Do Border Collies Dream of Sheep?

Do Border Collies Dream of Sheep?
Author: Carol Lea Benjamin
Publisher:
Total Pages: 190
Release: 2010-11
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780979469084

"The true story of two working dogs, one who learns to work sheep like all her ancestors before her, the other who becomes a service dog in one of the biggest, busiest cities in the world. This is how two littermates grew up and became very different and yet stayed very much the same"--P. [4] of cover.

Chaser

Chaser
Author: John W. Pilley
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 230
Release: 2014-11-03
Genre: Pets
ISBN: 1780747039

Chaser has a way with words. She knows over a thousand of them—more than any other animal of any species except humans. In addition to common nouns like house, ball, and tree, she has memorized the names of more than one thousand toys and can retrieve any of them on command. Based on that learning, she and her owner and trainer, retired psychologist John Pilley, have moved on to further impressive feats, demonstrating her ability to understand sentences with multiple elements of grammar and to learn new behaviors by imitation. John’s ingenuity and tenacity as a researcher are as impressive as Chaser’s accomplishments. His groundbreaking approach has opened the door to a new understanding of animal intelligence, one that requires us to reconsider what actually goes on in a dog’s mind. Chaser’s achievements reveal her use of deductive reasoning and complex problem-solving skills to address novel challenges. Yet astonishingly, Chaser isn’t unique. John’s training methods can be adopted by any dog lover. Through the poignant story of how he trained Chaser, raised her as a member of the Pilley family, and proved her abilities to the scientific community, he reveals the positive impact of incorporating learning into play and more effectively channeling a dog’s natural drives. John’s work with Chaser offers a fresh perspective on what’s possible in the relationship between a dog and a human. His story points us toward a new way of relating to our canine companions that takes into account our evolving understanding of the way animals and humans learn.

The Dogs of Bedlam Farm

The Dogs of Bedlam Farm
Author: Jon Katz
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Total Pages: 290
Release: 2005-09-13
Genre: Pets
ISBN: 0812972503

“Dogs are blameless, devoid of calculation, neither blessed nor cursed with human motives. They can’t really be held responsible for what they do. But we can.” –from The Dogs of Bedlam Farm When Jon Katz adopted a border collie named Orson, his whole world changed. Gone were the two yellow Labs he wrote about in A Dog Year, as was the mountaintop cabin they loved. Katz moved into an old farmhouse on forty-two acres of pasture and woods with a menagerie: a ram named Nesbitt, fifteen ewes, a lonely donkey named Carol, a baby donkey named Fanny, and three border collies. Training Orson was a demanding project. But a perceptive dog trainer and friend told Katz: “If you want to have a better dog, you will just have to be a better goddamned human.” It was a lesson Katz took to heart. He now sees his dogs as a reflection of his willingness to improve, as well as a critical reminder of his shortcomings. Katz shows us that dogs are often what we make them: They may have their own traits and personalities, but in the end, they are mirrors of our own lives–living, breathing testaments to our strengths and frustrations, our families and our pasts. The Dogs of Bedlam Farm recounts a harrowing winter Katz spent on a remote, windswept hillside in upstate New York with a few life-saving friends, ugly ghosts from the past, and more livestock than any novice should attempt to manage. Heartwarming, and full of drama, insight, and hard-won wisdom, it is the story of his several dogs forced Katz to confront his sense of humanity, and how he learned the places a dog could lead him and the ways a doge could change him.

Sheep

Sheep
Author: Valerie Hobbs
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 148
Release: 2009-04-27
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
ISBN: 9780312561161

Every dog needs a boy.

Positive Herding 101: Dog-friendly Training

Positive Herding 101: Dog-friendly Training
Author: Barbara Buchmayer
Publisher: Positive Herding Dog
Total Pages: 322
Release: 2021-08-13
Genre: Pets
ISBN: 9781736844311

Positive Herding 101 is the first in a set of two books that cover training herding using positive reinforcement. Marker or clicker training is started in a house or small yard with cones, treats, and toys with no livestock present.

Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men

Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men
Author: Donald McCaig
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 171
Release: 2014-07-15
Genre: Pets
ISBN: 1497630258

The bestselling author of Nop’s Trials presents the true story of his search for the perfect sheepdog In April of 1988, Donald McCaig traveled to Scotland to buy a young, well-bred female sheepdog to raise and train for use on his three-hundred-acre Virginia farm. He knew exactly what he wanted: a Scottish border collie, considered the best sheepdog in the world because the breed is hardworking, smart, strong, and fast, with unique personalities. McCaig attends dog trials and meets numerous trainers, fellow shepherds, and top handlers before he finally finds Gael. From his heartfelt prayers that Gael will pass her eye exam to his faithful sheepdog Pip’s reaction to the new bitch on the farm, Eminent Dogs, Dangerous Men chronicles McCaig’s journey through the Scottish highlands, where border collies have been bred since the seventeenth century, and illuminates the ennobling bond between humans and dogs. This ebook contains sixteen pages of photos.

Mr. and Mrs. Dog

Mr. and Mrs. Dog
Author: Donald McCaig
Publisher: University of Virginia Press
Total Pages: 175
Release: 2013-04-15
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 0813934516

The New York Times–bestselling author Donald McCaig has established an expansive literary career, founded equally on books about working sheepdogs and the Civil War novels Jacob’s Ladder and Rhett Butler’s People, the official sequel to Gone with the Wind. In his new book, Mr. and Mrs. Dog, McCaig draws on twenty-five years of experience raising sheepdogs to vividly describe his—and his dogs June and Luke’s—unlikely progress toward and participation in the World Sheepdog Trials in Wales. McCaig engagingly chronicles the often grueling experience—through rain, snow, ice storms, and brain-numbing heat—of preparing and trialing Mrs. Dog, June, "a foxy lady in a slinky black-and-white peignoir," and Mr. Dog, Luke, "a plain worker—no flash to him." Along the way, he relays sage advice from his decades spent talking with America’s most renowned dog experts, from police-dog trainers to positive-training gurus. As readers of McCaig’s novels will expect, Mr. and Mrs. Dog delivers far more than straightforward dog-training tips. Revealing an abiding love and respect for his dogs, McCaig unveils the life experiences that set him on the long road to the Welsh trial fields. Starting with memories of his first dog, Rascal, and their Montana roadtrip in a ’48 Dodge, McCaig leads us into his thirties, when he abandons his New York advertising career to move to a run-down Appalachian sheep farm in the least populous county in Virginia. This 1960s agrarian adventure ultimately brings McCaig, Luke, and June to the Olympics of sheepdog trials. In his narration of one man’s love for his dogs, McCaig offers a powerful portrayal of the connection between humans and their animal companions.

The Other End of the Leash

The Other End of the Leash
Author: Patricia McConnell, Ph.D.
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2009-02-19
Genre: Pets
ISBN: 0307489183

Learn to communicate with your dog—using their language “Good reading for dog lovers and an immensely useful manual for dog owners.”—The Washington Post An Applied Animal Behaviorist and dog trainer with more than twenty years’ experience, Dr. Patricia McConnell reveals a revolutionary new perspective on our relationship with dogs—sharing insights on how “man’s best friend” might interpret our behavior, as well as essential advice on how to interact with our four-legged friends in ways that bring out the best in them. After all, humans and dogs are two entirely different species, each shaped by its individual evolutionary heritage. Quite simply, humans are primates and dogs are canids (as are wolves, coyotes, and foxes). Since we each speak a different native tongue, a lot gets lost in the translation. This marvelous guide demonstrates how even the slightest changes in our voices and in the ways we stand can help dogs understand what we want. Inside you will discover: • How you can get your dog to come when called by acting less like a primate and more like a dog • Why the advice to “get dominance” over your dog can cause problems • Why “rough and tumble primate play” can lead to trouble—and how to play with your dog in ways that are fun and keep him out of mischief • How dogs and humans share personality types—and why most dogs want to live with benevolent leaders rather than “alpha wanna-bes!” Fascinating, insightful, and compelling, The Other End of the Leash is a book that strives to help you connect with your dog in a completely new way—so as to enrich that most rewarding of relationships.

The Dog Wars

The Dog Wars
Author: Donald McCaig
Publisher: Outrun Press
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2007
Genre: Pets
ISBN: 0979469007

An account of the 1990s controversy between the working border collie community and the American Kennel Club. Chronicles a critical turning point in the history of the border collie, critical reading for those interested in the culture of dogs in the United States.

The Story of Rose

The Story of Rose
Author: Jon Katz
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2012-08-06
Genre: Pets
ISBN: 0345542657

From the acclaimed author of A Good Dog, Dog Days, and Going Home comes this eBook original—a poignant memoir that celebrates Jon Katz’s beloved border collie, Rose, and their transformative years together on Bedlam Farm. “I like to say you get the dog you need,” Jon Katz writes, “and I don’t think any human ever needed a dog more than I needed Rose in the fall of 2003.” That year, Katz embarked on a quixotic quest, moving from the suburbs of New Jersey to a sprawling farm in upstate New York to pursue his dream of becoming a writer. And by his side was Rose, his unswervingly loyal and unflappable new dog. Whether herding sheep on the rolling hillsides, rounding up the neighbors’ stray cows, or rescuing lambs on a freezing winter night, Rose had a nimble mind and a great love for work. Never wanting to be coddled, she watched over Bedlam Farm with singular focus and efficiency, protecting Katz and his menagerie from wild coyotes and menacing storms. Yet Rose saved Katz in more ways than he ever imagined. As he struggled to manage the farm’s daily dramas—and continued to seek his true sense of purpose—Rose connected him to his deeper humanity and a more authentic life. With warmth, insight, and emotional honesty, Jon Katz has written a joyful remembrance of a one-of-a-kind dog. The Story of Rose reaffirms the profound bond people share with their pets, and the ways that animals indelibly shape our lives. “Jon Katz understands dogs as few others do, intuitively and unburdened by sentimentality. . . . With wisdom and grace, he unlocks the canine soul and the complicated wonders that lie within and offers powerful insights.”—John Grogan, author of Marley & Me Includes moving excerpts from Going Home, and from Jon Katz’s upcoming short-story collection, Dancing Dogs.