RaisingRiver Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 I know NOTHING about herding. River has never even seen a sheep. But this week or next (haven't confirmed time yet) I am going to look at a local facility that has herding classes, training, etc. Looking at the possibility of herding w/ River should I or River find it interesting. Is there any thing I should look for or more importantly what kinds of things would be very evil red flags? Also, do I bring River w/ me if I'm just looking and being shown around? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipedream Farm Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 Observe a lesson (if the instructor will allow); this will let you see the instructor in action and their training methods. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Allie+Tess&Kipp Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 I will follow this with interest... I am hoping to start herding with my dogs as well. There is a place in Arlington, WA, (probably WAY too far north for you ) that I contacted but have not heard back yet. She was recommended to me by someone on Whidbey who offers herding lessons but does not train border collies. My dogs were born on a farm with sheep but have not seen any since I brought them home (except for those we see when we go jogging, but that doesn't really count). Tess actually was out with the rest of her litter, escaped from the barn, chasing the sheep on the morning we picked her up. Allie + Tess & Kipp Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheri McDonald Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 I ditto what Mark said, watch a lesson and see what you think of the instructor and how he/she communicates with the person and dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Watch Debatable Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 Double ditto to what Mark said: spend a morning or afternoon watching lessons. How do the sheep look? Are they alert, healthy and obviously well cared for, or skinny and tired-looking, with hooves in need of trimming? How many are used, and how much rest are they given in an afternoon of lessons? Do you get the sense that the sheep are sort of viewed as necessary evils in the process, or are they handled with a measure of consideration? The state of the sheep will tell you something about the trainer's experience with livestock, which is a big part of border collie handling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 Also decide what *you* want out of this. If you just want to expose River to livestock and learn some skills yourself, then any facility that has a trainer whose methods you can work with and livestock husbandry standards that you are comfortable with will work. If you want to compete or obtain certain goals (titles or something else) then the facility/instructor should be versed (and accomplished) in the venue in which you wish to compete. From the web site I gather this facility is geared toward AKC, AHBA, and ASCA type herding. If you are more interested in "border collie trials" I wouldn't expect to get a lot of help in that regard. They link to AKC, AHBA, ASCA, and ISDS as the herding venues the visitor might be interested in. But ISDS is the UK organization whose US equivalent (loosely, since ISDS is also a registry) is the USBCHA. That alone says to me that the instruction available at this farm is not going to be geared toward "border collie trials." That's not necessarily a bad thing, just something to consider if your ultimate goal is different than what the place in question has to offer. At any rate, going out and seeing the facility and watching the instructors is a good first step. Edited to add Luisa said what I meant when I mentioned husbandry standards. I personally would not be comfortable using a trainer who didn't care properly for his/her livestock. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingRiver Posted May 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 That's exactly it. I want to check it out to see what I want out of it. I already do a bit of agility training and plan to start River with that soon. Herding it a whole new avenue that I want to check out to see if I'm interested and/or if River has interest as well. Thanks so far! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sea4th Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 I would take someone with me who knew something about working with border collies. You can go watch on your own, but someone with some working bc experience will give you an insight that you might not have at this point. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingRiver Posted May 23, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 That's a good idea, but I don't know anyone else w/ a BC yet But Stafford from these boards goes to this facility, so I imagine it's not a bad place, I just wanted to know some general things to look for. Like I didn't think about actually looking at the sheep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stafford Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 It's not a bad place. Dave Viklund gives lessons out of Brigands Hideout and also out of another farm somewhere south of Salem. He's first and foremost a stockman, but is competitive with his kelpies (and _not_ AKC). Here's a short bio from last year I found from a cached page at the Brigands website: Dave has been working livestock for over 20 years and has been using dogs to help him for about 12 of those years. He has a Bachelors of Science degree in Animal Science with a minor in Range Management. He has always had strong interest in animal behavior and has applied his methods of pressure-and-release training to cattle, sheep, horses and dogs. While previously his dogs were solely used to work on ranches, Dave has branched out into the trial world during the past three years. With his Australian Kelpie, Ty, Dave has won multiple first placements and High in Trials (HIT). Ty was competitively running in USBCHA Nursery class at two years of age, has earned his AHBA Championship, and is now running in the Pro-Nov Class. I don't mean this to sound like an ad for him - but he's good guy. He is very gentle with dogs and stock, and very soft-spoken but challenging to his students. You won't go wrong with him. The biggest problem with him is scheduling, as he has a lot of students now, plus some trialling. He's not very good about answering email, as he's definitely not a computer guy. His rates are extremely reasonable as well, which makes him even more popular. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jodi Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 I, too, have heard lots of good things about Dave Vicklund. One of the local herding clubs had him do a clinic here, and everyone seemed to enjoy him, and learned a lot from him. Jodi Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Black Watch Debatable Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 Awwwww... A lambing school! Wish I lived closer. I've always wanted to attend Purdue's lambing school. Heck, any lambing school Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stafford Posted May 23, 2006 Report Share Posted May 23, 2006 I went to lambing school - it was cool, one of the ewes was kind enough to drop a lamb with us in attendance. We learned how to clean the umbilical cords, give injections, stuff like that. It was a totally new experience for this city/suburbs boy... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RaisingRiver Posted May 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 So I went to check out the place last night. Looks fine - sheep looked normal. River was very interested in watching the ducks/geese in the pen at our right, but was afraid to walk past the sheep that were penned to our left. She finally walked by, but wasn't the least bit interested in looking at them as we were on our way out. Does that mean anything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipedream Farm Posted May 24, 2006 Report Share Posted May 24, 2006 Originally posted by RaisingRiver:Does that mean anything? Yes, it means he wasn't interested in them at that point in time. Wait; things will probably change. Mark Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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