English Shepherd Farm Dogs
Pre-Dawn Liberty Hiking
I have found that Liberty’s early puppy enrichment upbringing (see Puppy Culture) has prepared him at an earlier age for novel and rewarding challenges. My primary focus at this point in his young life is our human-dog bond. The tighter our bond, the more productive his rural life with me will be. So, in the … Read more
Saoirse x Rhys Pups
Cheryl Johnson’s Miles Squier has some 2 weeks old grandpups. April Holdren of Liquidmoon Farm is doing wonderful work with her Saoirse and Rhys Fall 2020 litter. April was just finishing up Early Neurologic Stimulation and Early Scent Introduction, as well as frequent toenail clipping in her last post. You can follow along on her … Read more
Goat Dog Boot Camp
No sir, being a real goat dog ain’t all glamour and glory. That’s just stories and fancy photos. You gotta bide your time. You gotta put in the work. Those stubborn ol’ billy boats don’t give two scoots about your fancy pre-school. And those mean ol’ nanny goats, well I heard them say, “you ain’t … Read more
Focus and Attention Training
When stone cold Hawkeye was a pup, he was hard to convince. We had problems with focus and distraction. Hawkeye forced me to raise my game and learn training techniques to overcome the issue. Since then, I’ve proofed these techniques on several dogs and found them to be effective at forming a well-focused, less distractable … Read more
Heir Apparent to the Gold Nugget Strain
We moved the goat herd from the pasture to the barnyard this morning. This used to be an unpredictable and stress-filled event that I was not sure would take twenty-minutes or an hour. One time, I even sustained a mild injury in the process. But thanks to my fifty-pound gold nugget, that just isn’t the … Read more
Who’s Got Liberty’s Balance?
Liberty began his training today as a scout type hiking dog. I selected Liberty because I believe he possesses a balanced set of traits that I value. He is people oriented. He passed the test for distractions and staying close to me on walks. He has a solid puppy recall from a significant distance, and … Read more
Bloodline Standard of the Black and Tan English Shepherd
The Black and Tan English Shepherd is a medium-size, strongly built and active dog. They are affectionate, intelligent, naturally obedient, and eager to please. They are not quarrelsome or possessive but are of great courage and extremely faithful. Black and Tan English Shepherds are not easily excitable and are usually dignified in manner. They … Read more
What is the Old-fashioned Black and Tan English Shepherd Association?
The Old-fashioned Black and Tan English Shepherd Association exists to support the Old-fashioned Black and Tan English Shepherd bloodlines. In support of the bloodlines’ preservation and proliferation, the Old-fashioned Black and Tan English Shepherd Association: Maintains an online magazine Has self-published an e-book on the history of the bloodline Built a website for breeders to … Read more
A Match for Man or Beast
There is a brief but important article titled A Match for Man or Beast published in the English Shepherd Club of America’s Who’s Who Breeder Manual on page 22. This article by Horace Curtis of Algood, Tennessee is only two-hundred and sixteen words in length, but Mr. Curtis has a direct and informative writing style that provides … Read more
Puppies & Laundry Part 1
When Josie started digging at the vet fleece in her whelping box, I had a feeling that it was time. It was the morning of September twenty-eighth. We were a few days early by my calculation. As a first-time breeder, her being early made me nervous. On that same morning at 08:26, I logged that … Read more
My Types Of Hiking Dogs
Most days, I hike off trail with my dogs several times per day. With my adult dogs, hiking is a primary part of our relationship. In my experience, there are four types of hiking dogs. I’m sure there are more, but mine fall into these categories. The Ranger Better get out the GPS collar, because … Read more
A Farm Dog Puppy Story
Today, Ellie and Roxie got to journey over to the pasture to visit Josie and the goats.
Sit Does Not Mean Sit: Giving Puppies a Voice with Mand Behaviors
Jane Messineo Lindquist borrowed the term “mand” from the human psychology lexicon. Mand training for nonverbal humans is a way of teaching them how to use gestures to ask for things, and that’s the simplest explanation—a mand behavior is a nonverbal way to ask for things and/or signal a need. Manding is the concept that … Read more
Restoring the Old-fashioned Black and Tan English Shepherd
A strategy for preserving the Old-fashioned Black and Tan English Shepherd If we continue to refer to the black and tan farm dogs of Middle Tennessee simply as black and tans, they will eventually become extinct. It may already be too late. The issue is that by calling them black and tans, a large amount … Read more