Mickleton Working Kelpies

07/08/2024

Kept cattle pushed up all morning the lal queen 💪🏻🖤

22/07/2024

17/07/2024

I’ve had a ridiculously busy six weeks on the farm so haven’t really replied to any enquiries - so if you’ve sent a message through I’m not ignoring you, and I’m not usually this useless (I hope 🤣) and I’ll be getting back to everyone at some point this week!

Will be opening up to take dogs in for training again from next week 👀 No waiting list at the moment as I cleared it so if you’ve been in touch before, feel free to get in touch again and I’ll prioritise you over any new enquiries.

Feel free to send another message through incase I miss one or call me because it’s probably the easiest way to get hold of me 07810094072.

17/07/2024

Home found - thanks for all enquiries!

🐶 🐑 Started Working Kelpie Pup 🐑 🐶

FULLY IMPORTED BLOODLINES FROM AUSTRALIA 🇦🇺
Genuine reason for sale
Exceptional temperament
Really correct type, shows all the attributes you’d want in a pup to make a stud dog
Good recall and will go into kennel
Sensible 💰

📞 07810094072
🌍 DL12 0LS

28/06/2024

Well reared Working Kelpie Pups 🏡

🐶 Dogs & bi***es available
🐶 Proven parents, can be seen working and extensive videos on both sheep and cattle
🐶 Pedigree registered
🐶 Very sensibly priced given the quality of pups (working homes preferred..!)
💨 Won’t be around for long!! From a genuine working farm where they get daily, regular work

🏡 READY TO LEAVE NOW

Phone Lewis on 07413224019

28/06/2024

Feral 😈🥰

27/05/2024

PET OR ACTIVE HOMES REQUIRED 🏡

🐶 *Edited to say she has found a lovely home* 1 female kelpie 18 months old; absolutely brilliant temperament and well bred just useless on stock. Lead and house trained. Used to children, other dogs and all types of animals. Excellent recall off lead.

🐶 1 male collie 10 months old. ISDS registered & well bred. Interested in stock but very very soft. Excellent temperament and very laid back, would make a brilliant pet. Will make a farm dog but has been for sale for a while. He’s not mine and I’ve kept him in my kennels free of charge for the last four months but he quite honestly deserves a better life. Used to children, other dogs and all types of animals. Excellent recall off lead.

Both being rehomed on behalf of a friend. Both delightful dogs who have had very good starts in life with no vices.

📱 07810094072
🌍 DL12 0LS

27/05/2024

An off switch and trust 😎

My dogs haven’t had real work for probably three weeks now because life has been absolutely hectic.

You can (and still need to) teach an off switch, but it’s far easier to breed one with the foundations in place. The amount of kelpies I get in where I’m told they can never stop them working is just ridiculous.

Select your pup from a breeder wisely so it fits in with your needs. Ask all of the questions you need to, and if they can’t show you what you want, look elsewhere. There’s enough options from different breeders in the UK now to get a kelpie pup, than to settle for something you don’t exactly want. Find a breeder who has a work life and life style like yours and go from there.

15/05/2024

Bailey did an inside flank for the first time tonight, and I managed to catch it on video. The first times we do things with a dog, they’re rarely tidy but it doesn’t really matter. Bailey’s weakest side is come by, so even though he was going to cut in at the end and I had to stop him - it doesn’t matter! The fact he did it is more than enough of an accomplishment, and you can be understanding of him needing to release pressure afterwards 👌🏻👏🏻 Love it when you see the penny drop with them that they’re allowed to do it 🥰

14/05/2024

Because despite what many handlers try to say, Kelpies can work with AND without as much verbal instruction that you want them to. Just depends how you train them… It’s personal preference how somebody wants to work a dog to suit their situation and stock. People will ALWAYS argue about what is right, but at the end of the day the only person the dog has to please is the person who’s feeding it.

Do yourself a favour and find a trainer who can show you how to do both! 🤪 Or at least explain how to the get the best out of a dog that doesn’t enjoy instruction.

Bailey’s a lot further on that what this tiny clip shows, will post another at the end of this week showing what three/four weeks training with a kelpie will roughly get you to. He’s only a baby at 13 months, and has had a fair few days off as he’s been a little bit stiff (not unusual for such a large dog coming into work for the first time properly). There’s such a variety across the breed for when kelpies mature, it’s really very dependent upon bloodlines and individual dogs when you’ll get the best out of them training. For me, I like to send them home for a break to get them going with their owner at home, before they come back to me to be finished off. This way you don’t end investing a huge amount of money into training and end up with a dog that maybe isn’t quite right for you, or more trained than you actually need them to be.

And Emily Raw will confirm that these sheep are no where near as quiet as they look on video when she came for a lesson today 😵‍💫🤣🤣

14/05/2024

👀 Only two spaces left 👀

🏕️ Camping available free of charge for the whole weekend if required

OLD AND NEW CUSTOMERS WELCOME!

13/05/2024

The best company 🥰

09/05/2024

1 brain between the 3 of them. So nice to actually have some cattle back outside finally!

02/05/2024

Is anyone travelling to Slovenia, Germany, Italy or Austria over the next few months who might be able to take a dog with them for cash please? 🙏🏻

29/04/2024

Bailey, sixth time out

☑️ Improved arc around stock
☑️ Outrunning 70m or so comfortably

28/04/2024

Bailey, fifth time out. Started to introduce an off balance stop, introduced off balance work and concept of driving. First half of clip when I first had him out, second half towards the end of the twenty minutes.

Back to basics for the next few days, building confidence (putting him in situations where he’s losing his head) and getting him to feel where he needs to be without me telling him and manufacturing everything.

26/04/2024

Bailey, fourth time out.

Don’t thank me for the extended footage of a mini dictator ‘working’ him too 🙃🤗

25/04/2024

Bailey, third time out

24/04/2024

🐶 Litter from Mickleton Peg (owned by Abie Teward) 🐶

Peg is an absolutely fantastic dog. She’s really strong, and has a clean nose bite on sheep and cattle. She’s got lots of feel in fieldwork and lots of gears in the pen. Shes got a lot of heart, and will not let you down in any situation. She’s worked a wide variety of sheep breeds, and has been through her first proper lambing this year as Abie’s main dog with her flock of Swales. Peg has a wide variety of experience, and I’d expect her offspring to be allrounders and probably not for beginner handlers. She’s a daughter from my Cira and a full sister to Jedda, and like both of them is fairly headstrong. In all honesty I’d say she’s probably a better bitch than my Jedda in some ways. Wouldn’t recommend one for your first kelpie unless you’re willing to come for lessons, but if you’re looking for a dog with an engine and field, and you’ve got a real amount of work for them then they’ll be a fantastic option.

Feel free to get in touch with Abie on 07742000886 if you’d like to organise seeing Peg work (she’s really impressive 😇🥰) or if you’d like any more information about the litter.

24/04/2024

Only Bailey’s second time out. Will have him out every other day or so now depending on how tired he gets because he’s not super intense. Had a week to settle with me before putting any pressure on him because he’s a baby and super soft to pressure.

Just ran these sheep away from Bailey with another dog to get him excited, and within about three minutes his instincts had kicked in and he wanted to be round the other side of them. Then it’s just a balancing act of making sure I’m in the right place when he picks them up so he quickly realises to stay round the other side. As soon as those instincts kick in I’ll take the other dog off, because generally kelpies love to head stock with a square break and need no help keeping them under control once they’re there. If the sheep aren’t as dogged, it just means as a handler you have to run faster until your dog gets the craic 🤣

If a young dog won’t head because they like natural distance I’ll usually always start them in the field to give them space to feel comfortable and confident enough to go behind the stock. Most kelpies naturally like to be in this position once they’re given the opportunity to do so, but some don’t want to because they’re either not confident or have been taught otherwise (sometimes accidentally) with their owners.

22/04/2024

🐶 2024 Litter Plans 🐶

Had a few enquiries about pups for sale this year, so as a bit of a heads up I’m planning on taking a litter off Mickleton Poppy at some point this year.

Poppy is a super strong, stylish little bitch with a lot of ability, who will move absolutely anything but also has brilliant natural feel. I’d like to see her pups in homes where they’ve got a decent amount of work. Ruby is a full litter mate to Poppy who I trained earlier in the year (plenty of videos on here) and I had a lot of interest in people wanting to buy her.

If anyone is interested in a pup, feel free to get in touch to come and visit to see her work in person before she’s in pup! 😊

Sire and dam are both hipscored and CA tested, and as always I’ll provide copies of all paperwork to pup owners.

21/04/2024

Favourite pieces of advice I’ve been given about training a dog for anyone just beginning?

1) “Shut up” (Thanks David Motley for that cracker)
2) “Be more aware of your own position than the dogs”
3) “Tone is more important that the words you’re saying”
4) “Dogs learn by association, so that means everything that has been done can be undone if the handler is knowledgeable and persistent enough” (So it becomes more of a question of whether it’s worth the time put into it, and if the person who’s going to be working/owning the dog will be able to commit to the same)
5) “You need to be a better stockman than you are dog man”

And finally (I still have to tell myself this all the time…)

6) “Listen to all advice, try all advice, and decide which is bu****it. Not everyone (especially sat behind a phone/computer) has the experience they claim to have, or even think they have. Be wary of those who aren’t willing to put themselves out there as an example, but are willing enough to criticise others.”

20/04/2024

Jill who’s been in for a friend to just learn how to be a bit less of an excitable 💩 Will teach her to drive whilst she’s here, and have started inside flanks.

*Disclaimer* Don’t take collies in for training unless it’s for a friend 🤣 Also not doing any paid dog training at the moment due to training sheep lambing.

20/04/2024

Space going south on this route next week, and a couple of spaces returning north if anyone has anything they’d like transporting 🐕 🚗

16/04/2024

Sunshineeeeee 🤩 Happy doggos!

14/04/2024

Cira illustrating what you need from a dog moving ewes and undogged lambs. FEEL. None of this barking, reversing bu****it.

07/04/2024

The biggest benefit of having such dogged sheep available on farm is being able to give young dogs a positive first experience of ewes and lambs 👌🏻