She believes it’s essential to take the time to look at each and every dog as an individual – they have different personalities, fears and strengths, just like people do.  

Training programs are then tailored to each dog’s nature, nurturing cooperation and partnership in a quiet, peaceful, strong and fair manner.  This approach ultimately produces a lifelong herding partner, rather than a dog who’s obedience is either mechanical or, even worse, based on fear. 

Michele began herding a number of years ago with a dog she’d rescued – a Shepherd/Picardy mix with aggression issues. Looking to put her mind to something in hopes of calming her down, Michele and Lucy decided to try their hand at herding.  Within a year, Lucy trialed AHBA and got her HCT, JHD and HRDI. 

Quickly addicted to the sport, Michele purchased another dog - a purebred Picardy Shepherd.   Although quite talented, she (and the breed so we're told) had a terrible tendency to grip. Working with this issue, Xelie managed to achieve HCT & JHD titles in AHBA and placed 1st in her one and only USBCHA trial in the novice class. 

Michele then went on to purchase a Border Collie, Nell, from Alasdaire Macrea.  She was 11 months old and untrained when she got her.  After training her for one year, Nell began trialing in USBCHA Nursery and Pro-Novice Classes.  She placed top 20% or better in almost every trial she entered, and within 3 months she was qualified for the National Finals in Sturgis where she came in 22nd in the nation in the Nursery class.

Although able to find time to train in 2004, work demands sadly prohibited any trialing for Michele and Nell.  Nell was bred in the fall to Jennifer Clark-Ewer's Sweep (placed 6th in the 2003 National Nursery Finals) and she has a wonderful pup Smudge as a result.  Now in training, Smudge will make his debut in the nursery and Open Ranch classes next fall.

Between July and September of 2003, Michele acquired two more border collie pups - babies - from long-time USBCHA trialer, Robin Penland in New Mexico.  Molly...

and Buddy hit the trial circuit in December 2004 and both qualified for the National Finals in September 2005 where Molly placed 5th in the first qualifying round of the Nursery Class and ultimately placed in the top 20 Nursery dogs in the nation.