Tenley Dexter

Kuranda: You have raised many ASCA and AKC award winning dogs, including the 6 you have right now. What is the key difference in your approach to training that has made you so successful?

Tenley: I've been blessed to have many successful winning dogs. I have a systematic system for training dogs that has proven itself time and time again with the many successful dogs that I've owned and bred. All of them were different dogs with different strengths and weaknesses but all of them were trained with the same system and finished as very competent, very successful dogs in the trial arena and field.

Kuranda: You live on a 160 acre farm. Were you raised on a farm?

Tenley: I rode and competed with horses as a child and into my adulthood. I was a Pre-Vet student in college and met my husband in Ag school and the rest is history. Our love for livestock and farming has brought us to where we are today with market lambs, grain crops, hay production and our Australian Shepherds help to make life easier with the stock.

Kuranda: How did you get into raising and training dogs? Has it always been Australian Shepherds?

Tenley: I wasn't allowed to have a dog as a child and once I graduated from Ag College with a BS, the first thing on my list was to get a dog. As an Ag student I would see the herdsman use their Border Collies and Aussies to move stock. While both were wonderful dogs, I was smitten by the Aussies, love at first sight. I got my first Australian Shepherd in 1978 from a dairy farmer. I started breeding Aussies after I got an outstanding bitch and wanted to make sure I had more as close to her as I could produce.

Kuranda: I saw a video of you using a small garden rake to help control a puppy in early stages of training. Why a rake?

Tenley: I use a small shrub rake for several reasons, it's light weight, it's a good visual for the dog, it extends my presence at the dog's eye level and being plastic it doesn't really hurt a dog if I have to give a physical correction to get a dog's attention when necessary.

Kuranda: You mentioned on your website that you competed at “A” level American Horse Show Association Shows. Are you still involved in equestrian competitions?

Tenley: No, I solely train stock dogs now.

Kuranda: Why did you choose Kuranda beds for your dogs?

Tenley: I won a dog bed many years ago but my dogs destroyed it very quickly. Someone suggested Kuranda beds and I bought one and was sold on them. My dogs tend to be very enthusiastic chewers, especially when young and the Kuranda bed is indestructible. I have Kuranda beds that are quite old but don't look it and clean up easy with a hose and dry quickly.

Kuranda: Chew resistance is an obvious benefit for using a Kuranda Bed especially for high energy dogs like Australian Shepherds. Do you ever introduce a pad or blanket to the bed as your puppies mature?

Tenley: Once dogs mature and are over the oral stage, they get a soft fabric dog bed over the bed especially in winter when they need something a bit warmer and cozy. In hot summer, I often remove that to the bare cot because it is cooler and if they are wet, which is often the case after swimming in our pond or creek to cool off, they dry quickly and so does the bed.