Club Officers:

President:

Richard Whorton

815 Royal Oaks Dr

Durham, NC 27712

(919)471-1405

awho@duke.edu

Vice President:

Vicki Wilcox

509 Holly Grove LN

Hamstead, NC 28443

vawilcox@charter.net

Treasurer:

Bonnie Toaso

285 Lennie Smith Rd

Fuquay Varina, NC 27526

(919)680-6122

btoaso@amgen.com

Secretary:

Nancy Patriarco

3449 Johnny’s Ridge TD

Ferrum, VA 24088

(540) 365-2899

nbp@kimbanet.com

Board Members:

Sally Glei

PO Box 3366

Roxboro, NC 27573

sophie_meg@hotmail.com

Betty Swenson

5904 Ridge Rd

Richmond, VA 23227

(804)553-1227

bswenson@cavtel.net

Newsletter Editor:

Mitzi Tinaglia

PO Box 21539

Roanoke, VA 24018

(540)989-9779

mtinaglia@farmers.roacoxmail.com

PBCA WEB SITE:

www.piedmontbordercollie.com

PRESIDENT’S REPORT/Richard Whorton

We have a PBCA funday coming up on June 24. Hope you all can come. We’ll be offering herding evaluations, herding run throughs and agility practice. We can also find a shady spot to set up obedience rings if anyone wants to do that.

As you may know, Fran Hoffman has resigned from the board. According to the bylaws, the board chooses another member to fill the vacancy. Vicky Wilcox has agreed to accept this position and has been approved by the board. Thanks to Vicky for taking on this important job.

We have several new members – several of whom will be at the funday in June. Please find an opportunity to meet them and welcome them to the club.

We have a pretty full event calendar through the remainder of the year – one agility trial in August, and two herding trials (one in November and one in December). These are great opportunities for you to learn about events you don’t compete in now – but might later. If you can volunteer to help with any of these please let us know.

Vergil Holland Herding Clinic

Our herding clinic on April 27-29 was quite successful. We filled all available lesson and clinic spots – mostly from club members. We also had a good number of auditors. The clinic was organized by level of training from least to more advanced. This format generated lots of important questions and demonstrated a nice progression in stock dog training – all of which was aided by Vergil’s wit and his ability to communicate. While auditors don’t always take much home from a clinic, I think this one was different because the speaker system allowed everyone to hear what was being said – from both the trainer and from Vergil, and Vergil spent a good deal of time using a white board to illustrate important concepts. Many

thanks to Vicky Wilcox for making all the arrangements and keeping the clinic on schedule and a special thanks to Mary Whorton for great lunches and snacks. Thanks also to Peggy Wilkinson and Sis for moving the sheep around and having them ready for people to work. And finally thanks to everyone who brought goodies to share!

VICE PRESIDENT/Vicki Wilcox

Our herding clinic with Vergil Holland went very well! Everyone seemed to get what they needed out of it. Vergil was a very good teacher and seemed to really enjoy all the dogs and took them as they were. He has a very sharp eye and sees all the nuances of both dog and handler and got right to the heart of a problem. Thanks to the Whorton's and the use of their beautiful farm! Thanks to ALL the people who helped!!! It was a great time!

TREASURER’S REPORT/Bonnie Toaso

Checking account balance in March was $15,174.56. As of May 30, 2007 the balance in checking is $14,747.75. The April herding trial had a profit of $357.90, the Holland Clinic had a loss of $94.00. Yearly club insurance was paid for a total of $845.00 and application fee for the Dec herding trial of $70 was paid. Other income was from dues and a check for $100 from BCSA. Respectfully submitted by Bonnie Toaso, Treasurer

SECRETARY’S REPORT/Nancy Patriarco

CLUB MEETING & FUN DAY

PBCA is organizing a club meeting and fun day at Whorton Farm offering herding and agility activities (and obedience run-throughs – outdoors on grass) on Sunday June 24, 2007. Bring your own lunch and we will break at noon to eat and have a PBCA club meeting. Agility will consist of a numbered course which people may choose to run or just work on individual obstacles of their own choosing. There will be a $5 charge for each run or for the use of the agility equipment. If anyone wants to do obedience, they need to bring the jumps and are welcome to use the mowed area near the agility ring. There is no charge. The herding activities are limited to PBCA. Here are the herding details:

Beginner Work and Evaluations:

Begins at 8:00am, Limited to 6 Runs 5-10 Minutes per Run Minimum Age – 6 Months

Evaluator Speaks Before Beginning

Evaluations Optional/Work Only

No Fee

Herding Run-Throughs

Pre-Registration is Required

Limited to 15 Runs

10 Minute Maximum

One Run Per Dog, Unless Not Filled

PBCA SPRING TRIAL

Our PBCA spring trial was April 7th and 8th at my farm, Way To Me in Sanford,NC.
The trial filled with only a few test runs being done on Sun. The weather was a surprise - frost and some wind - but the dogs and sheep sure enjoyed it. Mixed hair and wool sheep were used. Our judges were Laura Knoll and Susan Rhoades both from VA.
The ducks were supplied by Claire Apple and worked very well. We plan to offer A and B course ducks in December.
Sat – Kim Tome and Snap took HIT on Sat and Debbora Schweers and Bill were RHIT both from Started A
Sun – Debbora Schweers and Bill were HIT Sun and Sally Glei and Liz were RHIT both from Started A
A big thanks to Richard Whorton, Chris Elliot and Vicky Wilcox for their stock handling.Thanks to Claire, Mark and George Dawson for setting ducks out. Thanks to Eileen Bassett for organizing and preparing coffee and lunches both days. Thanks to Cindy Hartman for being our trial secretary-we couldn't have done it without her!
Dee Penatzer
Way To Me Farm

Sally & Liz @ Herding Trial

BRAGS

HC Way To Me Rob HXAs,HXAd, HXBs-won the GA Stockdog BC trial in GA in March. Rob was also the overall open

champion. HC Way To Me Sparks HXAs, HXAd, HXBs, TD, UD was second at the Ga Stockdog BC trial in March. Way To Me Craig won both Advanced A classes at the PBCA April trials gaining 8 points towards his CH. He also qualified in both Advanced B classes ~ Dee Penatzer

Just this weekend, my Eyes for Ewe Sierra Rose completed her Starters Standard title (SSA) and completed her Agility Dog Title (AD). We have worked so hard and I am very proud of her accomplishments. ~ Martha Cox

I went to the NC Championship sheepdog trial affectionately known as "Dr. Ben's trial" on may 26-28. In the open class "Kate" Wilcox was 18th on sat out of 79 dogs (not a placing-but!) then 6th place on sunday out of 80 dogs. Dee Penatzer on sunday was 3rd with "Sparks" and I believe 8th with "Rob". Then monday she placed 3rd with "Craig" in the ranch class. ~ Vicky Wilcox

Sony finished her USDAA AAD title in April of this year and is now competing at the master level. Memorial Day weekend she moved up to the master level at the PBH USDAA agility trials in Chapel Hill where she not only qualified but won

several classes her first time out. She is also busy learning how to drive in herding and hopes to debut in the utility ring sometime this fall. ~ Mary Whorton

Richard and his partner Nate, debuted at the AKC PBCA herding trials in April jumping right into the advanced B class. They encountered a few problems on the drive Sat, but Sunday Nate qualified for his first HXBs leg and won the class! ~ Richard Whorton

In January Tec had a complete rupture of a toe ligament in his left front foot. It was surgically repaired and he spent the following 8 weeks in physical therapy and conditioning at Vethab. Tec had qualified for the AKC agility nationals again this year and although Dr. Sherman cleared him to compete I opted not to rush a return to competition. In April he competed in Preferred 16" at the DKC

trials for his first time back and earned 2 Standard and 2 JWW legs. On May 20, in his first trial back at full height, he earned his 40th QQ and MACH 2 winning his 20" Standard class along the way.

~ Lisa Roberts and HC MACH2 Mihran Aztec UD HXAsd HXBs

Banquo's Luke Skywalker, "Luke," owned by Penny Leigh, recently debuted at his first flyball tournament and made team history by setting the speed record on Go Dog Go. Luke ran a 3.9 second heat at the tournament, which took place in March at the N.C. State Fairgrounds. He has already earned the title of Flyball Dog Champion-Silver from NAFA (North American Flyball Association). Luke, who is a rescue BC, will soon make his agility debut and he is just as speedy in that endeavor! ~ Penny Leigh

Lock-Eye Billie Jo finished her AX and won the class at the Win/Sal Agility trial. Bill also took first place in her first herding trial A Course started and earned a Reserve HIT. The next day we competed again on the A course started and she earned HIT! Memorial Day weekend she finished her HSAs and earned her first two legs on her HSBs!

~ Deb Schweers

Tystar's Animated Feature (Anna) earned her first legs towards her HSAS and HSBS at the PBCA Trial. ~ Nancy Patriarco

"Ace" Lock-Eye Top Gun started trialing in April and earned his NA and two legs in Novice Jumpers and Novice FAST. He also was introduced to sheep by his new best friend, Richard and wants to come back and see all his new woolly friends! Ace's big brother JAG - ADCH MACH Lock-Eye Dress Whites went to Minnesota to try out for the AKC World Team, and although he was not selected, he ran well with several clean runs ~ Laura Christian

NEW MEMBERS

Ronda Carter

Ronda lives in Sanford and is sponsored by Bonnie Buchanan. She has 4 BC's ages 2-11years old and is active in agility and obedience. She listed the following as the titles she has put on her dogs- MACH. ADCH, 5 National Championships. Her occupation is a dog trainer and she also states she is a two times World Team member. Activities she would like to participate in/help organize include: Herding fun days, herding seminars, Obed. fun days, obed. trials, Obedience seminars, Agility fundays, agility trials, and seminars.

Joanne Rothschild

Joanne lives in Raleigh and is sponsored by Thelma Dunnivan. Joanne has 3 dogs- 2 BC's and one Aussie. She is involved with agility, tracking, obedience and herding. Titles put on her dogs- CDX, TDX. NATCH, MAD, AX, AXJ, TM, GCH, CD, RN. Joanne is retired and did not list any special interests/Other hobbies or skills. Activities she is interested in: herding fundays, herding trials, herding seminar, obedience fundays, obedience trials, obedience seminars, agility fundays, agility trials and agility seminars.

Vanessa Mortarino

Vanessa lives in Raleigh and is sponsored by Thelma Dunnivan. She has 3 dogs 2 BCs and 1 Vizsla. Her activities include agility, tracking obedience and "some" herding. Titles put on dogs ADCH x2, NATCH, TD MX, MXJ, AX, AXJ. Vanessa's occupation is retail/agility instructor. Under special interest/hobbies or skills she states "my dogs sum it up". Activities she would like to participate in/help with include herding fun matches, obedience fun matches, obedience trials, agility fundays, agility trials, agility seminars.

Pam Robbins (Scordas) is from Kernersville NC and is sponsored by Nancy Patriarco. Pam has 5 dogs- one BC, a Great Dane, Aussie, Lab. and one mix breed. She is involved with obedience, agility, and tracking. Titles put on her dogs include: 4 CD's, 2 Delta pet Therapy certificates. Pam is a recently retired Service Dog trainer. She lists writing newsletters, photography and dog rescue as special interests. Activities she would like to participate in/help with are herding fun days, herding trials, herding seminars, Obedience fun days, obedience trials, obedience seminars, agility fun days,, agility trials, and agility seminars.

Ginger Bruton

Ginger lives in Wilmington and is sponsored by Vicky Wilcox. She has 3 BC’s and a Chihuahua and is active in herding.

Feature Article

How to Earn an OTCh ~ Mary Whorton

Mitzi asked me to write an article about how I earned the OTCh title on 6 different dogs. As with so many endeavors, the first was the hardest but in all honesty I have truly been blessed with many wonderful dogs who have made me look really really good. J My OTCH dogs have all been Border Collies and were in the following order: Tyler, Shari, Twink, Sassie, Dipper, and Thriller

I started training dogs for obedience back in the early 70’s before the OTCh was even in existence. I began with Shelties and put UD’s on two of them but they barked way too much for me so I started looking at another breed. At the time Richard and I were living in Nashville, TN and frequently competed against (and lost to) these awesome black and white dogs from the Louisville area I learned were Border Collies. Wow… were they fast and animated and accurate and focused! I had to have one!!! I found a litter that was bred from Dreamalot Ben who was one of my favorite dogs to watch in the ring, and got one of his sons. That was Tyler.

So now I have my first BC. Training should be a snap, right? I mean don’t these critters come trained??? Tyler was headstrong and dog aggressive but I was too inexperienced to recognize the problem and deal with it. Instead I learned to keep him far away from other male dogs and at that time, few were ever neutered. There were some dog fights and once he bit me in an act of displaced aggression because he couldn’t reach the dog he wanted to bite. I got mad, and decided then and there, this dog needed serious training.

A few pregnancies got in the way of his obedience titles but eventually I earned his UD. Campaigning for an OTCH isn’t easy with small children so it was a while before we made much progress. I got frustrated along the way because it was hard to win and get those points against the competition. I learned about the chronic BC forge on heeling and how quickly they learn to speed up when they hear the “Fast” command from the judge. We had problems with anticipation as so many BC”s are prone to do on the drop in open, the signals in utility, and the retrieve exercises. Tyler would often go crooked on go outs because I did not know how to teach him to forget about the glove which then was always the previous exercise. At that time, jump heights were 1.5 times the dog’s height so he had to jump 30” and sometimes he would tick a bar or the high jump. Once in a while he would lie down on the long sit. Then of course there were all those blasted fronts and finishes as there still are today which I had not done a very good job of perfecting. I had a lot to learn.

When we were at about the 50 point mark, I decided we were going to do this. I wanted the OTCh and that is really the secret to earning one. If you want it badly enough, you will find a way to make it happen. I would go out and practice every day, rain or shine, hot or cold. I found some friends to practice with and we hauled gating and jumps to many different locations and often used the children as distractions. We would call heeling patterns and run each other through open and utility. We practiced those boring sits and downs each session. I asked the top trainers at shows how to fix some of my training issues. I attended seminars, I bought books and subscribed to “Front and Finish”. I went to all the matches I could find locally and practiced and practiced. Richard helped a lot as well calling patterns for us when he could. Finally we did it and it was a wonderful feeling of accomplishment to meet a goal I had worked so hard to achieve.

I learned a lot training Tyler and each dog after him became a bit easier as I knew how to avoid many of the problems we had to overcome. Shari was Tyler’s daughter and was to become one of the greatest dogs I have ever had the privilege to own. She went on to have two litters of her own many of whom became stars in their own right. I was blessed to have her in my life. She was a protector of the children, and totally focused in obedience – a dream to take in the ring. She had natural attention and a huge desire to please me. She won a lot. J

Mary & Sony

Twink was Shari’s daughter and a bit on the slow side. She was not so easy to train nor did she have natural attention. I struggled with her lack of attention to me all throughout her obedience career. At 8 months of age, the cat could hold her attention longer than I could. I had to use quite a bit of force with her as she was tough. But I was determined she would earn the OTCh and so she did with 2 scores of 200 along the way, one in open and one in utility.

Sassie came from Shari’s second litter and was sold to a lady in Indiana. When she was almost 3, she came back to live with us which was supposed to be just long enough to earn her CD, but ended up being for the rest of her life. Sassie was a dream dog to take in the ring – very focused, very eager to work, and earned her OTCh in just 12 shows as she was a fantastic utility dog. That is another secret to earning an OTCh. A utility win will yield a lot more points than the same number of dogs in open B. So a great utility dog will finish the OTCh much more easily than a dog who is better in open B. I remember several times winning Open B with a 199 and a fantastic run but only earned 2 points because the class was not very big. Got to have a good utility dog – a great one is even better.

Dipper was a Shari grandson and was purchased for our son Charlie who put a CD and CDX on him. When Charlie reached the teenage years, Dipper’s training came to a halt as he lost interest in dog training. Once Dipper reached the age of 6 and it was clear Charlie had no more interest in training him, I started utility with him. First I had to fill in a few of the gaps in his training that Charlie had failed to do. We worked on attention, better fronts and finishes, proofed the sits and downs, drilled heeling, and began utility. I really did not intend to put an OTCh on Dipper as I was starting to get bitten by the agility bug with Dipper and Sassie. But Dip finished his UD in 3 shows and in the 4th one won his class earning 10 OTCh points. The die was cast… he finished his OTCh a few months later, and eventually became the first obedience and agility champion Border Collie making breed history.

Then there was Thriller… another Shari grandson but quite different. Never before with all my dogs, have I had such a headstrong dog. Thriller bordered on uncontrollable at all times. He was the first dog with whom I did agility first and have paid for it ever since. Thriller’s stays were never solid in either agility or obedience in spite of every correction possible. He just didn’t care. He was going to do what he wanted regardless of the consequences. He was like taking an explosive into the obedience ring – you never knew when it was going to go off. He would stand on the recall or broad jump stay, he would forge so much on his heeling I would wonder if my arm was long enough to give the stand signal, he would flip the mats on his glove retrieve from his speed, he would turn so wide after the broad jump because he was going so fast you wondered if he was going to leave the ring, he would lie down on his go outs, he would take off too early for the jumps in his haste to get them done and make the crowd gasp in fear that he was going to crash them, he would barely sit up from the down on his utility signals and occasionally was nq’d for it, and sometimes he came into front and jumped up to nip me on the nose. He was… a challenge.

But, I decided Thriller was going to earn his OTCh and so we did. It was not easy. We only had one Open B first whereas all my other dogs had many. He did earn one 200 along the way in novice, but would have had a second one in open B until he lay down on the sit stay. We had to compete with some very very good dogs making the journey slow but challenging. Other than Tyler, he has been without a doubt, my most difficult and humbling OTCh.

When I train my dogs, I do not do train all the way through utility before showing in novice. I train one level at a time, trial them and see what I’ve got. If there are holes I fix them and trial again until I like what I have. Then and only then do I proceed to the next level. I do this for several reasons.

1) I have always found plenty to work on at each level and have not found the need to add additional exercises to fill my training sessions. Novice is the foundation for everything. It takes me a long time with lots of drilling to master heeling. There are so many parts!!! Change of pace – going into the slow, coming out of the slow, same for the fast. I practice those over and over again. Halts – into a ring gate, 4 steps after the forward, 8 steps, 6 steps, 10 steps, after an about turn, after a fast, etc. Figure eight – very complicated exercise with the dog continually changing pace. I practice going to the left and going to the right. I practice with dogs and people as posts and trees and poles, whatever I can find. I practice having someone call halt on the figure 8 as having to wait for the command takes focus. Left right and about turns… And that is just heeling! Then there is the stand, recall, front and finish which we will need in all the exercises in open and utility. I seek out all distractions I can find and every exercise at every level gets totally proofed before we go in the ring. I want to feel that dog *could* score a 200 before we go in the ring at that level.

2) I have found that if I try and add some advanced exercises to my not yet trialed dog, they can get very confused before their foundation has been tested from a trial. An obvious example is the drop on recall before the dog has been shown in novice. When I teach the DOR, I proof every aspect of the drop until the dog anticipates and then I work through that. If I were to then take this dog into novice, I could expect lots of hesitation on the entire recall exercise and perhaps anticipation of the drop. I have seen many dogs stand on halts during heeling when trainers try to teach the signal exercise to the dogs. I have seen multiple cases of dogs anticipating the finish on the DOR from handlers teaching the moving stand.

3) There simply is no substitution for real ring experience. You cannot recreate in practice all the different breeds a dog my have to sit stay next to in the ring and all those different people returning to the dogs on the group stay exercises. You cannot recreate the true nervousness of the handler waiting to go in or the dog’s reactions to the crowded conditions, sights, and smells of a real show. I want to find out how my dog is going to handle this early in his or her career and train accordingly. No matter how much you practice and proof, trialing for real is different.

4) Lastly, I am simply too impatient to take my dogs in the ring to wait until they have learned all the obedience exercises. Yes in theory, I suppose one could train a dog all the way through utility and thoroughly proof each exercise at each level and then take the dog in the novice ring followed immediately by open and then utility. But this takes years!!! I enjoy thinking about what trials I will bring my dog out in novice, then open, then utility year by year. For us OTCh handlers, once novice is over, we have to go right into Open B then utility B. I want to enjoy novice a little while and see what we have. But… that’s me.

My up and coming star is Sony. She is a delightful reincarnation of Shari and is not immediately related to any of my previous dogs. She lives to please me and is absolutely crushed if she feels she has upset me somehow. She has her CD and CDX with a couple of High in Trials. I am currently training her in utility and hope to debut her later this year. I will admit since I got involved in agility in the late 90’s, it has become harder and harder to motivate myself to train my dogs in obedience. But the reason I keep coming back to it is because I truly believe there is no other venue that creates the very close bond that obedience training does. In agility, the obstacles are self motivating. In herding, it is the sheep. The challenge to obedience is finding out how to motivate the dogs to respond to our simple and complex commands just because we asked.