If you had told me a few years ago that a day spent trying to control my dog in a pasture full of sheep would be fun I'd have said you were crazy. Well, I must have lost my mind, because now I can think of few ways I'd rather spend the day.

When we first got our Aussies, our activities were limited to hiking and backpacking. I just didn't know it was possible to live in suburbia and still herd stock. Now, understand that they have always "known" what cows are. Even as young as 6 months, they tried to round up a concrete lawn cow we ran across at a flea market. And they've always know when we're out for a drive and we pass an open field to look for cows. But, it wasn't until I discovered our regional club, the Greater Atlanta Australian Shepherd Club, that I discovered what an Aussie, given the opportunity, can do with stock. We didn't start Sheila and Brumby on sheep until they were almost 4 years old, and that has been a drawback for them. They just don't have the confidence it takes to be a really good stock dog. In fact, after I let a Barbado ram run over Brumby one evening, she gave up on herding entirely. It was totally my fault, and I can't blame her. Sheila, however, loves it. She'll never be very good at it, but she thinks sheep are just the best thing going. And the first time I took her to work cows (yearling Angus) was a hoot. She got so excited! She even had the nerve to take a few nips on their heels when she thought they weren't moving fast enough. It did get her a couple of kicks to the head, but that's where correct conformation matters most in an Aussie, as the kicks just slid right off her stop & they barely phased her. However, an injury to her spine during a frisbee® toss has ended any competitive training. Nowadays, her herding is strictly limited to sheep on a hobby basis.

Our youngest girl, Daffy, however, is a through and through stock dog. Her breeder even tagged her, as a very young pup, as "the bitch from hell". She is confident, biddable, and has a heart as big as the sky. While we've been training since she was 6 months old, she hasn't shut down once and is holding up extremely well to any pressure I put on her. And she is just awesome in her movement. She knows her "by" and "away" much better than I do, and has given me looks many times as if I'm a fool for sending her in an obviously wrong direction. And she apparently delights in running the sticky sheep into me so that I end up flat on my back in the dirt, sheep's legs all around, as she flies by grinning ear to ear. The little brat!

We have begun to enter herding trials. USBCHA novice novice class so far, and have recently joined an all breed herding club, the Georgia Stockdog Association. But watch for us soon at ASCA trials.

Daffy and I have also begun training in Agility. Oh, talk about fun! But, geesh, I've got to lose some weight and get in much better shape to keep up with this little speed demon. She's over the jumps, across the dog walk, through the tunnel, over the A-frame and ready for more, while I'm grabbing me knees and sucking air. But it is a blast and we'll be entering our first agility trial this fall.

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1999
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