![]() In my very first weekend of AKC trialing on the Started A course, we lost a 2nd place by half a point. In the meantime, Cricket and I began competing in AKC, ASCA (Australian Shepherd Club of America) and USBCHA (United States Border Collie Handlers Association) trials. But we continued to practice and I got better at whistling and my dog got better at interpreting. Once I finally got a clue on where to stand and what to say, it felt like we were going back to square one to learn to say it all over again with a whistle. Initially it was so confusing to be a part of that sheep, dog, experienced person, dumb person (that would be me) mix on the field. It’s so satisfying to see my girls working at what they’ve been bred to do for centuries. While I enjoy all three venues, I’ve found herding to be the most difficult, the most fun and the most fulfilling. I have been participating in dog sports since 1993 when I started in obedience, and in 1999 I added both agility and herding. ![]() I was amazed at how quickly Cricket (HC Cricket Ann Brannen HXBs HXAsd CDX AX OAJ) took to my strange screechings, responding to them after just a few days of a verbal command followed by a whistle command. I settled on those initial whistles and began integrating them into the training of my first herding dog–a young Border Collie who was as green as I was. ![]() As my tonality improved, my mentor Jerry told me I should start to consider what notes I wanted to use for my flanking, stop and walk up commands. As weeks went by, I kept the red plastic whistle in my car and attempted to accompany the radio tunes as I drove. A few days later I had coordinated my tongue on the whistle a bit and could control a random note. By day two, a reedy pitiful note would moistly eek out on occasion if I held my mouth just right. I remember the first time I put a shepherd’s whistle in my mouth–a silent little bubble dribbled out one side while my eyes nearly popped from the unreleased pressure behind the instrument.
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