TickLwood Australian Shepherds

Meet Bindi, Farm Bureau's 2021 Farm Dog of the Year. New York Farm Bureau member Sonja Galley relies on this Australian Shepherd to help her round up cattle on ...her family’s 60-cow dairy farm. She even once very protectively pushed back a heifer that pinned Sonja in the corner of a pen. Congratulations, Bindi.

Thought for the day:

We often think of training as skills we teach our dogs to do. But with few exceptions, our dogs already know how to do the behaviours we are asking for. Dogs... already know how to sit, lie down, come to us, stand, sniff, follow a track, herd sheep, weave through things, go through tunnels, go over jumps, and so on. We aren’t teaching them how to do any of these things. What we are doing in training is teaching them to do them when we ask. We are teaching them to respond to cues that we give with these behaviours they already know how to do. In other words, training isn’t about teaching our dogs skills. It’s about developing a language that we both understand and can use to communicate. Simply put, training is communication. We’re always talking to them, and they’re always talking to us. But often, we’re not listening to, or understanding each other. Training is building that language so that communication is simple and clear. #positivetraining #dogsportscholars #beyondtheclick

The purchase of a well bred purebred did not sentence another dog to death. The purchase of a well bred purebred did not cause an increase in the number of dogs... in shelter. Someone wanting a dog with a predictable temperament from healthy lineage did not cause another dog to not get adopted. Someone's meticulous research and support of only the most responsible of breeders is not the problem. It is not what you should be mad at. It is not what you should be pushing the blame onto. I am not the one who brought these dogs into the world irresponsibly and left them in a shelter. Responsible breeders are not the ones who put dogs into shelters either. It is my home, my life, and my choice of what kind of dog to bring into it. Maybe I needed a working dog, a sport dog, or simply a companion puppy to raise of a breed I enjoy. No matter the reason, the choice to support a reputable breeder did not send a shelter dog to its death. A breeder who health tests, temperament tests, studies pedigrees, proves a dog worthy of being bred, and only breeds when doing so is of benefit to the breed is not contributing to the number of homeless dogs. The number of homeless dogs in the world is a problem, but it is not a problem exacerbated by reputable breeders and those who purchase from them. Your neighbor down the street who refuses to contain his unaltered dogs IS contributing to the problem. Your friend who impulse bought a dog at Pet Land IS contributing to the problem. That guy on Craigslist pumping out the trendiest designer mix as fast as he can IS contributing to the problem. Your relative who just HAS to let their dog have one litter so she can experience motherhood or because she’s just so sweet IS contributing to the problem. Your old high school classmate who bought a high energy working breed without taking the time to research its needs and realize it was not a good fit for their household ahead of time IS contributing to the problem. A reputable breeder offers their lifelong support. A reputable breeder would never allow their dogs to end up in a shelter to begin with. A reputable breeder makes it a contractual obligation to return dogs they have produced back to them should you find yourself unable of keeping it. It is understandable to be angry about the number of homeless dogs in the world, but if you take a deeper look, you will find your anger is misplaced. If you take a deeper look, you will find reputable breeders and those of us who purchase from them are just as angry, we are just pointing fingers at the right causes. In conclusion, Blaming responsible breeders for shelter dogs is like blaming Harvard graduates for crack babies.

These two!!! Date night .... no flowers dinner or the like .....