Hi Guys! Well we braved the cold tablelands winter last weekend and went to the Sheepdog clinic in Uralla (near Armidale) I had three very keen travellers aboard and we were all very anxious to see what the day would produce!



The location of the clinic was a fantastic spot! A beautiful shearing shed with heaps of yards, lots of sheep and even some trial obsticals set up for practice. Unfortunately (especially for TJ) i couldn't take many photos because i went alone and it's impossible to work a dog and photograph it properly IMO! But I have attached some of the place and a young kelpie working for you to get an idea which i took in between our goes!









Anyway that is the good bit! The disapointing bit was Fly! He showed little to no interest at all in the sheep. He is so keen with the ducks, horses, and kids (goatlets!) at home, but even in the small yard with an easy small mob he was completely oblivious to their presence! Even when i scattered them and made them run about the yard all he did was sniff the fence and wait for me to finish! I was so disapointed, i had hoped he would be keen, even if he lacked obedience, i would have been happy to see him at least interested.

On the up side of the day, Leroy Brown shone! He worked lovely and recieved lots of complements! Which i was very proud of him for! Tilly was also very good, really starting to listen for the commands and reacting well, although not quite as switched on as Leroy, but then he has two years on her! So thats OK.

Which brings me to my dilemma....
I was going to join Fly to Tilly in the summer, which i think would produce some stunning pups, and probably very good obedience and agility pups too. But what i really want is workers. So Leroy Brown makes the better option, but he is not Koolie, so they would be crossbreds. I am stuck now, i will give Fly some more chances, take him out with Leroy and see if he can get him to hook on, and work from there. He is nearly 5 and he's obviously not been given an education early on so it's not all his fault. He may breed good workers, but there's not a lot of evidence around to show that his parents or sibilings are any better so it's a hard call. I also would like to show the parents working to people interested in buying a pup, becaue i think these problems come about when dogs are bred for too many generatioins without proving their value in the paddock first, dogs living just to breed and assuming they will produce working dogs! Given that, i'm thinking that perhaps i should desex Fly and let him live out a happy go lucky life,

What would you do?

Keep persevering with it. Ceejay nor Izzy showed any interest in the sheep in the roundyard apparantly not enough 'energy'. But once they were put in a larger area with four sheep they both finally clicked after a few goes with them. So just keep trying give yourself a time limit say about a year and if he hasn't got the gist by then, get him fixed and live out his life with you and your family as a good ole pet. Maybe he just hasn't clued in on the fact that you can work those wooly looking things too!

What a disappointment for you. Given his age and perhaps his unknown history he may need time to build up to bigger things. Do you think perhaps he felt your anxiety and stress and reacted to that? Sounds like he was possibly stressed with the sniffing and turning away. He might be more relaxed with you at home. Give him some time like Ceejay said. Might have to start with some lambs - maybe he just likes animals smaller than him!!!

Great photos! Love that woolshed - it's enormous. I have some friends on a property near Uralla - haven't seen them for years. They run fine wool merinos.

or i could lend you these 3 naughty pups they should get his blood pumping and give me a break lol



OK from what you said there i would say that your dog was a little bit scared of them even tho he did not look it to you. that was why he was not looking at the sheep and looking at other things and smelling this and that poor fly was uncomftorable in the yard with the sheep and yes i would run him with Leroy brown next time and as soon as he starts looking at the sheep tell him good boy and after he has had a little bit of fun take him out and tie him up were he can still see Leroy working the sheep that will help keep him keen on the sheep i have been doing this with komo as he was scared of the sheep now look at him.
big sorry i almost forgot to say that i love the pic's you are so lucky to have trained at such a place i would have been all through those sheds too! it's a sheep shearing palace lol god i need to move south
i want to go there awww awww or get Andrew to build some yards and a shed like that one lol do you think he would do it HAHAHA yep sure he would

I agree hang in there, you've got nothing to loose and everything to gain, it seems confusing that he shows talent on the ducks and kids but not the sheep.
I think he just needs time and regular exposure, running him with Leroy may be just the support he needs.

Those yards must be the Tajhmahull of sheep yards, almost a shame to allow smelly old sheep in there.
Glad you had great time.

Thanks for your input! I agree with you all. I may be a bit quick to judge poor Fly, given the slow start, life wise, he has had. After all, his grandfather in Nelson Blue so he should get a second chance!! Today i had him back out with the ducks and he went very well. Cam and I rearranged the duck yard to give them a bit of fresh ground and some more access to the winter sun, anyway while we were busy renovating their home the ducks went off exploring. Each time they got too far away Fly would cast out and hurry them back to us. To watch him you wouldn't think he was the same disinterested dog from Saturday. So my plan is to keep his confidence up with the ducks for a while then put him around some sheep with Leroy and see how we go from there! I guess i was just asking too much too early, after all he has just settled into a new home and adjusted to four new doggy buddies, learnt NOT to chase the horses and the cats, so I probably confused the hell out of him by asking him to work sheep! Stupid me!

We did have a bit of a sad ending to the day though, Leroy and Fly decided to have a bit of a scrap (two entire male dogs is not reccommended!!) not to serious for them but poor Bonnie (the goatlet) had just come out of the yard with Clyde to be put in the stables for the night and stubbled into their way. She was knocked over awkadly and broke a hind leg!! It is the lower part of the leg, which means we can cast it and hopefully she will heal quickly, but the poor little thing is going to find it a bit painful tonight untill i can take her into work in the morning for treatment.

If Fly continues to show improvement i think we will chemically castrate Leroy (which lasts for 12 months) to avoid any further incidents between the two. Everyone has to get along at our place, i don't want anyone living penned up to keep the peace so something has to be done. They aren't too bad now, the scraps are short lived and no one gets hurt, but i'm sure once Tilly starts to give off signals when she begins her next heat we will be in all sorts of trouble!

OMGosh!! I could live in that shearing shed! And the yards, wow, they are very nice

I agree, just continue giving him short lessons and make sure you always end each lesson on a good note.

I have had my own dissapointment with young Tully. I had expected him to have great natural ability like Evie, he was great on him first lesson, was just a little bit hard on them, he went around them around pulled them all to me, I was quite proud of him. But since then he has had numerous goes on the sheep and all he wants to do is split and chase them, he is really lacking any desire to hold them together which is really odd when he went so well firstly. I will continue working with him though and will be getting a second opinion on him by an experienced trialler when Mum and I go to a training day next month. But if he doesn't show any improvement, I will not hesitate to desex him, as I will not breed with a dog that doesn't show the necessary attributes to produce top workers.

I really hope Fly improves for you Koolarks, he is a really nice looking dog (and so is Leroy ) and i reckon he'd cross well with Tilly. :)

The fact that he does work ducks, kids and horses etc must indicate he has some ability. Not all dogs switch on straight away and some of the late bloomers end up fantastic dogs. Also the stress of going to his first workshop wouldn't help when he is just getting settled in. Possibly next time just take him for a look and let him watch Leroy work, not rushing can benifit in the long run and some are totally different dogs when they go back for their next visit to the yards as they know what to expect.
Have you heard many reports on the chemical desexing? Are people happy with the results. Perhaps poor Fly could have 12months on that before the big chop. I think if there isn't such a final option it should be tried first and if both were done they may settle down and learn to get on with each other before their manhood returns.

I have nothing but good to say about it. Both of mine have been on
Suprelorin ,Jacksy from 9 mths and Alby from 6 months. They have had the 6 mth doses (it's like a micro chip implant)and I've got them off it for the moment as they don't strike too many girl dogs these days. Plus I wanted to see how long it would take to get them back to normal after the last dose. The only real physical difference is that their testicles have doubled in size. Everything else much the same. Behavior wise, in Alby.....None, ha, not even a major drop in testosterone slows him down, in Jacksy more tree marking behaviors etc, and that's about it. It has been about 9 mths since their last dose. I would say it took about 7 or 8 to get back to normal (well, both have been on it since under one year so I guess I mean to get normal size testes etc. As to whether they are fully fertile, the suprelorin people would say that would vary from dog to dog, but by 9 mths..sure. It also prevents prostate cancer.

I think it is very useful for working dogs because alot do not show their potential until later, and what a waste to spay them if they turn out a good worker after all. It costs about $60 per dose, not sure about the 12 mth dose cost.

As I understand it, there is also a version for bitches as well.

Gee shame there isn't one out for the human male species. lol. Sounds like a great idea, especially when the man of the house doesn't want their dog to get the chop, just get it chemically done and don't tell the human male don't think they would know any different. It must be a lifesaver for the breeders when they don't want their dogs to breed for a year instead of separating the dogs just use this.

The thing that impresses me most is that it appears to very selectively target fertility only. As I said, no major differences on or off, good muscle development etc. except as I said more marking behavior, probably in both dogs really, which thet can't really help. BUT!!!!! as both dogs have been on it since very young, now as young adult dogs they have few bad boy dog behaviors which are testosterone driven, (and then get reinforced with development). I'm pretty convinced with Alby that he would be as full on even if he were a bitch. His stuff is personality and temperament related rather than testosterone related. There are some wilder girls than him around, that's for sure, like the little old lady Sydney Silky the other day that had him backing up at her crankiness.LMAO.

maybe I should swap dogs with you koolarks, Izzi has no interest in the obedience thing but put her behind the pigs & she's as happy as a pig in ... well you know what LOL, but she doesn't get to work the pigs very often.
I know Izzi yawns, turns away or sniffs every thing when she's uncomfortable, usually when doing obidience stuff, but I'm hanging in there because Alexis says Izzi's got a lot of potential & now I've got some new exercises for her she seem's to be more interested. So keep trying, Fly will suddenly click & be a champion, or at least enjoy working sheep too.