Let's start from the beginning

Darian Snow Bear arrived home on Wednesday 17th February 2010 as a 7 week old border collie puppy, he was bred by Mrs Sheila Gay in Stratford, home of the Darian Border collies and where we also got Summer my daughter Amy's dog from back in 2007. Rupert is a rare colour being a dilute red meaning he often gets mistaken for a golden retriever puppy! He was one of 7 puppies 5 of which were the traditional black and white and 1 little ee red bitch. For me it was love at first sight, I wasn't due to get another dog for a couple of years but once this little fella had his little paws on me there was no going back. He was totally unexpected so I have no aspirations for him, he will be whatever he will be and I will just enjoy the ride.
I began his training from day one, with all the very basics and now at nearly 5 months he is very proficient at many things, he attends all the dog shows we go to happily sleeping in his crate alongside our bitches in the awning when we camp so his social skills are very good, however he has decided that he does NOT like the vet!
I love to compete in Agility and Obedience and have based most of my training with that in mind, I have worked specifically on his back end awareness using several techniques which I'll go into more detail with in a later blog. I have adapted a couple of training methods to suit us both, Rupert is equally focused for a treat reward or a game of tuggy so it made good sense to use the clicker and motivational training in equal measure, so nothing new, but it is new to me. I like to teach new things with the clicker but very quickly move them onto motivational as I am useless and keep forgetting which jacket I've left it in so end up trying to train without the props (not a good idea) so having also established the motivational method it's not a problem and i can carry on so long as I have my lead or his tuggy.
I have read many books, watched DVD's gone to seminars etc etc and have sometimes been inspired and sometimes been disappointed. Earlier this year I was inspired which was a brilliant feeling and has completely changed my attitude towards my dogs and their abilities which I think when we are so focused on competition week in week out it's easy to blame other factors including our dogs being naughty or having an off day, so now I never blame my dog for being naughty, sometimes they are a little over enthusiastic but never naughty, I feel if I have put the time and basic training in I will reap the rewards, and both Maisy my competition dog and now Rupert are proving this point on a daily basis.