fidelis Border Collies

I have one of those robot dogs where she needs to be told what to do all the time. Dave my partner an experience working dog man used to send her out the back door in the morning and get her to bring the sheep up from the back paddock on her own. I only have 5 acreas so its not a big distance and not even a hard job. She doesn't like thinking for herself and you often see her standing at the gate looking back at the house as if to say "well I am waiting when are you going to come out and tell me what to do" She is that type of dog unfortunately and i doubt will ever make a great dog. She is very well trained but not a natural working dog. Patrick on the other hand before we sent him back to America we would do the same thing and he would try his heart out. You could see him down the paddock moving them here and there and 70% of the time he would get them up to the house towards the end of his time here he was succeeding more often and alot quicker but at the start what a painfull exercise. Dave said you do this obviously with a dog that is not a biter and kind on the sheep. It teaches them to think for them selves and gets them to work independantly. TRACEY

yES AS Liana said points are deduct for over cammanding the dog. Also the judge has to determine if the dog is being disobedience as you lose points for that too. My partner whistles all his commands and I remember a judge last year telling dave he will get points deducted for excessive whistling VBG Had to laugh as how would the judge know if the dog was being over commanded. or what the whistles meant. See when i say stop is doesn't mean stop as in a sit, I never ask my dogs to sit, stand or lay down i want a stop that is all and when I say stop I really means pause. if I say "stop there" its a longer stop but i still expect the dog to move if the sheep were to take off. A working dog is no good if it sits or lays there waiting for another command while the sheep are tearing down the paddock. As a judge it is my job to decide if the stop command or wait command is what we think it is or is the dog not taking any notice of the handler at all. Tracey

vICKI WROTE Sorry i haven't read the whole thread no time but thought i would add my bit I have stop issueswith my dogs because they don't want to stop, but putting a stop and stay there coomand on your dog you are inhibiting its ability to work on its own and if you lose this you will end up with a robot. With my half working half show dog Abigail she doesn't like to stop she likes to be onto the sheep all the time. As she is slowly down she is using more and more eye and then she creeps up on the sheep. I used to contuninally say "STOP" "STOP" "STOP" "STOP" To the point it never meant anything. Now I say "STOP" when i want a pause and I say "Stop THERE" When i want her to STOP It does help having the two different commands Tracey

Just like to Thank everyone for thinking about us at this time. The pain has eased slightly and we are spending even more time (If that is possible) holding and cuddling the reminding pups. Starting to get them ready for their new homes so soon we will only have Mitch left here. Blocker will always be remember for the fine young man (Baby) he was. I guess its no good say "if only" but i wonder sometimes why these things happen. I had what i wanted from this mating in my grasp and now his gone. I just hope he will be just as nice when i met him at the bridge in years to come. Sweet dreams little man Tracey

It is with a very heavy heart i tell you that Blocker (Fidelis Block Buster) Past away last night. Due to a tragic accident he was put to sleep as although he was in no pain there was no hope. I wont go into details as its still very distressing for me. My partner Dave will blame himself for the rest of his day. RIP Little Man 2 Jan 2005 - 23 Feb 2005 7 Weeks old FIDELIS BLOCK BUSTER MY HOPE FOR THE FUTURE GONE!!!1 Tracey

i would find another vet can't find the right bits, needs a microscope wouldn;t want to take a toy breed to these vets would you. I have a 7 week old bitch at the vets now (today) being desexed and she goes to her new home on Sunday. I will pick her up at 4pm and she will be running around as normal by 6pm. I have had older pups done at 6-10 mths and it is very hard on them. So the people that say wouldn't do it on a young pup i don't think you realise its a very small operation on a young pup but a major one on a older dog. i have seen it again and again. very hard on adult dogs and older pups the young pups bounce back very quickly Tracey