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Kellie and "Smitty" winning Best Puppy In Group
Sudbury & District Kennel Club Show, 2008
Photo Credit: Paul Oslach Photography |
About Us
Herdabout K-9 Academy is owned and
operated by
Jeff and Kellie Whiteside.
Married since 1988, they have both grown up with dogs.
Kellie got her first dog (a shetland sheepdog) at the
age of 8 years old and fell in love with the breed
then. That first sheltie was Toffee Tawny of Sheldon
Kennels, and although there was no one around in her
area who did formal dog training at the time, Kellie
trained Toffee in agility, obedience and carting by
reading books and inventing a few methods of her own.
Jeff grew up with a variety of dog breeds and after he
married Kellie in 1988 they decided to stick with the
breed they love – Shetland Sheepdogs.
In
1997 the Whitesides moved to their current location and
then became officially registered as a breeding kennel,
receiving their official kennel name in 1999 with the
Canadian Kennel Club as "Herdabout Shelties".
Their goal is to breed Shetland Sheepdogs who are
structurally and mentally sound, with well balanced
bodies and movement, that can perform in all venues,
(Agility Obedience, Herding, Tracking, Conformation) but
who also can be just a sweet and loving family
companion, or therapy dog.
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Jeff and Kellie have been very successful at breeding
top quality shetland sheepdogs, because even though
they only produce a few litters each year, Herdabout
Shelties are now seen all over North America
regularly competing in Conformation, Agility,
Rally-O, and Obedience Trials.
After completing a 3 year apprenticeship in dog
training, attending numerous seminars, workshops and training
clinics along with in-depth studies in behavioral issues, agility
course design, conformation show handling, nutrition and genetics --
as well as racking up a few CKC titles on their own dogs -- Jeff and
Kellie began teaching Obedience and Agility classes.
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The dog training classes started off small
in their own backyard under the name Howling Hills
Canine Academy. Their straight forward, easy to
understand approach to dog training quickly caused the
business to grow rapidly and it took a big turn in 2002
when it was relocated off the homestead property and the
name changed to Howl-Time Canine Academy. A few
years later the business name was changed again to be the
same as the kennel: Herdabout K-9 Academy.
Both Jeff and Kellie are accomplished dog
trainers having put over 85 CKC titles on their dogs in
both agility, obedience, rally-o and conformation, as well
as having handled dogs for other owners. Between 2003 and
2008 alone, Jeff & Kellie put 68 CKC titles on their own
dogs.
The Whitesides are not "flavour of the
month" trainers. Having seen all aspects of dog training,
from the old methods of forced training to the new age
movement of "operant only" training, they have developed a
training style that is based on using common sense and
natural dog behaviors.
Jeff and Kellie are both licensed
CGN Evaluators, and are both members in good
standing with the Canadian Kennel Club,
the Canadian Shetland Sheepdog Association
and the Agility Association of Canada.
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Jeff Whiteside handles
Herdabout Calm Blue Ocean to win Best Puppy In Group at the Bluewater Show
in July 2008.
"Ocean" was a mere 6 Months & 1 Day old.
Photo Credit:
Alex Smith Photography | |
