Herding dogs in Chicago say 'hi'--

[connie]

Hello, delighted to find this forum! I live in Chicago, on the southwest side, and have a tiny house with a large yard and a whole posse of herding dogs:

Rudy is a rescue Sheltie who is 16 or 17 and has been with me for 4+ years;
Pippi, Sundance, and Shiri are Shelties that I have raised from puppies, they are 12, 11 and 8 respectively;
Ike is a Finnish Lapphund, a rescue who came to live with me in December 2008, he is 10 years old (he was an owner turn-in to a shelter in MD and pulled by a breeder in TN, so we know a bit about him);
and Rowley is a rescue Border Collie, probably about 1 year old now, I adopted in January of this year.

I didn't intend to have 6 dogs but Shiri, my agility dog, developed arthritis in an elbow and that diagnosis in December left me without an agility dog; and I've wanted a BC for years, so -- Rowley.

Row is a tri-color smooth-coat BC, very people-oriented, seems to have a nice, stable temperament and lots of drive that he expresses easily. I'm using the NDT program with him and it's working very well for both of us. He's going out to meet sheep next month, and if he has aptitude and interest, I may manage some herding lessons; his primary activity, though, is agility. I'm going to have some questions about how to apply the NDT program to agility training, I'll post those in the appropriate forum.

I read Natural Dog Training in 1993 and used its principles on a couple of my other dogs, but they were pretty sedate compared to Rowley, so I'm learning more now.

[neilsattin]

welcome connie!

And congrats on the large yard in an urban environment. A rarity, but such a blessing for city dogs.

[connie]

Originally Posted by neilsattin

welcome connie!

And congrats on the large yard in an urban environment. A rarity, but such a blessing for city dogs.

It is both! My neighborhood was a town in the mid-1800s before the city of Chicago grew around it, and my lot was originally a one-acre parcel that was sliced into thirds, so I have 1/3 of an acre and a house built in about 1870. A lot of the yard is, um, un-manicured, and urban wildlife and birds are plentiful. It's a wonderful place for the dogs. And me.

Thanks for the welcome!