RTN Summer Herding Symposium 2024

06/30/2024

Along with the working classes - for 2024 we are offering several alternative sport workshops in the evenings to allow students to try new sports with their canines. These electives include Introduction to Barnhunt, Carting, Scentwork and Tracking. Here are our workshop instructors:

Britney Mazzer and her Rottweilers do everything - including carting. Along with earning advanced titles on the A course, she is currently working towards advanced D course. We are excited to have Britney share her love for carting at this year's Carting Workshop scheduled for Monday evening July 8th.

Dave and his wife Jenny reside in Evans, CO with their two GSDs Peyton and Athena. As a recently retired middle school science teacher, Dave brings together is gift for teaching and his passion for dog sports. He and Peyton are active competitors in herding, scentwork, and barn hunt. Dave's Intro to Barnhunt workshop is set for Tuesday evening July 9th at 6 PM. The Introduction to Scentwork workshop will be held at 12:30 on Wednesday, July 10th.

Jill Grant and her husband David live in Longmont sharing their home with their Rottweilers. Jill started showing and training Rottweilers 18 years ago after "downsizing" from Thoroughbreds. Her Rotties are active in carting, herding, tracking, obedience, conformation, and Rally. Two of her dogs hold the distinction of being the first two Rottweilers in AKC's recorded history to earn a TDX2. She has earned 36 carting High in Trials with her dogs over the years. She has been active in breed rescue and has had 46 foster dogs, now taking on only geriatric/hospice cases. Jill enjoys showing others the fun activities they can do with their dogs. She particularly likes working with 4H kids and judging Rally and obedience at county and state fairs. Jill's Introduction to Tracking Workshop is scheduled for Thursday, July 11th at 6 PM.

Want to come join in on these workshops? Contact [email protected] to sign up!

06/29/2024

Who's working with our tending fundamental students (blue track - tending)? That would be Linda Rorem and myself (Val Manning). We are super excited to be working on started tending dogs.

Linda Rorem actively competes in various venues with her Shelties and German Shepherd. She is an accomplished herding dog historian, one of the founder of the American Herding Breeds Association, an all-breeds herding trials Judge, and the custodian of the website, Herding on the Web (www.herdingontheweb.com).

Val's interest in herding started when working as a Pet Food Specialist for Farmland Industries in the late 80's and early 90's. During this time, Farmland was the official Pet Food of The Meeker Classic, The National Western Stock Show and other trials in Colorado, Nebraska and Kansas. At that time - very few people were trialing with upright dogs, and fewer with German Shepherds. In 1995, Val finished her first conformation champion - CH Hickory Hill's Excalibur "Magic" and decided that the next goal would be to compete in herding. She and Magic started working with Jerry Rowe that June, and started trialing in October. Since that time, Terra Norte' GSD's have been both conformation champions and herding dogs. In 2004 with the help of Hildy Morgan, Jerry Rowe, Carol Lucero and others - Val started Rancho Terra Norte' and the Northern Colorado Herding Cooperative was established.

Working with beginning students and their dogs is highly rewarding. While most trainers can take a dog and trial successfully, it takes a Coach to teach the owner how to herd and build on the relationship between dog & handler. Diversity is what builds a better mousetrap - Val has been successful in helping GSD's, Aussies, BCs, Rotties, Giant Schnauzers, Briards, and Cattledogs and their owners herd proficiently and achieve success in the herding arena or field. She is both an AKC and AHBA herding judge.

06/28/2024

More information on who is coming to teach at this year's RTN Summer Herding Symposium - Carol Lucero will be teaching our Intermediate and Advanced Stock Dog classes with Rusty Jeffers.

Carol has been a invaluable contributor to our symposium since its first year in 2009 (2024 will be our 15th year!).

Carol Lucero resides in Fort Lupton, Colorado just north of Denver. She has put several herding championships on her dogs with the American Herding Breed Association (AHBA), Australian Shepherd Club of America (ASCA); American Kennel Club (AKC), with several of her dogs earning points in major Border Collie field trials sanctioned by the United States Border Collie Handlers Association (USBCHA). In addition to her judging assignments Carol continues to compete in trials on a variety of courses at the advanced levels working cattle, sheep and ducks. “I believe for me to judge fairly I need to be in that arena to see what my exhibitors experience when they trial.”

06/27/2024

Today's installment of who is coming to teach at this year's RTN Summer Herding Symposium - Lauren Sandrin and Melissa Archer Muncaster are heading up the Intro to Tending classes this year.

Lauren Sandrin started herding at RTN in the winter of 2020 with her GSD Freya, since that time she and Freya have earned advanced titles on the A, C and D course. She finished Freya's Herding Championship in 2023. This Spring - Lauren has started trialing with Bull, a Freya son. Lauren also competes in obedience, rally and scentwork.

Melissa caught the herding bug after entering her GSD Riley in a Herding Instinct Test in 2014. Since then she has been actively training, competing and teaching. Along with herding, Melissa and her husband Brad reside in the Grand Junction area where she raises commercial dorper sheep and registered Kiko goats.
Melissa competes in obedience, rally and agility.

06/26/2024

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06/26/2024

For those who are coming to the symposium - today is closing day for the BVKC AKC Herding trials and tests. While C and D courses are full, there are still runs available on Friday and Saturday nights on A & B courses (goats and ducks), and HT/PT tests on Saturday and Sunday mornings. There will be day of event registration available for Herding Instinct testing on Monday night's HIC event July 8th, and HIC and Sat & Sunday morning, and Farm Dog Certification tests on Sunday afternoon on July 14th. Trial/test registration available at: bvkc.org - then click on the online store. https://www.bvkc.org/online-store

06/26/2024

Lets meet the 2024 Summer Symposium Faculty - Novice/Beginner instructors Roy Sage and Hana Fulmer

For 2024 - RTN is putting its focus on helping to introduce handlers and their dogs to herding and other sports. This year we are thrilled to have 2 instructors who are well versed in starting stock dogs on the basics of herding.

Roy Sage comes to us from Nyssa, OR and brings a lifetime of experience working with dogs, livestock, and dogs with livestock. He and his wife Annette's Osage Australian Shepherd Kennel has recieved the special recognition of being a Hall of Fame (HOF) Kennel producing a number of Working Trial Champions (WTCH). Roy has conducted clinics and judged trials across the nation and the globe with all breeds of herding/working dogs. Roy shares his daily work load with an Aussie, a Belgian Sheepdog and a Border Collie.

Roy really enjoys working with novice dogs and handlers and we are lucky to have him lined up to work with our Intro to the Bubble handler/dog teams.

Hana Fullmer trains all breeds and all levels at SummerNY Ranch, owned by Cathy Sumeracki, in Ignacio, Colorado.

Hana brings real life experience to herding training as she owns and operates Tierra Vida Farm and Tierra Vida Ranch. Managing, rotating, and grazing animals is part of the soil health and fertility program for both of her businesses. Her dog Zoey is her most valuable employee and her puppy Ace has begun his training.

Hana believes strongly in utilizing as much of a dog's innate ability as possible. Her methods are focused on ensuring that dogs are accountable for their own behavior (in life and work) so that we, as handlers, have to manage them as little as possible.

As a trainer, Hana is patient and soft spoken. Her gift is the ability to explain herding so her students can understand it. Herding can be difficult to grasp and Hana makes it easy.

Outside of farming and training, you will find her at herding trials, hiking mountains, and camping with her dogs and husband.

06/23/2024

Let meet the 2024 Summer Symposium Faculty - Stock Dog Foundations Instructor is Cathy Sumeracki.

Cathy Sumeracki (SOOM-ER-RACK-EE) has been herding for over a decade. Teaching others how to herd with their dogs is her passion. She works with all breeds at all levels and competes in all venues of herding competition. She is also an AHBA judge, an AKC judge and co-author of the book “Teaching the Rules of the Hunt.”

Known for her creative approach to teaching, it is evident Cathy loves to help others get the most from their relationship with their dog. “I like to win and want my students to win like everyone else, “ Cathy says. “But at the end of the day, for me, it’s about how well the dog and handler work together as a team towards accomplishing a task.”

This philosophy serves her well as Cathy holds over 20 championships across ASCA, AHBA and AKC, and has made the Top Ten Rottweilers and the Top 20 Bouviers in herding. She herself has Border Collies and Kelpies and also competes with Shelties, Corgis, German Shepherds, and mixed breeds. She currently has over 20 students who successfully compete in herding, over one third which are above the started level.. “Seeing my students succeed is my greatest reward,“ says Cathy.

She and her husband John own a premier herding facility in Bayfield, CO where she does lessons, camps, in house training and other events using sheep, goats, cattle, geese and ducks. Her camps are well known for being action packed with loads of working time and great takeaways for future progress. You can learn more about Cathy at www.summernyranch.com

To see the rest of our expanded 2024 Symposium instructors - https://www.ranchoterranorte.com/Faculty%20Bios%20-%202024.html

06/22/2024

Lets meet the 2024 Summer Symposium Faculty - Advanced Stock Dog Instructor is Rusty Jeffers.
Rusty Jeffers entered his first stockdog trial in 1999 and since then has earned multiple High in Trials and herding championships in AHBA, AKC and USBCHA trials. He began judging stockdog trials in 2004 and has judged numerous AHBA, AKC, and USBCHA trials in that time. He has judged multiple national specialties including those for Border Collie, Australian Shepherd, German Shepherd Dog, Collie, Bearded Collie, Bouvier de Flandres, Rottweiler, Standard Schnauzer, Giant Schnauzer, Puli and Old English Sheepdog.
Additionally, Rusty has organized and chaired numerous trials and public demonstrations at a number of locations, including fairs and Scottish Festivals.
He currently serves as President of The American Herding Breed Association (AHBA) and board member of The Northern California Working Sheepdog Association.
After spending most of his herding career in California, he now lives in Western Oregon with his wife, three border collies and a small herd of sheep.

Rusty will be working with intermediate and advanced handlers on arena and field skill sets.

To check out the 2024 Symposium Faculty - https://www.ranchoterranorte.com/Faculty%20Bios%20-%202024.html

06/21/2024

Lets meet the 2024 Summer Symposium Faculty - Our visiting foreign judge and advanced traditional style instructor is Benoit Voisin.

Benoit Voisin is a municipal shepherd, Beauceron breeder and SCC judge in France. With the help of his Pyrenean Shepherd, Odge and Beauceron Paia, manage a flock of 240 sheep helping to maintain the plots of the of the Évreux Portes de Normandie agglomeration. They spend the summer season on the slopes of Saint-Michel and Nétreville (classified Natura 2000) and on other plots, the sheep then winter at the educational Farm of Navarre. The pregnant ewes will give birth in late February, early March. Once the forage starts to come back in the Spring, Benoit, the dogs and flock return to frolic in the high meadows ensuring the maintenance of the plots, while preserving biodiversity.

RTN is very happy to have Benoit return this year to both judge our French Course and AHBA trials the weekend prior to the start of the symposium and to work with intermediate and advanced handler/dog teams on elements of the Traditional Style Herding program.

More info on this year's Summer Herding Symposium: https://www.ranchoterranorte.com/Summer%20Symposium.html

06/01/2024

June 1st - Symposium registration is open, the premium lists are posted & stores open. Lots of great classes, workshops, and trials/tests. 10 days of absolute herding immersion!

Registration is open for the 2024 Herding Symposium! We have a group of fabulous instructors and are excited to have you join us. Classes for all levels of dogs & handlers and disciplines. https://www.ranchoterranorte.com/Summer%20Symposium.html

06/01/2024

Registration is open for the 2024 Herding Symposium! We have a group of fabulous instructors and are excited to have you join us. Classes for all levels of dogs & handlers and disciplines. https://www.ranchoterranorte.com/Summer%20Symposium.html

05/30/2024

Day grazing season has begun! David Birch and David Stanford came out with their dogs to tend the sheep while they feasted on the spring grass at North Pond Farm (thank you Judy Stachurski).

11/02/2023

Fellow herding friends - save the dates for the RTN Summer Herding Symposium 2024! The symposium will be held Monday July 8 - Friday July 12th, starting with French Course on July 5th, AHBA RLF & HRD on July 6 & 7th and ending with BVKC's July AKC herding trials and tests on July 12th - 14th.

07/13/2023

In are attempt to provide a fantabulous experience at the RTN Summer Herding Symposium, we coerced the resident toads to come out and play for Mary Wisecarver. See loves toads!!!

07/13/2023

Hands on practicum - vaccinating, worming and banding/microchipping the 2023 goat kid crop. Wish Benoit Voisin lived closer - his long arms and expertise were very valuable. Roxane Jourdain you’re the bomb!

07/08/2023

What a phenomenal summer RTN Summer Herding Symposium 2023! It was the best one yet. Special thanks to the Dupzyk Ranch Trust for sponsoring our internship and visiting foreign judge programs. Your support helped move our program to a new level!

07/02/2023

The 2023 Symposium is off to a great start! 2 trials done, another today - AHBA Ranch Dog Trial. Handler's meeting at 8:30, trial to follow on Goats and Sheep with visiting foreign judge Benoit Voisin officiating.

Tonight - we are hosting a Temperament Certification Test (sanctioned by the GSDCA) with Ileana Nogueres evaluating and a FCI style Natural Herding Aptitude Test demonstration with Benoit Voisin evaluating.

Tomorrow the RTN Summer Herding Symposium 2023 officially starts. We still have room in working classes, classroom sessions, and private lessons.

Buckhorn Valley Kennel Club will be holding an AKC Herding Instinct test on Monday evening at 5 PM with Terry Kenney and Mary Alice Wisecarver evaluating.  Register online at BVKC    Download Premium List

06/22/2023

Want to see how the European's do it? How the European's evaluate herding aptitude? Join us on Sunday, July 2nd at 5 PM for FCI style Natural Herding Aptitude Tests (non-sanctioned). Evaluator: Benoit Voisin. Cost is $35.
At the same time/same place - we will be offering a sanctioned GSDCA Temperament Certification (TC) test with evaluator Ileana Nogueres. These test are limited to 20 runs each. The Entries close when limit reached. Entry fees for each test is $35 (Pre-entry) or $45 (Day of event entries as stock & time allows). Dogs must be a minimum of 6 months of age to participate in the NHAT and 12 months to participate in the TC. To register: https://www.ranchoterranorte.com/store.html #!/Single-Dog-Entry-RTN-GSDCA-Temperament-Test-TC-and-FCI-Natural-Herding-Aptitude-Test-NHAT-non-sanctioned-Evaluations-Sunday-July-02-2023/p/556290493/category=0

06/16/2023

Meet the 2023 RTN Symposium Instructors - Debbie Stull

Debbie Stull has been coming to RTN as an exhibitor and as a judge for 20 years. She brings a well-rounded perspective to both judging and teaching. We are thrilled that Debbie will be here this year to offer B course expertise.

Debbie started with herding dogs in 1979 when she got her first Australian Cattle Dog to help with her Jersey dairy herd, and to show in conformation. She has been an AKC herding judge since 2011, and an AHBA judge since 2012. She currently owns 6 BC and 2 Belgian sheepdogs. Watching dogs figure out their herding style, and learning to control stock gives her great satisfaction. She loves to study the history of various breeds and what kind of herding the breed was developed to do.

06/12/2023

Meet the 2023 RTN Symposium Instructors - Roy Sage
Roy has been gracing us with his expertise for the past few years. is classes are always popular! He is great with newbees as well as seasoned handlers.

Roy Sage comes to us from Nyssa, OR and brings a lifetime of experience working with dogs, livestock, and dogs with livestock. He and his wife Annette's Osage Australian Shepherd Kennel has recieved the special recognition of being a Hall of Fame (HOF) Kennel producing a number of Working Trial Champions (WTCH). Roy has conducted clinics and judged trials across the nation and the globe with all breeds of herding/working dogs. Roy shares his daily work load with an Aussie, a Belgian Sheepdog and a Border Collie. He really enjoys working with novice dogs and handlers

06/07/2023

Meet the 2023 Instructors - Mary Alice Wisecarver

Mary Alice will be teaching our fundamental skill set classes each day during the symposium and judging C course and tests for the Buckhorn Valley Kennel Club AKC trials July 8 & 9th.

Mary Wisecarver has been training and trialing herding dogs for over 15 years. She competes in a multitude of venues including AKC, AHBA, ASCA and USBCHA with various breeds. She is also a judge in both AKC and AHBA.

Mary Wisecarver started her herding career relatively young at the age of 7 years old. Through the years she proved age doesn’t matter as she competed both as a junior handler as well as regular classes with great success. In ASCA Mary truly shined and received a multitude of awards including the number one junior for 10 years in a row and competing in the ASCA Nationals Finals multiple times and finishing in the top 5. In AKC Mary has obtained two Herding Champions on her Border Collies and the Herding Excellent title with her Australian Shepherd with countless high in trial and high combined awards.

Natural progression led Mary to start training and trailing others dogs professionally. This vastly increased the breeds she trained which continued to teach her about the different temperaments of dogs and training techniques. Mary believes in continued education and still attends clinics and learns from other competitors.

06/06/2023

Meet the 2023 Symposium Instructors - Liane Ehrich
Liane is a newcomer to our annual event. She is going to be our duck specialist offering instruction to those who wish to sharpen their skill sets on ducks. She is also giving a lecture on Thursday on Behavior issues common in herding dogs.

Liane Ehrich has worked with livestock and dogs for her entire life.
She took her first herding lesson in 2003 with a mixed breed, and
since that time has immersed herself in stock dogs, stock dog breeds, and handling the various types of stock faced at local trials and ranches in the West. Liane opened her dog training business, Empire Ridge Ranch, first as an opportunity to provide stock dog training and then as a means to help people cope with the many difficulties encountered when a herding dog’s needs are not appropriately met.

Liane hosted the Miniature American Shepherd Nationals herding trial for 2020 (held in 2021), as well as the Canaan Dog Nationals instinct testing in 2021, she and her dogs have been invited to demonstrate stock handling at AKC events, and Liane was invited to judge the Legacy Class at the Border Collie Specialty in Arizona in 2023.

Liane lives in Vail, Arizona with her husband, flocks of geese and
sheep, three cows, a couple of chickens, six herding dogs, and a
livestock guardian dog.

06/05/2023

Meet the 2023 Instructors: Rancho Terra Norte' is very excited that Benoit Voisin of Eveux, France is our visiting foreign herding judge (SCC) and faculty member for this year's symposium. Benoit works as a municipal shepherd who manages his flock of 240 sheep on a daily basis to maintain the plots of the of the Évreux Portes de Normandie agglomeration . In the summer season - Benoit and his dogs (Beauceron "Paia" and Pyrenean Shepherd "Odge") are up on the slopes of Saint - Michel and Nétreville (classified Natura 2000) and on other plots, then in the fall travels down to winter the sheep at the educational Farm of Navarre.
Benoit will be judging the weekend trials prior to the start of the symposium, then teaching the tending/traditional style herding sessions all week.

06/04/2023

06/04/2023

RTN Symposium Internship Program is accepting applications. We need you! Looking for interns to assist RTN to prepare for our upcoming summer herding symposium and during the events. If you would like to trade some time and elbow grease for tuition, click on the link: