Lokabe Working Dogs

30/05/2024

Who’s coming to the Australian Kelpie Muster and/or Dog Auction in Casterton VIC next weekend? Come visit my stall on the main street to say hi, and be one of the very first to secure a copy of my new book, “The Sheepdog who got Lost in the Hills”. Minky and Iook forward to seeing you there!

Big sigh of relief yesterday when the 400 books I ordered for the arrived 😅 A few (27 in total) have unfortunately been damaged during transit, so I will have slightly less than the ‘200 of each book’ I was planning, but they will be replaced by the printer and I am just so glad that they arrived in time. Only 9 days until the official release of “The Sheedog who got Lost in Hills” - EXCITING!!!!

02/05/2024

For years I have wanted to go to the Australian Kelpie Muster at Casterton, but have never quite got there. But 2024 is my year! I am thrilled for to have been accepted to have a stall at this year’s Muster, where my TWO books (I can’t believe I’ve finished a second one!) will be available for purchase.

To add to the excitement, “The Sheepdog who got Lost in the Hills” will not be available to purchase beforehand (as my shipment will arrive just days before the Muster), and so those kelpie fans attending the Muster will be the lucky first ones to get their hands on it. SO EXCITING!!!!

So if you are heading to the , please come and say hello. Minky will be there with me and is looking forward to meeting some new friends (and remind everyone that he is no longer afraid of sheep - how embarrassing! 🤣)

10/04/2024

Hey crew! I am in need of a side-on photo of a dog (preferably a kelpie obviously) stretching (bonus points for yawning too). 45-ish degrees between front and side may also work, so anything in the vicinity would be amazing. I’d prefer stretching as opposed to play bowing, as their shoulders sit differently. I need it for my next book, so you’d need to be ok with me basing an illustration on it. Pretty please?!

03/03/2024

“The Sheepdog who was Afraid of Sheep”, written and illustrated by Catherine Rains, is available for purchase from the following link.

This delightful rhyming children’s story is about Lokabe Minky, who was in fact scared of sheep when he was a puppy. But as the story goes, Minky learnt that with a little bit of patience, and some care and kind assistance, and with a little bit of love, self-belief and persistence, you can conquer your fears.

Minky is a sheepdog pup, but there is just one problem - he is afraid of sheep! Will he overcome his fear and become the dog he dreams he could be? A true story told in rhyme about a Working Kelpie puppy who needs to overcome his fear of sheep in order to be able to stay on the farm. With some coura...

29/02/2024

Lokabe Minky did a different type of work today. He came with me to a local school for a reading of my new book “The Sheepdog who was Afraid of Sheep”. Minky had the honours of accompanying me because the book is a true story - about him!

18/02/2024

Pretty proud of this beautiful dog. Lokabe Minky, at just shy of 10 years of age, just came third in the NSW State Yard Dog Championships at Gundagai. Yay Minky!! (And Fred of course!) For a dog that hasn’t trialled much the last few years, it’s a pretty awesome effort to make the championship round, let alone come third. Congrats to Bree Cudmore on her win (second year in a row!) and all the other competitors. Special mention also to Lokabe Nina who won the Maiden and placed second in the Novice yesterday. All-in-all a great weekend back trialling.

15/02/2024

Looking forward to three days of dog trialling in Gundagai this weekend. I will have books available to purchase, so come and find me if you would like to buy one. See you there!

07/02/2024

Presale and the associated discount is ending. Order your copy here:

https://www.loueyslibrary.com/product-page/the-sheepdog-who-was-afraid-of-sheep

My first order of books are in the post! That means that I’ll be closing presale orders tomorrow (Thursday) at midnight! (I was going to close them as soon as the books were shipped, but I’m a bit of a softie). So if you have “order that kelpie book” on your to-do list, then you’d best get cracking as you have less than 36 hours to secure the 10% presale discount. I am so excited to receive them, and to be able to ship them on to every wonderful person that has already ordered a copy.

24/12/2023

An oldie but a goodie. Merry Christmas from all of us here at Lokabe. We wish you a safe and happy one, and hope your new year is full of dog training and good fortune 🐕🎄

18/12/2023

This is what’s been keeping me busy while trapped inside by a demanding one-year old. This children’s book is about one of our Lokabe dogs - can you guess which one?

15/11/2023

Vale

💖 Raimar Emily 💖

04/01/2010 - 15/11/2023

A very sad end to our day here at Lokabe - our dear sweet Emily got her wings this evening.

The last of the original crew of superstars that consisted of Twisty, Inman, Poley, Josh, Dawn and Emily, it really is the end of an era. Emily was from the first litter of Twisty x Poley, and she was such a cracking bitch we repeated the breeding a few times. When Emily was a pup, she was pretty busy, and Fred actually offerred her to a fellow worker. He decided he didn’t want a red and tan, so Fred started to train her up to sell instead. As she tightened up, settled down and started to eye, Fred realised she was something special and wasn’t going anywhere. Not long after that she was backing a full race and the worker said he’d have her now, but by then she was most definitely a keeper.

My (Catherine) first memory of Emily is when I went to pick up Trigger as a pup. Emily was in a cage near where the pups were and I just thought she was awesome. I said to my friend Amanda as we drove out that how good would it be if she was joined to Inman at some point, and that I would want one if that happened. Well it did, and that was my Stormy 💜

Emily was an all-round bitch who proved herself both as an excellent work dog (one of the best bi***es Fred has ever had), a talented trial dog (winning an Open yard trial or two and placing second in the 2016 NSW Utility Dog Championships), and an exceptional brood bitch. Whilst she wasn’t a strong dog, she had beautiful free bark and was the master of her role in getting something to happen when things were at a standstill, getting some movement so that Josh and Poley could come in and convince the stock that it was a good idea to go where they wanted them to. She was also an excellent backer, and was so brilliant at backing the mob when yarding up, as well as in the race of course. She was a bitch with a cracking topknot, and this often made her stand out at trials.

More recently, Emily has been enjoying her retirement living on the verandah, snoozing in the sun and hoping a child will drop some food that she could snaffle. We knew the end was coming, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.

We love you Guppy Gup. Thank you for everything sweet girl. Say hi to your crew and Stormy at the Bridge. Rest easy old girl ###

18/10/2023

15/10/2023

Are you sitting down? Yesterday we actually went to a dog trial! We love the trial at the Illabo Show, and so we ventured there yesterday despite the only preparation being that the dogs (except Trigger) have been to work a bit in the last few weeks. But they did not disappoint for their first trial back, with Nina placing second by one point in the Novice, and then Minky and Asher tying for first place in the Open! Dusty, Sapphire and Trigger also worked well, and we are very proud of the hounds for the effort they put in. So the question is, are we back? Or was this a one-off? Hmmm… Watch this space… 🤷🏻‍♀️😉

09/10/2023

I am in need of a side view photo of a Kelpie puppy jumping/leaping for a project that I’m working on. If you have a photo that you think might work, that you are happy for me to use, please post below or send in a message.

Side note: can you believe that in the hundreds if not thousands of photos I have of our kelpies over the years, I do not have what I need?!?! And I can’t find what I’m looking for via google either 😞

17/09/2023

Having moved here over two years ago now, we FINALLY have a some training yards sorted. Fingers and toes and everything else crossed that this means we can get back to training some dogs 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻