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When I first began
training Border Collies, I trained under the watchful eye of Bob Vest. He
had so much to teach, and I had so much to learn. I began training
Patches, the first of my BC’s. Bob made an impression on me from the
very first day on how important the fundamentals in herding are. Just as
with any sport, if you miss a step, it will come back to haunt you. That
first day Bob told a story about building a stack of barrels up on top of
one another and how much this was just like building the foundation in
your herding dog. For instance when stacking barrels, you would want the
heaviest ones that gave the most support, on the bottom. If you stacked
heavy barrels on top of light barrels, something could come along and bump
the barrels, and the whole stack would fall down rather easily.
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you want the heavy, solid barrels at the bottom, so when some really nasty
bump came along, the solid barrels would withstand the pressure applied,
and the stack of barrels would hold. Then he began explaining to us on how
the bottom barrels had became solid (heavy). They had been filled with
sand. He told of the sand that had been placed in each barrel, one handful
at a time. This handful of sand was each lesson we gave our dog. Sometimes
when we were working with the dog, we would put a hole in our "bottom
barrel", and we would loose our precious sand out of the barrel. We
would then have to work harder, and more diligently to overcome the damage
we had done. He explained that just as in any patchwork done, it was
weaker than the part without a hole, and it would be the part most likely
to leak under pressure. I have continued today with this philosophy in
training my dogs. They must have a solid foundation. The more solid the
bottom barrels are, the more pressure my dogs can endure.
When I started training with Bob, I trusted him
completely. I knew he would lead me down a path with my dogs that took me
to a good place. Bob taught me that gadgets were just things that some
trainers used to get a "quick" fix. I am thankful that I have
never fallen into that trap. He taught me that trust in my dog, and that
my dog trusting in me were the two most important things that I needed.
Bob has a saying:
"Time, patience, and belief in your dog,
will make your goals happen."
Walking the dogs
While training we tend to want to be
"perfect" when we are doing a lesson with our dog. We get so
locked into doing it exactly right, that when things start to get a little
wobbly we start to panic. I might add here that remaining calm while
training was not only replica handbags the best information I was ever given, but was the
most difficult thing to learn to do. Many hours were spent
"training" me. We are human. Thank God our dogs have been given
that unconditional love, that overcomes our faults.
I would like to take this time to say thank you
Bob. And thank you Nyle, for instilling the importance of those wonderful
fundamentals. and never letting my feet get too far off the ground.
Another major influence in my life is a man named
Ray Hunt. A legend. I have used his techniques with horses for
many years, and as Ray encourages, with life in general. Ray's
techniques work well with dogs. His principles are simple. Make
the right thing easy, and the wrong thing difficult. Recognize the
smallest change, the slightest try. You must learn to do this.
It is not something that will happen overnight. It's a way you think.
It's a way you live. It is a way of life Training is discipline.
Discipline within yourself so that you can have it with your dog.
To attain your goal. An idea must go across
at first. It takes some physical pressure in the beginning. But,
you keep doing less and less physical pressure and get more and more verbal
understanding. Pretty soon it's a feeling following a feel, and you
reach your goal. What difference does it make whether it comes today,
tomorrow, or next year.
Read "Think Harmony with Horses" by Ray Hunt.
It will enlighten you, and help you obtain your goals.
visit Ray's website
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| Some people
believe that you should train different breeds of dogs differently.
Although I will say that each breed has an individual trait, and it may
take longer for some dogs to reach the goal that has been set. But, the
beginning structure will be the same.
A dog can only give the best of
his ability. Some of them can do things better than others, but each
one can do his thing his way as well as he can. That's all you can ask
of him. Maybe he's not doing it the way we want him to do it, but for
him it's the best that he can do, because that's the way he's made or that's
the way he thinks.
I will start all dogs the same, regardless of
breed. Now, I will adapt the basic fundamentals for that
individual dog's time-frame. But, once again, the basics will remain the same.
Another very talented dog trainer and handler is
Elvin Kopp. He has replica handbags uk a three part DVD training series out that I
highly recommend. He is an awesome handler. He and his dog
Cody are the essence of the word "team".
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At Away2Me Farm we offer
the following services:
Current training services
available:
 | Private lessons |
| Small group lessons |
| Custom dog training on monthly
rate |
ALL DOGS FOR CUSTOM MONTHLY TRAINING MUST HAVE:
1.
NEGATIVE HEARTWORM TEST
2.
WORMED
3.
FLEA/TICK REPELLENT
Away2Me Farm has
the following training areas available:
| Round pen |
| 100 X 100 |
| 240 X 140 lighted arena |
| 6 acre field |
| 10 acre field |
| Small pens and alleyways |
| Large pen areas |
contact us:
573-222-6083
debbie@away2mefarm.com
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Whistle and Grin while you work!
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