Kiddo's New Home

Remember Kiddo?

Kiddo went to his new home on July 25th. We wanted to give him a one week trial period with his new mom so she could be completely sure he was going to fit into the household.

I am pleased to announce - he has found his forever home.

Kiddo's new name will be Brill.

This last week we went to see Kiddo/Brill. The girls were so happy to see him. Brill assumed his typical position, right on Beth's butt.

Where Beth went, Brill went.

Brill will be living with Cindy in Yelm, WA on a sheep farm with three other border collies.

Kryll, who is the resident toy-boy. Kryll never really turned on to sheep, but loves his ball.

This lovely lad is Kael. He is Kryll's father.

And finally the old guy, who is retired



Cindy will be training Brill for sheep dog trials and eventually teaching him how to move a flock of 500 + sheep along with Kael.

Cindy has been slowly exposing Brill to sheep and is doing a wonderful job with him.

Cindy is a quiet and gentle trainer. Rarely raising her voice.

Brill is a gem. They make a wonderful team!

We will be seeing Brill often as Cindy is a new friend and has invited us over to work sheep with her.

Cindy gave me a chance to work both Beth and Bonnie.

Being on new sheep is a wonderful thing. The sheep at Fido's are nice, but every time I send Beth on an outrun the sheep start running to me the minute my dog leaves my feet. It encourages the habit of slicing the top of the outrun off and a host of other problems.

Cindy's sheep are not like that. They do not want to be near the dog, or the person. This is exactly what Beth needs..and exactly what I need as an inexperienced handler.

We need practice on lifting sheep calmly and in a controlled manner.

As opposed to chasing the sheep across the field like a bat out of hell in a chaotic manner.

Bonnie hasn't been on sheep like this before. Cindy went out in the field with me to help.

Cindy believes in putting 'stand' on young dogs. We have decided to remove the 'lie down' command from Bonnie for now instead of making it a point of contention - and not progressing in her training. I want to keep training light and positive to prevent Bonnie from shutting down as she has in the past. My goal is to build confidence and ignite her spark.

Right now I want a stop or a stand, then as long as the next step she takes is correct I am not going to stop her. Later when I have had a chance to have her hips evaluated at the vet (rule out pain) and she has built some confidence on stock I will implement a non-negotiable 'lie down'.

This means we are doing some running in the field to keep ahead of her and the sheep. A good tool to help Bonnie and reduce the fat on my butt at the same time.

It is wonderful to find someone you have things in common with. It seems to get harder and harder as an adult to find new friends. You make 'work' related friends, then there are 'neighbors' and or people you meet in passing, but a person with whom you have things in common that you enjoy spending time with is harder to find..and something to be valued.

Thank you Cindy for providing a loving home to Brill & for being a new friend.