The Trainer and his Assistants
Ted Thompson Ondrak
Ted with his crew, Drew, Tweed, and Panda, tending sheep in the open hills
Ted Ondrak has been herding since 1989 and has over 25 years of competition experience. He is a licensed herding judge for the AKC (American Kennel Club), AHBA (American Herding Breed Association), and the USBCHA (United States Border Collie Handlers Association) and is also a founding member of the (AVSC) Antelope Valley Stockdog Club.
Ted has been teaching and conducting herding clinics full time for over 25 years. He and his dogs, along with his students, have been the main attraction at these local annual events:
Seaside Highland Games: Ventura Ca.
Queen Mary Scottish Festival: Long Beach Ca.
The Great American Irish Fair: Irvine Ca.
ScottsFest, O.C. Fairgrounds: Costa Mesa Ca.
Irish Fair: Mission Viejo Ca.
He is Hollywood's number one herding trainer to the stars and has appeared on numerous television shows such as Animal Planet, NBC, Fox, National Geographic, PBS, A&E channel, and the Family Channel. He has been featured in Time magazine, Associated Press, Los Angeles Times, Daily News, Antelope Valley Press, Ventura Star, and the books Working Dogs, and Big Dogs/ Little Dogs (companion book to the A&E special "Big Dogs/ Little Dogs").
Ted trains all herding dogs and has earned working titles on over 10 different breeds. His training techniques have proven successful in changing the behavior of problematic dogs.
Kelly Ondrak
Kelly Ondrak and her ranch hand Dez.
Kelly began herding over 20 years ago and has been actively training with her dad, Ted, since 2007. She has trained, competed and obtained working titles on numerous herding breeds: (Australian Shepherd, North American Shepherd, Bouvier Des Flanders, German Shepherd, Bearded Collie, Belgian Malinois, and Border Collie).
She is training her Border Collie, “Dez” for both competition and everyday livestock work.
Chandra David
Chandra and our chocolate rescue Border Collie, Brody, entertaining at half-time at the famous Coto de Caza polo match.
Chandra has been working with herding breeds since 2002. She has owned and trained a Belgian Malinois, several Border Collies and has worked with several other herding breeds.
Chandra works full time with exotic animals. She has raised wolves, giraffes, primates and several species of hoof stock. She has spent the last 20 years working to recover the California Condor.
Mike Gottschalk
Mike with his Blue Merle Border Collie, Lulu, bringing the sheep through the Y chute, practicing for an upcoming competition.
Mike has been involved in herding training since 2006, starting with a rescue mixed herding breed. Taking what he learned, he then put it to use on his Border Collie, Lulu, who he has been training for 10 years. In addition, Mike has worked with numerous other breeds at Rancho Ventoso.
When he's not in the field with Lulu, Mike works as a creative director for the major studios. He has been designing and creating visual experiences in LA for the past 12 years.