Kleinen Wiese German Shepherds

Posted By Sandy Wilson on January 21, 2012

Today was the first day that we have had snow in January and the dogs just loved it.  It was very overcast and gray out, but nevertheless a beautiful day with the ground completely covered with the fluffy stuff.  It was very cold outside but that wasn’t stopping the dogs from enjoying the weather.

Here are just a few pictures of the Kleinen Wiese bunch!

Delta von der Kleinen Wiese

“Where are all my sticks and balls at now?”

Delta is one that just never stops playing and having fun.  She is non-stop until she is pooped out.  She’ll retrieve just about anything you can throw that she can fit in her mouth!  Delta also possess that natural herding ability that her mother and grandmother and great grandparents also possessed. She is extremely intelligent and so easy to teach just about anything to -I can show her something once or twice and she gets it.  She is my little ball of fire.

Arla von der Kleinen Wiese

Arla was out of our first breeding and she is one of the most obedient, biddable dogs I think I have ever owned.  She will spin on a dime for me when I call her and is just super dog with the sheep and lambs.

Aiko von der Kleinen Wiese, HGH

We are so proud of our boy Aiko as he received his HGH title this past Fall in 2011.    He is an absolute joy and has such a zest for life!  Aiko is one of the best dogs we have produced and we hope to someday have puppies out of this boy.

“Now let’s get back to some serious playtime!”

Category: Herding - HGH | No Comments »
Tags: Aiko vd. Kleinen Wiese, Arla vd Kleinen Wiese, Delta von der Kleinen Wiese, German Shepherd

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

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!

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Tags: Arla vd Kleinen Wiese, Delta

Posted By Sandy Wilson on February 9, 2010

Hard to believe the middle of Winter is here already and we are getting hit hard by snowstorms.  We just had a storm last weekend and snow fall measured around 18-20 inches and now we are due to get anywhere from 10-20 inches more!  It is unbelieveable, but it is a beautiful sight too as we have not had this much snowfall in a very long time.

Of course the dogs are enjoying it too!  This is Delta’s first Winter and she is clearly enjoying the outdoors leaping through the snow drifts and making her own little snow trails.  When the snow first came down, we had to make trails all around the farm so we could walk the dogs and also so we cold get around up to the barn to feed the sheep.  Needless to say, it was some work walking through this snow the first time.

Above is Delta, Aiko & Arla all searching through the snow to find their gigle balls.  They managed to find one, but now it is lost once again.  They are relentless looking through the deep snow.

I love this picture as it shows little Delta putting her head below the snow to look for her ball.  Needless to say, she did find it, but she came up with a lot of snow on her head too!

These dogs have been spending so much time outside enjoying the cold weather.  The snow brings new meaning to Winter for them.  We have alot of snow now, but just wait until tomorrow – we will have probably twice the amount – so stay tuned for more pictures of the dogs enjoying the white fluffly stuff.

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

Posted By Sandy Wilson on January 2, 2010

Arla and Delta are pictured here enjoying the first real snow of the Winter!  Certainly our dogs love the cool weather and the snow.  They play hard all day and then at night they are content to lay by the woodburning stove, keeping warm and spending time with the family.    Time has really flown by since Arla had her litter of pups.  Delta is already 6 months old now – wow has she grown.   She can keep up with the big dogs now!  She is showing us that same biddability her mother has and also some interest in the sheep that we had not seen before – so can’t wait to see what she does when she is actually put to some early herding training and exposure.

My Aiko looking like a proud boy!  Here we have much less snow, but at least we are out of the mud season.  We had such terribly wet weather this Fall and I truly have looked forward to the Winter months.  The ground is finally frozen.  Even our sheep have been out of the barn and out in the pasture to enjoy some of the last remaining grass in our pasture.  In a few months we’ll be getting ready for lambing season and hopefully by then things will be warm and we’ll have nice green pastures.  I am sure our dogs will be thrilled to get out and really start working again.  

Winter is nice and the snow is beautiful, but what is even more enjoyable is the coming of lambing season.  In a few months, we’ll be having some lambs! 

Here was our first set of twins born last year – purebred Border Leicesters!  They are so cute and very curious!    The ewes can be quite protective of their lambs, but they are used to being handled and so they let us around the lambs to do chores.  I am very excited to see what our new ram, Bubba, produces.  Hopefully lots of twins!

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Tags: Aiko, Aiko vd. Kleinen Wiese, Arla vd Kleinen Wiese, Delta, German Shepherd