Saskatoon Pie Filling...

Saskatoon Pie Filling...one of THE best recipes...
( makes 4 nice sized pies )

- 1 ice cream pail of berries
- 1 cup of water
Add this together and simmer on stove for 5 minutes

In a bowl add:
2 cups of sugar
1 package of strawberry jello crystals
1/2 envelope of lemon pie filling ( put this in a measuring cup and then add cornstarch
to make the cup 3/4 full )
3/4 of a cup of water
Mix these ingredients together , mix and then add to the berry mixture

Simmer until it thickens ( should take about 5 more minutes or so )
Cool slightly and add to unbaked pie crusts
350 degrees for about 30 - 45 minutes

Some folks eat this like a pudding with cream on it instead of a pie...
Enjoy !

'Training In The Moment'

'Training IN the Moment'...while a person can go out to the sheep field with an idea on what they want to work on...it all could change once you actually get out there....first thing that presents it's self to be fixed / 'worked on' before 'proceeding on'... ends up being 'The Lesson' ie)
Dog self releases himself ...then work on releasing to stock becomes the focus of that lesson....

Quade picks up chore work or a routine very quickly, so I have to make sure it's not sloppy work as that 'muscle memory' will show up in a trial as a default. Good work is good work anywhere's.

Because new places / new livestock seem to jack him up we've tried to change routines, work sheep in different parts of farm, take them down the road and work them in a different field etc.
My other option is to haul my sheep to an outdoor arena in neighboring towns to add change, havent made the time to do that yet, but know it's an option.

I dont live close enough to any training facilities to slip away for the day, have tried bringing in new sheep but ended up with more 'borrowed problems' from a management aspect ( pink eye, keds etc ) so having a lamb crop every year from 'my own sheep' has worked out as far as introducing 'new stock'.
Lambs are worked lightly from the 'get go' with their moms. The flock dynamics change over time from new mom's on the fight to protect their lambs to an agreeable lot just wanting to be moved to greener pastures. Always fascinating to see Quade go from grip to move a stomping ewe that's facing off to gently nudging young lambs into place ....all on natural instinct....got to love how this Breed can switch gears in a blink of an eye.

"Appreciate What You Have'

Brought the sheep into the barn to deworm so Quade could hold in the corner of a stall so I could drench them with a Ivomec product.
Treated one with purple spray, all goes smooth...dog didnt even wear any of the purple stuff as he pushes along the wall to reshuffle them or he'll go against the wall and under them to pop up on along the back wall behind them...don't have to tell him how to do it...just comes naturally. I have to appreciate those qualities that make a good chore dog ( self thinking working with little prompting or commands, etc ) things I'd never do a trade off with. A dependable chore dog I can not do with out, smoothing out the trialing glitches will come as we tuck more miles under our belts.

CKC Arena and Stockdog trials

Photo taken by TKT photographer...pushing alittle too hard on his stock

Love this picture of Quade. Taken one late evening after the days trials were over. Came home with Q in CKC arena and a Q in CKC Stockdog along with a large rosette ' Overall Best Started Aussie'

... however still need to work on a few things in a trial setting that I dont get at home. A clinic before a trial certainly would help take the edge's off so he can settle down and listen.

First Entry...

Decided to start a blog to share news with folks and to keep abit of a training diary since I seem to need that to 'keep on task 'with each dog.

The main dog here is Quade who I consider

' the go to' dog who replaces Deuce who carried that title for years. ( Sad to see time march on with our sidekicks... )

Quade has a little more under the hood than the rest of the crew here ... I certainly am learning how to be a better handler because of him. We really enjoyed our Viklund clinics in May as well the Betty Williams clinic in June ...tucked away alot of good information and hope to make

good use of it over the summer.

~ Cathy