scmense

You got a nice looking friend, I like that winter shot. My female BC is 14 months.

The owner of a large ranch and I were talking in his headquarters. I noticed the kitchen light was on and mentioned to the land owner that I needed to teach my BC to turn off that light. He bet me a cheeseburger I couldn't do it. I had trained my dog with a clicker so she was very receptive to this type of chore. The next evening we were sitting there and I had her turn off the light. He thought that was vey good, he asked me if I was going to teach her to turn on the light and I said no I didn't want her turning on lights. Now for the good part. A couple days later I was getting the coffee pot ready, I had not turned on the light, it was dark but there was enough light I could see. All of a sudden the light comes on and I turn around and my dog friend (Koda) is sitting there giving me this look like, Why didn't you turn on the light. Cognitive thinking.

That's funny, they are agile.

Skyler that is a cool dog.

Thank You Geri

Where can one get the Montana Light whistle?

There seems to be a lot of good BC people within 100 miles. I am very pleased at this stage with the gentleman I am working with. I asked him last night if it would be possible to see one of his dogs work. He brought out a male that worked wonderfully on some cattle. I tried the number to the Butler, Mo. clinic but didn't get a return call. My wife and I talked about going but didn't know if we could take Koda. Can a person take a dog to watch, we don't have a kennel yet so she pretty much goes where I go, she sleeps in a crate but otherwise is with me. My quest is met, a new friend. They are smart, I keep forgetting to turn off lights, taught her to turn the kitchen light off. Was making coffee early one morning and hadn't turned on the lights. The lights come on and I turn around and she is sitting there looking at me. Please let me know if a couple can take their dog to a show. It would be a good socializing session for her.

Wow what an exciting experience. It was difficult to watch the trainer and not my dog when they were working. What a ballet of position between the dog, sheep and trainer. Koda was doing better, control wise, at the end of the lesson than at the beginning. I am so proud of her.

I appreciate the help and information. I will not take my dog into the pen on Tuesday. I will ask the trainer who was going to guide me to go in. I am probably too concerned for the sheep on the intitial outings. It seemed to me that the only way to keep the dog from biting the sheep was to stay between her and the sheep, just initially, until she knows over agressiveness will not be tolerated. I am sure a majority of her aggressiveness is due to fear. I think she will calm down once she has spent some time in the pen. Now you have me curious to see how the initial training sessions handle the dogs aggressiveness. I know now the trainer won't get between the dog and sheep so am anxious to learn how it is done. Thanks for the help and please be patient with my computer skills and lack of knowledge about sheep. Koda and I will be training late afternoon on Tuesday, will keep you informed how things progressed. Also, I will check out the book and DVD of Scrimgeour's. My library is growing. Thanks again for the help.

I hope this is posted in the right place. My computer skills are lacking. My main focus on day one will be to enter the pen with three sheep and keep the dog under control. I will have Koda on a ten foot rope. I will always try to stay between her and the sheep. We will start with a short lead with me between the sheep and her. The main lesson on day one will be control and I will focus on the come bye and away to me commands. If I don't focus on something other than control it seems we will just be wandering around wasting time.

I have always been a dog person, they have just always been labs. Last year I started spending time on a large ranch in Western Kansas. The owner and I have become friends and I plan on spending every April, May and June on his ranch. Come home for July and August then go back for September, October and part of November. This spring, after much research, I got a BC pup. She spent five months this year around cattle and shows lots of desire. She was always kept on a leash in a utv but was around cattle daily. We are now back home in S.E. Kansas and I want to start teaching her direction. The closest sheep I have found available to work with are 45 miles away. We start Tuesday. I just want to spend a few weeks teaching her come bye, away to me and basic commands. I would like to do a training session daily but the mileage is a limitation. Today I talked to a local rancher who has some goats that are under a year old. He told me I was welcome to use them if I wanted. Since there are no goat dogs, lol, I take it they have less herding instinct or are more independent? I grew up around cattle and know nothing of sheep and goats. My main concern is not to hurt the dogs natural ability for herding stock, she is out of working parents with strong ability. We both have a lot to learn and can't wait to start the process, she is a wonderful teacher. Too darn smart for her own good sometimes. Are these young goats a possilbe aid or should it be considered unwise for training?