Island Crossing Farm

08/02/2025

We have an 18 month old, tri colored smooth coat male available to a performance home. Heather has started him in Barn Hunt and he's a natural. He would also excel in nose work, agility and obedience. If you're looking for a herding dog, this isn't him as he doesn't have the outrun for field trials (AKC, ASCA, ABHA would be ok). He gets along great with all sizes of other dogs, cats, kids and horses. We will be screening homes as we do not want him bounced around.

07/07/2025

Dear everyone, We appreciate the incredible enthusiasm for our lessons, and to meet this demand, we will be keeping additional sheep to offer an outstanding learning experience with non-soured sheep. This expansion will incur increased feed costs, leading us to modify the lesson fee to $100 per dog per session. Each session will continue to run for approximately one hour, providing ample opportunity for dog work and training discussions. Thank you for your understanding.

Send a message to learn more

06/30/2025

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/5080A4CAEA62EA7F85-57191756-herding #/

Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up. Payment ($75) will be due at each lesson (cash, check or Venmo). If you cannot make a lesson, please sign back into Signupgenius and delete your spot so that someone else may have it. Thank you!

06/16/2025

Hey everyone!

We're planning another sheepdog clinic this summer and want to make sure we cover what you want to learn. What topics are you most interested in?

Some ideas we have include:

Driving
International Shed
Competitive Strategy
Sheepdog Trial Judging
Stockmanship
Penning and shedding

But we're open to your suggestions! Let us know what you'd like to dive into.

Put your suggestion(s) in the comments!

06/10/2025

Hey everyone, I wanted to share a little trick I've learned for battling those pesky mosquitoes. I swear they're always after me! To keep them at bay, we've started putting goldfish in our stock tanks years ago. It's honestly such a simple, cheap, and kind of fun way to manage them.

Another cool thing we do is keep a boat buoy in the tank. It's a quick visual indicator for the water level, especially since the tank is a ways out with the cows. I can just glance at it as we drive by to see if it's low. Hope this helps anyone else struggling with mosquitoes!

06/04/2025

We are going to try something new and use SignUpGenius for the weekly lessons with Joe. Please sign up for the dates/times that you want. We do ask that if you cannot make your time/date, please cancel you sign up asap or email Heather at [email protected] Spots are $75/dog.

At this time, we are limiting spots to Border Collies unless you've already spoken with Heather or Joe. If you have other herding breeds, please PM us as we may be able to help you or refer you to another trainer.

Here is the link for lesson times:

Please review the available slots below and click on the button to sign up. Payment ($75) will be due at each lesson (cash, check or Venmo). If you cannot make a lesson, please sign back into Signupgenius and delete your spot so that someone else may have it. Thank you!

05/26/2025

Beautiful pen after qualifying in the double lift.

05/13/2025

We will be offering herding lessons a few days a week starting in June. This is currently open to only Border Collies of all training levels. Lessons will be $75/hr and catered to your dog's individual needs. We can work dogs from starting in a round pen through working the turn back for double lifts. Please message for more details or you can send an email to [email protected]

04/08/2025

Editing to add: Clinic is now full. We do have audit spots available for $75/day. We are looking at additional dates for later this summer in which to offer a similar clinic.

Ok, here we go again, due to popular demand, Joe will be giving another shedding and penning clinic June 28nd and 29rd ($350/weekend). There will be a lunch break each day. Dogs must have both flanks and a stop. There will be a limit of 10 spots, unlimited audit spots. Please pm or email Heather ([email protected]) to sign up.

06/15/2024

For those of you coming to Joe’s clinic next weekend, he will be starting at 8am. There will be an hour break for lunch each day as lunch will not be provided. Saturday he will go over penning and then shedding on Sunday. Please prepare for warmer weather and bring a chair.

05/26/2024

Joe will be giving a shedding and penning clinic June 22nd and 23rd ($300/weekend). There will be a lunch break each day. Dogs must have both flanks and a stop. Please pm or email Heather ([email protected]) to sign up.

05/10/2024

UPDATE
We are happy to share she landed in a great home. Thanks everyone who shared this opportunity.

Through no fault of her own, we have a one year old, tri colored, spayed female Border Collie looking for a good pet or performance home. She gets along great with other dogs of all sizes and is respectful of cats. Has not been around small children but loves older kids and people in general. Heather has taken her to BarnHunt classes and while not sure what to think of the rats, she was plenty keen to climb, jump and do all sizes and levels of tunnels. She is keen to sheep but has not been started. You can email Heather for more information [email protected]