My Background
I got my start in training stockdogs in 1999 with my first Australian Shepherd, a rescue named Jack. Jack was my first dog as a “grown up”, and I started taking herding lessons with him as a way to keep him mentally and physically stimulated. I took to the discipline quickly, soon taking lessons 2-3 times a week. Herding wasn’t just an outlet for my dog, it was also an outlet for me. As a kid I grew up in a small subdivision and was the first generation to not be raised on the farm. It was in my blood, and I ached for the rural life style, begging my parents for a 4-H lamb, or helping my friends walk their 4-H animals. Bonding with my new dog, being around livestock and around like minded people was good for my soul.
A few years later in 2004 I bought my first working bred Aussie, Hoss, and I threw myself down the stockdog rabbit hole and never looked back. I traveled thousands of miles to clinics and trials around the country. I begged my then husband for a few sheep and some ducks to train on at home. As time passed, a few sheep became 70, some ducks became 50, and there were even cows thrown in the mix for good measure. Since then I went on to put Working Trial Championships on not only Hoss, but several other dogs to come. Also during that time period I intensively studied canine behavior so that I could become an APDT approved trainer.
Sometime around 2006 I started giving stockdog lessons on my farm, passing along what I had learned with my own dogs, and becoming a student of the dogs that my clients entrusted me with. I was still very involved with trialing at the time, and a good number of my clients came for the same reason. But the majority of my client base was, and still is, compromised of people with a herding breed dog that simply needed an outlet. This was the dog they had, and my job was to learn how to help each one of those dogs become the best version of themselves. Those dogs taught me more about dog behavior and training than any clinician or professor ever did.
As the Leanne Womack song goes, “That was twenty years, and two husbands ago.”
I now own a 40 acre ranch where I teach stockdog lessons and raise goats and sheep on pasture. I lost interest in the trial world a few years ago, and have focused all of my energy on training and helping the dogs and their owners become their own “best versions”. My client base is split between “city folk” who will likely never have livestock of their own but enjoy the benefits that herding provides both them and their dog, and farmers/ranchers who do have livestock and need their dog to learn how to be a helpful team member.
A few years later in 2004 I bought my first working bred Aussie, Hoss, and I threw myself down the stockdog rabbit hole and never looked back. I traveled thousands of miles to clinics and trials around the country. I begged my then husband for a few sheep and some ducks to train on at home. As time passed, a few sheep became 70, some ducks became 50, and there were even cows thrown in the mix for good measure. Since then I went on to put Working Trial Championships on not only Hoss, but several other dogs to come. Also during that time period I intensively studied canine behavior so that I could become an APDT approved trainer.
Sometime around 2006 I started giving stockdog lessons on my farm, passing along what I had learned with my own dogs, and becoming a student of the dogs that my clients entrusted me with. I was still very involved with trialing at the time, and a good number of my clients came for the same reason. But the majority of my client base was, and still is, compromised of people with a herding breed dog that simply needed an outlet. This was the dog they had, and my job was to learn how to help each one of those dogs become the best version of themselves. Those dogs taught me more about dog behavior and training than any clinician or professor ever did.
As the Leanne Womack song goes, “That was twenty years, and two husbands ago.”
I now own a 40 acre ranch where I teach stockdog lessons and raise goats and sheep on pasture. I lost interest in the trial world a few years ago, and have focused all of my energy on training and helping the dogs and their owners become their own “best versions”. My client base is split between “city folk” who will likely never have livestock of their own but enjoy the benefits that herding provides both them and their dog, and farmers/ranchers who do have livestock and need their dog to learn how to be a helpful team member.
My Training Philosophy
My focus is on helping each dog be the best version of themselves. I look at each dog as an individual and I do not have a cookie cutter method to dog training. Even with each dog, I am aware that they can be different from session to session, and my approach is always one of curiosity, “Who are you today?” My training as a canine behaviorist allows me to apply my knowledge of behavior/psychology to each dog and work with them on a level that makes sense to them as a dog.
Working livestock is an intrinsic (natural) behavior to a dog, and one that most people are far removed from, both mentally and physically. Instinct is controlled by the most primal part of the brain, yet most training modalities are approached from the humans’ way of thinking, not the dogs’. I strive to communicate with the dog in their own language, and guide my clients into learning more about canine behavior as well so they can better understand their dogs.
Working livestock is an intrinsic (natural) behavior to a dog, and one that most people are far removed from, both mentally and physically. Instinct is controlled by the most primal part of the brain, yet most training modalities are approached from the humans’ way of thinking, not the dogs’. I strive to communicate with the dog in their own language, and guide my clients into learning more about canine behavior as well so they can better understand their dogs.