wider as they get older and if you push a young dog to far out you will likely end up with a dog that runs too deep and off contact with the sheep when it is 5 years old. I might add that I rarely go to trials so I'm not up on the tricks of winning trials. Kevin

So are you saying that you should teach your dogs to run wide and off contact at home because then they will be right at a trial? Kevin

Even though I found Destructo highly entertaining and did not take him seriously at all I do understand Eileen banning him from the board because most people do not share my somewhat unusual sensabilities. On the other hand I find Destructo to be no danger to the working Border Collie as a breed. I do think the people who argue for all kinds of restrictions on working breeders from positions of no less ignorance of the true nature of the breed but in a very rational and reasoned way to be a very real danger and possible the final down fall of the breed. Kevin

I have to say that destructo's comments are the most entertaining I've read on here in a long time. Much better than George. Kevin

Ralph Pulfer ran a blue dog in open that was one of the most impressive dogs I've ever seen. I can't remember the dogs name ( it'll come to me eventually) but he also sired some very good dogs. Kevin

A lot of wormers have pyrantel pamoate and they won't treat hook worms or tape worms. I'd be sure to have the vet check him for worms and maybe get some safeguard. That being said most of my dogs seem thin to people but the vet always says that the dogs I bring in are some of the few she has seen that aren't over weight. Almost all the dogs I have sold (mostly to working homes) are in my opinion overweight when I go to visit them. Kevin

I have ten dogs here right now and I feed them all Pro Plan. Ten is the high end but I've been feeding between 6 and 10 dogs Pro Plan for years and they have always done well. They also have small stools which is important to me when I have this many dogs. Kevin

I think Lyle Boyer-Ladd is somewhere in southern Ohio now. I don't have any contact info for her but someone else on here might. Do you have stock? I'm willing to travel that far for a chance to work some unbroke stock. Kevin

Just to comment on your original post about a dog avoiding a ewe protecting its lamb instead of biting it. Tonight I was shedding a ewe with mastitis out to give it an injection. I have lambs ranging from a week to a month old in with these ewes. My dog lad, who tore my rams ear off when he charged him, put way to much pressure on a ewe with a young lamb and when she went after him he turned tail and ran back about ten feet and let her get her lamb and get out of there. This dog isn't afraid of anything just smart. Sometimes a grip is not the right thing for a dog to do when charged. Kevin

I'm lambing right now and my dogs really enjoy dragging an afterbirth out of the pasture to enjoy in their kennel. Honestly we don't use any kind of treats to train working dogs. You would probably get more helpful responses in the general section. Kevin

I have a white Dorper ram and have not got any color out of him in three years now. I've been crossing him on polypay ewes and get some nice lambs. If you are interested in Cheviots I think the Bewleys, up in Holmes county, have Cheviots. They have a web site I'll see if I can find the link for you. They are probably halfway between us. Chris Thompson, over by Sidney, has some nice Dorpors at very reasonable prices. He has been running an add in the Working Border Collie. Kevin

I compost all my dead sheep. I composted a large Suffolk ram and he was gone in about 2 months. The compost then goes into the spreader and onto the pastures. I have five horses so I always have stalls to clean. I put down about a foot of straw, then a foot of manure/straw from a stall, then the animal ,then if it's warm enough I get it all very wet, cover with a couple more feet of manure, more water and that's it. If it's to cold for water I don't worry about it just takes longer to compost. I never get any smell from the pile but I have had dogs dig into it and roll in it real good and they smelled bad. Kevin

I think a well trained farm dog should have no problem running an open course. There is nothing in an open course that isn't done regularly on the farm. He may not win because he might not have commands for mini-flanks, various speeds, etc, but he should do well. I think there are dogs that are trained to run open courses but have never done farm work that could not move right into farm work. They could probably be trained in time but would not have all the skills needed right away. I've got a friend in his 80's whose had sheep dogs all his life. His ewes are a good mile away from his barn. He'll let his bitch out tell her to go get the sheep and she heads out down a path through the wood to his pasture. By the time he's got the grain out here she comes bringing his 100 ewes through the woods to the barn. Now Wayne says he can't train a dog good enough to mess with trialing but I think that's one impressive bitch. Kevin