Meet Mattie

Meet Mattie...

Mattie is my Smithfield Sheepdog, an old-school type working bearded collie. We adopted Mattie from the Seattle Animal Shelter on April Fool's Day 2007; she was 11 months old then and will be turning 4 this May.


Mattie is my first herding dog and exhibits all the traits, good and bad, of such. In the beginning, we had some big problems with Mattie, many of which were attributed to having a handler (me) who had no clue about how to handle a working dog. It was never an option to return or rehome Mattie although we will occasionally tell her that we're leaving her at my mom's house, or a cattle ranch. Honestly, behind the snarling-biting furball monster is a sweet, loving, mindful little dog who will fight to the death for you.


To put it bluntly, like her handler (me), Mattie is a social-retard. Now, I realize that she emulates my own behaviors as to her reactions with strangers and other dogs (peers). She is, at first, quite stand-offish/reactive with new people/dogs, just like me. But, once you gain her trust, you will be loved dearly as a member of the pack (just like me I guess!).

Mattie's way of saying "Don't get any closer dumb ass"

A couple years ago, I decided to find an outlet for Mattie to channel all of her energy - she is really the kind of dog that will literally bounce off walls. We tried Lucky's sport, Flyball, first. Lucky, my Shih Tzu mix, is a titled Flyball Dog (FD Ch.) and I was already established with a local flyball club. Mattie learned how to run a flyball race in just 3 hours of training, including doing a proper box-turn. However, her fear that another dog was going to steal her tennis ball was too overwhelming for her. It was obvious Mattie wasn't going be a team player on a flyball team, so we decided early on that flyball was not going to be her thing.

We tried agility classes next. We managed to get through 5 beginner classes - Mattie figured out all of the equipment early, sans the weave poles. However, Melt-Down-Mattie would rear her ugly face anytime a new dog came to class that she hadn't met. Although the agility instructor was willing to continue working with us, I was the one who called it quits; I was truly embarrased by my dog, and my handling (or lack thereof) at this time.

About the time we ended agility I began to take Mattie to Diane Pagel and try out sheep herding. Although there were other dogs around, there weren't really any dogs out in the field that Mattie might feel threatened by - this is a good thing! We had our first lesson in the round pen.

Some of the descriptors Diane used for Mattie in the beginning included "sporty," "tight," and "barracuda" as well as exclaiming "you couldn't have started with a much more difficult dog!" Ahhhh, beginners in sheep herding.

One of our round-pen sessions...

Mattie had a reliable "lie down" from the beginning and we utilized that to our advantage in the round pen, week after week, after week. It was a long process but I don't blame my dog for it taking so long - again, the handler was the thing holding this team back!


Sometimes, you have to live and learn things on your own and sheep herding is definitely one of those things. "Bubble" - What the heck are talking about? "Pressure" - From me? Her? Them? "Timing" - What do you mean I'm 2 seconds too late? "Lie her down" - Will this really stop me from getting knocked down by sheep?

More Round Pen...

Mattie was such a good dog through all of this early trial and error with the sheep. During these roundpen lessons, I learned that Mattie is truly a forgiving partner and will always try her best - she simply wants to please her handler. Mattie takes correction quite well, doesn't hold grudges, and learns from her mistakes.


In February, after many months in the round pen, Diane felt it was time to take Mattie out of the round pen and work in the larger pasture area. This was a day of joy for me and my dog! In training, moving out of the round pen is viewed as a graduation to "the next level" of sheepdog training. I was so happy that my little dog and I were at the next level!


So far, working in the larger pasture area has been, thankfully, non-eventful. With the extra space, Mattie is able to keep off her sheep more - she is getting a feel for them in fact, and even feeling and reacting to the draws in the field. She is becoming more mindful and independent with the sheep; however, I am still in the picture. This is a good thing! As we put more hours and miles in the new pasture, I am certain Mattie and I will progress to the next level of training; that would be training on the skills necessary to trial. For this year, my goals with Mattie is to stretch her outrun to 100 yards and begin driving.

Sheepdog Trial Stars

On Sunday, January 24, 2010, the McDonald's held their final Eweful Acres Winter Series sheepdog trial. It was well attended in all classes offered. In the class I entered with Scott(ProNovice), there were 29 dogs competing! It was a good day and it was a long day. But most of all, it was a day where a lot of dogs got to show off their skills! Some great photos of the dogs in action were taken, and so I'm going to show those here, in my collection titled "Trial Stars." Be sure to click on the pictures to view them in a larger size!

Okay, this is me, posing with Scott (my dog) and Faye (Tony's bitch). Faye is a daughter of Nan and was being run by Diane at the trial in ProNovice/Ranch.

This little girl is named Bella. She is owned and handled by Lora W. and she recently had a litter of pups thus, she lost all her hair. She is running in ProNovice. Bella is a real sweetie.

This is Emma - she is the most flashy/photogenic/pretty red head dog you'll ever meet! Emma is owned/handled by Kathleen T. They are running in Ranch/Novice.

Here is Diane running Faye in the ProNovice class - heading toward the chute obstacle. Diane also ran Faye in Ranch and won that class! Faye is Nan's daughter.
Here is Lucy. Lucy is owned and usually handled by Monique F. but at this trial, Diane was running her in Open because Monique was in Florida.

Here is Nan. Nan won the Open class. This picture was taken right before Nan completed a great shed with Diane. Their shed and their pen/chute were flawless!

Here is Lora with her little bitch Nell. Nell is a smooth coat Border Collie and is cute as a button. She is running in ProNovice but will soon be in Open I bet!

Roo - the big red dog. Roo is working the sheep through the chute here while running in Open with Diane. Roo is "a lot of dog" on the trial field. He is also the sweetest big-red dog I've ever met.

Here is Ruby. She is being handled by Ron G. Ruby is working her stuff in Ranch.

Here is my baby, er, I mean my working Border Collie dog Scott. Scott and I placed 13th in ProNovice. I love Scott, even when he doesn't listen to me in trials (errr).
This is Tick - he's not a Border Collie! Tick is an Australian Shepherd, owned and handled by Trudy V. Tick ran in ProNovice.

This is Tigr - she got 2nd place in Open. She is from Spokane and is being handled by Ron G.

This is Zoey. I cannot recall who Zoey's handler/owner is but they make a lovely team. Zoey is running in Novice.

Obscure Dog Breed of the Month

This month I will highlight a Russian herding dog; the Nenets Herding Laika.

First, "laika" is a Russian term used to describe Russian working dogs in general. The website, http://dogbreeds.bulldoginformation.com/, describes the Nenets Herding Laika as...

The Laika breeds are Russian working dogs of the Northern type. Laika is the Russian word for 'barker' or 'barking dog' and is derived from the verb 'layat', which means 'to bark'. The breed's name thus simply means 'a dog that barks' in Russian, referring to the fact that the hunting laikas are bark pointers, dogs selectively bred for their barking abilities.

Six breeds belong to this group: West Siberian Laika, East Siberian Laika, Russian European Laika and Karelo-Finnish Laika, Northeasterly Hauling Laika and Nenets Herding Laika. The first four are hunting dogs for bear, elk, forest birds, which are also occasionally used for pulling sleds; one is a herding dog (which can also pull sleds) and one, the Hauling Laika, is a pure sled dog.

They all have a tick, weather-resistant coat with woolly undercoat, a very strong and muscular neck and a feathered tail that is carried curled over the back when the dog is working.

The Nenets Herding Laika is a medium-sized working dog that owes its name to the Nentsy tribe, an ancient nomad tribe whose main activity is reindeer herding. The Nenets Laika looks very similar to the Samoyed, a dog developed under similar circumstances by the Samoyed people.

Their main distinctive feature is their coat color, which is solid or bicolored grey, tan, black or white for the Nenets dog, while pure white for the Samoyed.

Elk Herding

So, my exotic dog breed of the month I just highlighted was a reindeer herder. Well, did you also know that Border Collies have history herding reindeer and elk too??

I discovered recently a website for a ranch in Alberta, Canada whose top dog was a border collie named Whip. Whip is actually an uncle of my Scott. Small world huh? Whip apparently worked all stock you can imagine up in Canada, from your standard sheep, cows and ducks to horses, ostriches, elk and reindeer! http://www.bergenranch.com/Dogs.htm

Whip and Scott do look similar; they have super thick long hair and similar builds. They appear to have the same "pushiness" as well, being able to work just about anything you ask them to. I seriously think this elk-herding thing runs in the family.

We have an elk herd that comes through our neighborhood all the time. While I know better than to "work them," I do utilize Scott to push them off my property every once in a while. They eat my bird seed, rip off branches from young trees, decimated my veggie garden last year, and create holes in our yard (they can weigh 800lbs or so!). There is one elk, in particular, I've named Gertie. She is collared and she is the least weary of people and dogs. I am certain it was Gertie who walked up onto our front porch this Spring and ate my potted plants!

So, here is Scott. This is the look I get when he knows there is something up that he wants to be a part of. It's his "poker face" if you will - I can totally see right through it. Alright Scotty, you wanna go out and see the elk?? I already know the answer to that question.

The elk. All cows and some calves. They're slightly ticked off that I'm out there with Scott. Two are nervous in this photo, one is not. Can you tell which one hasn't figured it out yet?

I will not let my dog herd the elk, especially in someone else's yard. So, Scott was told to "lie down" in the street while I took photos of him with the herd. Some of the cows are quite bothered with Scott's presence, so they headed back into the woods right away. Others, stuck around, including Gertie and her buddies who were on the other side of the neighbor's driveway.

"Scott, they're almost all gone now." The very first time Scott saw the elk last year he barked and growled at them. Then he realized, "hey, these things are like wild cows. I think I like that." Again, just want to state that I don't herd the elk with Scott. I will, if in my yard, have Scott walk up on the elk to move them back into the woods. You never know if the cows, or sometimes the young bulls we also have come around, will charge your dog or you!

And there's Gertie and her "clique." While her two girlfriends took off, Gertie stuck around until the end. She should be our neighborhood mascot I guess.

Here is Scott walking back to the house after his day of elk herding. A job well done Scotty!

Mattie thinks Scott is da bomb when it comes to herding. However, she isn't so thrilled about getting sniffed on camera...

Exotic Dog Breed of the Month

Did you know there are reindeer herding dogs that come from Scandinavia and Russia? This month, I want to highlight the Lapland Herder, a dog from Finland. Note: this is not the same breed as the somewhat more popular Finnish Lapphund or Swedish Lapphund.

I think this is a pretty good looking dog! More information can also be found here: http://koti.mbnet.fi/tuulen/poro21.htm

Here is the information...

Also called the Lapinporokoira, the Lapland Reindeer Dog, the Lapland Sheepdog, the Lapponian Herder, the Lapponian Shepherd, the Lapponian Vallhund or the Lapsk Vallhund, this breed is known colloquially as the Lappy.

This is an "improved" reindeer-herder, created in southern Finland by deliberate crossings to combine the hardiness of the northern, cold-country spitz breeds with the highly developed herding abilities of European sheepdog breeds. This was achieved by arranging matings between the Finnish Lapphund, the German Shepherd Dog and working Collies, creating a "Nordic herder" capable of working in freezing conditions, but with the advanced manoeuvring skills of the typical sheepdog. It is said to be capable of covering 60 miles in a day, and it is often claimed that 'one of these dogs is worth five men'.

This carefully planned breed has the erect, pricked ears of its spitz ancestor, but the less stocky body, the longer legs and head, and the uncurled tail of its sheepdog ancestor. Its low-hanging tail, in particular, sets it apart from the other northen dogs.

The introduction of the motorized snowmobile in the 20th century resulted in a sudden modernatization of reindeer-herding techniques and rendered the Lapland Herder almost obsolete. Its numbers fell rapidly and there was a serious risk of it becoming extinct, but in the 1960's the chairan of the Finnish Kennel Club began a salvage operation and in 1966 it was given an official breed standard. By the end of the 1960's, the population of these dogs had risen to five times the figure for the start of that decade.

An interesting breeding system was devised for the working dogs. In the north the stockworkers kept only males. In the south, the breeders kept females. Each year the best males would be brought south to mate and the best male puppies would then be taken north again for future reindeer duties. Surplus puppies would be sold off as pets.

Color forms include white with dark shading; black body with tan extremities, and black.

The Corgi and the Smithie

I thought I'd write a little note about what a day in the life is like when you live with a herding dog. Or, in this case for the next couple weeks, two herding dogs.

First, you cannot be deceived by how cute they are. Although Mattie weighs in at just 33lbs and Annabelle is probably around 18-20lbs, these little buggers can get fierce.

Herding dogs love to play and romp and, well, herd. Technically, they should get in trouble for herding other dogs at the dog park and such because 1) it's not appropriate for them to do that and 2) it's just bad form to use those drives, instinct and skill, which took hundreds of years to perfect, on such "trivial" stock as Golden Retrievers and Jack Russell Terriers.

But, when in my home, a serious herding dog play romp is strongly encouraged. When Kuro the Border Collie stayed with us for 3 months (he was 6-9 months old when we had him so he was REAL fun and crazy) I took video of a typical evening -- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VxZEat3R1E8 Now with Annabelle, it's more of the same craziness, perhaps a bit toned down though.

Annabelle is a Pembroke Welsh Corgi and is about 2-3 years old, about the same age as my Mattie. The Corgi was bred to herd cattle. The reason they have no legs is to keep injuries, while herding cows, to a minimum. Basically, the Corgi will bite the cows lower leg to move it (cows are totally stubborn and strong willed), then the cow will kick because it's pissed that it just got bit, and the Corgi will miss getting kicked in the head because she is so low to the ground. I guess you can say Annabelle has it in her to play a little dirty by aiming low and running away.

Mattie is a Smithfield Sheepdog. She is a drovers dog, meaning her job is to drive (herd and push) sheep and cattle from the farm into the town where the sheep/cattle would be sold at market (in this case, the Smithfield Market) and then of course, sent to the butcher shops to be turned into delicious beef pastries and haggus. Her claim to fame is to basically do this "driving" for many miles across the cold and blustery English countryside without a lot of interaction with a handler/human and then to essentially "protect" the sheep/cattle or whatever it was she was charged with that day. Mattie has long legs, unlike Annabelle, and therefore she has to be able to turn on a dime to evade kicks and other defensive measures from cows and sheep - moving fast and biting hard is what she does best. Visit my website at www.geocities.com/smithydog123 for more info on the Smithfield Sheepdog.

Unlike Mattie and Kuro playing (female and male dogs), Mattie and AB are both female. Coupled with the fact they are herding dogs, I have to say the word "MANAGEMENT" is a part of my routine now. It is the norm in Dogdom that female herding dogs have a difficult time accepting other female herding dogs. So far, M and AB are getting along quite swimmingly. However, I am ALWAYS near when they play as their "play" can turn into a nasty little scrap and I don't want blood to be shed.

The following photos visually describe my typical evening with the three pooches (and the cats of course)...

Something is up because GiGi has that "WTF?" look. This is a clear signal that the dogs have started to get restless...

I walked in to find Mattie totally taking Lucky out. Yes, I actually do think she is holding him down with her left front paw.
Lucky was actually pretty ticked about getting such a smack down. I had to break that one up and rescue Lucky by putting him on the other side of the baby gate.
I feel as though Mattie decided she was going to guard her flock of magazines that fell off of the couch. Note the "play bow" position and AB's and Lucky's hesitation about moving in on the magazines.

Let the games begin. Note Mattie's beautiful coat (she got a bath last night). She is whipping around to ensure AB doesn't go in for an ankle attack... You can also tell AB is getting ready to unleash her inner-Corginess


Game On! Annabelle is going all out here - flared nostrils, forward posture and check out those teeth! Mattie's getting into position though by getting low to ward off the attack.