Hello! New BorderCollie

[Guest Luv4Herders]

Hello! I'm new here, so I'm not sure if I'm posting this in the right area. This is herding related, so I hope I didn't mess up on my first post. I have a Border Collie (Bonnie) that I just took in from a friend of ours. She is ABCA and just turned 3yrs old in December. Due to health and personal reasons they were unable to provide the type of care that she needed, so they called us. Since we have 2 Shelties and a German Shepherd, and I've always been active with my dogs and had a Border Collie as well as Australian Shepherds in the past, they thought we could help. I did train in herding with one of my Shelties until an injury forced her into retirement and I'm currently training our GSD in Schutzhund.

 

I do have a couple of questions for you all. The lady I was using for herding shut down due to health problems and since I haven't done it in about 3yrs now, I feel like I'm starting over. Fieldstone (David & Christine Henry) is about a 45 minute drive from me, but looking at their site, it looks like they've gone to working Labradors, so I'm not sure if they're still involved with training the Border Collies. This girl has a few of Steve McCall's BC's out of Glade Spring, VA in her lines, but I don't know how to contact him for a referral or help. He's about an hour from me. Can you guys help me or point me in the right direction? I was thinking about doing obedience and agility with her, if I wasn't able to find somewhere to herd, but I really would like to find somewhere to take her to work her on stock. Any tips on what to do? I'm in TN, near the NC and VA borders, but looking online, I'm not having much luck, plus you have to be so cautious, because you don't know who to trust.

 

A little insight to what I'm seeing with Bonnie. She is very intense and very driven, BUT she needs her confidence built. She missed the crucial stage of confidence building, so I'm going to be working on that. She's been exposed to a lot of things, but she almost panicked when she met our dogs the first time. With the drive she has, I don't think it will take her long, so I'm going to need a trainer that is willing to help me build her up. Would you all advise working her in something like obedience and/or agility first to build the confidence before moving to herding?

 

Thanks so much!!

Michelle

[emilyfalk]

Hi, Michelle,

 

David does not have border collies anymore but Christine is still very active. She occasionally takes in dogs for training. Here is her new website, but the address and home phone number are not current. She is now located closer to Winston-Salem.

 

http://fieldstonebordercollies.com/val%20main.html

 

She is away trialing in TX for the next month.

 

I am located in Galax, VA, but am lambing now and do not have any suitable training sheep. I may have a phone number for Steve somewhere, if I can find it I will PM you!

[Shoofly]

I'm about 4 hours away from you and doing some weekend lessons right now. Send me a PM if you want to give it a try.

[Guest Luv4Herders]

Thank you so much for the information. I have a friend that lives in Winston-Salem. Now, I understand why the Fieldstone site was totally different. When my Sheltie got hurt and had to retire before we really got going good, I haven't had a dog to do anything with, so I've been out of the loop, so to speak, for awhile. Robin, that would be fantastic. I looked up Oxford, and that's actually closer to 5hrs away from where I am. I'm going to PM you, though. Bonnie is an amazing BC. I did post photos of her in the Photo Gallery section. I was having problems getting into the forums yesterday, but Eileen told me it was a temporary problem. I thought I was doing something wrong.

 

I may see about going ahead and putting her in an obedience class, because I found out yesterday that she definitely needs guidance. Her recall is not there at all. I have access to a trainer here (not a store trainer) that even though she trains to prepare people for AKC Obedience, Rally, and Agility, it did help with my Sheltie prior to doing Herding. Bonnie's previous owner was telling me yesterday that she felt bad because Bonnie was making up her own routine due to not getting what she needed. That's why she decided to let her go and when she and her husband brought her over here, and saw how happy Bonnie was, she knew that it would be better for her. She's a good girl and she'll get a job to do. Next step is getting her paperwork transferred.

 

Thank you all again!

[emilyfalk]

A basic manners/obedience class would probably be a good idea for you two to get to know each other.

 

Another possibility for lessons would be Dwight Parker in Brevard, NC.

 

http://www.blueridgebordercollies.com/

 

Maybe once you and your dog get going you'd want to stop by here sometime. My dogs work on the farm and trial, but I'm no professional trainer. The others are! Good luck!

[Guest Luv4Herders]

Ok, I messed up, so I need to make an announcement. I knew I had belonged to a BC Board years ago, but couldn't remember which one. When I found this one, it didn't look familiar at first, so I set up my account, and I started posting. As I moved along in the forum, I discovered that, sure enough, this is where I used to come all of the time. I started recognizing people, posts, and even found old posts of mine. I, immediately, logged out and tried to log in to the old account. It took a few tries, but I got in. When I saw it was still active, I contacted Eileen and she's helping me to get it fixed. I just wanted you all to know that from this point forward, my posts will be back to what I used to post under which was Michelle K. I apologize. I didn't do it intentionally and I wasn't trying to hide anything. This is why as soon as I figured out what I did, I wanted to get it fixed instead of starting over. Please forgive me!

[Michelle K]

This is the correct (old account).