Dog trainer gaining world renown

Faye Amos of Decatur raises and trains border collies and sells her dogs around the world

Faye Amos holds up a 3-week-old border collie puppy.
Faye Amos holds up a 3-week-old border collie puppy.

— Border Collies raised and trained on Faye Amos’ small farm near Decatur have found new homes around the world, in places like Denmark, Guatemala, Spain, France and Poland.

Faye Amos has a lifelong love of animals and has been training dogs for obedience for more than 25 years. The love and attention to detail she pours into her Border Collies makes her puppies excellent companions and good candidates for agility training or working livestock.

Border Collies are not the only animals on the small farm Faye Amos owns with her husband Nelson. Their menagerie includes ducks, guineas, chickens, cows, two horses and nine sheep for her dogs to practice working.

Amos started her dog training career working with German Shepherds. She transitioned to Border Collies on the recommendation of a friend and expanded her skills to training working dogs.

Amos said she chose Border Collies because they are smart, energetic and want to please. In fact, Border Collies are such hard workers and enjoytheir jobs so much that handlers have to be careful because the dogs will gladly work until they die from overexertion.

Her Border Collie puppies are raised with the utmost care and attention to detail. Puppies are treated a little bit like preschool children, pampered but well managed and carefully prepared for the expectations of adult dogs, like accepting crates and walking on leash.

After starting their lives in the house, puppies are moved outside in an air-conditioned and heated shed. They listen to soothing music on the radio or children’s television programs, and just like human children they romp in a fenced yard full of toddler slides, tunnels and toys.

And there is no need to watch where one steps in the puppy yard. Amos trains puppies to use the bathroom in a box so, when they go to their new homes, potty training is all but complete.

Amos uses the sheep on her farm to teach young dogs to work livestock. She doesn’t start young dogs on calves or work cattle much herself anymore because they pack a powerful kick and could trample a person.

Amos starts training young dogs for working livestock with basic obedience. Border Collies have a natural instinct to herd, but their handler must have perfect control to keep their instincts in check and keep them from chasing a herd of livestock through a fence in their excitement.

Once a dog is ready to move on to the next step of training, she has her dogs start working sheep inside a small round pen, sometimes with an older, more experienced dog. Then she lets the dogs work the sheep in a larger pen, followed by an even larger pen, before she asks the dogs to work the sheep in the open pasture.

“It’s fun, but it's a lot of work,” Amos said.

Most Border Collies are fetch dogs, meaning that they have the instinct to bring the livestock to their handlers. Border Collies tend to go to an animal’s head and turn them toward their handler, in contrast to breeds such as blue heelers that drive livestock from behind - hence the name heeler, Amos explained.

Border Collies come in low-drive and high-drive personality types. Lowdrive make great companions, while high-drive dogsare naturally suited for working livestock.

Most of the Border Collies Amos sells are used for companions or for agility training. Border Collies are great at agility training for the same reasons they are good at working livestock. They are fast, energetic and love to please their handlers.

Amos has also sold a few dogs to chase geese off the golf course. She teaches them to work her ducks at home and gives them special training to make sure they ignore lawnmowers and golf carts.

All of Amos’ Border Collies are registered and have been kept on a careful vaccine and worming schedule. In addition, their parents have been tested for genetic diseases and x-rayed to screen out hip dysplasia. The hard work and care she puts into raising quality dogs has paid off and she has sold dogs locally and around the world.

More information about Amos’ Border Collies, along with lots of details on training and general dog care, is available on her website, www.fayesbordercollies.com. Amos also has a YouTube channel, FayeAmos, with lots of videos of her puppies and training techniques.

News, Pages 11 on 08/22/2012