Killarney Meadows English Shepherds

02/25/2024

Killarney Meadows is now retired from our breeding program of English Shepherd puppies.

07/20/2023

07/11/2022

Killarney Meadows has a 10 week old male black and white and 1 tri female english shepherd puppy currently looking for a forever home. Serious inquiries only.

07/03/2022

Helpful nail training exercises to follow
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-w0T-50kfHI

Do you have a dog who is TOTALLY stressed about the nail clipping process? Are YOU stressed about clipping your dog's nails? Instructor Robbie will work thro...

06/26/2022

This is what I feed my puppies.....
https://www.chewy.com/dr-garys-best-breed-holistic-puppy/dp/121463

06/26/2022

06/25/2022

Good info....

06/22/2022

My daughter took these beautiful puppy photos….

06/20/2022

Dog food recall......https://www.dogfoodadvisor.com/dog-food-recall/freshpet-june-2022/

06/16/2022

05/29/2022

Sibling love

05/29/2022

1st escapee, yellow collar boy Tater!

05/26/2022

05/26/2022

The Importance and Joys of Training Emma Pearl

It has been almost 7 years since Emma Pearl came into our lives from Kilarney Meadows. It was important to me that Emma came from a breeder that believed liked I do in the importance of certain health testing and even more importantly, early stimulation and socialization.

After almost two years of researching and grieving the loss of my last dog to cancer, I met Linda. I had the chance to fly to Ohio to meet her and her litter of puppies even though they were all spoken for. I immediately loved the way the puppies and her dogs were part of her family, in her house socializing with the family, friends and her other dogs. She had already started crate and potty training as well as using manding which gives the puppy a choice in training and is an amazing developmental tool (https://iaabcjournal.org/manding-puppies/). She was also introducing the puppies to all kinds of stimuli inside and outside the home. It was wonderful to watch Linda work with the puppies and the joy they all had. I definitely knew this was where I would get a puppy. There are no guarantees in life but I wanted a puppy that had this kind of start because I know how important those beginning weeks are having worked in rescue. To our great surprise, when one of Linda's families could not take one of her females....Emma Pearl was ours.

Emma was the easiest puppy I've ever had. She loved her crate and never cried (yes, really). In my opinion due to all the work Linda did with the puppies in those early days and weeks. Of course I quickly understood how smart Emma was and how she was going to be amazing to train - only limited in her potential by me. Don't get me wrong, no dog is perfect, but that is what makes them each different and unique. Emma had always preferred people to dogs, she loves to sniff to a fault and she definitely can have a mind of her own. It was knowing all these things that helped me train my girl and in return created a beautiful relationship with her through trust.

Training...just the word, it sounds completely arduous but it really doesn't have to be to reap the rewards. Sessions with Emma aren't long. It is actually better to keep them short (5 to 10 minutes) and end on a high note leaving you and your dog confident and happy. With positive reinforcement, my motto was you can't have too many treats when learning new ideas for great motivation. I was lucky because Emma loved her goodies.

Training also doesn't have to be a set time. I trained and still train Emma though out my day. For example, I will be doing the dishes and Emma is usually near me. I will drop a piece of food when she is not looking, call her to me, and work on her “leave it” command. At this point she knows dropped food is off limits. When I see she doesn't go for the dropped food, sits and looks at me, then she will get a treat and lots of praise from me and I'll pick up the dropped food. That example took maybe a minute or so and reinforces a very important command to keep her safe. This type of easy throughout the day training can be used in so many ways, from basic but important commands to more advanced tricks. Some other ideas are a sit and wait before going outside, a wait to eat their meal then an okay to release, a sit before getting a treat, or a recall command when you are going to feed your puppy. All these ideas use a naturally motivating situation in a normal day to train your dog. These are just small examples of how training of very important commands and actions can be done throughout the day with things you will need to do anyway.

The other side of training for me us just how fulfilling it is. The joy and excitement I get from seeing Emma accomplish a trick or task I didn't think possible and how happy it makes her too. She has learned and accomplished so much sometimes I forget how smart she is. The other day when Emma and I came back from a walk her feet were dirty. I have taught her to go on the top step of the pool to rinse off but not to go swimming, then we walk around the pool deck a few times to dry her feet off before going inside. She will do this for me and my husband when asked. The other day my husband walked Emma and used the pool for her dirty feet. As I watched from the kitchen window, I marveled at how effortless her response was and how just a little training every day builds on itself to create such amazing things.

Training really does grow exponentially. It doesn't have to be cumbersome or tedious but just a few fun minutes set aside each day. When people see videos of Emma putting her toys away, helping me with laundry, playing a stacking game, doing a curtsy, stopping on a dime, retrieving any toy I ask for by name, finding a toy with a certain scent or many other things, they ask me how I taught her that particular trick or command. This is a hard question to answer because it all started with more simple commands when she was younger, little things here and there thoughout every day that increased in difficulty. It is a layering of things she learned early and still works on today but in a more complex manner.

The process of her learning continues for us too. I love working with Emma and trying new things because to be honest it is just so much fun! To me the sky is the limit and she has even more unwrapped potential. I think sometimes we forget just how extraordinary our dogs can be with just a little time and whole lot of love. My hope is that writing this will encourage all potential puppy owners to see how important and truly wonderful training at any age or level can be.

All my best....

Emma Pearl's Mom

05/19/2022

2-week update: Pups are growing by leaps and bounds, they are all over 2 lbs now! Early neuro-stimulation training will be over on friday & the transition into their new pad is coming. Eye and ears are open so desensitizing training has begun. On to phase 2 ! :)

05/17/2022

The benefits of ENS...
https://doodledoods.com/early-neurological-stimulation/

The Early Neurological Stimulation (ENS) method has gained much traction in recent years. Mainly, in the dog breeder’s community. So, if you’ve ever wondered what exactly Early Neurological Stimulation is and how it benefits your puppy, then keep on reading. In this guide, we’ll discuss everyt...

05/08/2022

1st night out of 14 of puppy early neuro stimulation & they did great! All pups gained around 2 ounces!

05/05/2022

Puppies should be here by morning :)

03/10/2022

I am happy to announce that we bred Willow x Hurley for her last litter & should be expecting middle of May puppies. I should know in about 35 days if this breeding took, stay tuned :)

08/07/2021

I would love to see current pictures of Hurly & Willows litter from this Spring :)

05/18/2021

Little "Rain" went off to her new adventure today with her new mom & dad!

05/15/2021

Two puppies off to their new adventures!!

05/14/2021

All pups had their first vet appointment today and everyone turned out perfectly!!

05/10/2021

Drum roll please.......all of my puppy people for a Hurley x Willow puppy have your picks in early & here are the results!
1) Fink- Blossom (blue collar)
2) Hunter- Ivy (black collar)
3) Steen- Sam (red collar)
4) Heist- Rain (purple collar)
5) Roth- Lyria (orange collar)
6) Crumbaker- Sage (grey collar)
7) Buening- Q (green collar)
8)Steagman- Sky (yellow collar)

Thanks for all your patience during this process. I did the best I could placing you all with the best puppy with your help. Please contact me about pick up date if you havent already. Have a great upcoming week!

05/07/2021

Crate training 101….

05/01/2021

Fun in the sun today with updated photos....