I have always been involved with livestock in one manner or another. I grew up around cattle trucks while living on a small farm with cattle, horses, pigs, goats and dogs. I became involved in pure bred dogs in 1986 with the purchase of my first Registered Australian Cattle Dog. DC HC CH Buzzards Rope To Catchem.

Whether you are interested in competition in the trial levels or just learning how to train your dog to help you with handling livestock on a daily basis, it takes a relationship between the both of you. Understanding the dog, the livestock and the situation both of you are in is a very important part of handling livestock proficiently and quietly. I believe you have to build your dogs trust and confidence in you while also teaching a solid foundation in handling livestock. I have worked with many different herding breeds in clinic settings and private lessons . My goal of each work session is to make sure that the handler can continue to work their dog after the clinic is over. I work at teaching you how to train your dog to handle livestock on a quiet calm basis. I like to see a dog working the stock while listening and responding to the handler. Keeping a dog on its feet to handle the stock keeps the dog working and the livestock moving smoothly rather than just being obediently placed to accomplish a trial title.

It does not matter if you are a novice beginner or an accomplished handler, a person never quits learning something when it comes to managing dogs and livestock. I have worked with many different trainers myself, and still attend clinics and private lessons to broaden my abilities in working with my own dogs and with those I teach. I have learned several different methods; I work with one method most but can change to accommodate many different circumstances. I do not think one method works with all dogs or in all situations.

In the last 15 years I have trained and trialed several of my own dogs to different levels in herding. I have also taken in client dogs of several different breeds to train and trial. I feel my experienced with these different breeds has allowed me to expand my methods of training and trialing dogs. At the present time I am actively trialing in several of the different venues, AKC, USBCHA, AHBA and some ASCA along with Open jackpot trials. With my current dog, Border Collie, AKC HC Holly IV, I am trialing in the open in USBCHA and the AHBA level III. I am an approved AKC and ABHA judge and have been requested to judge at several National Specialties.

I currently own ACD's, a Kelpie, an Australian Stumpy Tail Cattle Dog, and two Border Collies.

Thank you,
Cappy Pruett