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We all need a little TLC
 You
may have seen Thinking Like Canines (TLC) seminars advertised in the E-vents section of
Agilitynet and wondered just what it's all about. Just who is Barbara Sykes and why you should
attend one of her seminars. Diana Lowe attended one of Barbara's packed seminars last year and
says that Barbara's enthusiastic and positive comments helped sort out her difficult dog Storm.
Thinking Like
Canines is a unique method to provide firm foundations for the successful training for agility,
obedience, working trials, sheepdog trials or to be a happy, well behaved dog in a companion
home. Whatever your end goal, a firm bond with your dog is essential and TLC teaches how to
achieve that very special relationship highlighted by Steve Croxford in his article 'Simply
the Best – What Makes a Good Handler Great?
Barbara Sykes is a sheep farmer and the international trialist who also runs the Mainline
Border Collie Centre in Yorkshire. This is not a breeding nor a rescue centre, although there
was a litter of puppies last summer – she breeds only for a replacement in her pack – and there
are long term rescues amongst the 21 collies and one beardie currently in residence.
Some
of the pack live in the kennels, but others live in the house and her lovely Hope sleeps on her
bed, so forget the hard hearted farmer myth. Author of a number of books including
Understanding Border Collies and Understanding Your Dog, Barbara and her dog team
run corporate training days, the sheepdog experience, assertion and confidence building courses
(excellent with children who have been bullied) and individual consultations for owners of
problem dogs – all breeds, not just collies. Her magazine, Freedom of Spirit, is a must
read for all dog lovers.
 No
stranger to success in competition.
She is one of the few lady handlers to reach the top in the very male dominated sheepdog
trialling world, having qualified and competed in seven English national trials and been a
member of the winning English team at one of the Internationals. Her time is increasingly taken
up with one to one behavioural consultations and travelling the UK, accompanied by some of her
canine team, to fulfil the demand for her TLC seminars. The team is also a key part of her
Corporate Collies programme – team building for businesses working with her dogs and sheep –
all about correct body language, communication, confidence and working together.
All
this work is built around her unique Thinking Like Canines technique and it is this that she
works with during the seminars, assisted by three members of her dog team, usually Skye, Mossie
and Rob. TLC teaches us to get into a dog’s mind and understand what they really think rather
than our human perception of how we think they think. Basic good manners are an integral part
of TLC and all TLC dogs are taught to walk behind their owners when told, and to have instant
recall, a stop and a wait. This goes back to the wild where it is essential that pack members
obey the pack leader and must work together for the survival of the pack.
-
Craig
Diet and day to day living are all addressed as part of the technique and its success
can be borne out by the number of aggression cases she has treated successfully, including
Craig, featured in ‘Understanding and Handling Dog Aggression’ who came to her with a
strong desire to kill anything and anybody. He is now a permanent resident at Mainline and
is a happy and contented dog. TLC does not go against, nor replace, any other training
methods, but provides the building blocks to allow you and your dog to just enjoy living
together or train for agility, obedience, flyball, working trials or sheep work.
-
Sam
Sam (a rescue) and his owners came along to her recent seminar organized by Haslemere
DTC having had a consultation some years ago. Sam’s mum and dad were delighted to stand up
and endorse the TLC technique – ‘100% recall, eager and happy, seemingly focused with every
fibre of his being. We love him so much that it makes our hearts want to burst and all this
from a death row dog. Thank you so much’
-
Lily
And another – ‘Lily and I want to thank you for one of the best weekends we have had
for ages. An emotionally tough time in the last few years made Lily a rock for me to cling
to and combined with an incorrect diet and handling, it is really amazing that Lily has
been able to function at all. I have learned so much about the companion I thought I knew
so well and to see why she was having trouble doing what I asked of her. I didn’t realise
that my insecurities were affecting her confidence in me and I sincerely believe that the
confidence I have gained in just a couple of days has made a huge difference to us both in
the way we work together’.
 So,
is it just about Border Collies then?
No - TLC works for all breeds. Look out for the next series of BBC’s Natural World
screening late autumn 2006 to early 2007 and meet Herbie the Beardie. Herbie ended up in rescue
due to his uncontrollable behaviour. Bad mannered, hyperactive, far too free with the use of
his teeth, and totally disobedient, an early attempt to harness his natural abilities by
putting him to sheep was disastrous – for the sheep. Herbie just saw them as a nice fresh meal,
went in and bit hard.
He was heading
for an ASBO -of the permanent kind, but got lucky as the programme’s producer likes Beardies
and wanted to use one for the programme which follows Herbie’s progress with Barbara – the most
important part being the learning of good manners and then to achieve the programme’s goal – to
take a dog and train it to do the job it had originally been bred to do. In Herbie’s case to
work sheep.
The programme
has already been screened in the US to rave reviews and emails to Barbara seeking her help with
other problem dogs. This ‘make over’ programme has a very happy ending. Herbie not only has a
permanent home with Barbara but he is a key member of her Corporate Collies team. It is
essential that her dogs not only work sheep in a calm, controlled manner but that they are
completely reliable with her clients, many of whom are not dog people and are very apprehensive
of being taken out of their comfort zone. Herbie could not have joined the team unless she was
100% sure that his behaviour was now totally acceptable. He’s still a clown though – but a nice
one!
Natural
communication, canine psychology, nutrition, nervous and dominant aggression, hyperactivity,
the reasons for pulling on the lead, poor recalls and waits, are just some of the issues
addressed at the seminars. There are opportunities for discussion, debate, questions and hands
on experience during a relaxed, fun, but also serious day (or two).
A lot of her
seminars are on the events section of Agilitynet but a full list can be found her on her
website –
www.bordercollies.co.uk – along with information about all her activities, lists of her
books and some interesting articles. These
seminars benefit handlers and trainers. They are fun – this lady loves to laugh but, at the
same time, is sensitive both to people and to their dogs. They are interactive – she welcomes
questions and comments as she goes along – you will not be preached at. All she asks is that
you come with an open mind and total honesty. If you book in to work your dog with her, then
she needs to know the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.
About the author
Diana Lowe trains at Pachesham DTC
with her now, not so difficult border collie, Storm, competing in novice/intermediate. She owns
two other BCs. Willow, now eleven, was retired from agility aged two with severe hip displasia. Two
hip replacements later she was as good as new but could never go back to agility. Mainline Hope
is a Barbara Sykes puppy - named after grandpa Hope mentioned in the article - and starts his
agility training in October.
Diana works as
an event manager for WWF UK'
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