Introduction

Hello, world, my name is Kristin and I like dogs. Maybe kinda a lot. And not just for petting and cuddling with, but to train with and really work with them. I've competed with my dogs in everything from conformation (show dog pretty stuff) to obedience to agility to herding. This blog will follow the newest acquisition to the family, Tara's Lil Rippa, who is a breeding from my first litter after about 17 years in the breed and a long apprenticeship under many of the breed's respected breeders and mentors. My goal with Rippa was to produce a beautiful, sound little dog with a nice temperament that would be capable of being my boyfriend's best friend and a bang up cowdog. No, we don't have cows, but the point here is potential. I actually live in a small town in a rented house and am an English professor, small climbing gym owner, and event manager. No livestock around for miles and miles. This is mainly a hobby for me, but at the same time, there are those who exist to preserve something we like for those who do need it, and trust me, there are plenty.

So, how do I train? Off stock, mostly positive. I have a couple things I have picked up from various sources, books, seminars, others . . . but I don't do clicker training - and I don't usually use food. The dogs I have are motivated by play-training, which is largely what I do. It makes competing ultra fun because we're both having fun in whatever ring we're in. Heeling is AWESOME because it's a game. This sort of works for most dogs, but the particular dogs I have are high drive, super biddable, and eager to learn so that's all I need and it's why I have what I have.

Everyone has a mentor, and I'm fortunate that mine happens to be one of the best stockdog trainers (especially for Aussies) in the world - Kathy Warren of Windsong Aussies and the Flying E ranch.  And more fortunate that I'm a 35 minute drive from her. If only I had endless financial and time resources, I'd be able to take better advantage of it, but that's part of what I am doing this for - to get down what I'm learning somewhere so that when I don't have that resource because she retires or I move or something, I have a foundation to work off of. I've been training the Fury on her (Rippa's mom) for about six years, but prior to that I worked her by myself on a ranch I was employed by to handle dogs. My own inventions just didn't work and it ruined my otherwise talented dog and at this point we'd have to start from scratch and then some and it just isn't worth the resources to me when we can start fresh with the Rippa bear.

I am doing this mostly to serve as a log of my training from ground zero to whereever we end up. The blog should contain some training theory, musings, and maybe some rantings, I don't know. Hopefully it's fun if you choose to read it. :)