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| Shiloh
Shepherds Achieve Recognition
I inquired with the AHBA to determine what they required from us to apply. To begin with they requested material that demonstrated our breed's herding heritage and proof that our Shilohs still retained their instinct. Once that was approved, we would be granted "temporary recognition" during which time 5 Shilohs (all indvidually owned) must obtain the titles of Junior Herding Dog or better. So I emailed Susan Rhoades and told her that I intended to apply for AHBA recognition for our Shiloh Shepherds, but that I felt that I needed concrete evidence that our dogs retained their herding instincts before proceeding with the formal application. Susan offered us a group rate and initially 3 CASSA members gathered at Keepstone. Marti Nottingham brought her smooth boy, Tuck & her plush 6 mth pup named Much. Linda Williams also brought her 6 mth old smooth white female, Faith. I brought all 3 of my dogs, Shilo, Destiny & Wolfie. Knowing that after a few training sessions, we would be able to determine which dogs had the most potential to go the distance.
In 2002, we were granted our "temporary regonition" and being a rare breed we received a 2 year window to acheive the 5 JHD titles. Well, news spreads fast in the Shiloh community and soon there were lots of people signing up for lessons at Keepstone Farm! Several CASSA members as well as Michelle Pelescak with her girls (dam & daughter) Nyssa & Amy. Lyda Phillips who owns Nyssa's son, Cid, also came out to train. Tuck, Wolf and Faith earned their HCT titles in one very hot weekend in July that summer. CASSA hosted the first AHBA sanctioned event in the following November where Tuck, Wolf & Faith (in that order) earned their JHD! Many others continued to earn their HCT, but we were still in dire need of 2 more Shilohs with the JHD qualifications and we were running out of time. It was a dream come true when I discovered that Lyda's Cid & Michelle's Amy (as well as Nyssa which provided extra assurance of acceptance) had acheived this status and therefore pushed our application to final official AHBA recognition! And so these dogs became known as the "FAB FIVE"...
All of the FAB FIVE were honored by the ISSDC for their outstanding contributions toward recognition for the Shiloh Shepherd breed, from the American Herding Breed Association. All the owners of the FAB FIVE are members of the ISSDC. All of these dogs are registered with various organizations. This is a perfect example of what happens when politics are put aside and the Shiloh community works together. The strength and the power of the ISSDC UNITY will enable us to accomplish many more such goals & provide many more opportunites which will lead our beloved Shilohs to a bright future. For more information about Shilohs and herding, I would like to invite you to view the Shilohs At Work section in the ISSDC website at. |
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I
took on the position of President of Capital Area Shiloh Shepherd Association
in 2000. Anxious to build opportunities for our breed in the working
dog community, I reserved a booth for CASSA at the Annual Sheepherding
Trials at Oatlands Plantation in Leesburg, Virginia, May of 2001. These
dogs were the "cream of the crop" and it was
an inspiration to watch them compete. I was fortunate to make some contacts
at that event which led me to an all breed trainer & an American
Herding Breed Association (AHBA) judge (which were somewhat rare) Her
name is Susan Rhoades and she owns Keepstone Farm in Berryville, Virginia.
Tuck, Shilo, Wolfie,
Destiny & Faith all showed immediate signs of instinct. Much only
had eyes for his beloved Marti and ignored the sheep entirely. Shilo's
prey drive was VERY strong and although Susan could handle him if she
kept her eyes on him every second, it was obvious that it would be a
long time before I would be able to aquire such skills. He was one of
many Shilohs that would later be awarded the AHBA certificate for Herding
Instinct, but initially Shilo was eliminated from my own personal list
(again, I could only contribute 1 dog) My girl, Destiny, flipped back
and forth between chasing and herding, but as it turned out my boy Wolfie
was a natural. He was also sensitive & responsive to my commands & directions.
And so it was that I chose Wolf to be the first to represent Shadow Hill
Shilohs. Linda's girl, Faith, was performing exceptionally well for such
a young dog. Tuck loved herding immediately & was highly motivated.
His owner, Marti, really worked hard to develope the teamwork that they
have today. Once I saw that 5 out of our 6 Shilohs "turned on",
I was ready to take the next step. CASSA began to plan a Herding Instinct
Test at Keepstone in Dec. We had several inches of snow on the ground
due to a storm that came in a few days beforehand. But Shiloh people
rallied & came from all over the US and Canada to participate & offer
their support. Lori James from Braveheart Shilohs video taped the event
for us. We had a total of 21 Shilohs entered and 18 went home with AHBA
certifications of Herding Instinct. This video accompanied the written
material describing the developement of the Shiloh Shepherd breed.