Past Articles from the CNASA Quarterly

Teaching Weavepoles using the Channel Method (My Story)

Let me introduce myself: I earned my first obedience title in 1985 and since then I have earned more than 75 titles in obedience and agility, including many HITs, 7 UDs, 2 CDXs, 2 CDs, 2 ATCHs, 2 MX / MXJs, and 2 AgMXs in CKC, AKC, ASCA, and AAC. I have also earned CKC CHs on 2 dogs, and an ASCA A-CH on one. I have been blessed with wonderful dogs: 2 Border Collies, a Lab, and my current 3 Aussies – Bungee, Archie, and Taxi.
So you can see a) I have been around a while, and b) I really enjoy training and competing with my dogs. I have learned a lot over the years from great teachers, fellow trainers and competitors, and friends. I hope I can share some of what I’ve learned with you.
Many things in life and dog training are beyond my control, but there are things I have total control over. As a trainer, I want to do everything I can to make sure that I start my training session with a healthy, willing partner.

I thought I would share my perspectives on health and soundness, temperament, and grooming.

Good health and soundness
There is nothing more heartbreaking that having to deal with health or soundness issues in your Aussie. There are no guarantees in breeding, but for me good health is a priority. Longevity is important to me as well. Obviously I want to have my Aussie for as long as possible as a companion, and after investing years in training I want a dog that is able to compete for years.

I have to do my part as well, by ensuring my Aussie is well nourished and receives appropriate healthcare. As an owner, one of the things I have total control over is making sure my Aussie is lean and fit. That means close attention to diet and lots of exercise – it’s not fair to expect a fat and frustrated dog to learn well or perform well. I think I can honestly say that I have never gone training unless my dog has first had a good run – that’s more important to me than any training session.
Good temperament
This is another area where breeder and owner both have a role to play. Again, good temperament is a priority for me. Without getting into a debate around what constitutes correct Aussie temperament, I need a dog that fits my lifestyle: one that is accepting of other people, especially children and seniors, and one that will accept other dogs.
One personality trait that I value highly is resiliency. Some people might call this type of dog stubborn – this is the kind of dog that will take a setback and keep on trying. It’s just my experience that after sharing my life with 4 dogs and 2 bitches, I’m more likely to find this characteristic in a bitch.
My responsibility around temperament is to socialize my puppy, and throughout my Aussie’s life I need to make sure my dog understands the bounds of appropriate behavior. I consider this type of everyday training basic good manners — things like not barking when I tell them to be quiet, not stealing food from another dog’s dish, not mobbing the door when someone visits, not leaping out of the car without permission. I have a mental list of ‘no-no’s’ that seem to need frequent reminders.
I also believe that as an owner I need to prevent situations where my Aussie’s natural temperament and exuberance could get them in trouble. Bungee, for example, loves children but she does not like to be hugged by anyone, even me. So I am happy to let little girls hold her leash and pat her, but I have to warn them not to hug her. I’m pretty sure she would just wiggle away, but it’s not worth taking a chance.
Good grooming
I enjoy living with a well-groomed Aussies. I’m not talking just-out-of-the-bath-and-ready-for-the-breed-ring every day, but a dog that has its toenails trimmed and paws, butt and ears tidy. No matts, undercoat brushed out. I am as guilty as the next person at letting this slip sometimes, but again it’s unfair to expect a dog with long toenails to enjoy agility equipment or heeling, and matts in the armpits and groin area can prevent a dog from moving comfortably.
Of course, not all of our dogs turn out to be perfect specimens in terms of health and temperament, and real life often intrudes on our plans for training and dog time. (And I’m sure my dogs have noticed that I am not the perfect physical specimen either!). I’d like to think though that before I get out my training bag I’ve done everything I can to make sure my Aussie is in good shape to enjoy our training and competing together.

Heeling Games

Try taking out two pieces of paper from the elements bag and two pieces of paper from the numbers bag. Put the two together. By way of example, let’s say you pulled out a 6 and a 21 from the numbers bag. From the elements bag you pulled out a right turn and a fast.
Start walking (you don’t have to always set up with your dog sitting before you begin). When your dog is in heel position begin to count steps. When you hit 6, make a right turn. Proceed 21 paces and go into a fast. Break the dog out of the fast with praise and a cookie or a game of tug.

About 7 or 8 years ago I decided it would be great if I could do some herding with my young aussie, Ceilidh. She was training and trialing in obedience and agility; she was a very willing and biddable partner in these events, but had never seen stock. I read as much as I could, found the odd video on training a border collie, contacted the provincial stock dog club and eventually found someone just outside of the city willing to let us come out to work her sheep.

I went out with a friend and her young border collie, who was also just starting. We started in a 20 acre field –great in that there were no fences to run sheep into, not so great in that, well, it was a 20 acre field for heaven’s sake! After about 10 minutes on sheep each, I noticed a distinct difference in our breathing patterns. My friend wasn’t even out of breath despite her having had a double lung transplant, and I still couldn’t catch mine, some 10 minutes after Ceilidh had ‘worked’. Her dog hadn’t split the sheep more than once or twice, and after about 30 seconds, was flanking nicely well off the flight zone. After 10 minutes Ceilidh was still sheep bowling, splitting and creating general havoc. And truthfully, 8 years later she still is….
That first working session showed me that there seemed to be certain inherent differences between border collies’ and aussies’ working styles. At least my aussies. Then again, on further thought – breeds aside – there simply seems to be certain inherent differences in working styles between all other working dogs, and my aussies.
In thinking back, I’ve certainly learned a lot over the years, and had some memorable experiences in doing so. They say one learns most often from their mistakes… if that’s the case, I have most certainly had an awesome education.
I convinced Linda, the sheep owner, that it may be best if we worked in the paddock, rather than the 20 acre field. That worked somewhat better, except for when the sheep stuck in the corners or squished between the horizontal cross panels out into the yard. I recall this happening one session when Linda was out of town and I was working by myself. There I was, a city slicker who had gained some confidence –I had bottle fed Linda’s triplets by then, fed the ewes, cleaned the barn… I was figuring this farming thing out -until the sheep were suddenly in the fenceless farmyard, with only my dog and I around to bring them back in –through a narrow zigzag type gate. I spent a few frantic moments before I realized the sheep didn’t seem to be interested in leaving the general area of the paddock. Then with Ceilidh at my side I got the three ewes heading in the right direction, noses in the narrow opening, when Ceilidh flew around to the head, and turned them back over top of me. I physically hauled her back, and together we (okay, I) pushed the sheep back to the opening only for her to flip them back once again. I would physically push them into the opening, as Ceilidh didn’t have the confidence to push. She had the presence of a stuffed dog at that point. Funny enough, she sure had the confidence to go to their head and turn them back though. This went on for what felt like a month. With me throwing every bit of my loose clothing at Ceilidh in an attempt to keep her down, or at least at the back…each mitten, my toque and a snowball had flown in her direction to no avail. I couldn’t hold her and push the sheep at the same time, and she just had to go to head to turn them back as soon as they had their noses in that gate. Getting worried that Linda would come home a day later to find me there, still at the gate trying to push the sheep back in, I was stressing. Of course, as I stressed, the more frantic Ceilidh got. It wasn’t looking good. I stopped for a rest and finally, it came to me! I put Ceilidh in the car, got a bucket of grain from the shed, and led those three ewes right through that zigzag gate. Took about 1 minute to get the job done. Yep. City girl and her city dawg.
When I brought Jypsy, my second Aussie, out for the first time I had learned my lesson and started her on a long line –real long, about 25 feet. Well, as we walked calmly toward the flock of about 30 head of big woollies, she bolted out in front of me. Worried that she would hurt herself when she hit the end of the line (yes, that statement alone explains a lot about why my dogs are still incapable of working calmly 7 years after starting their training), instead of bracing myself for the impact I began running too. She hit the end, the rope snapped forward and so did I. Full impact face plant from a full speed run. The only saving grace was that it was not into sheep doo, although, that may have at least softened the blow. My knee still swells after a workout to this day.
Jyp actually worked very well that day – went to balance around the large flock, worked calmly and didn’t split at all. Good thing because I could barely walk on my sore knee by then. That big flock kept everything slow and calm but, when I wanted to quit, I couldn’t make it through the huge flock to catch her and she would not down or stop (that seems to be a reoccurring theme amongst all of my dogs). I finally just walked away, and left her there all alone with the sheep. She brought the sheep to the gate, and finally, came off them to come to me on the other side of the fence. It was all so calm and civilized, just like I dream it can be. The very next day Linda took those sheep to market since they were too dog broke for her dogs and bought some nice light sheep for the summer. That was the beginning of the end… Jypsy never worked that calmly ever again.
Later that summer I was assisting with a stock dog clinic in which Jypsy and I were entered. The attendees (other than myself) were all local experienced ranch folks. I decided to take the ATV to water the sheep before the clinic started, and also take Jyp along to wear off some excess energy at the same time. She had never seen an ATV before but I figured dogs just naturally ran along ahead or beside it –like on TV. With all of the ranchers watching, I loaded up the trailer with the water and fired up the ATV. As I did, Jypsy suddenly bolted in and nailed the rear tire in a perfect low heel, hard enough to raise the rear of the ATV. As the ranchers all smirked in the shadows of their cowboy hats, I calmly shut off the ATV, took Jyp back to the car, and returned to water the sheep without her. My face was only slightly red, as I was already getting used to the humiliation that seems to be associated with my aussies and anything resembling herding or farm work, and myself.
Unfortunately, during our turn in the clinic, we didn’t do much to redeem ourselves. Once again in a 20ish acre field (I’m so a fan of small round pens these days!), Jypsy chased the sheep (those nice new flighty ones, with a flight zone the size of Newfoundland) to the far end of the field where there just happened to be a small herd of young steer grazing. With Jyp in hot pursuit and me in chase of her, the sheep headed for those steer like they were their salvation. And they seemed to be… watching from a mile away we saw the sheep disappear into the group of steers, and then the black barking dot that was Jypsy follow a second later. Before we could blink, that black dot came rushing back out from within those big black steers, racing back to us even faster than she’d left. Jypsy had never seen cows up close before, and obviously that was not a great introduction. Jypsy wouldn’t look at the sheep -wanted nothing to do with sheep- for the rest of the day! ‘Those cute fuzzy sheep turn into big black monsters at the far end of this field!’ My big tuff aussie.… In return for stock time at Linda’s farm, one of the jobs was looking after the farm if Linda went out of town to trial. One chore (never really much of a chore) was taking the dogs left at home out for a daily run. Two of us were doing this one Saturday after we had worked, and along with Jypsy, and Mike’s 2 border collies, we had a good flock of black and white dogs we were exercising. At the end of the run, as we were nearing the kennels, the young dogs in the pack took off toward the field containing the young steers. Somehow, I managed to call Jyp back and she actually came –she still didn’t want anything to do with those cattle I figure. I tied her up, then raced off after Mike and the pack (and the cattle). He climbed the fence that the dogs had run through, and after calling his older dog, and catching up his younger dog, went to work on collecting the younger pups (a year or so in age) who were happily chasing the steer around the field in their impromptu working session. One by one Mike would tackle a dog, pass it to me over the fence, and I’d run it back to the kennel before running back for the next to be caught. After about 15 minutes of exhausting work we finally had all but one, who was working nicely now that she was on her own, but refusing to stop. A few minutes later, she’d finally wore herself down, listened to the ‘that’ll do’ and we got her firmly placed back in her run. Quite the experience that was, seven young border collies running crazy in a field with a herd of Black Angus steers. The only thing scarier would have been seven green aussies in a field full of steers! But, for how crazy it was, they never really were all that ‘dangerous’ to themselves or the cattle. The dogs got a little more exercise than we had bargained for that day, and I learned why when I move out to my dream acreage, the fields will have relatively dog proof fencing.
Speaking of fencing… a few years ago another friend and I decided to build a round pen. I was helping with fencing and chores around the farm at that time in return for sheep time, and was really looking forward to a round pen, as by then I was very tired of huge fields, flighty sheep and crazed aussies. Well, we were both not too financially stable, so after the frame of wooden posts was in, we decided (after obviously not much thought) to make it out of snow fence. Yep. Orange plastic snow fence. Yep. It lasted approximately the time it took me to holler at Jypsy to “Lie down!” The next day I splurged and went to Home Depot to buy some cement wire, which thankfully has stood up very well over the years.
Now I’m starting my third aussie, Spyder, and despite the lessons Jypsy and Ceilidh have taught me during their training, I’m finding things still aren’t going as smoothly as I’d hoped after all those lessons learned. One of Spyder’s first times on sheep was at a clinic with Ken McKenzie and Norm Close, two very experienced trainers. Once again (what is it with these big hat trainers?) the field was as vast as Kentucky. But, the sheep were dog broke and Norm was there with me, along with one of Norm’s dogs as a backup. Unfortunately, it was his young dog. Yahoo… Spyder and Robbie had a blast! Norm and I didn’t. Finally, we got the rodeo stopped, put away the young gun and brought out his steady old boy Joe as backup, and although we still worked up a sweat, things were much calmer than the days when it was just me, Ceilidh and a huge field with sheep.
Spyder still doesn’t have a solid down, and will not recall off of sheep. She was nicknamed ‘the heathen’ at a recent clinic. She is twice as keen as Jyp and Ceilidh ever were, but she seems to have a little more stock sense, and I’m hoping I do too. I’m sure that we’ll continue to learn and grow together. No more snow fence round pens, or gripping ATV’s. That said, I know she and I, the city girl and her spoiled rotten city dawg, will find other unique, new and improved ways of humiliation. It wouldn’t be herding without the humiliation, would it?

Put these ingredients into a food processor, mix VERY WELL. Pour potato flour through the opening while the motor is running. When the dough forms, like a pie crust,, and rolls into a ball, it is ready to take out.

Dump onto potato floured counter or board. Knead more flour into this and when it is a rolled out cookie consistency, it is ready to rollout into about ¼ “ thick. I use a pizza cutter to roll out long strips then cut crosswise to make small squares. Bake on cookie sheets, sprayed with Pam. Bake at 375º for 15 minutes. Turn and bake about 10 minutes more, less if you want them softer. If you want them harder, leave in oven after oven is turned off.
Keep in fridge, or freeze.

** I don’t have a food processor, so I blend the salmon, parsley, eggs, seed in my blender, Then I mix in the flour by hand, just like we used to make bread.

Barley Liver Biscuits

½ cup extra virgin olive oil
2-3 cloves garlic
½ cup chopped parsley
2 cups liquefied liver
2 cups barley flour
3-4 cups rye flour

( I change this recipe, depending on what I have in the fridge. Sometimes I add:
3-4 Tablespoons ground egg shells
½ cup yoghurt
3-4 Tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon sea kelp
1 capsule vitamin C
½ cup ground flax seed)

Use blender to liquefy liver, add oil, garlic, parsley and any extras that you want and blend well. Put mixtures into a large bowl.

Mix in barley flour, 1 cup at a time. Then start adding rye flour. Finish the process by kneading on a counter or board, adding more rye flour. When dough is ready, i.e. not sticky any more, roll out and cut into small squares. Spray cookie sheet with Pam or sprinkle corn meal in bottom of cookie sheet. Put squares on cookie sheet, as many as will fit. Some times I press the dough out in the cookie sheet, then cut into squares. Cook at 375º for 15-20 minutes, then flip and cook for 15-20 minutes more. You can adjust cooking time, depending upon whether you want soft or hard treats.