Rehabbing An ‘Untrainable’ Rescue Dog
How can you train an “untrainable” dog? Do such dogs even exist? Many clients have come to me over the years with claims that their dogs are out of control and untrainable. Usually, they’re at the end of their tether both emotionally and physically. Dogs described as “untrainable” are not “bad dogs.” They may be […]
How to Start Herding the Right Way
To: Fellow Herding Dog Enthusiasts From: Kathy “learned the hard way” Kawalec If you have a herding breed dog, you have likely thought about how cool it would be to enjoy a trip out to the farm and give herding a try! Maybe you have a herding dog who really needs a job and misbehaves […]
Herding Dog, No Sheep? 3 Simple Skills You Can Practice At Home
3 SIMPLE THINGS YOU CAN PRACTICE AT HOME to accelerate your herding progress. This is Part 3 of a series…see part 1 and part 2 for some fun games to keep your dog mentally and physically satisfied…and work on important skills! It can be a challenge to make progress when you can only practice herding […]
Herding Case Study: From Frustration to Partnership from a Simple Perspective Shift
How to have a good working partnership with your stockdog. When your herding dog doesn’t listen, it’s a call for help, not a reason for a correction. That’s when a partnership based on trust and clear dialog changes everything. Remember the last time your dog ‘got distracted’, ‘blew you off’, or just ‘didn’t listen’? Was […]
Games to Play with Herding Dogs Pt 2
More Games to Play with Herding Dogs When You Don’t Have Sheep in Your Backyard Remember: Herding dogs not only require serious physical activity every single day, but they need serious mental activity too. Thinking is one of the things herding dogs are great at, and they’re not truly happy without daily mental exercise. Most […]
A Fun Game to Satisfy Your Herding Dog’s “Herding Instinct” When You Don’t Have Sheep to Work.
One of the things that get herding breed dogs into trouble is not having a REAL job to do every day. A real job like grazing the sheep. Or bringing the cows home. Or putting the chickens and ducks to bed each night. You might be doing a great job of providing plenty of exercise […]
The Secret to Creating Partnership with Your Dog
I’ve been thinking a lot about creating deep and solid partnership with my dogs. And how to help others do the same. Most of the time what we think about is how to be better at our handling and impeccable with the training of our dogs…the mechanics of it. Like our position, body language, […]
Are you ‘Training’ Your Way to Herding Trial Failure?
All that building excitement gets us to thinking about ‘getting ready’ for the launch of trial season
The Long, Hard Road to Dog Training Success.
Dreams and Transformations. Love Stories, really. Sometimes things aren’t what they seem, you know? Sometimes it feels like there’s not much happening, like time is standing still and we’re in the same place we’ve always been. Then, one day our life is completely changed. The thing we thought we might never get to is right […]
Miscommunication and Training Failures Transformed
The Long and Winding Road to Partnership…it’s a beautiful ride! (This is a guest blog by Debra Smilie Blomgren) I was born wanting a dog. Thanks to my beloved Grandma, whose family raised Boxers in Germany, my gift for my 12th birthday was a dog. My wish was for a German Shepherd. Instead, a wrinkled […]
Dog Barking-Lunging Fits Transformed
Connie and Rowley: A Personal Story of Transformation An Adventure in Learning. (This is a guest blog by Connie Burnet) Some people, when they get into middle age, buy a sports car. Me? I adopted my first Border Collie! Being single and in my 50s, my dogs are my immediate family. I have several Shelties […]
A Painful Relationship Transformed
Nancy and Bruce: Personal Story of Transformation Learning to Dance (This is a guest blog by Nancy Flynn) My dog Bruce is amazing. I know in my heart that he is a very talented dog. If you can’t see clearly that my dog is top notch, it’s because I may be obscuring the view. He […]
