TRAINING THE RANCH DOG by Bud Williams I was born on a farm in Oregon in 1932. My Dad’s insistence that we kids be “Good Neighbors” has led me through…
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RANCH DOGS by Bud Williams I hate to see so much emphasis being put on trying to prove that trial dogs are better than ranch dogs, or that ranch dogs…
MOVING STOCK by Bud Williams How do you teach your dog to continue moving stock in the same direction? This ability is especially useful if you need to leave your…
HISTORY OF THE AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD by Phillip C. Wildhagen, ASCA Historian (Working Aussie Source editor’s note: this article, published in the 1977 ASCA Yearbook, is a summary of what was…
ALLOWING A DOG TO LEARN by Michelle Weese, Lock-Eye Border Collies What we as stock dog trainers like to do most is COMMAND. “Go bye, way to me, down, walk…
WORKING STYLE: AUSSIES VS BORDER COLLIES by Jeanne Weaver I have been asked to explain the difference in working style between the Aussie and the Border Collie. I will attempt…
ROUNDPENS, WALKABOUTS, AND CHORES by Maarten Walter Question: I’ve got a 9 month old girl that I’ve been letting work sheep about once a week or so. She’s worked ducks…
TEACHING THE “STUBBORN” STOCKDOG TO LIE DOWN Mary Taggart Morrison Many beginning trainers have difficulty getting their stockdog to lie down when they tell him to on the stock. Teaching…
THE COW/CALF DOG by Boe Suhr, Lone Rider Stockdogs All the time I hear people talk about letting their dogs fetch cattle to them as they ride in the front….
SLEEPING DRAGONS: HERIDITARY DISEASE AND BREEDER ETHICS by C.A.Sharp The world of purebred dogs rests on the shoulders of two sleeping dragons. The stockman in his pasture, the exhibitor in…
THE RISING STORM: What Breeders Need to Know about the Immune System Winner of 2002 AKC/CHF Golden Paw Award by C.A. Sharp A complex and threatening storm is gathering on…
THE PRICE OF POPULARITY: POPULAR SIRES AND POPULATION GENETICS by C.A. Sharp Consider the hypothetical case of Old Blue, Malthound extraordinaire. Blue was perfect: Sound, healthy and smart. On week…
SPEAKING HERESY: A DISPASSIONATE VIEW OF CROSS-BREEDING by C.A. Sharp Several years ago the working Australian Shepherd community was rocked by a scandal. One breeder was alleged to have produced…
CAN YOU SEE? Inherited Eye Disease in Aussies by C.A. Sharp (ed. note: C.A.Sharp is the president of the Australian Shepherd Genetics Institute, an organization ‘dedicated to the increase and…
BINGO! Understanding Polygenetic Inheritance by C.A.Sharp Everyone knows this old game: You place beans or other markers on numbered squares arranged in a grid as someone announces numbers pulled at…
WEB-FOOTED SHEEP SUBSTITUTES by Linda Rorem Ducks display flocking behavior in a manner similar to sheep and can be used for training herding dogs in the maneuvers to be used…
AN AUSSIE AT A FRENCH-STYLE TRIAL September 30 October 1, 2006 , Wilton , CA by Linda Rorem Due to the logistics involved, it isn’t often that trials are…
A VIEW OF AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERD HISTORY by Linda Rorem Little can be known for certain about the origin of many breeds. With regard to the Australian Shepherd, various theories have…
THE STOCKDOG AT LAMBING TIME: AN INVALUABLE PARTNER by George Rogerson (editor’s note: Mr. Rodgerson works Border Collies, but his advice about lambing is just as applicable to Aussies. The…
A STUDY IN BREEDING WORKING DOGS: LAS ROCOSA AUSTRALIAN SHEPHERDS by Peggy Potter Ask ranch dog trainers what the most important thing is in a working dog and 99% of…
CEE HAMBO: A TRADITION OF WORKING DOGS by Peggy Potter Three generations ago, the area of California around San Francisco was much different than it is today. Basque shepherds moved…
INTERVIEW WITH SHERRY BAKER, THIRD GENERATION STOCKDOG HANDLER by Peggy Potter Many of us have the fantasy of being born and raised on a ranch with horses to ride, cattle…
IS IT OLD SHEP OR OLD AUSSIE OR ARE THEY THE SAME? by Red Oliver This very short excerpt of a much longer dissertation on the Origin of the Aussie,…
TRAINING THE ESSENTIALS by Charles O’Reilly Common Mistakes In the last issue I covered two of the more common mistakes that owners of working dogs make during the first year…
POWER-FORCE Aggressiveness-Domination-Authority-Clout-Influence-Command-Mastery Attack-Fight-Coercion-Might-Muscle-Punch-Strength Brutality-Ferocity-Violence by Red Oliver After looking in several dictionaries and after discussing the issue with anyone who would agree, I have come to the conclusion that there…
CONFOUNDED BY COMMANDS AND CORRECTIONS? From the Unpublished Works of El Rojo by Red Oliver DO NOT confuse commands with corrections. Commands have very definite and precise meanings while corrections…
BOPPING AND REBOPPING: Is It A Requirement? Is It Ethical? by Red Oliver First, a Pre-Postscript; Recently, on the internet (SHEEPDOG), there has been a healthy discussion on the merits…
Q & A FORUM: TEACHING A DOG TO SORT SPECIES answers by Steve & Judy Freeman, and Roger Stevens QUESTION: When using my dogs I am often confronted with a…
POSITIVE REINFORCEMENT, NEGATIVE REINFORCEMENT AND PUNISHMENT by Kirk Moses (Working Aussie Source note: Kirk Moses is a successful trainer and handler of Border Collies for sheepdog trials, who at the…
TRAINING A YOUNG AUSSIE TO RUN WIDE ON STOCK “PLAYING THE GET BACK GAME” by Mari Taggart Morrison Probably the two biggest complaints I hear from Aussie owners at training…
FIRST LESSONS ON SHEEP by Mari Taggart Morrison You now have a young dog that is physically and mentally mature enough to outrun any kind of stock and you’ve got…
CREATING A TRAINING PARTNERSHIP by Mari Taggart Morrison Training a working sheepdog is an art form as well as a sport and necessity. We marvel at the racecar driver’s abilities,…
EVERYDAY HEROES by Mari Taggart Morrison Every once in awhile something will happen that makes you sort of stop and take notice of how remarkable our working stockdogs are. Those…
FOR LOVE OF CODY by Mari Taggart Morrison When I got the call about an Aussie that needed rescuing I really didn’t want to pay attention. I’d recently purchased a…
