Kathrin was born in the town of Krems, approximately 80kms west of Vienna. This picturesque town, located at the confluence of the Krems and Danube Rivers and in the heart of vineyard country, was once surrounded by a wall with gates leading into the city. Only one of these 15th Century medieval gates remains today, the Steiner Tor. Historical buildings in the old town centre were declared "World Heritage" by UNESCO in 2000. Amongst the scientific community, Krems holds great interest as it is home to one of the oldest graves found in Austria; that of a child’s grave over 27,000 years old.
As a teenager, Kathrin was passionate about horses and started out with small show jumping events. Nine years ago, that all changed when she purchased her first border collie called Cookie Monster (Cookie, for short). Kathrin stopped riding, sold her horses to a good friend, and started working with Cookie. When Cookie was 6 months old, Kathrin watched her first sheepdog trial and decided to attend a sheepdog clinic. Cookie was a good dog, a natural balancer, although perhaps not the best sheepdog but she caught the eye of other sport dog owners so when they started asking for pups off Cookie, Kathrin decided to breed her and from the first litter came Aimee, the bitch Kathrin will run at the 2011 World Trial. Aimee was the last pup born in the litter and from the very first moment, Kathrin knew this was the pup she was going to keep.
Around the same time, Kathrin married Hubert, sheep ownership followed, and a year later, daughter Hannah was born. Quite some year for Kathrin! After trying different breeds of sheep, Katrhin decided on breeding Hungarian Racka sheep. The Racka is a unique breed with both ewes and rams possessing long spiral shaped horns. The breed is used for milk, wool and meat production. They are a hardy animal with a quiet disposition. Kathrin now has a flock of 40 breeding ewes.
Aimee is Kathrin’s first Open class dog. She has turned out to be a good, natural outrunner with excellent balance and pacing. She is excellent in the shedding ring and is a dog Kathrin trusts 100%. Better still, she always tries her best, never gives up and would not think to leave Kathrin stranded to get a job done. With Aimee, Kathrin qualified for the Austrian team and competed in the 2009 Continental Championship in Switzerland in 2009 and France in 2010.
Some of Kathrin’s up and comers are progeny of Aimee’s. Cole, a 3 year old son from Aimee’s first litter is now competing in Open class, and Eve, a young bitch from her second litter is coming along nicely in her training. Kathrin also has a 2 year old bitch called Dope, from Ron and Dorine Snoeck (both of whom are competing in the 2011 World Trial), who is showing well.
In thinking of the people who have helped Kathrin develop her handling skills, Kathrin credits Rudi Roth from Switzerland. Kathrin says that Rudi has helped her to learn not only about how to train and work with her dogs, but he has also taught her many things about sheep. She did her first ‘blind’ outrun at Rudi’s place and Rudi has taught her how to turn her dog back for more sheep.
Aimee’s preparation for the World Trial will consist of good conditioning work, good control on the fetch, and making sure Aimee is listening to her commands from long distances. She’ll get a rest from farm work in the weeks leading up to the World Trial so they can focus on this training. We wish you good luck, Aimee and Kathrin!
Aimee
