This blog was a labour of love. Please visit the new blog http://blackthornworkingdogs.blogspot.com

My name is Donna Brinkworth. Four years ago I moved to Alberta from Northwestern Ontario. I recently completed the requirements to be a CKC tracking judge for TD and TDX and will now work on becoming an urban tracking judge, as it is one of my passions. I've also become involved in the sport of Schutzhund as a member of the Calgary Schutzhund Club, and my boy Caden is showing a lot of promise in this exciting sport. All I need is some land and sheep for the Border Collies to be completely happy in Alberta, and we are working on that! This blog honours tracking, herding and life with the dogs who are my teachers and who bring so much joy into my life. It started out as a training blog for my tracking students. You can check those archives, back in 2005. Over time I have used this blog to journal my own training, share information, and most recently discuss my personal journey since moving here.

All content and photos are copyright Donna Brinkworth (Smith), 2005 - 2012 unless otherwise noted. Please use the private comment function after each post to contact me with questions or comments.

To find the Spiritdance Tracking - Your Tracking Coach, my other blog, click the photo in the left menu bar.

This blog may have come to an end, but I hope you will still find good information in the posts from over many years. Thank you for visiting, and enjoy your journey!

30 July, 2009

You be the sheep, and I'll be the wolf

Culture Clash!

The other night after tracking, everyone had a great romp in the field. Looking through my pictures, these ones stood out. Not the greatest photos but interesting. In the above photo, River is demonstrating how shepherds like to play. They are all about control. Border Collies are all about running! In the above photo, River demonstrates a neck grip, which is an acceptable way for a GSD to stop a running SHEEP in the world of GSD herding (HGH). Ted is happy, because he gets to run full tilt. The neck grip (to be clear) is to grab the wool at a thick spot on top to stop the sheep, not to hurt it in any way (which would not be acceptable, of course).

River was so excited that her one ear, which is usually down, was UP. I guess she figured that she should really get into that wolf role. She looks like a different dog! Most people have no concerns about coming over to pat River because with her coat and floppy ear she looks like a big Golden. Some actually stiffen when I say she is a German Shepherd. When both ears are up like Caden's or Thorn's, people sometimes cross the street rather than pass me on a sidewalk - yet Caden is overly frendly if anything!

Just some ramblings on a nice, cool summmer morning.

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