Why Train At Shadowbar?

Last weekend, Shar, Deb, and I travelled to Medicine Hat for the dog show.  We had entries in the Breed ring as well as the Rally Obedience Ring with five dogs entered..... bound to be some conflicts in scheduling, but with the help of our friends, we managed to take in all the rings, and do some winning, too.

Darryl Snowdon's sheltie, Drummer Boy, finished his Excellent Rally title with 98/100 &High in Class on Friday and stayed to play on Saturday, ending up with a perfect score of 100.

My German shepherd, Swazye, finished his Excellent Rally title with 97/100 & second place to Drummer on Friday and got to relax the rest of the weekend.  

Castle, owned by Mountain HIgh Shiba inus of Skookumchuk, BC, soon to be co-owned by me, :) took High in Advanced Rally B every day with scores of 98, 99, and 100 to gain his

Rally Advanced title.  On to Excellent!

Ryder, Sharlet Caroe's GSD, picked up two more 'doubles' towards his RAE VI title, with scores in the 90's in both Advanced and Excellent B. 

Beckett, shiba inu owned by Mountain High Shibas, handled by Deb Golding, went Best of Breed all three days, and Best Puppy in Group on Sunday taking her to 5 points.

Thank you to those owners who trusted us with their dogs.  We know you will be pleased with the new titles and breed wins.

On another note, Hunter and Drummer have begun their herding careers and we think

they will do well in this event.  We'll keep you posted on their successes.

Herding

Friday, May 4th,  Hunter,  Drummer and I headed to Phantomridge for their herding instinct testing and some lessons, should they prove to have an interest in herding. What fun.  Hunter went first and he was very cautious after he took a thud from the instructor's  paddle from charging into the sheep.  It was as if he thought, "I get it. You don't want me to chase sheep. Okay. No sheep."   Oops. 


It took a couple of lessons & some encouragement to get him to associate keeping some distance with being allowed to move sheep, but my instructor is nothing short of amazing.  After four 15 minute lessons in the round pen with me (poor dog)  over the course of three days, Louanne, my instructor, decided that she would move him into the large arena with the dogs that were going to be competing in Tested and Started in June, and was able to put Hunter through a Herding Tested course with me and Amanda (the wonderful photographer) both in the arena watching.  I mean 3 fence line obstacles and a chute and a repen!!! This is incredible to me but Louanne would most likely just laugh and say it was nothing big. She knows exactly where to place herself and the dog so that the sheep just figure it's natural to go where she wants them to go. 
Amazing lady.


Drummer was next and he did very well in his instinct testing, moving off pressure and changing sides easily.  But..... as he gained in confidence, so did his sassiness and he began to bite at the stock stick flag and do little growly grunts at me and the sheep when asked to actually move off pressure to the left or right.  It was better when he was moving faster, but he still was pretty peeved about me telling him where to go and he told me where to go, too.
Louanne told me that he was a tough little dog and that he must not be allowed to get into chasing and barking.  She suggested that if we worked light sheep, he should work them along a fence line or in a corner area.


Yesterday, I went to Twin Butte to work light (not knee hugger) sheep at Lore's place. 
Lore watched Drum move the sheep around the round pen (giving them room to move, stopping when I told him) and the sheep went from zoom, zoom to trot and stop, and 
change directions.  They didn't stomp and get upset with Drum even though they had lambs with them.  We were very happy. Drummer was not sure about starting again after he was stopped and the sheep were stopped, but he was able to move them without tearing into them and that gave him some confidence.  He seems to have some insight. 


Here are a couple of clips of me with Hunter and Louanne with Drummer in the round pen at Phantom ridge.  Enjoy.

Draft Dog Seminar a great success!  Last weekend the Cowley Hall was the site for our Draft Dog seminar which was very successful. We had four instructors on hand so all participants were given individual attention. 
We began with an explanation of what draft work is and how to obtain the coveted CKC Draft Dog Title.
We moved on with prep work that can be done with pups and novice adult dogs to ready them for cart work.  We had several kinds of carts available for scrutiny and practice and both kinds of harnesses as well.  Having the first ever DD and DDX German shepherds in North America, we are always excited to see some of the capable but non-draft breeds in attendance at our seminars.  Two Danes, a boxer, and a malemute made up the 'other' breed members and did a good job. Tig, the malemute, took everything in stride and was not only able to be hooked into the cart but easily mastered the turns as well. Proud owner, Tammy, did a very capable job of handling this young dog, who was the 'star' of the seminar.
We were very fortunate to have two dogs available to demonstrate the three exercises that make up the DD test. Their practices gave the two 'judges' the opportunity to do some coaching which will improve the performance of both dogs.  
Both Tubby Miller and Judith Snowdon had their dogs on site and both explained how they prepared their dogs for the DD and DDX titles.  This gave participants some choices as to how to go about training their dogs. 
The key..... small steps and planned practice to produce the proficiency that will be required in the Draft Dog Test.  


Anyone wanting coaching or lessons in Draft Dog work can contact Judith Snowdon, Shadowbar Shepherds.  Professional training...Proven Performance.

                                                         Nicole & Bailey 

                                                           Nicole and Sophie 

Barb and her great Dane

Moose at 6 months old & Judi 

Watch for this talented youngster and his owner, Richard, as they

progress with their Draft Dog work. 

Dogs trained at Shadowbar...... ready to work. 

Strength, beauty, and intelligence. 

Fun in the sun

Mother Nature is doing the 'springtime in the Rockies' spring fling with flurries, and rain, and sun and flurries,  so that it's a crap shoot as to whether or not outdoor sports can happen. So we take advantage of every minute.  Shar, Louanne, Mike and I spent some time Saturday out at the Bruder Ranch, helping with panels and fencing so that the sheep herding facility can get off the ground soon.  It is going to be excellent. As Lore says, "I'm the last kid on the block to build so I have learned from those who have gone before."
The best thing about it all is that one person can move sheep from pen to pen without a hassle.  All the gates open or block other pens.  Lovely plan.  We put up some obstacles, too.
Now we are waiting for the outer fencing to be done.  Not long.
Hope to add our four sheep (on order from Louann Twa) to Lore's and begin herding soon.
Exciting stuff.

Ever seen a shiba inu herd?  You will.

Judi

Draft Dog Workshop Planned

On April 29th at Shadowbar Shepherds, SAWHDA is hosting a draft dog workshop.
Judges Tubby Miller and Judith Snowdon will be on hand to talk about proper training of dogs for DD and DDX titles.
This is a day filled with activity for all the dogs and even young pups are welcome to attend. Lunch is provided.
Please check the SAWHDA.blogspot.com site for entry forms.
In looking through our information on draft work, I came across some photos of dogs from days gone by and thought I'd share them with you.  They bring back fond memories.