Filling the void
27/01/18 17:39
Well been just a bit since I have made a entry here so I thought I better get back to it.
As 2017 began we moved to a new house and had to build new kennels so it was a very busy 2017.
Most of last year was spent in the show ring pursuing Sisko's Bronze Grand Championship which as of today we stand 4 points away from that goal.
2017 will be remembered by us here at Nail Hill because we lost a dear friend and a true champion of the Australian Cattle Dog in Jim Buzzard of Buzzards Australian Cattle Dogs, a name you will see all over our pedigrees.
The void left by Jim not only in our lives but the lives of all the owners , breeders and those who knew him won't be easily filed, but knowing Jim Buzzard as I do he would tell us all to get back busy, so we press on.
This year has been terribly cold so far but on a bright note all the dogs have great bushy coats !
A new national Australian Cattle Dog club is starting and we have great hopes for its success and anticipate the club making a difference for owners of ACD's everywhere as it puts a strong light on breed education and training of the breed we hold so dear.
It will be called The Australian Cattle Dog Club United (ACDCU)
Plans to put a couple of different titles on some dogs this year with a Farm Dog title and a Rally title in the works, when it warms up enough to start practicing.
Until next time ……
As 2017 began we moved to a new house and had to build new kennels so it was a very busy 2017.
Most of last year was spent in the show ring pursuing Sisko's Bronze Grand Championship which as of today we stand 4 points away from that goal.
2017 will be remembered by us here at Nail Hill because we lost a dear friend and a true champion of the Australian Cattle Dog in Jim Buzzard of Buzzards Australian Cattle Dogs, a name you will see all over our pedigrees.
The void left by Jim not only in our lives but the lives of all the owners , breeders and those who knew him won't be easily filed, but knowing Jim Buzzard as I do he would tell us all to get back busy, so we press on.
This year has been terribly cold so far but on a bright note all the dogs have great bushy coats !
A new national Australian Cattle Dog club is starting and we have great hopes for its success and anticipate the club making a difference for owners of ACD's everywhere as it puts a strong light on breed education and training of the breed we hold so dear.
It will be called The Australian Cattle Dog Club United (ACDCU)
Plans to put a couple of different titles on some dogs this year with a Farm Dog title and a Rally title in the works, when it warms up enough to start practicing.
Until next time ……
Busy first half 2017
06/06/17 16:01
Well It sure has been a busy first half of 2017.
New titles being added to dogs and new challenges being assumed by others.
As the year progresses in the show ring there are a couple of things that are becoming clear, the average conformation judge needs
further breed type education and the other is practice makes perfect.
We are consistently seeing ACDs of poor breed type and movement flaws being put up for wins in all classes.
This will exacerbate the problem of dogs that are not up to standard being bred because they won in the show ring.
To over come this problem is really simple, its called EDUCATION.
This should come from the breeds parent club but since that certainly does not appear to be happening then its going to fall upon all of us who love this breed
to get involved and one way is to join a local kennel club (or even two) help them choose only judges who truly know and understand the Australian Cattle Dog, if we make it so known that if you (judge) do not
take time to educate yourself properly then you (judge) won't get ACD assignments.
Who else is going to do it? Complaining ringside won't change anything…..we must mobilize and have ACD enthusiast on every kennel club board in the entire country and make sure that judging the the ACD is not just assigned by default, we want to word to get around that if you don't judge our breed according to the standard then you won't judge our breed at all.
The local clubs will be happy to get help and in time a difference will be made. If there is no kennel club near you join from a distance and tell them you want to be involved in the judges selection process.
The AKC has no continuing education once a judge has a certain number of breeds so there will be no assistance from them in reeducation of the judging base, and new provisional judges are going to get the same "quality education" that the current base has had, so this is something we must push at the pocketbook side of things, yes we are just one breed but that's ok its the breed we have our passion for so its the one we can stand for.
The second thing is practice makes perfect, now some individual dogs have a temperament that just makes it easier to show them but without exception ring time benefits ALL. Polishing existing skills, working on bad habits, gaining handler/dog trust is all best done in the crucible of the show ring. You can work on these things at home or handling classes neither of which is bad at all and benefits from this will be plentiful but the race car must get in the race to test every aspect of the team under pressure it is where the weaknesses are found and can them be corrected. Don't say you will wait to get your show dog in the ring when he is better at this or that or when he matures, nope show up battle it out and refine, retrain and enhance your champion (or future champion) to be their best.
Until next time……
New titles being added to dogs and new challenges being assumed by others.
As the year progresses in the show ring there are a couple of things that are becoming clear, the average conformation judge needs
further breed type education and the other is practice makes perfect.
We are consistently seeing ACDs of poor breed type and movement flaws being put up for wins in all classes.
This will exacerbate the problem of dogs that are not up to standard being bred because they won in the show ring.
To over come this problem is really simple, its called EDUCATION.
This should come from the breeds parent club but since that certainly does not appear to be happening then its going to fall upon all of us who love this breed
to get involved and one way is to join a local kennel club (or even two) help them choose only judges who truly know and understand the Australian Cattle Dog, if we make it so known that if you (judge) do not
take time to educate yourself properly then you (judge) won't get ACD assignments.
Who else is going to do it? Complaining ringside won't change anything…..we must mobilize and have ACD enthusiast on every kennel club board in the entire country and make sure that judging the the ACD is not just assigned by default, we want to word to get around that if you don't judge our breed according to the standard then you won't judge our breed at all.
The local clubs will be happy to get help and in time a difference will be made. If there is no kennel club near you join from a distance and tell them you want to be involved in the judges selection process.
The AKC has no continuing education once a judge has a certain number of breeds so there will be no assistance from them in reeducation of the judging base, and new provisional judges are going to get the same "quality education" that the current base has had, so this is something we must push at the pocketbook side of things, yes we are just one breed but that's ok its the breed we have our passion for so its the one we can stand for.
The second thing is practice makes perfect, now some individual dogs have a temperament that just makes it easier to show them but without exception ring time benefits ALL. Polishing existing skills, working on bad habits, gaining handler/dog trust is all best done in the crucible of the show ring. You can work on these things at home or handling classes neither of which is bad at all and benefits from this will be plentiful but the race car must get in the race to test every aspect of the team under pressure it is where the weaknesses are found and can them be corrected. Don't say you will wait to get your show dog in the ring when he is better at this or that or when he matures, nope show up battle it out and refine, retrain and enhance your champion (or future champion) to be their best.
Until next time……
Australian Cattle Dog color faults and the rainbow
04/06/16 11:42
As 2016 moves on our main focus has been on showing and training up our next special male Sisko, nice red boy who holds a ton
of promise is both his structure and his potential to pass that on in our breeding program.
Having said that my thoughts go over to color differences in ACD's and the variations from the standard.
Having seen so many different variations on the arc standard for the ACD in red and blue and realizing that most of these have little if anything
to do with health or structure or working ability I wonder though how we got to this place where the variety is the two standard color is mind boggling.
The answer rest in two areas I believe, # 1 that the majority of backyard breeders or those who truly just breed for the sake of having a litter and making some money (tiny puppy mills as I call them) really focus on color very little if at all, a spot here or there or an creeping tan situation just is of very low if any priority to them, so they continue to produce those "faults" and the pool is enlarged with that.
#2 and probably most important to my world of ACD's is the good legitimate breeders who make the decision to continue to breed a color faulted dog due to his other great qualities.
Not saying that's wrong at all but color is one of the super easy to see things by the educated and the uneducated alike, and while the standard tells us what it should be like it doesn't truly make too much fuss for it not being like that. My problem is if those in most control over color, the breeders don't seem to care then judges and others won't care either, we can't complain about color and then seem to not really care when we breed the faulted dog because he has so much "going for him".
When does it stop? Black dogs….White dogs? Solid Red ? Not judging anyone here but just stating that in the ACD world our colors are not getting tighter but getting far more varied everyday in my opinion.
Remember the best dog is the one you take home no matter what ………
of promise is both his structure and his potential to pass that on in our breeding program.
Having said that my thoughts go over to color differences in ACD's and the variations from the standard.
Having seen so many different variations on the arc standard for the ACD in red and blue and realizing that most of these have little if anything
to do with health or structure or working ability I wonder though how we got to this place where the variety is the two standard color is mind boggling.
The answer rest in two areas I believe, # 1 that the majority of backyard breeders or those who truly just breed for the sake of having a litter and making some money (tiny puppy mills as I call them) really focus on color very little if at all, a spot here or there or an creeping tan situation just is of very low if any priority to them, so they continue to produce those "faults" and the pool is enlarged with that.
#2 and probably most important to my world of ACD's is the good legitimate breeders who make the decision to continue to breed a color faulted dog due to his other great qualities.
Not saying that's wrong at all but color is one of the super easy to see things by the educated and the uneducated alike, and while the standard tells us what it should be like it doesn't truly make too much fuss for it not being like that. My problem is if those in most control over color, the breeders don't seem to care then judges and others won't care either, we can't complain about color and then seem to not really care when we breed the faulted dog because he has so much "going for him".
When does it stop? Black dogs….White dogs? Solid Red ? Not judging anyone here but just stating that in the ACD world our colors are not getting tighter but getting far more varied everyday in my opinion.
Remember the best dog is the one you take home no matter what ………
End of a successful year
17/12/15 16:12
As the year comes to a close we look back while keeping an eye to what lies ahead.
With all the negative things that could have happened in 2015 to derail the best laid plans, I feel very blessed to say none of them did.
Our main goal this year was to take our current special GCH Buzzards Cruising at Warp Speed "Hoshi" to her Bronze level championship, mission accomplished thanks to her handler Jennifer Bittner and Hoshi's mom Carol Moore, I even got a few points on her myself!
Secondary goal was to get her introduced to stock and see that side of her, that was a total success as well but to do that consistently while chasing the Bronze GCH is super hard.
Hoshi really likes traveling and takes most of the show stuff in stride, she certainly doesn't dislike showing but more of a take it or leave it attitude.
As long as she can be with her people she is great.
On the horizon, next year holds some interesting plans. We have decided to pursue a rally title on Hoshi and depending on that go after a herding title.
We are getting excited as a new addition to the Nail Hill crew is going to be making his introduction soon.
Then lastly I have been asked several times this year about a waiting list for puppies from Hoshi, All testing is completed but I have always said I really don't know when that will happen and that is still 100% true, but what I can say is 2016 might be a busy year on the Hill !!
Have a great Christmas and a very happy new year !!
Marc
With all the negative things that could have happened in 2015 to derail the best laid plans, I feel very blessed to say none of them did.
Our main goal this year was to take our current special GCH Buzzards Cruising at Warp Speed "Hoshi" to her Bronze level championship, mission accomplished thanks to her handler Jennifer Bittner and Hoshi's mom Carol Moore, I even got a few points on her myself!
Secondary goal was to get her introduced to stock and see that side of her, that was a total success as well but to do that consistently while chasing the Bronze GCH is super hard.
Hoshi really likes traveling and takes most of the show stuff in stride, she certainly doesn't dislike showing but more of a take it or leave it attitude.
As long as she can be with her people she is great.
On the horizon, next year holds some interesting plans. We have decided to pursue a rally title on Hoshi and depending on that go after a herding title.
We are getting excited as a new addition to the Nail Hill crew is going to be making his introduction soon.
Then lastly I have been asked several times this year about a waiting list for puppies from Hoshi, All testing is completed but I have always said I really don't know when that will happen and that is still 100% true, but what I can say is 2016 might be a busy year on the Hill !!
Have a great Christmas and a very happy new year !!
Marc
Hoshi reaches Bronze level Grand Championship
23/11/15 15:08
Hoshi, our current female special, achieved her AKC Bronze Grand championship a couple of weeks ago, and after looking at many of the rankings and levels of the Australian Cattle Dog in the AKC standings I came to realize that not only do the championship levels indicate that a dog has continued their show career after their reaching Grand Champion status but it also shows a consistent level of winning, and that's in spite of all the obstacles that can come up in the career of a show dog.
Female show dogs have even more challenges with their heat cycles which induces more coat shedding along with the normal cycles of seasonal shedding and you can say sometimes it seems they can be out of coat more than they are in.
The other intangible is to show a dog for the time to gain these levels in the AKC it can be tough to keep their "head in the game" so to speak.
Of course being truly blessed with super quality dogs along with handlers who are second to none can help speed the process to be sure, but the path is lined with so many things that can get in the way that it amazes me that Hoshi moved to this level as fast as she did.
Judges look for many things, hopefully all based on the standard, when they choose their winning dogs for that day and quality that is presented properly has a chance every time you go in the ring.
Female show dogs have even more challenges with their heat cycles which induces more coat shedding along with the normal cycles of seasonal shedding and you can say sometimes it seems they can be out of coat more than they are in.
The other intangible is to show a dog for the time to gain these levels in the AKC it can be tough to keep their "head in the game" so to speak.
Of course being truly blessed with super quality dogs along with handlers who are second to none can help speed the process to be sure, but the path is lined with so many things that can get in the way that it amazes me that Hoshi moved to this level as fast as she did.
Judges look for many things, hopefully all based on the standard, when they choose their winning dogs for that day and quality that is presented properly has a chance every time you go in the ring.