ABOUT MARTHA

Photo credit: Marroni Photography




    Martha McHardy lives on Parry Bay Sheep Farm : a commercial sheep farm owned by her friends John & Lorraine Buchanan, located in Metchosin, near Victoria, British Columbia.  She has trained working Border Collies over the past twelve years; competing in sheep dog trials throughout western Canada and the USA. She was the first handler from British Columbia to compete at the USBCHA National Nursery and Open Finals in 1995, 96, and 97, and has qualified or competed in the western Canadian Finals every year since 1995. She is well regarded as a breeder of top working Border Collies, and in 2004, she bred, trained, and qualified her young bitch "Ceri" for the USBCHA National Nursery Finals, as well as produced two other qualified littermates. In 2005 Martha competed with her three Open dogs, "Ryan", "Geoff" and "Ceri", at both the Canadian & US National Sheepdog Finals.
     
    With her dog "Vic", they were the top Open BCSDA team in 1997, and "Vic" was the sire of the top Open BCSDA team in 1998 ("Meg" owned by John Wickson). Now his grandchildren are continuing to establish strong reputations in their work and on the trial fields, in both Canada and the USA. In the early 90's, Martha also actively competed in competitive obedience and flyball with her Open trial dogs... proving the versatility of her dogs and her training, Martha served on the Board of Directors of the ABCA in 2001/2002, and is a long-time active member in the B.C. Stock Dog Assoc., and a lifetime member of CBCA.

    Martha now has an increasing demand for lessons and clinics, both away and at home. As well, she takes in limited numbers of  working border collies for training intervals on the farm, in order to help further their skills and practical experience. Handlers and their dogs are welcome to contact her to arrange lessons, along with accomodation on either the farm or nearby Bed & Breakfast establishments while they learn more about the fascinating world of working Border Collies.

     Martha combined working with her Border Collies with her career in occupational therapy; many of her dogs accompanied her to Victoria area hospitals, where she practised in Geriatric Medicine.  For four summers in the early 90's, she worked as a contract shepherd for large grazing projects in BC and Alberta, furthering her stock and dog handling skills. Together with friend, Aileen McConnell, they have organized the annual Metchosin Sheepdog Trial for the past 12 years; over which time it has become one of the premier trials in the Pacific North-West.