VISITORS to last month’s Eggleston Show will have been astounded by the skilful sheepdog demonstration, but few will have realised that the Teesdale-based pair behind the display are renowned nationally.
Catherine Atkinson and Jessica Saukkonen formed their business, Chaos to Control Sheepdog School, about a year ago, helping farmers refine the skills of their border collies and working kelpie’s.
Based at Mickleton Mill Salers Farm, the pair offer one-to-one training, weekend clinics and boarding for dogs during training.
They cater for all stockdog breeds.
Ms Atkinson works a team of working kelpies, while Ms Saukkonen keeps border collies, with distinct differences between each breed.
Ms Atkinson said: “Kelpies have technically been bred to work on merinos [in Australia] on big, wide open spaces, whereas border collies have been bred to work a huge variety of different breeds of sheep.”
On border collies, Ms Saukkonen added: “Very clever sheep hide everywhere.
“Collies have to use their head and nose to find them and figure out how to bring them back to the flock without the handler being able to see them – they are bred to solve problems.”
Ms Saukkonen developed her love for border collies from an early age while riding horses on a sheep farm in her native Finland.
She went on to have her own puppy and became involved in sheepdog trials. In 2017 she arrived in the UK to help friends with farm work and after returning the following year decided to stay in the country.
She said: “If you want to do sheepdog trials then the UK is definitely the Mecca. Sheepdogs like border collies are from the UK.”
Her success in trials led her to becoming runner-up in the BBC’s One Man And His Dog television competition.
Ms Atkinson is a former geography and agriculture teacher who her quit the profession to join her husband Thomas on the farm in 2015.
She said: “We ended up getting working kelpies just to help with the cattle on the farm.
“That’s where we are different. My dogs primarily work cattle and Jess’ work sheep.”
The pair met online when Ms Atkinson considered doing sheepdog trials as well.
They began sharing their experience with sheepdogs by offering advice and training to others.
Ms Atkinson said: “Before we were both guilty of doing it to help people out. Then we realised people want to pay for a service because they didn’t just want to send a dog for a week – they wanted to send it for a longer period of time and get some real advice and help.
“With a lot of these skills, like any rural skills, there is always a gap in the market – I think demand will always outweigh supply.”
Ms Saukkonen added: “It is nice to help people as well. That is why we have turned it into a business.”
Currently they offer boarding for training dogs, one-to-one training with owners and their dogs, as well as weekend clinics for groups of people.
Ms Atkinson said: “Those one-on-one lessons aren’t only for dogs that work stock, they could be working dogs that are pets, dogs that do agility, or for owners who would like their dogs to use their natural ability.
“We have both held clinics across Europe and I was in Australia earlier this year. Jess has also done trialling in Europe.”
They agree that each dog is unique in the way it reacts to training, with some ready from early on.
Ms Saukkonen said: “They have to be keen – they have to have that natural instinct kick in before you can train them. Sometimes you have to wait until they are one-year-old before you can actually train them.”
Ms Atkinson added: “We show them sheep from roughly about four months, but again it depends on the dog, some will be interested, some might not be quite ready.”
Her own working kelpie Poppy, who performed at Eggleston Show, is just nine months old.
She said: “Bless her, she was really shy. She has been started late because I was in Australia, she should have started a lot earlier.”
Clinics are being offered by the school on Sunday, October 8, Saturday, October 30, and Saturday, November 25.
For more information about the sheepdog school email c2csheepdogschool @gmail.com or ring 07810 094072.
