Lily is a five-year-old Australian Cattle Dog, or so her former owners claimed. She has a lighter build than the show ACDs, but perhaps she's from the unregistered lines that were heavily imported to the United States. Or maybe she's just a mutt.
When she was three, Lily's owners decided to sell her for $50 because they were moving out of state and didn't want to take her. She had no formal training, but they had managed to instill a pretty good recall. They had tried to breed her a few times, but it was never successfull. I had her spayed soon after buying her.
Lily is energetic with a strong prey drive. The day after I got her, she flushed a deer in the woods and tore the leash right out of my hands to chase it. Several minutes later I managed to work my way ahead of their path, and she was still hot on the heels of that deer. Fortunately, Lily was tired enough that I was able to catch her.
Current Training
She has learned sit, stay, and crate training thoroughly. Her recall is generally excellent, unless she is in prey mode. Her biggest challenge is loose leash walking. I have tried several different methods, but so far none of them have made much difference.
Training Goals
My big goal is to get her consistently walking on a loose leash. Secondary goals are to get her reliable on stay, come, and down, so that she can be evaluated for herding training. In the long term, I would like to train her in either herding or tracking.
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