superminty

Willem you are being very rude. Just in case you didn't know.

No, never. Doesn't get hot enough even in summer here for that to be necessary.

I would take puppies at 7 weeks if it was allowed. 6 weeks might be a stretch. I would not take a puppy at all if I couldn't have it by 9 weeks. Critical socialisation period is 6-12 weeks and I want as much as possible of that time to be with me. But I have working breeds and they mature quickly.

All it takes is a loose, experienced intact male and approx. 2 seconds and you have a mating. Seen it happen! No walks for my bitch when she's in season. I think that's common sense.

This is a generalisation as each dog is an individual, but agree with comments above, as well as: - a yard bred dog might be more insensitive to pressure and have more "guts" for want of a better word i.e. has to be able to squeeze through small gaps and deal with sheep taking them on. There are very few BCs doing yard trials, however no doubt people use them on farms for yard work. - a paddock bred dog might be more sensitive to pressure as they generally have a better sense of personal space and have to stay off flighty sheep to be able to control them in a paddock. Dog might be a bit softer to handle and may not be as resilient in confrontations. There are more BCS that do paddock trials and are naturals at paddock work then kelpies, although there are lines in the kelpies known for their paddock work. I have a utility bred dog, she will take anything on in the yards but has a nice wide running paddock style - she is super soft at home and easy to handle and live with but on sheep it is a different matter! She can be a hard headed little #@&* sometimes. So it's not always simple to pick between yard and paddock bred if you're looking for a particular temperament.

Can't hurt to try the cornsilk for a few weeks and see what difference (if any) it makes. Given it is only drips. My girl was having major flooding episodes so she went on drugs and cornsilk. So I have no idea what actually helped more (but I suspect the drugs had a lot to do with the solution).

Just booked back to back schools for when my pup arrives - but it is with an experienced trainer who I know well and I am primarily there for controlled socialisation - and also it's held at my usual vet, so good for pup to have lots of nice experiences there.

It's sad that the word "balanced" has become a poisoned cue, and not a word people can trust to mean their trainer is open minded and flexible. Every trainer I associate with and recommend is a balanced trainer - in the true sense of the word. Kind, humane, flexible methods, adaptable to dog and owner needs, applies classical and operant conditioning fairly and consistently. The poisoning of the word "balanced" due to situations described above is why I don't label myself as any type of trainer, but rather explain to my clients how I approach individual situations and let them judge for themselves whether they are happy to hire me or allow me to handle their dog.

I see people doing things with young BCs that just blow me away! Granted I didn't raise my girl as a performance puppy but her attention was all over the shop prior to 12 months of age. She's a workaholic now but if its not sheep work, she still has a pretty strong opinion of when she should work and what she should be doing, lol.

Double post

I'd be hesitant to suggest that Kelpie's aren't also on this slope - there is already a massive difference between working Kelpies and bench Kelpies. They just haven't become popular with performance people......not to say they aren't great agility dogs, just that they aren't as popular as BC's seem to have become. Oh, I think they are on the slope but I am hoping it's a very shallow one - there is something about their temperaments I think that doesn't click with performance people quite as much as the BCS - bit less biddable perhaps? They can be quite independent thinkers and not so interested in what the handler thinks! But performance people aren't trying to breed their own performance strain, they just choose from what is already available in the working strain. And I hope that continues.

Sorry, I was talking about the comment about border collies liking to create movement. That is actually an undesirable trait for them to have and I would like to think that it isn't something that all BCs have. The bloke who started our dogs puts dogs into a sliding scale between 2 extremes. Those who like to create movement and those who like to control movement. Ideally, you need a mix of the 2 in a good working dog. A dog at either extreme is no use. Have to ask - given stockwork RELIES on both the creation and control of movement, what use is a working dog that doesn't want to create movement? Maybe I am just misinterpreting what you're saying. I do agree about the siding scale though - I have "create movement" addicts - control that movement, not so much (but we're working on it).

Original purpose is everything to me with my kelpies. Sadly there seems to be a move towards breeding "pet" kelpies which I totally do not agree with - what's the point if they don't work or at least have the breeding to do so? Want a kelpie without herding instinct? Some of show kelpie lines might suit, or get another breed. I would hate to see kelpies go the way of BCs with working, show and performance lines (that to be fair may or may not also be bred for working instinct) - to me, the working lines have all they need to be great performance dogs as well - breed for working ability and temperament and they are a super versatile dog that retain their natural instinct and that is what makes them kelpies! eta: my dogs are pets but work a few times a week, I plan to do agility with my young one and some Rally, I use their natural instincts to my advantage where I can and work on impulse control in situations where it might work against me.

I keep some as "emergency - ran out of meat" food - lamb and beef varieties. My dog with a sensitive tummy does really well on the lamb (no beef for him, the girls get that), and the patties are handy for weekend trips away. I like that it is only meat and organs from one protein source. I would like more info on percentages and other additives though if I was going to feed more often.

Sadly the young one MORE than makes up for the quiet one...