I have owned, trained and worked dogs for nearly twenty six years now.  My first two dogs, Tara and Etta, were Dobermans bitches, one black and tan and one red and tan.  I showed them both but with Etta, the red and tan, I progressed on to obedience and working trials.
Etta had a high work drive and a keen temperament and she needed something more than standing looking pretty in a ring.  She developed a wicked sense of humour in the obedience ring:  she would go along the scent article pattern, tap the correct article then turn and face me with a look which said “Well there it is, come and get it!”  Of course you couldn’t but you had to smile at the wicked glint in her eyes, she knew exactly what she was doing.

My next two dogs were from a local farm, a mistake mating which produced 11 bouncing Border Collie X Rhodesian Ridgeback pups.  My husband Chris and I went along and I chose a lovely bonnie girl who I called Jessie.  I jokingly asked Chris which one he would like and he chose the only one in the litter with a ridge, so both Jessie and Mae came home!  They developed into very laid back girls and best described as ‘collies without a turbo’.
Their basic training began at home until they were old enough and had had the required inoculations, to join the local training group for socialisation.  Unfortunately this was short lived due to the outbreak of foot and mouth disease.  This led us to being introduced to the then little known activity of Heelwork to Music. 

A year or so later we gave a home to Millie, a Jack Russell X Patterdale bitch which my sister rescued.  Even though she had had a poor start in life she took to Heelwork to Music and loved learning all the heelwork positions and freestyle moves.  Millie and I also tried our hand at Agility but Heelwork to Music won.  Millie is totally different to Jessie and Mae as she does everything at high speed which earned her the nickname of ‘the pocket rocket’.

The latest addition is Indi, a tricolour Border Collie dog from sheep trialling stock.  As he grew I thought I’d bought a pair of ears and a tongue (maybe I should have called him Radar).  He is quick to learn, asks to be trained, loves his Heelwork to Music and Canine Freestyle and is always on the go.   Jessie and Mae are trying to put him in touch with his ‘off switch’ but Millie, bless her, turns him back on again!
And talking of ‘turning on’ Indi has managed to put Jessie in touch with her ‘collie turbo’ and at the age of eleven and a half she is now doing everything at speed.  Thank you Indi!

Well that’s my ‘motley crew’, both past and present, every single one of them has been a learning curve.   Each one has their own individual character traits and quirks each requiring different training needs and methods, which in turn has led me to look to helping other dog owners with my experience and knowledge.

Enjoying a lovely lunch at Feeling Peckish in Newark. From left to right:
Indi, Jackie and Jessie. Mae in the foreground is doing her favourite rug impression...