Emma rounds up pupils for online sheepdog school
We’ve all become used in the pandemic to communicating using computers.
But now there’s a novel new purpose for technology – training working sheepdogs.
The online sheepdog school is the brainchild of Emma Gray, well-known from the popular BBC series This Farming Life, with firefighter-turned-farmer husband Ewan Irvine and young son, Len.
Emma, 35, is a well-respected sheepdog breeder and dog trial enthusiast and said it had always been a plan to start a sheepdog school in some form.
She explained: ‘We have a strong Instagram following, and almost every night I would be asked sheepdog training questions and found it hard to explain to people what I meant online.
‘By using the medium of video I can show exactly what I mean and people can see how the dog reacts and progresses.
‘We never really knew how to put it into practise until a friend told us about a particular online platform. We haven’t looked back since.’ Emma was born on a farm near Hawick in the Scottish Borders and has been training dogs since she was 11.
In March 2021 the family moved from Fallowlees Farm in Northumberland – where Emma had been shepherding since the age of 17 – to a larger unit on the Isle of Bute, running 600 crossbred sheep and a herd of native cattle, as well as breeding top-quality sheepdogs at Ardros Farm.
‘We absolutely love life on the island,’ said Emma. ‘It’s a dream come true for us and we don’t think we’ll ever get tired of the view! The people have been so welcoming and it’s really great to be part of such an amazing community.’
The sheepdog school is now up and running, with twicemonthy videos showing how to train a pup from start to finish and how to tackle problems along the way.
‘I hope we get loads of pupils so we can help people to understand how to train a working dog to the best of their ability, avoiding the common pitfalls,’ said Emma. For more visit www.sheepdog-school.com