[SteveHants]

I miss puppy breath

He is something of a facelicker, as it goes...

[SallyintNorth]

Would this be a god place to post gratuitous pics of my collie pup, Pip?

Anywhere would be a good place to post gratuitous pics of any pup 
Pip's gorgeous - aahhhh 

Totally never take on an older dog, it`s just someone elses problem.

Re: older dogs, I think it wise to exercise caution, of course, but with working collies a significant proportion are sold as trained or part-trained dogs.  Some dogs end up with the wrong kind of handler for them and need a rehome to find the right sort of handler, some are simply surplus to requirements and become available for sale, some are trained by triallists and found to be more suited to farm work than trialling, etc, etc.  There are pros and cons with buying an older, trained or part-trained dog and there are pros and cons with buying a pup and either getting it trained or trying to train it yourself.

I started my sheepdog handling and shepherding career with two adult dogs, one which 'knew what to do but didn't really have any commands' and one part-trained.  Both were clearly very friendly with people, which was important as there was to be a pre-teen at the farm.  I was able to 'test drive' both dogs before commiting to them - in fact, I had a 'return if not satisfied' arrangement with the former, and bought the second from dealer who is also a trainer and a trainer of handlers, so the backup was there if there were any problems.  (There never were, he was a tremendous dog.)

[jaykay]

  Mine are 10 and 8 now but Pip's puppy pic brings it straight back 

And I love Meg's blue eye in her birthday pic! My Skerry has a half-blue eye, makes her look especially naughty, which of course is completely out of character 

[smudger]

Found a couple of resources if anyone has any comments - post or pm.

http://www.allaboutsheepdogs.com/sheepdog-trainers.html  (trainers in SW - possibly Bill from Launceston?)).
Emphasis is on training the dog with the owner, which is how we plan to do it.

DVD's: not cheap wondered if any good (not in lieu of training of course, but an insight into what we are getting ourselves committed to):

http://www.secondsightproductions.co.uk/shop/the-shepherd-s-pup  (Derek Scrimgeur)

http://www.herding-dog-training-border-collie-sheepdog-dvd.com/dvd_herding_first_steps_in_border_collie_sheepdog_training.htm  (Andy Nickless)

[SteveHants]

Found a couple of resources if anyone has any comments - post or pm.

http://www.allaboutsheepdogs.com/sheepdog-trainers.html  (trainers in SW - possibly Bill from Launceston?)).
Emphasis is on training the dog with the owner, which is how we plan to do it.

That is a good site and Caroline Wooley is very very helpful - e-mail her if you are looking for a working dog and she will help you find one in your area.

I hear 'From Chaos to Control' is a good 'VD.

[SallyintNorth]

I have had a few training sessions with Derek Scrimgeour over a period of years and find his Hill Shepherd and Shepherd's Pup DvDs, and his Talking Sheepdogs book too, to be very useful.

However, I think all trainers have their own style, and it could be counter-productive to be using books and DvDs from a trainer who has a very different style to the one you will be going to yourself.

If possible, choose your trainer and then get any resources they recommend.  If you need to read some books or watch some DvDs before being able to choose / decide on your trainer, I'd see what your local library can do to help!