From Wallflower to Social Butterfly

I haven’t written much lately because I’ve been busy with the business of launching a book and putting together a new website. But I want to mention how much Cay has come out of her shell lately and learned from the other dogs. She has learned to retrieve the ball and bring it back to […]

Siblings and Lead or Get Out of the Way

Neither Bandit nor Chase has been a counter surfer or a thief, which may surprise some of you. Bandit is a purebred Australian Cattle Dog and Chase, we think, is an ACD-Collie mix. Cay, on the other hand, is getting bolder and bolder around our house. She has taken to checking what is on the […]

Herding Cattle Again

We went back to Gene’s for the second time to work cattle. First we worked with Bandit on leash in the small paddock area with 3 cattle again. We worked him on moving the cattle in a circle, both clockwise and counterclockwise. We practiced moving them at a steady speed, giving them time to turn the […]

Sheep Herding Lessons

Today we went to sheep herding lessons. Bandit and Chase both got to work sheep. They have such different styles; it’s interesting working with one, then the other. I had to work hard to manage Bandit to move the sheep around the field. Especially after working cattle with him, he seemed like overkill on sheep. […]

Driving Cattle and Poodles

Yesterday Bandit and I got to work cattle for the second time. We found a beef cattle farm within 15 minutes of our house. Gene has Aussies (Australian Shepherds) and runs ranch trials occasionally. He was recommended to me by some Aussie people. We started out by sorting out cattle from the herd so that […]

Rude Dogs

There has been an ongoing discussion about people who let their dogs jump on or otherwise molest a strange dog without asking permission. Click here for a fantastic article by Suzanne Clothier about dog behavior, explaining perfectly why my dog Bandit tries to correct misbehaving dogs, and how their owners usually just don’t get how rude […]

4th of July

Over the holiday weekend, I took Chase along to visit my family in Wisconsin. Bandit and Cay stayed at my friend Becky’s place in Minnesota. I took Chase along because he had a sore back and I thought he could use some time away from the other dogs to recuperate. He is also a sensitive soul […]

Sorting Toys and Choose to Heel

Cay has figured out how to come on my whistle by watching Chase. Today I practiced recalls on the whistle with her for the first time. All on her own, she learned to leave the inside toys inside and the outside toys outside. I didn’t have to teach her these things because she pays close […]