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About me.
Dogs have been a part of my life since I was about 4 years old. I can still remember my father taking me into the kennel to see our Golden Retriever bitch with her new litter. Whether that experience set the seal on a lifetime's interest who can say, but I have been fortunate enough to be involved with dogs in many different ways ever since. The Golden Retrievers were followed, some years later by Ben, a larger-than-life Black Labrador. He proved to be a perfect companion for my brother and I, both on walks, or on swimming expeditions to our local gravel pits. Never happier than when he was in the water, he perfected the art of the high-impact belly flop off the bank. During these years I also gained my first experience of championship dog shows. A friend of the family was a Tibetan Spaniel breeder and I travelled with him to shows to watch the judging. At that time my main breed of interest was the German Shepherd and I promised myself that once I had a place of my own I would also have one of these wonderful dogs. My first hands-on experience of GSD's came not long after this, when a friend who had several shepherds, and who used to work some of his dogs in obedience competitions offered me the chance of training his big dog Marcus. I was as much of a novice as the dog, but his intelligence helped to make up for my lack of experience. We were never going to be world-beaters, but we enjoyed ourselves. During my time at our local training club I was also lucky enough to have the opportunity to train a pretty, blue merle working collie bitch. We competed in several competitions and even managed the odd rosette (although sadly no red ones).
However, my most rewarding experience was to come during a period of seven years spent working on a farm. We had a sheep flock and it was here that I first encountered the Border Collie in a working environment. My allegiance (to German Shepherds) soon changed and having a tied cottage with the job allowed me to get my first dog. Bred by a local Shepherd, Moss was the son of a good trial winning collie and the most wonderful dog that I have ever owned.
have no doubt that in the hands of an experienced shepherd he could have been a trials winner like his father, but although we did compete in a few trials (not very successfully) we were both on a steep learning curve and the important concern then was the everyday work. Moss had a slow and steady approach to his job. He thought carefully about everything he did and when he was joined by Meg (bought from a shepherd in the Peak District, who we had met at the International Sheepdog Trials) I found myself with the perfect brace combination. Meg, although smaller than Moss, was as hard as nails and very fast. The amount of work that the collie saves on the farm is incalculable and spending your working day in the company of these amazing dogs is an absolute delight.
My current dog is yet another Border Collie called Lily, who came to us at 10 months old, having already had 3 previous homes. Lily is beginning to settle in to life with us and to relax to the idea that she is now 'home to stay'.
I now hold the Advanced Certificate in Canine Communication and I work as an independent Dog Listener. It gives me an enormous sense of satisfaction to be able to help owners and their dogs to gain more enjoyment from their lives together.
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