Explore every episode of the podcast The Handler's Post

Robin and the host discuss how her stock dog training evolved from physically exhausting methods to a pressure-and-release approach that created better communication and partnership with her dogs. Robin compares this shift to a breakthrough moment in skiing—after years of trying too hard under her demanding father’s coaching, she finally made an effortless, correct turn later in life, which helped her understand the value of feel over force. She describes a specific round pen moment where stepping back released pressure and changed her dog’s movement, leading her to work smarter, train faster, and develop a more enjoyable team dynamic. Robin explains how her dog-training work became a career over about 30 years through ranchers noticing her dogs, leading to training and selling dogs—starting with selling her first dog, Tiff, when she was pregnant, to a Hereford, Oregon ranch that later bought many more dogs. She tells a key story about Sue, a small, initially unconfident dog bought in Baker City, who became a standout head dog after Robin built her confidence; Sue later helped Robin move three stubborn Angus bulls out of heavy brush and a creek at Soldier Creek Ranch in Idaho using sustained pressure and timely release over several hours. Robin shares her ‘cup of confidence’ analogy: negative incidents can drain confidence, while teamwork and successful experiences can add confidence back, though genetics still matter. 

00:00 Back on the Ranch: A More Powerful Dog & Harder Work
01:20 The Skiing Parable: Trying Too Hard vs Effortless Feel
04:48 The Breakthrough: Discovering Pressure & Release in the Round Pen
08:25 Going Pro: Selling the First Dog & Training Through Motherhood
11:08 Sue the Little Dog: Building Confidence Into a Great Cow Dog
13:26 Real-World Test: Moving Three Stubborn Bulls with Patience
18:57 Dog ‘Clout’ & Confidence: The Teaspoon-in-the-Cup Analogy
22:39 Trials, Business Growth & What’s Next for the Podcast
26:23 Wrap-Up: Listener Questions, Email/Website, and See You Next Time

Submit show questions and suggestions to: hello@brokencirclestockdogs.com

Broken Circle Stockdogs: www.brokencirclestockdogs.com

From Idaho Ranch Life to Dog Training: Robin Brown’s Beginning

In this first podcast episode, Kimberly Thiessen and Robin Brown introduce themselves and explain the purpose of the show: to share Robin’s 30+ years of dog training experience in a more accessible way, with Kimberly interviewing and learning as a beginner who needed a dog after adding sheep to her longtime cattle experience. Robin describes making dog training her sole living for at least 25 years, the nonstop nature of the work, and how fulfilling it has been. Robin recounts growing up on Idaho ranches that required long cattle drives between seasonal ranches, early mornings with a camp cook, and a strict work ethic under her father. She explains her early dogs—Border Collie/Australian Shepherd crosses—as companions that also helped move cattle, and contrasts that rough, stress-driven style with a turning point around age 20 after watching a sheepdog demonstration using whistle commands that she calls “poetry in motion.” Inspired, she began self-teaching from books (including "A Way of Life" by Glen Jones and "The Farmer’s Dog"), acquired a small group of cull sheep to train on despite resistance from ranch hands, and later attended an USBCHA judging clinic with Bill Burau, where she took extensive notes on outruns, gathers, cross drives, and flanks. She describes buying her first registered Border Collie for $600—equal to her monthly income at cow camp—making payments to breeder Gary Erickson, and noticing major differences in intensity and eye compared to her crossbred dogs. Robin shares early training methods she learned, including a stock stick and a trainer using cut hose pieces thrown at dogs, and reflects that her early approach relied more on physical effort and force than feel. The episode ends with Robin teasing a future discussion about a later moment when “feel” transformed her training approach, to be covered in the next episode.

00:00 Welcome to the Podcast: Meet Robin & Kimberly
01:45 Why This Podcast Exists: Mentorship, Stories, and Helping More People
03:23 Robin’s Life as a Full-Time Dog Trainer: Passion, Sacrifice, and Fulfillment
04:09 Growing Up Ranching in Idaho: Cattle Drives, Camp Life, and Work Ethic
06:51 First Dogs on the Ranch: Buddies That Worked (Sort Of)
09:17 The Turning Point at 20: Seeing Sheepdogs ‘Poetry in Motion’
11:29 Self-Taught Beginnings: Books, Free Sheep, and Training in Secret
13:32 First Clinic & Learning the Rules: Outruns, Lines, and a 200-Page Notebook
16:39 Leveling Up with a Pedigree Border Collie: Genetics, Intensity, and Being Overwhelmed
18:48 Early Lessons & Old-School Tools: From Force to Finding ‘Feel’ (Next Episode Tease)

Submit show questions and suggestions to: hello@brokencirclestockdogs.com

Broken Circle Stockdogs: www.brokencirclestockdogs.com