My Sheepdogs

	Dolly was my first real working dog. She was born Nov 2000. A kelpie we bought from our Woolclasser, she has no breeding to speak of, but back then, that was how we obtained working dogs. She was ten months old before I started to learn how to train a dog properly. The more I learned, the better she became and now she is a useful paddock dog. We find the mob and she brings them home, without a fuss. You rarely have to direct her, she knows where the sheep have to go, and rarely pushes too hard. She lacks strength but can shift sheep with a bit of bouncing and barking.  If trained better when young, she may have developed into a trial dog, but as she is, she is an invaluable farm dog and great for working alongside a young dog.
	This is Bremer Bay Pepsi. A Koolie who came from my friend Jane Dorrell in Bremer Bay.  She was quite a hardheaded dog, not a good choice for me as a beginner trainer but she tried hard and never switched off. Born in Dec 2001, she is an upright worker with limited eye. As I was in the early stages of learning sheepdog training, she coped with a lot of pressure. If I had more experience she would have turned out a better dog. She was the first dog I trialed and although she was handy in yard trials, out in the open she was barely under control and it was nerve racking. She is a great yard dog and backs naturally. She is still hyper though but I have better control, and have come to trust her. Pep was sold in July 2008
	Nukennellup Lara is my little Kelpie born in Dec 2004. She is bred byJenny Parsons. Jenny has been training and breeding kelpies for many years and has been an enormous help to me in my struggles with training dogs. Jenny has also trialed successfully to state level, with her dog Sherwood Adios, the sire of Lara. Lara's dam is Ramulan Rose from Ken Atherton also a successful sheepdog trialer. Lara is a bit hyper but has always been good on wild stock and is biddable, a relief after Pep. She lacks some strength but with experience is getting stronger.  She has trialed a number of times and is improving as I learn more and relax more. Lara went to a new home in early 2009.
	I acquired Christies Drift in September 2005 from Carolyn Bell, also a successful trainer, breeder and trailer of Border collies. Drift is by Glenview Lofty out of Delapre Queen. I knew little about Border Collies, but wanted to try them. Drift and I bonded from the start, I saw her, and had to have her. She was just over two when I picked her up. Born in May 2003, she had had some training but had done no farm work and it was exciting for her, all these sheep to work. I had a job to control her as she realized I didn't know much and took over. Therefore, I am still working on getting control but it is a slow journey. She never quits no matter what. Working sheep is her life. She is lovely natured and I am having a lot of fun training her despite her need to take over. She is fast with great cover and lacks a little strength when it comes to moving big mobs, but with experience is improving. She has trialed a few times and I struggled to control her early on but I think I am finally making some progress with her.
	Tyringa Polly is a kelpie I acquired from Lindon Johnston who does a fair bit of trialing, as he was looking for a semi retirement home for her. It worked out well for both of us as she is an experienced trial dog and has allowed me to do some trialing without the stress of trialing a young dog. She was born in Jan 1998. She has given me some good runs but as she was seven  when I got her, she can sometimes take over. She is strong and can yard anything but is hard to stop and slow down despite her age and her Arthritis. She is a useful farm dog but we limit her use now owing to her lameness, but it does not slow her down, she still rounds up the other dogs and loves to wrestle with the pups, a lovely natured dog. Note. Sadly Polly was put down in June 2008
	Badgingarra Rio was born September 2005 and is developing into a lovely dog. Bred at Neil Kristiansen and Denise Scudd's Badginarra Kelpies and Collies stud in Northam. By Badgingarra KB out of Badgingarra Lace. I aquired her through a series of events. I wanted a pup from Denise's Angie, who took Denise to state level trialing, but she failed to go in pup. Denise mated Angie’s daughter Bubbles so I ordered a pup from her. Sadly, Bubbles died giving birth, as did her only pup. So they mated Angie's daughter Lace and at last I got my pup. She is strong-eyed and was tricky to start, but Neil helped me get her going. She has natural cover and is fairly strong and biddable. We started trialing in 2007 and have had some nice runs, but she needs to gain more confidence. A great paddock dog but lacks a little push in the yard. With work, she is improving in this area.
	As I was so impressed by Rio I now have her full sister Angel, born in Dec 2006. Still with the same biddable nature and calmness on stock, Angel is stronger and more fearless than Rio. She is working well, but I need to be a bit firmer with her, as she has a tendency to push the other dogs around and wants to be the boss. She is calm and wide in the paddock and backs naturally in the yard. She has had limited work though.
	Kumbark Caleb is Lara’s pup born in Dec 2006. She had four male pups to Jenny Parsons Skyblue Titch who is eastern states bred. All the pups were lovely workers and it was hard to choose one. I settled on Caleb as I liked his nature best, even though he is probably not the classiest worker. He is not as strong eyed as the other pups but is developing well and showing real strength in the yard. At ten months he is 20kg already, quite a contrast to his mother Lara who would be barely 14kg.  Has a bouncy friendly nature that everyone likes.
	I must mention my Curly Coated Retriever Silky. Not a work dog but she will shift sheep if you asked her, although will not fetch but can only push. We do use her on occasion to retrieve ducks but otherwise she is a pet and guard dog. Lovely natured but much more energetic than a Goldie, she was somewhat hard to control early on. She loves to hunt anything and she excels at doing tricks.

 

Kumbark Yindi. By Badgingarra Bobby out of my Christies Drift. Bobby was bred by Neil Kristianson but is now owned by Frank Sutherland. She was born on the 2nd of Dec 07. Although a little full on early she has developed into a nice little dog and is owned and partly trained by my daughter Samantha. She shows her mothers mad keeness to work but is more biddable and calm.                                  Rocky Balto was born in July 08. I was not looking for a puppy at the time but for some reason decided to take him, and am glad I did. He is a lovely natured boy, and even to my inexperienced eyes he looks good on the sheep. His sire is Ken Athertons Ramulam Gus and his dam is Frank Sutherlands Rocky Bear.  Gus is a succesfull yard dog, utility dog and has also won three sheep trials. He is also a good farm dog so a great package. Bear has won three sheep event  and is a good farm dog as well. I am taking him very slow so as not to ruin him and am looking forward to trialing him.