Welcome to The Real Time Canine


My name is Amelia Smith of BorderSmith Kennel and with The Real Time Canine, I am providing training technique for Border Collie Sheepdogs. Beginning with 10 week old Kensmuir Star, I will document his daily lessons in words and pictures every Sunday. Previously subscription based, the complete working journal is now available here every Sunday.
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From the moment I collected Star, his training began and you will be with us every step of the way. Good manners, willingness & confidence are necessary for him to attain my goal to become a useful working sheepdog and successful trial competitor. From the first lessons on manners & socialization to his first exposure to sheep, you will be a part of Star's journey to success.
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After a lifetime with animals, dogs, horses and livestock, I am happy to share my expertise with you. I have found success in sheepdog trials at home and abroad and have trained dogs that went on to find success with others. To learn more about me and my dogs, please visit my BorderSmith website and my BorderSmith Blog! Cheers and thank you very much.

May 23, 2010

Week 79

This was a blurry week. The time went by too quckly, and I am not completely sure how I spent it. There was some dog training that occurred, but on another's dog, so this week I considered how my circumstance lends itself to successful dog trialing. Reading about others' adventures training and trialing as the season begins to heat up, caused me to remember what a past International Supreme Champ taught me one day. Evn though I'm training on a little league field, doesn't mean that I can't compete in the big time. I just have to want it badly enough.

This week's lessons
  1. The daily routine
  2. Getting creative
  3. Bicycle, what bicycle?

Here's an excerpt:


I watched the Bluegrass scores on my computer, and caught the results of Big Willow the same way. I read blogs written by folks who are training and trialing all over North America right now, and I wish I could do the same. My dogs and I will have our chance a little later this year, and I'm grateful and looking forward to the travel and the test. I considered recently that it may be a little harder for me to be competitive without the advantage of more sheep, more work, and more variety, but then I remembered what Bobby told me, and I simply determined to work harder/better/smarter with what I have. For me, that means getting off my butt, loading sheep in my trailer and making an effort to get out and around. It also means calling on my friends to share their sheep and training fields, and lowering my long-ignored bike from the rafters, and getting the dogs in shape. My ex had a favorite saying with lots of stories of his own to back it up. He said you have to want something badly enough to be good at it. He spent his whole life wanting it badly, and was as good as it gets in his sport. I still have a ways to go.

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