Jim signed his contract with the sheep the 30th October 2007.
First go and what I saw was very promising.

A handler, present at that moment, send me an e-mail, that night, with the following words:
“Ooo yes, what I saw this afternoon, concerning your doggy, looked very promising. (I like them that way, as a pup)
Always keep in mind: “ dogs are like good wine, they only get better with the years. Open it at the right time, but he still has got some time to go. Fact is that you bought a very good year: control, stable, feeling for balance and cool in the head that’s it”

Meanwhile I got Jim several times out with the sheep to assess his qualities.
Because I was advised not to start him to soon, I let him go his way. Few times a month resulted in a satisfied manner. Fact is that I noticed that Jim was a strong dog and when he saw sheep, his listening just faded away.
It started to become a dilemma for me, because of my background in the obedience program. I absolutely wanted to avoid to robotize Jim, due to over obedience and create an “always looking at me dog”
Good timing was the clinic with Neil Gillon. Jim was 9.5 months old. Neil told me that Jim was a good breed and noticed it was time to get him to listen when he was with sheep, so I could step in correctly in the training. Afterwards I still remained with that question of; how far should I go in obedience, because I didn’t want to brake down his instinct and feeling for sheep.
Finding that right balance was difficult and I started to notice that the coolness in his eyes and head began to change into hot.
At 10.5 months I asked Tony Bramley (breeder of Jim) if he wanted to evaluate Jim. The comments and conclusions were identical as those from Neil Gillon.
I had been working on his listening but obvious not enough.
Because we had all weekend, we had the time to work and find that balance. In the beginning Jim was difficult to handle and didn’t listen, but after a while, good results started to show. The technique Tony introduced me with was very impressive in a way that Jim soon started to become cool again and started to do things with feeling. The listening started to kick in. I started to understand that getting this behavior stable, is the necessity to be able to start training in the future.
On Sunday we went back and I was able to start good as from the beginning. Remarkable was that he started to listen better, even close with sheep in movement, and this without loosing the interest for the sheep.
Regular repetitions with sufficient brakes in between, made Jim change the good way.
I must and can say that I was introduced with a very important link in the training process of a young dog. In this case, my Jimmy-boy. Thx Tony.

JIM GOES WALES ... go to JIM's A-B-C link: letter "W"

Caelin, meaning “ghost ship” in the Irish language , started in the obedience program. She was a quick learner and same as her temperament, very quick, we promoted class after class.

Behaving like dynamite that could explode every second she was very inpatient. The waiting between every exercise during training sessions made things very difficult.
I was confident that her behaviour would settle with her getting mature and getting cooler in the head.
I want to mention that she had an extremely good lie down and come here. I mention this because it’s very important further in this story.

When Caelin was one year old, by coincidence, the 16th august 2004, we came in contact with sheepdog handling. Dogs were tested that day and I decided to have a go with her. Very quickly I discovered that the commands “lie down” and “come here” didn’t exist anymore when Caelin was running round a pen with sheep in the middle. Seems that even I was invisible for her.
This experience resulted, within few seconds, in a new goal. I wanted to know more about this and I would succeed. More important was that I wanted to know and learn how to train dogs in this situation.
Despite my experience as an instructor in obedience, I was confronted with something completely different, a different chapter in dogs world.

I decided to spent all my time in understanding and learning. I joined several clubs and never said no to an training invitation. I finally came in contact with a exceptional group of friendly and supporting handlers in Berlaar. Under supervision of Paul Van Hoof and with the aid of some class 3 handlers I started, step by step, to know the ropes of this art, named sheepdog handling.

Being in the Air Force by profession I know the character of the military education process. Well, training in Berlaar was the same. Sheepdog handling isn’t just letting your dog out but a law of consequent training.

A little bit later I met a new friend, named Chris Caerts. A close neighbour who introduced me in herding sheep. I now have the opportunity to work on big fields with hundreds of sheep with Caelin as my team-mate.

An expression I started to use very often is: Hellway to heaven.
With full admiration I went to see every trial. I had the highest respect for the class 1 handlers, who were just in the middle of that hellway.

Who knows, maybe one day I ‘ll be standing at the handlers post and maybe, close the pen door at the end.

I made my debut on a trial field, completely unexpected, the 9th  April 2006. Yes completely unexpected, because I only was present as a spectator at a trial organized by Chris Caerts. Paul van Hoof, my mentor, asked (told!!!) me to get Caelin and have a go.

Very important that day, was that I discovered what I didn’t have. Training and trialling are different. This experience and knowledge made me train different.

I also came close to heaven for a few seconds. Our debut and finishing the run with the pen.

A memorable expression that day came from Marcel Peeters: “Congratulation Patrick, from now on it only can go downhill.” He was right. I knew I had to stay with both feet on the ground … The next two trials I got a RET (retired). Hellway was a long way to go … heaven even wasn’t in sight yet.

I ran 27 trial days in class 1.

Several handlers made the comment that Caelin wasn’t the example of a working sheepdog because she missed the coolness in the head and missed some sheep sense.
A striking comment came from somebody who asked me if I was a masochist, because I stayed motivated and kept on going with Caelin. He told me I would have been standing much further with another dog.

I still am convinced that Caelin was en still is the perfect school for me. Due to her not being easy and natural I acquired a big amount of knowledge and experience. Nothing went automatically and she always keeps me focused. When I am not concentrated, and she knows, things immediately get turned over to the already known Hell.

Most important is that I would invest this luggage of knowledge, when the time was right, in another Border Collie.

10th November 2007, my debut in class 2. After training for three years now, I still enjoy every moment I can spent with sheep an my dog on a field. Even with the rain, storm or the wind that disturbs my whistle sounds.
Why? “Being realistic and grateful that we still are able to do this …”

In the mean time Jim joined our family. A new pup, a new chapter, a new challenge.

When Bessy, our first dog, died, it took us a year to make the decision of taking a new dog again. Very quick we re-discovered the richness a dog can bring in our lives.
Buying our first Border Collie, we also found out that a Border Collie isn’t just a dog … four legs and a tail, but further no comparison.
Enormous capability for learning and very high intelligence.
Hilde, my wife, was at time very ill but starting feeling much better when she could take care of “her” Kelsey.
Because her health was very unstable we decided I would start Kelsey in obedience training.
After a while Hilde took over Kelsey for further training. Finally she reached the national certificate for obedience. Job well done, because Hilde trained a dog before and taking over a dog in a higher class without experience isn’t easy.
She still trains Kelsey. Not for competition purpose, but rather for fun and pleasure for both. A good sportive thought.

In the mean time, watching her, I got interested again and was ready for a new challenge.