Kleinen Wiese German Shepherds

Posted By Sandy Wilson on April 17, 2010

It’s hard to believe we had pups 9 months ago!  Delta is really growing up and maturing, but still has a long way to go as she is still such a puppy!  She has completed two obedience classes and has learned so much.  She knows all her basic commands and is now starting some beginning herding too at Kergloff Farm where she can be exposed to a much larger flock of sheep.

With such a young dog, she is not quite ready to do the formal work of an adult dog, as she is still structurally not mature and also not able to take corrections as an adult dog can.   She needs gentle guidance and calm praise – she is a very excitable dog!  Delta is very receptive and very intelligent, so I know she will learn quickly as training continues.   I know as the handler that I need training too!  She is just learning the ropes and that takes patience.  I realize that I need to be calmer, speak in a  lower tone and not get her excited with my high voice and NOT to coddle her.  I know I am guilty for petting and over handling my dogs, so I must try not to over indulge in the affection department!

Much time has to be spent laying down a solid foundation in herding and I don’t think many people realize just how much time is dedicated to training.  It takes time training in very small increments, but it is so important to take it step by step and not push the dog and make mistakes that you’ll have to fix later.  Better to take baby steps now at the beginning and move according to your dog’s pace and you can avoid correcting problems later.  Herding is not a job that you teach your dog in a few months, it involves a great deal of time and dedication, but it’s all worth it in the end.

Presently she is learning to be in control of  herself and being relaxed and calm around the sheep.  Calmness around the flock takes time, but is so important; we want to get that in her little head first and foremost before we can move on.  It is impossible for a dog to work when they are hectic and not thinking straight – you have to have a dog with a good head, calm confidence, good nerves, and a dog who can focus in order to work and learn.

Above is Delta’s dam, Arla von der Kleinen Wiese, who was a natural with the sheep at a very young age.  She was lamb tested at 8 & 10 weeks and was exactly what I wanted and she showed much interest in the sheep from a very young pup.  Arla has very strong working and herding lines in her pedigree and they really came through as her herding ability was so instinctual and she was so easy to guide and teach.  In addition, is a picture of Hawk v. Eichenluft, SchH3, Delta’s sire, who is a very strong working dog from some outstanding working bloodlines.  Besides Hawk’s strong working pedigree, he also has some “old” herding blood mixed through his pedigree.  I was hoping to see the herding come out in this breeding and from what I have seen, Delta is showing some nice herding instinct with good attraction to the sheep.  She is also showing strong work ethic and she is very intelligent – too smart sometimes for her own good!

So now that Winter is finally over and Delta was really showing interest in our sheep, it was time to see if she was ready to start her training.  The first time Delta was exposed to a large flock of sheep, she was very excited and was doing some barking and running up and down the electra-net fencing.   We did this just to expose her to the sheep and see if she was indeed ready to work – and yes, she is ready to work and begin some training.   She is a bit exuberant at this time and we just need to harness that energy into constructive learning and focus.

Yeah, I am happy to say, she is READY!  This dog is so active – seems like she is in perpetual motion all the time, and so it will be good for her to soon learn her real job in life and that is herding the sheep!   I am hoping to title her when she is fully trained, as I think she has much potential like her mother (Arla v.d. Kleinen Wiese) and grandmother (Hera v. Fafnerhaus)  before her!  I owe so much of this herding talent and wonderful genetics to their great grandfather Alf v. Fafnerhaus AKA Nicky!   Delta definitely has some strong working lines in her pedigree, as well as strong herding genetics – she is really a powerhouse of bloodlines that I can’t wait to tap into.  I think she has potential plus!

More on Delta’s adventures later – right now it’s time to play another game of fetch – this dog could fetch a ball all day long!

Category: Herding, Puppies | 2 Comments »
Tags: Arla vd Kleinen Wiese, D-Litter, Delta, German Shepherd, Hawk v. Eichenluft, Sheep Herding

Posted By Sandy Wilson on April 5, 2010

If there is one thing my dogs love, it is to go in the pond when it’s nice outside.  Everyone goes in the pond to drink and to retrieve their squeaky gigle balls except for Delta!  She loves the rain and trying to bite the water out of my water can while I am watering my flowers, but I haven’t been able to lure her in the pond yet.  Maybe it is the strange vegetation in the pond,  the croaking frogs, or the strange feel of pond mud between the toes.  I don’t know, but my goal is to get her in the pond and to enjoy it.  When she was younger, she ran in quite by mistake as she jumped in to get the ball, but wow, did she jump out but quick; I don’t even think she knew it was water!

Above Arla and Delta checking out the pond.  The weather is so nice here Easter weekend.  It is in the 70-80 degree range and we are loving it.  Finally some of the mud is drying up and the grass is coming up nicely.

Here are a series of pictures showing the little game that Aiko and Arla play – I throw the ball and Arla retrieves it while Mr. Aiko runs to the side of the pond and tries to steal it from Arla – this goes on and on; they are so much fun to watch and the dogs get such great exercise while cooling off in the water.

Since taking Arla swimming, she is recovering very well and has maintained good muscle tone in her  legs and certainly her stamina is very good.  She is doing great and loving to play a little bit more – although sometimes I have to restrain her from having too much fun.  She is allowed to go into the pond to retrieve, but she is not allowed to run like a nut and jump for the ball yet.  I don’t want her injuring herself again.  She is making great progress and I owe that to leash walking and swimming indeed!  She is a dog full of energy and playfulness.

Aiko too will go into the water, but he would much rather run around the pond like a game of cat and mouse and get Arla’s ball unless of course I have several balls.  The problem is, they all usually want one ball.  I can’t imagine  how many we have lost in our yard or are at the bottom of our pond, but at one time I had about 8 gigle balls and we are down to two of them – that we can find.  I know they have to be somewhere in the yard or in the house!

This past weekend, we had our sheep and new lambs out on pasture too – it was a joy to watch those little lambs bouncing around in the pasture.  More on that soon,  as Aiko is bringing the flock and lambs out to graze in the lush green pasture.  Pictures of Aiko tending the flock, as well as the new Border Leicester lambs – coming soon!

Category: Border Leicester Sheep | No Comments »
Tags: Aiko vd. Kleinen Wiese, Arla vd Kleinen Wiese, Border Leicester Lambs, Delta, Sheep Herding

Posted By Sandy Wilson on March 18, 2010

This Winter my gal Arla injured her knee and so we are keeping her in tip top shape while she is recovering.  She is such an active dog that it is difficult to keep her down, so swimming is a wonderful way to burn off steam, keep muscles in shape with non-weight bearing exercise, and it’s also alot of fun for the dog.  The first week I took Arla swimming, she had to be lifted into the pool as she was very apprehensive about going into a pool.  She kinda splashed around a bit in the beginning until she figured things out and starting paddling around and moving in the pool.  She was kept on a long line at first and I would call her and she would follow me around the edge of the pool.  Starting off slowly, we did a number of laps in the pool and then let her rest.  She wasn’t even panting, not really tired, but more excited about the whole experience.

The second week went even better and I was able to unhook the long line and let her follow me and she did really well – her stroke was smooth and it was amazing how well she moved around in the pool.  It is amazing how animals can instinctively swim well – no swimming lessons needed!  No life jacket needed.

This week is her third week of swimming and we had a breakthrough.  I brought her gigle ball to the pool – her absolute favorite toy in the world.  I taught her to walk in the pool by the side where the pool steps were and she could step down herself into the water.  The first time I had to lift her bottom up and give her a little encouragement, but once she got the hang of the steps – she was off swimming after her ball.  I would throw the ball in and she would retrieve it for me happily.  It was really great to see her do so well and want to stay in the pool and have me throw the ball again and again.  Each time we go swimming, we do a little more and I can see she is starting to put more weight on her other leg now and she is keeping her muscle tone perfectly.  Certainly she would love to run outside and catch her ball, but for now, swimming is going to have to be her outlet for exercise.  Each night I have her roll on her back for a nice belly rub and then I massage her back legs – she loves this!

I am hoping to have her in tip top shape by the time the sheep are ready to come out in the pasture.  I know I’ll have to take it slow with her, but I am hoping to have her recovered 100% with careful attention to her exercise and making sure to let her progress with activity a little at a time.

Category: Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
Tags: Arla vd Kleinen Wiese, German Shepherd

Posted By Sandy Wilson on February 11, 2010

Aiko was out early this morning to check out the snowfall.  The dogs are all following the trails that we had made the day before so they could move through the snow.  We got approximately 23-24 inches, but that was on top of the snow we had the weekend before, so it seems much higher.

Delta out at about 6:30 this morning – blazing the trail.  This was our sidewalk which was shoveled several times yesterday, so lucky it wasn’t a problem getting out of our door.  Of course the dogs love this as they can run up and down and then jump into the drifts.

Above is the same seen as yesterday, but with alot more snow.  The snow plow had just come around – lucky us, but the road is still snow covered.  At least I was able to walk out to the road and take some pictures.

Arla and Delta watching me in the road, the snow is piled up on the top fence rail, and the snow is up to our top step in the  front of the house.

Today the wind is whipping around, but the sun is shining and the sky is blue, so I think it is going to be a beautiful day – but then the shoveling. . . UG!  I am not looking forward to digging out.  I will make sure I put the kids to work today since they have the day off from school!

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: Aiko, Arla vd Kleinen Wiese, Delta, German Shepherd

Posted By Sandy Wilson on February 10, 2010

February 10, 8:30 AM

We had 18 or more inches of snow this past weekend and now we are experiencing another storm as we speak.  It started around 7 pm and is still gowing this morning and snow fall will continue late into the night!  We expect another 20 or so inches!

Needless to say, this doesn’t stop the dogs.  I wanted to get a picture this morning and then compare it to later this afternoon to see how high it is.  Delta posing nicely in the snow above.

You can see it is coming down rather thickly here in Pennsylvania.  I think this has been by far the most snowfall we have gotten in years and also with snow storms so close in timing.  I wish I could teach my dogs how to shovel the sidewalk and driveway!  LOL!

Unfortunately, the sheep haven’t been out of the barn since the weekend as it has been too high for them to forage for pasture and certainly I think our little lamb, Ebony, would have a hard time trying to get through it. 

 You can see here at the dogs feet, new snow fall is up already – this was where our sidewalk was shoveled – we are going to be able to make some awesome snowmen with this snow!

February 10, 10:30 AM

Wow, the snow is coming down even thicker and already we have picked up a few inches more!  Kids and dogs loving it!

The kids are so excited that they finally got a full snow day off!  Wow, what fun to play in the snow with the dogs!

Here are a few shots just to show the snow is really starting to get much higher and it’s only been a few hours since my first pictures!

You can see the snow is already up to their shoulders.  We hadn’t seen this red toy in her mouth in about a week, but Delta found it somewhere in the snow!  What a nose!

Here Arla and Aiko are just standing by the bank barn in the snow.  It’s up so high you can’t even hardly move well and it’s above my boots!  Yikes, This snow is going to be around for a while.

Aiko – he is just watching the girls all running around in the snow, while he faithfully follows me to the barn – what a boy!   We went in the barn to find all the sheep just hanging out in the barn watching the snow come down.

All the sheep are just gathered around in the barn – some have snow atop of their backs because they are always so curious to go outside and check things out.

February 10, 12:30 pm

I took some shots of the road side and the front of the house – it is just beautiful – but UG, I am not ready to shovel this stuff yet and it is not stopping until wee hours of the night tonight!  Thank goodness for the warmth of our woodburning stove cooking away and keeping us warm.   Tonight I am sure we’ll watch a movie and have some popcorn!

The snow is almost up to our front steps and our house sits on a hill!  I just was listening to the news and they said we are now having blizzard warning!  Gee – could we have any more snow!

After I crossed the road to take some pictures, there was my good ole boy, Aiko, just waiting to greet me!  The dogs are so funny, even though your with them 24/7, they greet you at the gate like they haven’t seen you all week – just wagging their tails and giving you a big slurpy kiss!

February 10, 5:00 pm

Ok, I know this post is going on forever, but so is the snow.  My pictures are steadily getting worse as the snow is very thick and continually coming down hard and furious!  This is some storm and we are not out of the woods yet – it is supposed to snow into the night way past our bedtime, so we’ll have to get some pictures tomorrow morning if we can open our door.

The dogs can’t even make much of a path now, it is so high and difficult to move in.

We took the dogs out for a little walk around the yard instead of the pasture as it is just too difficult to walk through and it is above my boots!  My son wanted me to add his picture to show how high it is out there (I think he is on his knees, LOL.)

I am hoping by nightfall, when we have our usual snowball fight, that we will be able to get out and walk.

Well that’s all for now until tomorrow!  The schools have already called and school is cancelled again for tomorrow.  Another snow day – bonus day I guess you could say!  I think it will be a while till we are all dug out.  Forget the snow plows, haven’t seen them for a while.  Just snow mobiles going up and down the road!

Category: Uncategorized | No Comments »
Tags: Arla vd Kleinen Wiese, Delta