Renowned sheep dog trainer, Katy Cropper, from Wales, did an interview with Robin McNaught. I thoroughly enjoyed the hour-long conversation and getting to know Katy, because we share similar views on training …and it is always nice to have positive reinforcement from someone as highly regarded as Katy.
I have sent the interview on to people who have taken pups from me here in the USA …for the same reasons it appealed to me. It reinforces and expands on things I have told them.
Like Katy and Robin, I spend a lot of time getting the dog – human fit right with pups. I love my dogs and our rapport is the basis of our training. Even if we are not working sheep, we are work on our relationship daily.
The dogs have to fit the culture / temperament of the farm and the rest of the pack. If a pup/dog is not going to fit, I try to take care of that early on, like Katy finding a better place for the dog/pup. As Aled Owen has said often, it generally isn’t the dog that is bad, but the fit. A dog that doesn’t work for me could be a star for someone else. And very every dog/pup deserves the best home possible.
Here is Katy’s interview with Robin. Thanks to both of you for making it and sharing it with the worldwide sheep dog community on YouTube.