Willow
ABCA Registered
Traditional - Black and White
21" tall at shoulder and 35 lbs.
OFA Official Hip Score: Good / OFA Official Elbow Score: Normal
CEA: Normal (clear) / MDR1: Normal / IGS: Normal / DM: Normal
TNS: Normal / ICM: Normal / NCL: Normal / SN: Normal
Willow is a classic example of a working Border collie. She is lanky, medium-coated, and extremely high drive. She comes from ranch lines out of Idaho, but started off with a couple a few hours south of us. Unfortunately for them, she turned out to be higher-drive than was good for their situation, and they realized that with their busy lives, it was not fair to keep her, so she came here.
I have not started Willow's official training yet, but I'm giving her unofficial opportunities to herd the cows. For now, I've been practicing a good recall and stop - both important before I let her really work our cows - and teaching her to have an "off switch." The biggest challenge with Willow, largely due to acquiring her when she was over two years old, has been teaching her that she needs to calm down and relax when it's not time to work. At first, she wanted to do nothing but run and chase the stock, and I had to get onto her a few times, but she is a fast learner and is getting better about relaxing most of the time. In fact, now she will come up to me when I'm on our deck and beg permission to go out and work, but she waits for my word before she goes.
She has lots of drive and instinctively circles the cattle, but she has no idea of how to work with a handler. Her potential was never developed, so although she has an extremely strong desire to work, she doesn't know what to do with it. I don't know whether she will ever learn, now that she is over three years of age, since I'm not a skilled trainer, but she has the desire.
Conformation-wise, she is lankier and thinner than I personally prefer. (She fits her name to a T.) I think she will bulk up a little bit once she has puppies, and I will try to find a stockier and lower-key dog to breed her. She has some skin allergies, so I am exploring diet options to help her, but even though it looks bad sometimes, the allergies don't seem to bother her much.
Willow still has a lot to learn, but she has adjusted well to life out here and is accepting me more every day as her pack leader. She is very sweet, has good manners, is an extremely fast learner, and is amazingly responsive.
I have recently (July, 2019) begun teaching the dogs to pull in harness and so far, Willow is the star. Looks like she may be the team's lead dog, instead of Cleone. I think she likes the opportunity to work off her excess energy in a constructive manner. She is already learning "right" and "left." There is only one command she doesn't like at all, and that is "Whoa!" She'll learn, though.
I have not started Willow's official training yet, but I'm giving her unofficial opportunities to herd the cows. For now, I've been practicing a good recall and stop - both important before I let her really work our cows - and teaching her to have an "off switch." The biggest challenge with Willow, largely due to acquiring her when she was over two years old, has been teaching her that she needs to calm down and relax when it's not time to work. At first, she wanted to do nothing but run and chase the stock, and I had to get onto her a few times, but she is a fast learner and is getting better about relaxing most of the time. In fact, now she will come up to me when I'm on our deck and beg permission to go out and work, but she waits for my word before she goes.
She has lots of drive and instinctively circles the cattle, but she has no idea of how to work with a handler. Her potential was never developed, so although she has an extremely strong desire to work, she doesn't know what to do with it. I don't know whether she will ever learn, now that she is over three years of age, since I'm not a skilled trainer, but she has the desire.
Conformation-wise, she is lankier and thinner than I personally prefer. (She fits her name to a T.) I think she will bulk up a little bit once she has puppies, and I will try to find a stockier and lower-key dog to breed her. She has some skin allergies, so I am exploring diet options to help her, but even though it looks bad sometimes, the allergies don't seem to bother her much.
Willow still has a lot to learn, but she has adjusted well to life out here and is accepting me more every day as her pack leader. She is very sweet, has good manners, is an extremely fast learner, and is amazingly responsive.
I have recently (July, 2019) begun teaching the dogs to pull in harness and so far, Willow is the star. Looks like she may be the team's lead dog, instead of Cleone. I think she likes the opportunity to work off her excess energy in a constructive manner. She is already learning "right" and "left." There is only one command she doesn't like at all, and that is "Whoa!" She'll learn, though.