Love For Cattle Dogs Results In New Business

Love For Cattle Dogs Results In New Business 31-1-8 All Bruce Hopgood wanted was a better way to work his cattle. What he ended up with was a new business. His Midwest Cattle Dogs now takes up more time than his cattle do. Hopgood raises and trains dogs for sale and trains other people's dogs, too. "I train 50 to 60 dogs each year for people who bought their dogs elsewhere," says Hopgood. He admits that not every dog can be trained. "The key is that they have to want to work cattle." Hopgood raises shorthaired Border Collies and Hangin' Tree cattle dogs. The Hangin' Tree is a breed developed by Gary Erickson, Hopgood's mentor and the man he bought his first dog from. It is a cross of Border Collie, Catahoula Leopard, Kelpie and Australian Shepherd breeds. Hopgood say good cattle dogs have to be aggressive and not afraid to get in close to cattle. Although his dogs can be used to work sheep, they tend to be too rough. "In the past 25 to 30 years, Border Collie breeders have been raising them to work cattle, making them into tougher dogs that will bite, bark, nip at the head, bite the nose or nip the heels," explains Hopgood. There is one similarity between his dogs and traditional sheep dogs. He trains them to circle and bring cattle to him, while other breeds are trained to drive them away from the handler. It's a practice that makes cattle gentler, he says. His dogs can gather a herd up and bring them to him. Or they can gather cattle into a cattle trailer in the middle of a pasture without the use of any gates. "Border Collie, Australian Shepherd and Hangin' Tree are gathering dogs," he says. "It is bred into them. All we teach them is what we want them to do or not to do." Hopgood has been raising and training dogs for more than 12 years. He charges $500 per month to train a dog for an owner with most dogs staying with him for two to three months. He sells 20 to 30 dogs each year, from $500 for a Border Collie puppy to $4,500 for a fully trained dog. A 10 to 11-month old starter dog with 60 to 90 days training will sell for $1,500 to $2,000, while a seasoned dog with four to five years experience goes for $8,000. He notes that a decent Border Collie pup can be found for $150 to $250. The difference in price is a matter of breeding and training, plus his dogs are guaranteed to work cattle. "Gary Erickson just sold one of his dogs for $15,000 to a guy who will use it working cattle," says Hopgood. "That seems like a lot of money, but it will replace three hired men for perhaps 10 years. That's pretty cheap labor." Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Bruce Hopgood, Midwest Cattle Dogs, 5509 Maple Lane, McLean, Ill. 61754 (ph 309 874-2696; cell ph 309 275-6572; midwestcattledogs@gmail.com; www.midwestcattledog.com).

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