"In the Path of Love"

 

for

"DeltaBluez Tess"
(July 13, 1998 - Feb 13, 2013)

by Diane Pagel

  

In the shadows of life.

a few leaves must fall

but the spring is near

and life will grow again.

 

The path is long and hard

and courage is earned

the sunlight is in our eyes

and the tears freely fall.

 

 photo by: Patricia Fix Anderson

 

You walked down the path

held my hand, taught me all

to let me go by myself

with my new courage. 

 photo by: Diane Pagel

and yet today I weep for you

but tomorrow i will be proud

knowing you are at the end of the path

and the rest of the journey is my own.

 

 



Kelpie and Sheepdog Books for Sale

I am selling of my Kelpie Books. I will also be offering some Border Collies book in the near future. Price below includes shipping and insurance to the USA. For Canada, add $10 more. For outside of the USA, contact me. Books will be shipped after the check clears.

 

AUTHOR	TITLE	PRICE	CONDITION
T G Austin (Tim Austin)	Breeding and Training Sheep Dogs (small thin book, soft cover)	$85	water stains but good/fair, rare
Tony Parsons	The Australian Kelpie (hard cover)	$200	Excellent
Tony Parsons	The Working Kelpie (hard cover)	$150	Excellent
Norm MacLeod and Tim Austin	Australian Kelpie Handbook (hard cover)	$250	Excellent
AD (Tony) Austin	Training the Working Kelpie (hard cover)	$250	Excellent
Con Kingwill & Brenda Munitich	South African Sheepdogs Training and Trials (hard cover)	$95	Very Good
Tim Austin and artwork by Pieter Zaadstra	Our Australian Kelpie (hard cover)	300	Excellent

Happy (belated) Birthday, DeltaBluez Rainey

Five years ago, on November 10, 2007, a special little angel entered our lives. Her name is Rainey.

 

It's hard to believe that five years have flown by. It seems like the other day that Tess had pups and Jeff got one of them as his Christmas present. But the days and flown by, the pups are all grown up now and Rainey just turned five years old. She was the runt of the litter, half the size of her brothers but she was feisty. She would push her brothers aside to get the best seat at the milk bar and had the loudest shriek. We always keep a female from each litter so this selection was easy. Somehow she knew she was the chosen one and grew up to be the DIVA.

 

Rainey, as per tradition, was named after a female musician. She was named after Ma Rainey. She has various other nicknames such as Petunia, Bug, Bunny, Rain-bug, Princess, Baby, Diva and Baby-Girl. She is quite spoiled and her mother Tess still dotes on her. She will come into the house, soaking wet and Tess will lick her dry. At night, she sleep in my arms or next to me on the bed. But she gives me everything I ask of her. She is my right hand on the farm and my Open Dog.

 

I appreciate www.dogbarkcollar.com for making this post possible.

 

As a puppy, Tess and Rain would snuggle together.

 

She started her sheep work early. Here she is practicing a take down. 

She needed an education on working sheep so read various sheep books, then went to Scott Glen for her foundation training.

She was the Christmas gift to Getty. She is his dog and will be here forever. She won't work for him as she is a one person dog but is his lapwarmer and watches football in his lap.

 

She is my lapwarmer at trials. She has taken over the role from her mother, Tess.

 

 

She was slow to mature and finally began to run well at 3 years old. Janet Thorpe ran her in Novice and Ranch until one day, Rainey decided she only wanted to run for me. She ran quite well for Janet too! We have no idea what happened but you couuld see at the trial, she decided to switch handlers. She will work for Janet if I am not home but if I am home, she ignores everyone else.

 

She is not the pushiest dog but is super obedient. She has a bit of eye so I have to manage her. She won't back down if a ewe charges her and is kind to her sheep.  Her drive is the hardest part for her but she has gotten much better. She did great in PN, winning or placing high. After her third trial in PN, people began to ask when she was going to move to Open. When I first started to run her, I had no expectations and just wanted us to have fun. Many hours of practice, she got better and she began to shine. She runs different than Maid or Nan and is very senstive. She won Reserve PN dog of the year in the WASH Stockdog Club last year. I just moved her up to Open this fall.

 

She has a nice way with her sheep and they like her. On heavy sheep, she will struggle. Oddly enough she does well on range or hair sheep. She got third at Palm Cottage in PN.

At LaCamas in PN, she did well too and place fifth.

She  does great turns at the post. On tough sheep, I have to keep  her moving due to her eye and she won't quit. She loves to trial!  In her mind, she thinks she is a winner.

She just moved up to Open. Some trials have been a struggle for her. At Fire Ridge, she didn't give up.The sheep tried numerous time to break away and she patiently kept bringing them back. She timed out on the last leg but her heart was huge.She wanted to cross but took my redirect on the fly and went blindly to where I told her. She trusts me and I trust her. She won't be the top Open dog, not for the lack of try but not having that extra push. But she does everything I ask of her and is a shedding machine and pens greats. Her outwork is awesome but her drive is hard. This Sunday was the longest drive in Open, that we have had at a local trial, and she did it. One ewe wanted to break away but she held her to the group. We timed out as she came in for the shed and it was the best shed. The sheep are some of the toughest to shed and she had the shed in seconds. I had no hole, but called her in, she made the shed and held the stomping ewes off. I will pick and chose the trials for her but she is fun to run.

 

Rain is like her mother is some ways. Loving and willing to do what you want of her. She is a small version in look of her father, Delmar Scot and has his working style but not his push. At the farm, she moves anything I ask of her, will grip as needed and goes where I send her, with no sheep in sight, but trusting me that they are out there. She puts the poultry away for me and does most of the farm chores. She loves to swim and is a water dog. Rain loves to watch football, upside in Getty's lap and is quite spoiled. She adores my mom and Aunt Kimiko and is their shadow. No matter how well or not, she does at trial, she is here to stay. She is our little Princess and the love of our life. Tess made sure she has left a pup of hers that we can spoil and love as much as we love her.She loves to cuddle and if often next to me on the couch.

Happy Birthday, Bunny!

 

 

Skipton Dog Sale in the UK

Sometimes the very best costs a little more. In the case of this remarkable sheepdog, quite a lot more. Marchup Midge is the world’s most expensive sheepdog after she was sold at auction for £8,400. New owner Eddie Thornalley, 45, believes her impeccable breeding, work ethic and sweet nature make her worth every penny.
 

Top dog: Marchup Midge, an 18-month-old, has been sold for

more than £8,000 - a world record

 

Old and new: World Champion breeder Shaun Richards (left), from Lancashire,

with Midge's new owner Eddie Thornalley (right)

Midge will become his right-hand border collie, taking charge of a team of five dogs which look after his flock of 200 sheep in East Anglia.

 

‘She’s an incredible little thing. Intelligent and stylish and with great working ability,’ he said.

Last Friday’s sale in Skipton, North Yorkshire, beat the previous world record of £6,300 set at the same place last year.

Breeder Shaun Richards was thrilled with the price. ‘I have not had a drink in two-and-a-half years,’ he said. ‘I feel like having one now!’

In action: Midge does what she does best -

whipping the sheep into shape (above and below)

 

 

Well bred: Midge has incredible strength, speed and instinct from

 her world class sheepdog genes

 

Skills: Experts say there is a lack of well-trained sheepdogs,

which is why Midge was so expensive to buy

Midge is so valuable because she comes from a family of outstanding sheepdogs, has been trained by a former world champion breeder and has become well known for her speed and agility as well as her ice-cool temperament.

Also, a large drop in trainers means that getting a top class sheepdog is getting more and more difficult - and increasingly expensive.
 

Her price, reached at Skipton Auction, North Yorkshire, smashed the previous record of 6,000 guineas - £6,300 -also achieved at Skipton last year for 13-month-old Dewi Fan.

Midge’s sister Marchup Sam was sold by Mr Richards at Skipton’s summer working dogs sale in July this year for 5,000 guineas - £5,250 - at the time the second highest price in the world ever paid at an official sale.

 

Mr Thornalley has now bought three dogs from Mr Richards and his latest acquisition will be used primarily as a work dog, as well as being used in local nursery trials by Mr Thornalley, who is a member of the East Anglian Sheep Dog Society.

Previous record holder John Bell, who was also present at the sale, was among the first to congratulate Mr Richards on his success. 'Records are there to be broken,' he said.Sheepdog breeder Shaun Richards, who sold 18-month-old Marchup Midge, said he was 'gobsmacked' by the final price.

The 45-year-old said: 'She exceeded all expectations. When the money started to go up I was speechless.
 

In the family: Midge's siblings have

previously been sold for huge sums at auction

One man and his new dog: Marchup Midge and

 new owner Eddie Thornalley, who will be

taking her to her new home in Suffolk

 

'She’ll go into the sheep dog trialling world after this, where she will excel. She has a lovely temperament, she was like a pet but also one hell of a good sheepdog as well.

'I’m sad to see her her go but I do this for a living so I am also happy to see the amazing amount of money. I got my first dog when I was 12 so I have been doing this a long time.

 

'I’m topping sheepdog sales all over the country and I think that’s because I don’t trial them, just train then. I don’t keep the good ones for myself.'

 

Contract shepherd Eddie Thornalley, 45, who bought Marchup Midge, said: 'I’m very happy to have got her. I’ve had my eye on her since she was about 12 months old.

 

'She is very well bred with excellent workability, she’s absolutely fantastic.'
 

LINK TO ARTICLE

 

Parents and Pups at the farm

My mom and Aunt Kimiko came over to the farm on Sunday. We had the "Kodiak Memorial Service" and then we went down to the barn. I think Kodi waited until these pups were born to leave, making sure he had a replacement.

My mom and Kimiko with "Bear'. Bear is named that in honor of Kodi who was named after the Kodiak Bear.  I kept a female, Heidi as well and these two pups will be spoiled like Kodi was. As you can see, I told them the pups have to be socialized and be handled more. They grabbed Bear and loved on him.

I can't wait to see them try this when he is fully grown at 100 lbs plus. They were speaking to him in Japanese and his tail wagged. I am sure he understood what they said. I know when my mom speaks to me in Japanese it is either related to food or I am in trouble.

I think Kimiko wanted to steal Bear but since she lives in a condo, she wised up.

Bear sure enjoyed all the attention. By the end, he was their best friend. Heidi saw this action and came over for her share of attention. I didn't take any pixs of her as I was too busy petting her.

 

Since my right arm is busted and I cannot do any farm  chores, my mom did the feeding. Rainey and Tess love it when my mom does chores. She feeds them handfuls of bread and says "oh, I dropped it" and they gobble it up. The sheep see her and all come running. She fed the chickens, ducks, geese and guineas. I told my mom no more than one slice of bread for Tess, Rainey, Maid and Nan.  It was more like 7 pieces of bread before I told her no more. She just laughed at me.  What can I say? It was fun to see my mom so happy! Notice in this photo, I just caught my mom feeding bread to Tess and Rainey. BUSTED!!

Notice the four girls are waiting for the treats from Kimiko. They swarm around my mom and Kimiko in the kitchen and they get tons of treats. Not only they got bread but a bag of dog treats and leftovers from lunch. They are so excited when they show up. They run, jump up, bark and act like hooligans and not the well mannered obedient Border Collies they really are. They pretty much ignore me and follow them. I let them as my mom and Kimiko really enjoy spoiling the dogs. Maid has it down pat as she puts her ears down, gives a sad wag to her tail and gives the woeful eyes and soon she is rewarded.

 

I love it when they come out. They love to fed the animals and enjoy the farm for a few hours. They get farm eggs and garden vegetables. I get a Japanese home cooked meal and their wonderful company. It's great to have such cool parents! Total score and the dogs sure agree with me on this!

Operation Sheepdog Herding Store

Stephanie Summers owns Operation Sheepdog Herding, which is an online Sheepdog supply store. She has all sort of cool items. I was at her booth at LaCamas and snagged a couple of training flags, lanyard, shade cloth cooling blanket mat  and other items. She has a very nice store with many neat items.

 

Support your local Border Collie handler by going to her website and ordering some cool stuff. She has top quality items, many that I have never seen before. She will be at the USBCHA National Sheepdog Finals in Klamath Falls, Oregon so please stop by her booth. She is very friendly and I just really enjoyed talking to her.

 

So I figured since I had purchased some items, I should do a review on them.

 

The flag is much bigger than the old style which I have. It is much more visible to the dog. It doesn't sound scary when you hit it on the ground. I used it by waving it over my sheep's back to slow a young dog down. It worked quite well and it is one of my tools in my tool kit. As for the quality of the flag, it is well built and it can take some punishment. I got purple and pink. I guess I am a girly type. If you need a flag that will get the attention, this flag will do just fine. Oh, yes, I used to swat away flies and the wasps. it worked well for that. Using it on the husband would not be a good idea, though. 

 

 The lanyard that I got was a very soft, flexible kangaroo leather. Mine was two shades of pink. do you see a pattern yet? it hung nicely on my neck and did not scratch my neck like my horsehair lanyard does. it also had a cute, silver ring on it for decoration.  The lanyard below is similar to mine.

 

I finally found this silver shade cloth that I had been looking for my truck. I got the 6' x 6' size and will eventually get the large size. Note, that is not my dog in the photo. These shade cloths are light and can be tucked in any area in your truck or car. It will help keep the back of my truck cool in the summer. I am going to get a large size so I can hang it off my awning on the travel trailer.

I really love this cooling mat. You can wrap it around your dog after a hot work out and it cools them down quite a bit. She was out of the cooling wrap around blankets so I got the mat. From the website..."These dog cooling mats target heat stress by using evaporative cooling which in turn enhances the dog’s natural cooling process. These dog cooling beds will actively pull excess heat from the dog's body, which in turn, reduces distress from overheated dogs. Over time this moisture is released by evaporation, pulling heat from the body, while it provides a gentle cooling effect. The three-layer fabric design offers good and effective cooling relief to you or your best friend. The cooling dog bed is designed to be submerged into water for a few minutes, which it retains the optimum amount of water without any swelling or over saturation. There are absolutely no chemicals, ice packs, gels, or refrigeration required, just use plain water."

Note: this is not my dog but sure is a cute one!

 

 

Some how a  bully stick fell into my bag for Tess. I have no idea how that happened (cough, cough) but Tess loves them.

 

I didn't get this Tag but will be putting my order in at the USBCHA National Sheepdog Finals. This will fit over the Wolf Wear Leather collars. My dogs seem to lose their clipped on dog ID tags. The collars that I usually use has the brass plates on them but the collars they have on them have gems and heart instead. So getting this mini tag and slipping it on the collar is great. I am going to order extras to the other dogs as well as the LGDs.

 

This section would be fun for Janet Thorpe to look at since it has baby items. This is not may baby or her baby.  I love the quilt behind the baby too!

 

 

Anyways, mosey on over to Operation Sheepdog Herding at the Finals or visit the website. if you want something and she doesn't have it, drop her an email. She is open for suggestions and wants you to have a one stop cool shop for all of your herding needs. High quality items at a a good price owned by one of us.....what a great place! 

 

Rainey at Palm Cottage in ProNovice

DeltaBluez Rainey at Palm Cottage Sheepdog Trial. 

 

One thing about Rain is that is she is always looking for her sheep. Just five minutes before her run, she was sound asleep under my chair. I nudged her awake and asked her if she saw the sheep. She pointed her nose to the set out, looked at me and then went back to sleep. Apparently, she knew where they were and didn't want to expend any extra energy by being stressed before her run.

She was very cautious on her lift and it took a bit of coaxing to get her to come on. She was also slow on the last bit of her outrun and I had to work on her to move and not stop.

 

 Getting the panels was very tough.

Sometimes she surprises me with her willingness in a very tough situation. She is not the strongest dog but she is very willing to do what I ask of her. I have been working on her to be more forceful.

The sheep were tough. Over half of the Open dogs did not get a score. We ran on the same sheep. She kept them on a fast clip. They tried to break to the exhaust but she tucked them back in and they never tried that again.

Look at the happy face. She did all that I asked of her.

She loves to work.

Cute as a button.

At the pen. We almost had it but ran out of time. She got third out of 26 dogs.

 

The incredible Mr. Bob

Finally back to the regular scheduled programming. This is the rest of Bonnie Block's Bob run at Palm Cottage Sheepdog Trial. Bob is qualified for the 2012 USBCHA National Sheepdog Finals in Klamath Falls, Or.

One on the floor and three off the floor.

Looks like he is jumping!

Turning the post.

 

Walk up!

Isn't he a lovely dog!

Bob's sheep are going where he tells him!

At the pen.

 

Good job, Mr Bob!