Shannara Border Collies

01/31/2024

This page is for individuals interested in evidence-based information related to the health and well-

01/26/2024

01/25/2024

It's not too soon to start planning and creating! The Meeker Classic has posted the 2024 Art & Photography Show Prospectus on our website. You can view at: https://meekersheepdog.com/art-show/

Entries will open March 1 thru July 15, 2024. A great opportunity for artists and photographers to show and sell their work! Share this with any creatives you know. Thank you!

01/23/2024

Everyone wants success with their dog but sometimes handlers make the mistake of focusing on the results they want, instead of the effort it takes to produce them.

Many want quick fixes; they don’t want to hear that it takes years of study and dedication to be successful.
Todays society is fast, we have instant access to so many things (including posts on social media)
But dogs don’t care about technology, culture, agendas, ego or your expectations; if you’re not humble, your dog will likely do that for you.

Receiving good information is a must, a coach can be invaluable, but you have to do the work and make a lot of mistakes before success.
There are no great results without effort and training at times can be hard. It can test your patience, intention, commitment, discipline and self awareness.
But the amazing thing is, no matter how much you ultimately accomplish, putting great effort into developing your partnership with your dog can result in immeasurable reward, including one of the most profound bonds in your life.
macraeway.com

01/21/2024

🔥WEBINAR ALERT🔥 Sunday, January 28 at 10AM (PST)

Join us for an intriguing sheepdog discussion with Welsh team members, Angie Driscoll & Kelvin Broad.

Learn more about what it takes to train and handle a dog at the top levels of the sheepdog world - The International Supreme Championship.

What characteristics & traits are sought after in a working dog? What does "power" mean in the sheepdog? What common dog/handler problems do Angie & Kelvin encounter when teaching and judging?

This webinar is a fundraiser for the Robson Valley Live Different group who are heading to Mexico in March to build homes for needy families.

A replay of the event will be available for one week.

Register HERE http://doreriverbordercollies.com/store/all-things-sheepdog-featuring-angie-driscoll-kelvin-broad

01/17/2024

01/17/2024

Join us Wednesday evenings starting January 17 for the next installment of Canine Breeder Excellence Seminar Tracks. These seminars are intended for breeders looking for current information specifically on reproduction topics that will help them achieve success in their breeding programs. Register at https://bit.ly/3Rxqf1K.

01/17/2024

Remember to register for tomorrow's webinar on TCI versus surgical AI in dogs. Maximize your dog breeding success with the latest information presented by experts. Registration closes at 7pm CT today at https://bit.ly/3Rxqf1K.

01/12/2024

Check out the upcoming Theriogenology Foundation/American Kennel Club Canine Breeder Excellence Seminar Tracks kicking of on January 17th! Click below to learn more.

https://www.theriofoundation.org/events/register.aspx?id=1800421&itemid=dff0b425-5116-419f-9d57-6da34142da49

12/15/2023

Join us Wednesday evenings in January 2024 for the next installment of Canine Breeder Excellence Seminar Tracks. These seminars are intended for breeders looking for current information specifically on reproduction topics that will help them achieve success in their breeding programs. Register at https://bit.ly/3Rxqf1K.

12/13/2023

11/28/2023

TODAY OUR BREED EXPERT looks at one of the most special, unique – and yet often less appreciated – features of the Border collie ‘working mind’, for anyone who has not read this before.

BORDER COLLIES AND DUAL SENSORY PROCESSING

There are so many different qualities that make Border collies the most prized sheepdogs in the world (though they will also work other stock). Some are purely physical; i.e. speed, stamina, athleticism and agility. Others are behavioural; intense focus, impulse control and a more obsessive desire to control movement, and repeat the same tasks over and over again. But there is also an extra neurological asset, genetically, which we may often take for granted when training them, or watching them working. And without it these dogs would be something far less special.

The asset in question is dual sensory processing. Or in other words, the ability of the dog to both absorb, and respond to, visual and sound information at the same time (see illustration), as most dogs cannot do this, at least not to such a high and consistent level.

UNDERSTANDING SENSORY PROCESSING IN DOGS
In order to better understand why this ability is so special in collies, we first have to appreciate that different senses - i.e. sight, sound or smell - tend to share the same processing space in a dog's brain. Meaning a dog will typically have to prioritise one particular sense over another, for processing in their brains, at any given time. With many dog breeds this may well be smell (which takes up such vast amounts of processing space in the canine brain), meaning that when a dog is more fully concentrating on a scent, they may appear 'deaf' to any sound going on around them - including an owner's exasperated commands! – because sound processing has now gone on the back burner in their brains. Other dogs, like sight hounds, will prioritise visual fixation on movement over any other competing source of sensory information.

DUAL SENSORY ABILITY
In the Border collie, however, you have a dog who is not only a prime visual fixator - i.e. will readily lock their vision on to moving things - but can also simultaneously take in sound commands from a handler (vocal or whistle) and immediately respond to these with required changes to their behaviour – i.e. stop/start/change direction/lie down. Moreover they can do this without having to watch the handler who is giving these instructions, even if they are some distance away. As said previously, it is a quality in Border collies that is so often taken for granted, but it really is special, and underpins the whole ability of shepherd and dog to work together so effectively as a livestock managing team.

Dual sensory processing will also come to the fore in pursuits like Agility, where the dog needs to constantly remain visually fixated on the obstacles ahead of them, while still taking in their handler's sound cues. Or in Obedience, in exercises like the Sendaway, where you verbally command your dog to drop down while they are still visually fixated on the markers ahead or around them.

DIFFERING ABILITIES IN DOGS
Of course some collies will always be far better dual sensory processors than others, with regards to how readily they can both process, and respond to, sight and sound information simultaneously. Or switch rapidly from one to the other in their brains. Some dogs are very strong visual fixators, finding it harder to 'unlock' this sensory priority in their minds whenever sound information tries to compete with it. This is sometimes how sheepdogs can seem to get ‘stuck’ with sheep; visually fixating on them so hard, they forget – even if only temporarily - how to move on when the verbal instruction to do so is given.

As ever, a dog’s inherent levels of impulse control, as well as their dual sensory abilities, are also key when it comes to dogs who can make the most rapid adjustments to their actions, or behaviour, in response to a handler’s commands.

TRAINING
Overarching all of these more natural abilities in dogs, however, will always be the quality of training they are given. For both impulse control and dual sensory processing abilities can always be consistently improved and enhanced in any dog with more persistent work put in on a handler’s part.

I begin working on strengthening my dogs' impulse control levels and dual sensory processing abilities from when they are very young, with exercises like down on the move - when they are en route to chasing a toy - or the mid-chase recall, or any number of other distant control exercises that keep the dog's mind constantly anticipating a sound cue from me, before making a next move, even when they are very far away from me, or not even watching me. And it is always so rewarding to see the exceptional minds and abilities of these dogs being stretched to their fullest potential in this way.

Meanwhile, anyone wanting to know far more about the whole working psychology of the Border collie, and how these dogs evolved to be what they are today will find it in BOOK ONE of my BREED APART trilogy (blue cover) SECRETS OF THE WORKING MIND and BOOK TWO in the trilogy – ESSENTIAL LIFE SKILLS & LEARNING - covers impulse control training and other control exercises like ‘down on the move’ or the ‘mid-chase recall’ in greater detail.
All text © Carol Price 2023
Carol Price collie books: In the UK from: https://performancedog.co.uk/product-category/books-and-dvds/authors/carol-price/ In the USA from: https://www.dogwise.com/ # and https://www.cleanrun.com/product/border_collies_a_breed_apart_book_1_secrets_of_the_working_mind/index.cfm In Canada from https://www.4mymerles.com/product-category/books/ In Australia from: https://gameondogs.com.au/ And in the Netherlands and Belgium from: https://mediaboek.nl/border-collies-a-breed-apart-book-1.html

11/26/2023

These 10 tips from the AKC GoodDog! Helpline will make it easy for you to crate train your dog and teach them to love spending time in their crate.

11/26/2023

 Angie Driscoll was born in the UK but moved to New Zealand at a young age. She grew up a running enthusiast and when not running at the beach she was off visiting her grandparents' farms. After completing degrees in Physical Education and Marketing at Otago University in NZ, she was awarded a Comm...

11/03/2023

TEACH YOURSELF SHEEPDOG: We are aware that we are constantly getting new followers, eager to know more about the world of Border collies as sheepdogs and their shepherds (like our Cathy Cassie, based in Cumbria, NW England), the kind of jobs they do, and the commonest commands used to work and train them. So for them or anyone else, our breed expert Carol Price has put together a list here of the commonest voice commands shepherds will use, and what they mean. Many of these commands will then later be adapted into whistle commands for the dogs, which the shepherd will need to use when a dog is working that much further away from them, especially in harsher or windier weather, when it is that much harder for a dog to hear their handler's voice.

11/02/2023

And for tonight's reading (AI has trouble with spelling) . . .

10/18/2023

How to Handle Sheep is presented by the American Sheep Industry Association, the Livestock Marketing Association and Colorado State University. It is everyon...

10/18/2023

A remarkably bright workaholic, the Border Collie is an amazing dog — possibly a bit too amazing for owners without the time, energy, or means to keep them occupied.

Why do you love the breed?

10/09/2023

PLEASE SHARE
It’s that time of year again! Time to get registered for this incredible opportunity! Dr Sinn makes the trip every year to offer his expertise at an unbelievable discount! Please pre register to reserve your dogs spot today!! Please find details in the pinned post on the Canine Health Clinic, Stephenville, TX page!

10/09/2023

Passing along the info.

PLEASE SHARE
It’s that time of year again! Time to get registered for this incredible opportunity! Dr Sinn makes the trip every year to offer his expertise at an unbelievable discount! Please pre register to reserve your dogs spot today!! Please find details in the pinned post on the Canine Health Clinic, Stephenville, TX page!

08/29/2023

We've chosen to proceed with preparations for a litter in spring 2024 and are now open to receiving inquiries.

05/10/2023