Ya Reckon
 | Author:
Denise Thompson, MT43 News AG Correspondent
Denise Thompson |
Denise Thompson
MT43 News AG Correspondent
This county is an incredibly strong agricultural community, with exceptional producers, stockmen and businesses. When it comes to those of us who handle stock, we take the phrase “a dog is a man’s best friend” a step further, in that we also put that dog(s) to work helping us with the animals. However, there are few stockmen who have working dogs that perform to the caliber of Juliet Flynn’s on Hidden Hollow Ranch!
Juliet (Julie) resides on her family’s ranch with her husband, Andrew Christensen, who does construction and custom welding, and two daughters, Keira (age 10) and Grace (age 8). They help run the cattle side of the ranch, while Julie breeds, raises, trains and sells working stock dogs, and they also maintain a hobby herd of sheep and goats to help keep all those dogs busy.
I asked Julie to share a bit more about herself and her business:
“I got my first Border Collie when I was 9 and pursued competitive agility through most of my youth while using the dogs on the ranch for cow work as well. My dad was the first person who exposed me to what a good working dog can do as he always committed time to training his dogs for ranch use and also to “dog break” our replacement heifers every year to get them more responsive to the dogs.
About 11 years ago I purchased my first Border Collie from a reputable breeder and started getting more interested in the finesse of getting a dog really well trained to work livestock. At some point, kids came along and at the time I was training some horses for people on the side but when that became more challenging to do with small children I decided to switch to dogs.
I started traveling to clinics and taking private lessons and also invested in some of the top proven Border Collie genetics, hoping to eventually breed my own dogs. With that I decided early on that I would only breed the best of the best for working traits as well as temperament and also complete rigorous health testing to hopefully guarantee a high quality working dog that is also a pleasant companion and family dog as well as genetically and conformationally sound for longevity.
Unfortunately due to such high criteria to meet, though many were extremely nice even above average in a lot of areas, many of my early dogs fell short of checking all my boxes for breeding and so once they were trained or well started I would move them on to new homes. This opened up a new and perhaps unexpected avenue of opportunity for me as the market for trained and started dogs is very strong and I love the process of raising pups and getting them started on stock. I soon found I really loved this entire process including the piece of fitting them to the perfect individual or family based off each dog’s abilities.
Along the way I started going to a few trials and did well enough to get some inquiries for training dogs for others and giving some lessons. What I most thoroughly enjoy is now having the quality of dogs that I can raise my own puppies to train and sell. I most passionately just love using them for our work on the ranch on cattle and seeing them develop through various aspects of use.”
“I have sold dogs coast to coast from Vermont to California, many places in between, and also to Canada. I am super grateful for the relationships and friendships I’ve developed with people all over the country who now have my dogs. Some of the things I look for in dogs as for working ability is a dog that has a lot of natural ability in terms of gathering, covering, and reading their stock. I like a dog with presence and power that will hold pressure at the head (a dog that is brave). A clean heel and head bite, little to no dirty/trashy biting or “slicing”, but that bites square and fair ( a dog that is honest). I appreciate a dog that will naturally “rate” their stock.
I like a dog that doesn’t require micromanaging and “sees the big picture” as these often make the best overall work dogs, one that can think on its own some versus one that has to be told where to be and what to do or in other words is very “mechanical”. I’m grateful to have dogs that can go to town to trial and be competitive but I definitely put more emphasis on real life working ability. For off stock traits I like dogs that have an off switch and a good personality, that make good family dogs, are friendly with people and are biddable but not overly sensitive.”
Julie’s favorite dog breed is obviously the Border Collie, and her heart dog is “Kirby.” He was the driving force behind Julie putting her talents to use and pursuing more seriously her breeding and training venture. Julie hopes to expand her training facility and participate in more dog trials. Ultimately, she would love to compete in the National Cattle Dog Finals, where she has qualified dogs before, but was unable to attend due to ranching obligations and raising a family.
I have had the pleasure of watching Julie over the years, through 4-H and in life, meticulously hone her craft and produce some remarkable stock dogs. She is a master of her trade, putting her most important attributes of flexibility, instinct, teachability and an incredible love for her animals to work, producing top-notch working dogs! She is so good at what she does that she advertises simply by word of mouth, repeat customers and sharing her unique story at Hidden Hollow Ranch on Instagram.
For the Love of Ag, From the Heart of a Western Woman,
Denise Thompson
Article Images
Click on Image Thumbnail(s) to view fullsize image
PhotoCredit: See captions
Image 1 Caption: Stock Dog Trainer, extraordinaire, Juliet Flynn.
Photo Credit: Alyssa Freese @Madelinestmedia
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Image 2 Caption: Julie and one of her prize dogs, "Peaches" moving their Hidden Hollow Ranch Red Angus herd to a new pasture.
Photo Credit: Lauren Reiser
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Image 3 Caption: Julie instructing and training, using goats.
Photo Credit: Madyline Braught Photography
**Pg12**
