Richard Pittman in a win photo with judge Ann DeChant

“Whenever we were going to make a decision . . . throw out what everybody thinks and do what’s best for the breed.” – Richard Pittman about his and Terry Martin’s partnership on the ASCA Board.

I always thought I should interview Richard Pittman. Pretty much everything I’ve ever been involved with mentioned him at some point for having his finger on it. I tried to tease out all of the things he has done for this breed and for ASCA in my interview, but I know I barely scraped the surface.Richard Pittman has done EVERYTHING. And the thing that makes him so awesome is that he has a good time doing it and I have never personally seen him get his ego behind it. I think in the dog world, that’s a big thing. Lots of people make the dog thing their whole life and a measure of their value as a person – he doesn’t.

Don’t mind the dog sounds – I sat next to him ringside at agility for this interview.

Richard Pittman flanked by fellow ASCA agility judges Sue Graham and Pamela Bryant-Meeks in 2019

He’s a character for sure – and he’s one of the many reasons I do this podcast – because a text interview just isn’t the same. Moreover, he’s so low key – I love it. He’s a voice we need to just calm ourselves down.

In this interview, we cover:

* How he got in the breed* Changes over the years* How to dock tails* What it takes to become a breeder and senior breeder judge (well, for him)* What’s the biggest award that sticks with him after all the awards* Bowling for Balance* Changes in the conformation program – the good and bad* Judging with flair and character* How do you “breed up” to improve your dogs?

Richard Pittman’s website and kennel: Sundown

This podcast was brought to you by the generosity of Claire Thomas, of Capricorn Aussies, and ASCA Senior Breeder Judge.

If you’d like to sponsor a podcast or make a donation – you can paypal me at maculated @ gmail.com or email me about sponsorship! I have to pay someone to edit these, and it runs about $50 a session. Every little bit helps and keeps me motivated to do interviews!

Gail Karmalegos going over a dog during a Form Meets Function clinic (2019 Bakersfield nationals)

Poor Gail – I literally stalked her for this. She’s sitting there ringside not feeling great and I am checking in every few minutes, “Podcast now? How about now?” 

I think she’s glad she did it, though. I’ve known Gail for a long time, first from her dogs that she mentions being advertised in the Aussie Times and then we worked together on a number of committees. We have very similar goals for outreach in the breed, but I think this last visit was what finally made friends. In this interview, she doesn’t pull any punches about her feelings about lines and people’s opinions. 

You’ll hear extra sounds because we’re sitting outside the conformation arena and everyone coming up trying to talk to her.

“The fact is, rather than hating them, ask – what have they got to benefit me?” – Mike RyanI think that this podcast is going to set the Aussie world on fire. I don’t say that lightly.Jeanne Joy Hartnagle, someone I long looked up to and finally got to develop a relationship with once I visited her father and mother in Colorado 15 plus years ago, kept telling me I needed to talk to Mike Ryan. But who’s Mike Ryan? I’ve been in the breed since the early 90s and I made it my business to figure out who I wanted to know . . . how’d I miss him? It was honestly embarrassing. I knew he was an ASCA breeder judge, but he was involved in the working dogs, too. He’ll tell you himself.Well, Mike spent his youth in the stockyards and visiting and really developing relationships with many of the breeders we’d consider foundation breeders. In this interview, he drops the non-PC version of things as he saw them happen from the 1960’s to today. He’s 360 degrees of Aussies for a long time.

And he’s whip smart, candid, and opinionated.

The audio is pretty rough, and I’m sorry about that – I’m grateful to Working Aussie Source for the funds to clean it up as much as we could. But this is an interview we need to have out there.

Thanks to Andrea Scott for volunteering to interview her friend, and Mike for being so candid.

In this session, we learn about:

* Foundation breeders and the wonderful character of the people I know* Crossbreeding . . . and it’s not where you think* Advice for things to improve with breeding* A universal call to improve the breed and it starts with the people* How he thinks we can do our part to get the breed better and better

Links and sources mentioned:

* Aussies: Form Meets Function – Facebook group

“Wow, that woman sounds incredibly sweet, and incredibly knowledgeable.” – My husband after I recorded this podcast.

That about sums up this podcast. Dana Mackenzie of Hearthstone Aussies is a sometime breeder, longtime judge (for a number of different venues), and professional cattlewoman. When she first got into Aussies, she drove around the country to look at some of the finest. Which dogs are they? Guess you’ll have to listen! (Just kidding, I’ve linked to a few down below.)

I know Dana from trialing under her, but also from seeing her, year after year, video taping ASCA’s Stockdog Finals, which she then sells. We’ll find out why, and what’s changed in the years she’s been doing this.

And finally, I kind of found this interview to be a touch of a bummer at the end – we talk about how the Aussie’s heyday may be in its sunset and how there’s not much to be done, but she feels there’s hope in a very surprising place! One we’ll have to look into further soon!

In this session, we learn about:

* Some great Aussies

* What “handling with obedience” means in the stockdog world and why Dana doesn’t like it

* Aussies with tails as her preference

* What’s changed in the Aussie stockdog world since the 80s

* What it’s like to be a stockdog judge

* Amy Bradley and I are now running the Working Aussie Source!

Links and sources mentioned:

* WTCh Ch Windsong’s Raisin Cain CD – From TheAustralianShepherd.net Video Archives (Third dog in)

* WTCh HOF Las Rocosa Kublia Kahn RDX RTCcs – From TheAustralianShepherd.net Video Archives

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Phil Wildhagen is not a name you see a lot these days, but while I was just getting into Aussies, he was still well-known judge – in fact, he gave me my first best junior handler award! As you’ll hear from the interview, Phil had a vision to unify breed type and do his best to put Aussies on the map – literally. If you’ve got a dog with Flintridge in his or her pedigree, you show your dog, or you live abroad, you likely have the influence of Phil to thank for that.

He was incredibly hard to nail down – flying to local airports with friends, cycling around the area and sharing crumpets each morning, he’s someone who gracefully left the breed when he felt his work was done – but my, my what a lot of work it was.

In this session, we learn about:

* Great historical resource books that Phil helped develop

* The inception of the show program for ASCA

* Wildhagen’s Dutchman of Flintridge, “Dusty,” ASCA’s first champion and early qualifier for Hall of Fame

* The story of the Mexican Kennel Club recognition of Aussies (well before AKC, CKC, or anything else)

* How Canada recognized ASCA as the official parent club of the breed and accepted that the name “Australian Shepherd” was okay to use despite us being an American breed.

Links and sources recommended:

* All%20About Aussies: The Australian Shepherd From A To ZAll About Aussies

* Jeanne Joy Hartnagle-Taylor’s blog

* The Canadian Kennel Club letter – currently unable to find it

* ASCA Yearbooks

* Australian Shepherds of the Mountain West" target="_blank">Australian Shepherds of the Mountain West

* Dusty’s Story from Facebook

* More thoughts from Phil

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Also, reviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! I read each and every one of them, and feel free to share your URL there so I can contact you later on and say thanks!

 

 

Terry Martin is one of the most well-rounded breed influencers you could ask for –  coming up on 50 years in Aussies, a conformation breeder judge, a longtime supplier of Aussies to ranches and other working homes, ASCA board member, committee member, active advocate for dog and animal ownership in the larger political venues, she’s done it all.

Not only that, she’s a huge advocate of preserving the breed she met in the 1970s – her website is a major resource of information, but she’s got so much more to share than that! We’ve barely scratched the surface of things with this hour-long interview.

Please forgive the recording – I use Skype to record it and it went in and out a bit – but the quality is pretty decent otherwise. Sometimes Terry couldn’t hear me, sometimes you can’t hear me – but you get it.

In this session, we learn about:

* Hear about early dogs like Whiskey’s Taylor and Buena (Byou-na)

* The founding of ASCA

* The first shows giving way to the first stockdog trials and tweaks of the stockdog programs

* Why a lot of people who started out showing conformation quit – and what created that atmosphere

* Origin of Slash V Aussies

* People who still use Aussies for ranch work – and why they are still used

* What does Terry look for in a good ranch dog

* Her message to the future of Aussies

Links and sources recommended:

* Slash V Aussies – her dogs and history

* All About Aussies: The Australian Shepherd From A To Z" target="_blank">All About Aussies – the “Bible” for Australian Shepherd owners

* ASCA Yearbooks

* Aussie Heritage – Contact her via Facebook for a copy.

* Australian Shepherds of the Mountain West" target="_blank">Australian Shepherds of the Mountain West

 

To get more podcasts directly to your device as they become available, you can subscribe on iTunes !

 Also, reviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! I read each and every one of them, and feel free to share your URL there so I can contact you later on and sa...

Terri Morgan has been in the breed long enough to have a huge impact, and thank goodness for that – her dogs are sound, she’s an excellent example of the kind of open and ethical breeders we hope to encounter, and, let’s face it, her dogs are beautiful. The thing that stuck out to me, that we didn’t cover in the interview, was her commitment to her family. She’s raising two generations of kids – and her daughter, Libby, has followed in her footsteps as an influence on the breed. She’s buzzing here and there to get them to school when she’s not working or playing with puppies and dogs.

In this session, we learn about:

* How exactly you pronounce Calais, her kennel name

* What it’s like working with co-breeders

* Some of Terri’s philosophies on how she gets the kind of quality she’s been getting consistently for a long time (hint: influential sires)

* How form meets function and the importance of keeping working instinct in the dogs

* Why conformation showing is fun, and how to get into it

* What exactly is breeding to a winning fad and how to avoid it?

Links and sources recommended:

* Calais – Carolina Australian Shepherds

* Female line / line breeding outline

* General dog anatomy terms

* “Get” = puppies out of dogs

* ASCA breed standard

* USASA breed standard

To get more podcasts directly to your device as they become available, you can subscribe on iTunes !

 Also, reviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! I read each and every one of them, and feel free to share your URL there so I can contact you later on and say thanks!

You can ask questions and leave comments at 805 225 3073

 

 

CA Sharp is the inspiration for this podcast: we’ve been sharing a couple hours in the car for sheep lesson commutes and talking about the dogs and dog clubs (amongst other things) and I was learning so much, I thought more people should have the opportunity to.

She’s also a very well known person in the breed – doing breed health and DNA research and reporting for as long as I can remember – though she’s really a trained accountant and science fiction writer!

In this session, we find out about:

* How CA Sharp came into the breed (by showing in conformation)

* About her dogs and the Dragonwyre kennel name

* What dog shows were like in the early days of ASCA

* A little about the first ASCA stockdog trial (an invitational)

* The long road to how ASHGI – the Australian Shepherd Health and Genetics Institute got founded

* Advice for breeders and puppy buyers about maintaining health in the breed

* More about the Open Health Database and how to use it!

Links and resources mentioned:

* ASHGI – the Australian Shepherd Health and Genetics Institute

* Silver: The Only Dog (the story she references)

And some photos of the dogs CA mentions:

To get more podcasts directly to your device as they become available, you can subscribe on iTunes !

Also, reviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! I read each and every one of them, and feel free to share your URL there so I can contact you later on and say thanks!

You can ask questions and leave comments at 805 225 3073

Here’s a link to Reese Galido’s wonderful music!

Gina’s been in Aussies a good, long time – 30 + years – starting out with the classic “I got a dog from my horse trainer” and moving into the conformation and obedience world, she transitioned to agility . . . and then one day there was a puppy that rocked her world.

In this session, we find out about:

* Where “Windmill,” her kennel name came from

* How she went about getting Hall of Fame status for her breeding program and her dogs

* How she ended up getting into the working program

* She answers the question, “Can you have it all” with regard to the split occurring in the breed

* Approaching Aussie health with a level and educated head.

Links and resources mentioned:

* TheAustralianShepherd.net

* Windmill Aussies (the link is a little outdated) – check out the Hall of Fame page to see the dogs she mentions in the past!

* A link to see Gina’s kennel and Hall of Fame dogs (amongst others)

* More current photos of Gina’s dogs

And some photos of Gina and her dogs today:

Here are some top ranked Amazon books on Sports Psychology – have any recommendations? I want to hear them!

To get more podcasts directly to your device as they become available, you can subscribe on iTunes !

 

Also, reviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! I read each and every one of them, and feel free to share your URL there so I can contact you later on and say thanks!

You can ask questions and leave comments at 805 225 3073

 

An avid listener to business and other podcasts, I’ve been thinking about how blessed I am to hear the stories from Australian Shepherd greats and wishing that someone would archive all those stories. Someone, as it turns out, is me. No longer just thinking about podcasting Aussie history, I’m getting my feet wet by getting ‘er done – and going easy on myself by making this podcast just about me. Be gentle. In the coming months I hope to have a number of really wonderful guests to tell us all about their dogs and Australian Shepherd history, training and advice.

In this session, we find out about:

* How I got my first Aussie

* Why my first two dogs died tragically

* How spoiled I got with The Fury

* What I’m working on now

* What this podcast is for

* Info about webhosting and my eBook

Links and resources mentioned:

* TheAustralianShepherd.net

* TaraAussies.com

* RippaHerds.blogspot.com

* You can ask questions and leave comments at 805 225 3073

* TheAustralianShepherd.net Guide to Aussies eBook

* LinkSky, my amazing webhost

And some photos of my dogs, because I said I would:

To get more podcasts directly to your device as they become available, you can subscribe on iTunes !

Also, reviews on iTunes are extremely helpful and greatly appreciated! I read each and every one of them, and feel free to share your URL there so I can contact you later on and say thanks!