Bella - January dog in our 2018 Calendar

Bella was called Frankie when she came to us from Lancashire.
She was 9 months old.

She had been taken on to be a pet when she was a puppy by a family who were looking for a steady, placid, house dog to fit into their family and grow up with their two young children.

They had done some homework and had thought it unwise to take on a puppy from a farm and had been careful in selecting a pup from a non-working background.

Unfortunately, some months later, unforeseen changes to their lifestyle resulted in the couple having to both take on full time jobs in order to provide for family and home.

This left Frankie lacking the care and attention they had originally presumed they would be able to commit to her and they did some more homework, read some of the information on our website and phoned us for some advice about their new circumstances.
After doing their research they decided that the best thing for Frankie would be to re-home her and contacted us again to ask if we could take her in.

She came to us as a little pup with no confidence and a tendency to lunge and bark at anything passing when out walking. She was initially shy and fearful around new people but rapidly gained confidence once she new them.

One bad habit she had picked up was walking in front and pulling when on the lead. People should lead, dogs follow and there is a strong risk of a dog getting a bit of an attitude if this behaviour is allowed.
Dogs with attitude are difficult to train because they think they know better than the handler. This had to be corrected before progress could be made.

Frankie was smart and caught on quickly, adopting the correct position of walking behind and to the side on a loose lead. This was achieved using body language and praise rather than treats and specialised training equipment.
Like most dogs she wanted leadership and was happy to comply once she knew what was required.

Over the first few days she went out walking and jogging on the lead over local tracks and country roads. This helped re-enforce the follow behind position and curtailed her inclination to lunge out at passing dogs, people and cars. She learned the meaning of the word 'Back'.

Dogs that lead can develop pre-emptive defensive behaviour because being in front allows them to think their role is to protect their handler.
She was happier being protected by her leader.

We gradually introduced her to the other dogs in rescue. Some were passing through and others were permanent residents. They were all different ages and ranks in the pack. She found her place in the hierarchy and seemed relieved to find security and leadership.

Top dog of the pack at the time was Old Nap who was always a little aloof with new dogs, but liked the ladies. She found him fascinating!

We continued to extend her socialisation and exposure to new experiences and people by taking her to a local supermarket.

At first she stayed in the vehicle with a handler while she looked out at the busy environment with cars, people and shopping trolleys going back and forth, quietly taking in her surroundings.
When she started to lose interest she was left in the vehicle alone for longer periods of time.

When she started to go to sleep while waiting for her handler to return she was taken to the main entrance to stand near the wall and watch people close up.
Positioned behind the handler with a wall behind her helped her feel secure and she gradually became more confident.
Fortunately she loved children and began to seek their attention.
It wasn't long before she was meeting and greeting total strangers.

Having worked on basic commands  - recall, down, etc., and brought her out of her shell and into a frame of mind where she wanted to please her handler we took her for her first sheepdog assessment. We filmed it for our records but we don't usually edit these sessions into videos. Never enough time.

At this point we realised that she had never seen a big camera on a tripod before and she approached it cautiously, but it didn't move or snap out so she quickly accepted and ignored it.

Kept on a long line she was introduced to five flighty Swaledale sheep allocated for her attention in our training field high in the pennines.
It was a windy day which added to the excitement for sheep and dog.

Her tail went up, then down, then up again as she revised and evaluated her instinct and inclination to chase them - or not.
We took her to another field with some hand reared lambs who would happily run towards a human, especially if they were standing close to a feeding trough. She was interested enough to watch keenly but showed no real 'eye' or inclination to chase or herd.

Some of the lambs showed a great deal of interest in her. They had no fear of dogs. She seemed at ease with them so the line was dropped to give her more freedom to do as she pleased.
The line has a knot every foot of its length which helps stop a dog if it gets too excited and won't stop or come back. Just step on it!

Then back to the training field. The sheep were kept moving by a trained sheepdog while she watch without a great deal of interest.
She was much more inclined to sniff around the field and follow the rabbit runs so the line was removed and she had total freedom.

Off she ran at high speed, but not after the sheep and not even away from them, just good run around and a lot of sniffing about.
It was interesting to note her strong inclination to follow her nose without a great use of any of her other senses and this gave us a clue as to what may interest her and what she may be good at.

Further sheep assessments had the same result. Sheep just did not turn her on. Frankie was not cut out to be a herder!

Following the clues she was giving us we started using a Kong in her training for recall, retrieve and reward. Little games of hide and seek were rapidly stretching her scent discrimination abilities and became her favourite game.

Distant downs were a lot of fun and she became very sharp and attentive and focused on her handler. Using the Kong as bait she became very good at walking behind off the lead, following and keeping an eye on her handler and waiting for instructions.

There was no evidence of sheepdog eye but like all Border Collies she had natural visual abilities and when a ball was substituted for the Kong she kept her eye on it.

When it was thrown she watched it until it landed then took off after it, using her nose to great effect to find it in the long grass. Most dogs go when a ball is thrown but she was thinking rather than reacting.

One morning she was not quite herself. She started to show lack of concentration on things she had previously been very focused on.
The answer came when one of our more amorous neutered boys came and told us she was in season.
We had been told by her previous people that she had started and finished her first season before she came to us and we have noted this and worked out a date for having her spayed based on that information. It had obviously been a false alarm!

This meant no more relaxing walks in the cool of the woods for a few weeks and light duties away from other dogs, but although a bit distracted she carried on with her training and scent discrimination.
A new date was worked out for her spaying for three months later.

It seemed like a long time but only 6 weeks had passed since Frankie had come into our care and she was shaping up rapidly.
She was focusing on her handler, eager to please and she had shown an ability and interest in scent discrimination, particularly tracking.
She was also very active, agile, fit and quick to learn.

Her heel work was very good, as was her overall obedience and her temperament gentle, kind and biddable. She also had a huge personality just waiting for the right person to bring it out.

She was a different pup and one activity that suited all her talents and inclinations was Working Trials so we started to look though our adoption applications for someone who was looking for a dog for Working Trials and was experienced enough to bring out her talents.

We had a few people on our books at the time that were offering homes to dogs suitable for working trials and one of these stood out. We gave the couple a call and talked to them about Frankie and it all seemed to fall into place.

After the usual vetting procedures had taken place the couple were invited to meet Frankie. They had other dogs and these came with them so we could all see how she fitted in with them and how they took to her.
She demonstrated her abilities and enthusiasm and they recognised her potential.
Big Smiles all round!

She had failed her sheepdog assessment because she had no interest in herding but like many Border Collies she had strong eye and we had transferred this from traffic, joggers and other dogs to balls.
Ball focus and inclination to play are good assets for a dog to have when there is any form of training involved so it was easy to demonstrate that she was the right sort of dog to respond and interact with a handler.

They had a well fitted out van with travel crates for their dogs and off she went without looking back.
Dogs can be fickle with their affections!
She went out on the normal 4 week trial period that we offer to all our clients and her new people called us with an update each week. Every time they called she had made more progress and they were not only pleased, they were proud of her.

The four weeks went quickly. She became Bella moving from temporary guest to permanent resident in her new home.
She lapped up the new environment, new routines and new found friends in the other collies.
She loved her walks and training in the woods - perhaps it reminded her of her walks and training in the woods while she was with us.
She met new friends, people and dogs, at the training club and socialised with other breeds of dog than Border Collies!

She was being trained in ways she didn't realise - the best methods that made training fun and exciting as opposed to boring repetition. She was being given the chance to develop. She did push the boundaries from time to time but we could all see from the start that the more they worked together, the more she excelled.

We keep in touch and as time passes the news seems to get better. That makes us very happy with our work.

So far, in her short career in Working Trials, Bella has trained well and qualified in a number of events.

In a Utility Dog Open trial she came in 4th.
In a Utility Dog Open Championship trial she came in 2nd.
You can only qualify to enter a Championship trial if you have already qualified in the same stake at an open trial.
Utility Dog Trials involve finding two articles on a track laid down 30 minutes previously by someone walking across a field crushing grass with their feet + a search to find 4 articles by scent in a 25 yard square + a control round involving heelwork, retrieve, send-away and a 10 minute down and stay + and agility section involving a 3 foot high clear jump, a 9 foot long jump and a 6 foot scale.

In a Working Dog open trial she came in 1st.
A Working Dog Trial is the same as a Utility Dog trial excepting that the track over the field is laid 90 minutes before the dog is taken to it rather than 30 minutes.

Below are links to some very short video clips of Bella early in training - should open in windows media player - with luck!
These files are quite large and may take a few seconds to download and open
Bella Tracking                    Bella Sendaway                    Bella Retrieve

Click here to see a video explanation of Working Trials with Carol Hall and Patti on YouTube