O S D S N e w s l e t t e r

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1 S e a s o n s G r e e t i n g F r o m O S D S OSDS wishes you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year In this issue: Season s greeting from OSDS Jon and Leslie Carter, newly inducted honorary members of OSDS Feeding the canine athletes in the off season by Dr. Angie Untisz, DVM Starting a young dog by Dianne Deal On behalf of OSDS, I would like to wish you a happy holiday and thank you for being a member. We are very fortunate as an organization to be at the heart of where many consider the premier region of our beloved sport - the Pacific NW. We could easily brag about the frequency of trials, the best variety of trial sheep, the forever challenging trial fields, the amazingly beautiful trial settings and above all, the most friendly and hospitable handlers and Pacific NW trial hosts! How fast time flies! USBCHA national final is now behind us and 2012 has only less than 3 weeks left. Various initiatives were brought up at the beginning of 2012 and we did get a few things accomplished. Most importantly, the website of OSDS has dramatically improved under the leadership of Jenni Coleman and Sue Foster. Jenni will provide an update with a separate message to all members concerning the OSDS website. Meanwhile, our treasurer Donna has collected meeting minutes and started to publish them on the website. Once again, OSDS is very grateful to Lynn and Allison Johnston for allowing us to hold the annual meeting at their beautiful farm during the prestigious Lacamas Sheepdog trial in August. Our secretary Donna ordered beautiful Pendleton wool blankets for the winning teams in each class for the OSDS 2012 awards and our vice president Dianne picked them up on her way to Camas to hand out at the annual meeting. The board has decided that it would be a good idea to have a quarterly newsletter to update our members. We are very fortunate to have an excellent veterinarian Dr. Angie among us and she has graciously agreed to be the host of Vet s Corner in each issue. Members are welcome to in their questions related to the health of our Border Collies and Dr. Angie would pick one to answer each quarter. Also featured in each newsletter would be a training tip published. Our 1

2 S e a s o n s G r e e t i n g s F r o m O S D S c o n t i n u e d vice president Dianne generously agreed to provide the first one in this issue, greatly appreciated by all of us. Going forward, an experienced handler in our area would provide a training tip accompanying each publication. We hope you would find this newsletter informative and an enjoyment to read. Finally, we would like to wish everybody a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year OSDS President, Francis Chai 2

3 W e l c o m e o u r n e w h o n o r a r y m e m b e r s J o n & L e s l i e c a r t e r The board has voted unanimously to induct Jon and Leslie Carter to be the newest honorary members of OSDS. Jon and Leslie live in Scio, Oregon, home of the prestigious Northwest Champion (Scio) Sheepdog Trial. They helped with the running of the Scio Sheepdog Trial for many years dating back to pre The trial used to be one of the few nationally recognized ones and drew top teams from all over the country to compete. Witnessing top dogs perform eventually inspired Jon to acquire his first pup Jam, in 1981 and Leslie s first Wink in Their mentors included Omar Falk, Jimmy Harper and Virgil Brown (an honorary member of OSDS). All were sheep farmers in the Willamette Valley at the time. Jam went on to be the 2 nd dog of OSDS in 1983 and Wink, top dog of OSDS in Later on, Jon won the Northwest Champion Sheepdog Trial with Bru in 1986 and was a 3-time winner with Bru at the double-life trial held on Mike and Liz Hubbard s ranch in Bonanza, Oregon. Jon s Bru, Taff and Liz together with Leslie s Wink and Jill were top names in the sheepdog trial scene at the time. Leslie was one of the first competitive open female handlers on the west coast of the US while it is hard to believe now with the trial world dominated by ladies! The Carters gave clinics around Oregon and northern California. Jon had a steady stream of beginning handlers that he mentored and gave lessons, as well as training dogs for local farmers. Jon was one of the first trainers with a methodical, thoughtful approach to training, while many handlers at the time were still chasing after dogs yelling and waving a stick. Jon developed a system that minimized the stress on handler, dog and sheep. The Carters always consider their dogs farm dogs first, trial dogs second. In 1990 Leslie Carter was the President of OSDS. In one of her President s Letters she stated, The emphasis [of the OSDS] should remain on the quality of dogs and their performance. It was tumultuous years for OSDS as the trial world was evolving from a weekend game for sheep farmers to a weekend hobby for people not making their living in agriculture. The clash was not always a friendly one. Leslie tried to keep the emphasis on working Border Collies; while others squabbled over things such as the point system for year-end awards, the breakdown of trial classes, or the rules governing the running of a trial. 3

4 J o n & L e s l i e c a r t e r C o n t i n u e d After getting away from dog trialing, their flock got bigger. They started putting less emphasis on command and "listening" while more on "thinking". They usually have several dogs out at the same time so the dogs need to focus not just on them but on the job at hand as well as what the other dogs are doing and their place in the big picture. They focus more on what the dogs naturally do well as opposed to the mechanics while trialing. Right now the Carters have about 300 heads of sheep. They have been importing Wiltshire Horn and Wiltipoll semen from New Zealand and Australia since 2005 with a goal of making a low maintenance, shedding ewe that is well suited to western Oregon. Jon and Leslie now have 6 Border Collies, 4 adults and two youngsters in training. They also have 3 livestock guardian dogs. Please join us to welcome Jon and Leslie Carter as the newest inducted honorary members of the OSDS. 4

5 V e t s C o r n e r : F e e d i n g t h e c a n i n e a t h l e t e s i n t h e o f f s e a s o n B y d r. A n g i e u n t i s z, D V M As winter approaches with its inclement weather and short days, most of our dogs will get a few well deserved months off. Here are some thoughts on feeding during the off season to ensure your dogs are ready to train when spring finally returns. It s a good habit to evaluate your dog s body condition score (BCS) on a regular basis (weekly is good!). Purina has a 1-9 system that is easy to follow. It can be found at During the working season, a BCS 3.5-4/9 is ideal. During the off season, I strive to keep indoor dogs at 4/9 and dogs that spend a large amount of time outdoors at 5/9. Anticipate changes in caloric needs. Most dogs need fewer calories during the off season. Overall, you may need to decrease calorie intake by 10-20%. Gradually reduce calorie intake as the trial season winds down. I aim to have my dogs on their winter feeding rations by the time Daylight Saving Time switches back to Standard Time. Adjust food intake daily when appropriate. For example, my dogs have little activity on Tuesday - Friday during the winter. Therefore, I decrease their calorie intake by about 10% on those days. Saturday - Monday can be quite busy and I might increase their caloric intake by 20-30% on an active day. By adjusting their food based on expected caloric needs, maintaining a BCS 4/9 is easier and without dramatic fluctuations. Ambient temperature can really affect caloric needs! Dogs housed outdoors or in minimally heated kennels can have significantly higher needs. You may find your dog needs more calories than during the trial season if the temperatures are particularly low. Maintaining a BCS 5/9 can help keep these dogs warmer. 5

6 V e t s C o r n e r : F e e d i n g t h e c a n i n e a t h l e t e s i n t h e o f f s e a s o n c o n t i n u e d Add water to the daily ration. Even during the off season, the most important nutrient your dog needs is water! Cold weather increases a dog s requirement for water. On average, a dog needs an ounce of water per pound body weight per day. During strenuous activity or cold weather, I like to provide ounces per pound per day. If you can, monitor the color of your dog s urine (snow makes this easy!). I add water sufficient to create light yellow urine. Dark yellow/gold urine means add more water. Don t change diets in the off season. When adjusting caloric intake, try to keep the ratio of protein/fat the same. Dogs fed the same ratio of protein/fat throughout the off season stay adapted and have improved endurance and energy levels when training resumes in the spring. Dogs fed a lower calorie or cheaper food with less protein and fat will have to re-adapt when switched back to the higher protein/fat diet. This can take 6-8 weeks. That s 6-8 weeks of poorer endurance, diminished energy levels and a higher risk of soft tissue injury! 6

7 T r a i n i n g T i p s : S t a r t i n g a y o u n g d o g B y D i a n n e d e a l, v i c e p r e s i d e n t o f o s d s I love young dogs. Curious with the untapped potential, I have a hard time waiting for the young puppy to grow up so I can see if they will work stock. Eye? Style? Forward? However, I try to wait. I really do. Most working bred dogs are not ready to be trained until 10 to 12 months at the earliest. They either aren t physically mature enough to keep up with the stock and the rigors of training or they mentally cannot understand a correction while in the middle of circling sheep like their ancestors have done for thousands of years. I do put my young dogs on sheep at about six months of age. They would have some basic obedience at the time. They come when called and they respect my personal boundaries. I choose my sheep carefully for all levels of training but for young dogs, I really make an effort to start them on the right stock. I usually pick sheep that are somewhat dog broke and will flock together, four or five two-year-old work the best for me. While I like them somewhat dog broke, I do not like sheep clinging to my knees. I want sheep that still have some feel left in them.. I start my dogs in an area that is sandy, leveled and about ½ acre. If I do not have this then I look to a back-up dog to hold the perimeter and tuck my sheep back in if things get a bit wild. I really do not like round pens as they tend to push the dogs into the sheep. The dog feels all sorts of pressures that we do not see or feel. Pressure from the fence, from the sheep and pressure of our presence in the area. I usually try to have someone hold the dog while I get in between the dog and my stock. Once in position, I nod to let the dog go. Most will get the idea to circle stock pretty quickly. At this point in my work session I just want the pup to go around. I am not worried about distance or balance. I just want my pup to have fun and let his DNA kick in. At six months of age, I expect nothing but exuberance. I do try to get them to change direction by using my body pressure and step in front of their heads to ask them to change directions. But that is about it. I work my young dogs for only a short time. And I mean short five to eight minutes at the maximum. I ask them to come off sheep from the get go. Or at least to come straight to me. Either is 7

8 T r a i n i n g T i p s : S t a r t i n g a y o u n g d o g c o n t i n u e d good enough. I try to keep the works upbeat and fun, somewhat a controlled energy rush for the dog and myself. At six months, I will put the dog on stock once every two weeks or so. I am working with them NOT training them. Their training will start when I think they can start taking a verbal correction when asked to do something more than circle and fetch sheep. I currently have two six month olds that I just introduced to sheep this week. It is a wonderful feeling to watch all their natural talent come out. I will work them occasionally for the next three months. Then if I think they are ready I will ease into the training mode and up their work sessions to daily short works. Each dog is different and each matures at different times. The key to unlocking the potential lies in knowing your dog, having a good area to work in, selecting good sheep to start and working your pup in short, upbeat sessions. Setting yourself and your pup up for success leads to a confident, forward relationship that will help as training challenges creep up down the road. 8