Performance
Photo by Dick Clark Photography
A Partnership
Thanks to the breeder of Wynnter’s dam, Becky Joyce of Celestial White Shepherds, we have been training for both obedience and herding since Wynnter’s puppyhood.
Wynnter’s granddam, Luna, is the first white shepherd to have earned herding trial titles in three venues: ASCA, AKC and AHBA. Luna and Becky are an inspiration to watch as well as great motivators.
Becky and Star, Wynnter’s great aunt, did competition obedience in both UKC and AKC, earning Star’s U-CD at the Premier Show in Kalamazoo, Michigan.
In April 2008, Wynnter earned her AKC Rally Advanced title and is now training for Rally Excellent. She is also preparing for her first obedience trial. We have had the privilege of working under two excellent obedience instructors in our area. We took novice classes from Christy Thomas, who now teaches in Vermilion, Ohio. We have also received one on one instruction from Kathy Sutliff of Valley City, Ohio.
Photos by On The Go Photos
On May 31, 2008, Wynnter earned her AKC HT, her first herding title. The best part of this was sharing the joy with her sister, Arwen (HIT RBIMBS, U-Ch Hallmark’s Evenstar of Rivendell, HSAs, HRD, HTADIs, JHD, STDs, TDI, CGC, OFA (H/E/C/Th) PennHIP), who also earned her HT at the same event. Since the beginning, Becky and I have wanted to enter both sisters in the same event. This was the time.
As of November 16, 2008, Becky and I have completed the girls’ test levels in herding. Arwen and Wynnter now have their AKC PT titles, and their AHBA HCT and JHD titles; all earned together.
As a student of herding instructor Kelly Malone, of Karma Performance, I hope Wynnter and I will go much further in herding.
Watching the partnership of a dog and its master working in a performance event such as herding, obedience or agility, to name a few, simply takes my breath away and is something I hope to achieve.
Wynnter is a great partner in this learning process. 
This is my Wyndsong.
“In a relationship with a dog, who trains whom? Often we assume training is a one-dimensional activity that expresses dominance over a subordinate in a fairly straight forward manner. There is a reciprocal flow of information in the training process that not only teaches the dog, but teaches us as well, if we are attentive to the moment.” Monks of New Skete