Name: Amy Crawford
Family: Greg and Lynne Crawford; older sister, Emily
FFA: Marshfield FFA
What is your biggest interest in agriculture at this time?
"I’ve gotten into training border collies as cattle dogs this last year and I really like it. My main dog is Clyde and he’s a little over two years old. Right now I’m also working with a new puppy, Daisy. My dad had worked with L. R. Alexander, who’s been training dogs for 20 years and has trained stock dogs all over the U.S. L.R. had a new bunch of puppies and he and my dad got together and thought this might be something I’d enjoy."
How is dog training going?
"I really enjoy it. I had a coon dog when I was in elementary school but then Dad got busy and there just wasn’t time like before to go hunting. I told my dad I wanted a dog again, but he said, ‘you can’t have a dog that doesn’t do anything.’ Last summer I was here (at L.R.’s) every morning as we work the dogs in the morning, before it gets too hot. Now I’m probably (training) 15-20 minutes a day, three to four times a week."
Why have a cattle dog?
"We have about 300 cattle and my dad knows, too, how much easier it is to work the cattle, even the calves, with a dog. Working them, getting them up for worming, getting them into a squeeze chute, the dog makes it all so much easier. We had a bull get out recently onto the neighbor’s land, and I took my dog and we went and got him. Now when we have a problem like that, my dad says, ‘I’ll just wait ‘til Amy gets here with her dog.’ I just turn the dog loose and he does the work for me.”
What are your plans for the future?
"I’m going to Evangel University this fall to study music. But I’ll be home every night so I’ll still be able to work the dogs. L.R. says, if you’re going to have a dog, you might as well have a good one, and I’d agree with that.”
By Laura L. Valenti
