Trust first, pressure last
Our way
You can't bully sense into a dog.
Good stockwork is a conversation, not a battle. We build it on trust — a confident, clear-headed dog that wants to work with you will always beat one that's been drilled into submission.
So we start small and fair: recall, a steady "lie down", and respect for stock before we ever ask for finesse. Instinct does most of the heavy lifting; our job is to shape it, keep it honest, and never sour a young dog by asking too much, too soon.
The whistle— a working life in five calls
From foundation pup to started dog.
A border collie learns a handful of commands that carry it through every working day. Here's the same sequence, the way we build a dog.
Come-bye · gather
The foundation. A pup learns its name, a happy recall and how to settle — the trust everything else is built on.
Walk on · approach
First, calm introductions to stock. We teach the dog to move in straight and steady, reading the sheep instead of charging them.
Away to me · cast wide
The outrun. The dog learns to cast around the flock both ways, lift cleanly and bring the stock to you with that natural balance.
Lie down · steady
Control and the off-switch. A dog that will stop on command — and stay stopped — is a dog you can trust with a gate, a road or a lamb.
That'll do · finish
Work's done; come away clean and happy. A dog that ends every session keen to come back is a dog that keeps getting better.
Then — your stock
Every farm is different. We send you off with a dog that's started right and ready to finish its education on your own ground.
Holding the line
The dogs
Started & working dogs.
From time to time we have young and started dogs available — collies with a solid grounding on sheep that are ready to step onto a working farm or into a serious sport home.
Every dog is different, so we'd rather talk it through than make promises on a web page. Tell us what you run and what you need, and we'll be straight with you about whether we have the right dog.
Bring out the dog that's already in there.