Raptors!

    Another late blog post...sorry!

    The end of July found us back up in New York again so of course I had to make the most of it with a trip over to work at Dawn's with Amanda. On that particular day I was the first to arrive and Diva and I couldn't help but notice the geese were in a prime location for us to gather them up and put them in the duck arena :-). Diva loves ducks, but geese are just absolutely the best ever and I must admit I think they are pretty darn cool as well. I find their hissing very amusing but it's not for the faint of heart dog and when push comes to shove some geese can be nasty. I snapped these pictures myself while just letting Diva do what she wanted to do with the geese which was pretty much just keep them moving to anywhere, lol. Diva's fowl obsession is widely known in our friend circle ;-). The big joke for the day was that with me sitting on the ground the perspective made the dogs look small and the geese look huge! Kind of like working Raptors!

     After we had finished with the geese we worked sheep and practiced the center pen. Our center pen attempt was dismal at best until we both got our heads right. In fact I even resorted to just shoving a sheep in out of frustration. Certainly not a fine point in good stockmanship. Thankfully once we started working together and stopped playing merry-go-round the sheep went in and the gate was shut. Diva did some amazing driving and gather showing patience and really calming her stock. In the pens the sorting was as it always is for us, a mixed bag. She handled challenges by Dawn's Tunis X wether really well. He likes to put his head down and face off but Diva always goes straight in and engages him without needing any encouragement. It is times like those when I see her eye change as she locks on and engages. For those moments she is making all of the choices and they are good ones. However, for some reason when it comes to just pushing on the group and moving them around for say a gate sort I have a hard time getting her to watch the stock and not me so much. I think I have said this a thousand times but I must spend more time sorting and I desperately wish I could find a stock trial to work the pens with her. I wholeheartedly believe that once she saw a purpose to the pen work she would get the job and apply that to other situations.

   I didn't get any pictures of Diva working the ducks but that is how we ended the day. Dawn has some lovely large bodied pure white ducks that move slow and take a patient dog that will rate. They are nothing like what the ducks at nationals will be but in our case I think slow ducks are much harder than Runners. I didn't even go in the pen with her but instead sent her in on her own with a young dog that was needing to have some encouragement staying tuned in.

My Junior Handler In Training

    I am painfully behind in my blog posts so this is falling a little out of order. There isn't a whole lot to say really but I did want to share some pictures from the day. Taylor is making progress with her understanding of the commands and because of this I felt it was time to give her a chance to go in the arena with Diva and the sheep on her own. This is a challenge because Diva still very much looks to me see if she should actually listen to Taylor and therefore Taylor has to not only remember what her commands are but she has to continue to keep Diva engaged. What I noticed is that once she gets Diva to go out and gather the sheep they do very nice walk abouts together. It's the convincing Diva that she is in charge and that she means for her to go get the sheep that needs improvement. Rae had met us at Hog Dog on this day and was generous enough to also let Taylor have a go handling Rhythm on the sheep. Rhythm did a great job once she realized she was supposed to work for Taylor but like Diva she was happy to fetch but not so sure about the initial outrun. I think the pictures speak for themselves though...smiles abound!

Rainy Day And New Adventures

   I consider myself very lucky to have a great circle of friends in the herding community. We all encourage each other and share whatever it is that we have to share. Sometimes it's knowledge, sometimes it's a patient ear and shoulder, and sometimes it's a working opportunity and experience. We are a mixed bag of awesome, my friends and I. Those that have livestock at home graciously invite those of us who don't over to work and in return those of us without our own hunt around and invite our friends out to work at farms where we gain connections. The dog world can be a backstabbing and cruel place but meeting these people and becoming friends has shown me that it doesn't have to be that way. If you are lucky enough to meet like minded individuals that you can laugh with and genuinely enjoy then hang on tight. 

     While I was visiting New York this past week I got to go work at the farm Amanda is leasing and it was a total blast! I am sure Amanda will read this so I might as well embarrass her good ;-). Part of being great friends is being proud of someone's accomplishments, and Amanda has given us much to be proud of! She has a lease on a lovely farm where she not only keeps her sheep, but also has use of another lessee's cattle and the farm owner's pigs. It was easy to see how her new work load has really brought out the best in her stock handling and dog handling. I will go into details later about our fun that day but before anyone doubts the level of work that can be found in Upstate NY let me be clear that this wasn't just working livestock in a groomed arena. The cattle have access to many acres of chest high grass mixed in among an orchard of trees. You can't see them until you are nearly on them. It was exhausting trudging through the tall wet grass for us humans and the dogs were forced to gazelle leap just to see anything. Amanda and Milo have done a great job dog breaking the cattle and I am impressed that she gets them moved from one pasture to the other with just her and Milo. 

   Our day started with a dire weather prediction for torrential downpours and possible flooding but true to form we didn't let that stop us. Dawn picked Diva and I up and after a quick stop for Starbucks and Dunkin' Doughnuts we headed to Amanda's. The rain was behind us for most of the trip and we thought we had caught a break, but shortly after we unloaded the dogs and started working it started pouring. I had borrowed an umbrella from my Gram so that I could continue to take pictures (obsessive, I know). As it turns out that little purple umbrella would later make a big and crucial impression on the cattle. Anyway, those of us not working huddled under the barn over hang to stay out of the rain as much as possible while one pair went out and worked the lambs. Amanda and the farm owner had stumbled upon a great deal where they purchased 22 Katahdin/Dorper cross lambs at a very reasonable rate. Most of them will be re-sold but in the meantime they are great fun to work. The lambs are very sensible and the pasture they are in has tall grass, a glade of trees, and is rather long. It made for a great blind outrun which Enya and Dawn did a lovely job with. When it was our turn to work I was impressed with Diva's quickness in covering and how nicely she was taking directions. She was very tuned in but not working flat and the lambs stayed calm even when we pushed them into a corner and then brought them back out. When it was Amanda's turn to go out and work we went back to the barn and scooted under the overhang to watch with Dawn. 

     This brings us to the best part of the day for me without a doubt. In the barn we were standing next to is where the farm owner keeps his 3 pigs. They have a stall but are also allowed out into the field and loose in the barn. The pigs were very curious about who and what was standing just outside their door and so they kept trying to stick their snouts out. Diva became fascinated by them as well and Dawn was only stirring the pot by allowing Diva to slip her head in the barn and go nose to nose :-). Amanda had told me that she had worked the pigs a little with Milo but that they didn't move very well and the dog had to be pretty forceful. I absolutely love trying new things with Diva so working the pigs was something I couldn't pass up. My thought was that it would likely end with Diva trying but not being very successful since she doesn't grip. Never the less, in ASCA swine were once a type of livestock used in trials so I knew it could be done and this was our chance. Once Amanda was finished with the lambs we all agreed it might be nice to get out of the rain for a bit and work the pigs in the barn. When we went in the door Diva was all about the pigs from the get go. I had to repeatedly call her back to me just so that we could get our stuff put down and get situated. When I sent her out to approach them I had no idea what she would really do nor did I have any idea how a pig "worked". The rest happened so fast that it was a big blur. I am pretty sure I was smiling like an idiot and yet also open mouthed in shock. Diva showed no hesitation in approaching the pigs and when they didn't move I said "get em'" and it was on! She was tough, gritty, and she was hitting heads hard to make motion! The way she locked on to them reminded me of how she gets with ducks but without the kindness ;-). She wasn't hearing that'll do so I had to really raise my voice and call her off to be nice to the pigs. We were all surprised and Dawn joked that we needed to check the one to make sure it wasn't bleeding (which it wasn't). So my sweet Diva who never grips had no issues figuring out that to make pigs move you have to work the heads and you have to bite them. Now I know that it was just 3 domestic pigs in barn and not to get to excited, but you had to be there to see it in action and to know Diva to understand how cool it was. Next time we are up if the weather is better we are going to try working them outside in the pasture. So Diva is totally in to working pigs and she made it clear while watching Enya and Milo take their turns that she wanted more action. We only worked the pigs once though because let's face it having a type of stock that needs to be chewed on to make them move is hard on the stock and we must respect the fact that they belong to someone else nice enough to let us use them. Amanda has a good thing going and Dawn and I wanted to make sure she keeps it that way :-). 

     From pigs we decided to try and find the cattle so we could move them from the orchard pasture to one that has been mowed recently for ease of working. The rain was down to a drizzle at the moment so we all headed into the pasture. Diva and I were holding the two escapes near the gate we needed them to go through and Dawn and Amanda spread out with their dogs to locate the cattle. Of course the cattle were in the furthest corner of the pasture and the last place that they looked ;-). When I tell you that the grass is chest high and that you can't see more than 20 feet in front of you it is no exaggeration. finding 13 head of cattle on 20 acres of this in wet conditions is HARD and uncomfortable. Dawn and Amanda had the cows coming down to the gate finally but at the last second they made a hard break for the bushes and scooted around us all. Failure. I think we were very close to giving up at that point but a few deep breaths and we rallied. Diva and I went out this time to the corner to get them and Dawn positioned herself where she and Enya could hold a side. Amanda and Milo hung back by the gate until we were set up. Again, keep in mind none of us can see each other or hear each other and the dogs had to gazelle leap to see over the grass. My jeans were completely soaked through but thank heavens for boots that stayed dry! When we got to the corner I tried to send Diva on an away so that I could push the cattle down the fence and back around to the gate. Diva was bouncing to see where she was going and she ended up not getting out wide enough which instead turned the cattle back and pushed them down the wrong fence line. The cattle were light so they ran off out of my sight and I was left yelling to Dawn that they were coming her way. I could hear Amanda and Dawn also communicating so I started back towards the gate going cross country because something told me I needed to be at the spot where they had gotten away from us last time. 20 acres feels like a million miles when you are hiking through it in the rain and soaked to the bone, lol, but when I made it to the spot I was just in time to see a bunch of cattle facing me and thinking about running through. Enter Diva and the magic purple umbrella I was carrying. I sent Diva forward to one side and then I waved my purple umbrella and yelled "hey cow" to startle them. Meanwhile Amanda was holding one side and Dawn was holding another. Purple umbrellas are scary I guess when you are a cow so the squeeze play worked and the cows turned and went in the gate! Success! Of course by this point the dogs, humans, and cattle were tired so we needed to take a break, lol. The rain was becoming more persistent and harder so we took shelter under a tree and took our turns working. This field was mowed but still very large and with a lot of trees to hide behind and the cattle seemed to have an affinity for picking the farthest corner from us ;-). Amanda and Milo did a great job of dog breaking the cattle. They are light but not stupid and they turn off a dog well, even the one momma with a new calf. Diva had no problems moving them or turning them but when they decided to head for their corner and I sent her out to cover I was simply out of dog for the day. She went but not fast enough to get to the heads and turn them back. I wasn't upset, she had a right to be tired...we all were. I decided to call it quits with the cattle. After Dawn and Amanda worked the cows we all headed back up to the barns so that Dawn and I could get ready to leave. The rain was really coming down and everyone was completely soaked. Just for fun I had Diva push Amanda's older sheep around in their pasture which had really deep grass. It's a nice challenge for the dog when they can't see the stock well and don't know the farm. Diva was happy to bounce out and bring the sheep back and the grass didn't really phase her. We ended with some very tired dogs but it was so much fun to get out someplace different and try new things! Amanda snapped some pictures of Diva working which I greatly appreciate so I will share them with you. The pig photos were very dark since we were in a closed barn so I had to lighten them quite a bit. 

    So what did I take away from this other than a lot of fun and laughs. A smelly dog! Poor Diva went straight from the car in to the bath tub because a wet dog covered in sheep, cow, and pig poop might be a happy one but they are also stinky!

We Just Came For The Cattle

   WAV hosted their 3rd ASCA trial at Keepstone Farm this past weekend and as always it was a great time. June is a fickle month in the Mid Atlantic and after starting out with low temps and rain we were treated to scorching heat and high humidity. It was tolerable under the ez-up canopies at best and a lot like swimming when you were out in the arena under the sun. Diva and I were only able to trial on Sunday and I had just entered the AM and PM advanced cattle. Part of me wanted to do sheep and ducks also for the fun but with the weather I was glad I didn't. I will admit that nothing makes me more miserable than being hot, lol.

   For the AM trial we ran 2nd under judge, Tony Padgett. The cattle were being gate sorted so there were no set groups. Just as Diva and I entered the arena someone on the neighboring property decided to shoot their gun. It was very close to the take pen in the woods just behind it. I am extremely fortunate that Diva is not noise sensitive so she barely flinched. I made sure to tell her how good she was and be upbeat. Once we gave Tony our number we headed to the take pen and bam, another shot fired. Now like I said, Diva doesn't really care about loud sounds but I wasn't all that keen on walking closer to where the shots were coming from and I couldn't see into the take pen yet to see how the cattle were reacting. It must happen frequently enough that the cattle don't care because when I opened the gate my calves weren't upset. I sent Diva in to get around and at the backside she hesitated a moment but one re-direction from me and she pushed them out nice and calmly. That take pen pretty much set the stage for the rest of the run. While the theme for many people would be "slow down" I was the competitor wanting my dog to speed up. Diva must have been channeling her inner Babe The Pig because whatever she said to those calves had them settled instantly. It was the most orderly walk to the first panels ever! Once behind there they got a little stalled out and one calf turned to face Diva. I had to encourage her to walk straight in a few times before she finally puffed herself up and gave one authoritative bark which did the trick and everyone started calmly walking the cross drive. There was no stopping as they came into the second set of panels and when I sent Diva away she kicked out (at a walk, lol) and they all turned and literally walked straight to the center and through. I didn't have to do a thing to help. We went down to the re-pen, pushed them off the gate, opened it, and Diva walked around and pushed them in. My mouth was dry from encouraging her and I was frustrated that she wouldn't speed things up but, ultimately she used exactly the amount of pressure that was needed and everything was exceptionally quiet. She was never off contact and except behind the first panel it was continuous motion...just at a very slow pace. When we left the arena I was happy but I figured that more than likely the cattle were just hot and were going to work slow all day. I was wrong. The cattle were honest and fair but if the dog stirred the pot they would get to running and once that happened they didn't stay together well. 

    Our PM run was under judge Andrea Hoffman and I had high hopes that I might get a little more speed out of Diva. I don't know why I thought I needed it because, ultimately a slow run is smooth and smooth is fast. Not mention it's easier on the stock and that is supposed to be the point of trials...to simulate real work. Thankfully there were no more gunshots. Diva was 5th to run and when we got to the take pen I found 2 of our calves had laid down for a nap. Take pens are never Diva's strong suit when it comes to cattle because she still isn't all that confident on the heads. I sent her to the back end of the calves because I thought that if I sent her to the heads she might bark and stir them up. She wasn't real sure what to do with them lying down but I encouraged her and pushed on them enough that they got up and came right out. Once again Diva walked the calves at a slow amble all the way to panel one, across the cross drive, and through the 2nd panels. I sent her away again and the calves pulled off the fence at a nice walk and headed to the center Y. I had positioned myself on the left side of the Y to help if need. As they approached the center the first calf picked up a trot and when I sent Diva out on a go by to head him off I could see she wasn't going to make it in time so I hustled around the Y and got in front myself. The calf slowed to a walk and I tried banging my stick on the ground but this caused another issue. Diva was still heading around to me on the go by but to her a banging stick means she is doing something wrong so she stopped and kicked back which caused the calf to move forward. I had to stop Diva and wave my stick like a light saber to make that sound to get the calf stopped again and then I called Diva around to me so she could walk into him and push him back. Diva is much stronger when I am close by so when the calf put his head down to lean on her she rose to the challenge and got after him. The great thing about that was it was enough to push all of the calves back together and up to behind the first panel but because Diva settled immediately they didn't get amped. I sent her go by to panel one and she moved them out of the corner and then literally brought them straight down the middle to the chute and through at a flat footed walk. Patience and teamwork made us very successful and I was thrilled with our effort. We re-penned just as in the first run and that was a wrap for our trial day.

    So how did we do? Well trial 1 Diva got a nice score of 107 which earned her a 2nd place to her BFF Singe who had a lovely 107.5! For trial 2 we earned another nice score of 109 which was not only first place but HIT cattle! I have a good idea of what we need to work on before Nationals and it was wonderful to get to spend the day with friends. 

These are in order and show pretty much how everything went except when we finally got them through the center (Kelly had to go do her sheep run :-)). Thank you Kelly for taking these though. I love them!

Passing On The Love For Herding

   It was a beautiful Sunday and I can't think of a better way to spend it than working dogs. The icing on the cake was that Jessica was able to meet me at Hog Dog so I could work Myst on sheep. Between us moving, Scott's medical emergency, Jess getting married, and her now expecting a baby things have not been working in our favor as far as Myst's stock training goes. I hate to admit it but, up until today it has been nearly a year since she was on sheep! If you remember in some of my earlier blog posts I shared pictures and videos of a VERY keen red tri puppy. She had a lot of enthusiasm to work with, a desire to get around them, and a decent down even with excitement. What she lacked was maturity, a desire to "see" the human in the picture at times, and she was difficult to get to change directions(orbiting). Today I knew that she would be excited but I wasn't sure what else I would find. Diva had done the gathering and sorting so we had 4 ewes and 2 lambs in the round pen. The lambs were a wild card, but ultimately it's good for Myst to not just have "knee knocker" sheep.

   When Jess handed her leash to me by the cars Myst was already gunning for the sheep, so we took a few seconds to introduce the rattle paddle and establish which one of us goes first when walking ;-). Myst pays great attention to noise so the paddle backs her off and widens her out great. I must remind myself to not over use it though so it doesn't lose it's impact and to be quicker with verbally rewarding when she responds by widening out. Inside the round pen we started just walking on lead around the sheep and staying respectful of a loose lead. She was really being very good so it wasn't long and I let her go as she stepped out to move around them. The result was very nicely to balance and fetching them to me albeit a little fast and pushy. For my part I tried to keep changing direction and push her out on her flanks. She squares much better to the go bye side but unlike the last time I worked her she was much easier going both directions and reading my position fluidly. Jess took some videos so I will let them speak for themselves.

    These first two video clips are from her first trip in the round pen. She is very fast but giving a pretty decent amount of space and taking the correction from the paddle well. Towards the end I almost took a tumble but caught myself on another sheep. Pushy dogs makes for very pushy sheep!

This last video is from the second session. It's a bit longer and you can see she is getting hot and tired but more importantly she keeps on working. We had a couple of interesting mishaps when the two lambs decided they no longer wanted to play and went under the gate (through no fault of Myst's). You see Taylor standing in the round pen because she is blocking the gate. Myst is a smart cookie and when she watched those lambs escape under the gate she walked over, took a look, and slid under herself to go after them. While I appreciate her tenacity the "shelter pen" held a group with several lambs and she is no where near ready to be in those kind of close quarters with a bunch of very light lambs. Thankfully while I was busy trying to get the gate open she fetched the sheep to me and then downed and held it until I could come in and get a hold of her. Lot's of praise for NOT making a big mess!

    It's always fun to bring along a new dog but yesterday I got to start sharing my passion and knowledge with a different kind of youngster, my daughter Taylor. Taylor has been wanting to "work" Diva for a while and with the end of the school year near it's a good time to start. Diva will work for Kelly to a degree so I am hoping that with time she will see the fun in working with Taylor. I would love for them to do juniors together! We started yesterday with both Taylor and I walking and working together. I was able to explain why we did certain things and Taylor practiced learning the correct flank commands. It was rather amusing to watch Diva as she sat facing Taylor waiting for a command. Taylor would tell her something, with me standing behind her, and Diva would move just her neck and head to look around her as if to ask me if that was what I really wanted, lol. I had to back up a few commands to get her to go but I hope once I feel comfortable staying outside the pen this will change and she will really listen to Taylor. For yesterday we did a lot of walking around and learning that you can tell what your dog is doing by watching you sheep, learning the flanks, and learning to steady up or down your dog if the sheep get to pushy. Taylor loved it and she talked the entire trip home about how she wants to "work dogs". 

Lessons From Lambs

   Diva and I met Rae and her crew at Hog Dog yesterday morning. It's a rarity to get June temps in the low 60's, so despite the drizzle it was still a very pleasant time. The real fun from yesterday came with the discovery that all of the ewes and their lambs are now available to be worked. Not only does this give us a much larger flock but, it allows us to create all sorts of interesting groups when sorting. 

    Diva and I collected the flock from the large pasture and did the initial sorting of working groups. I found it amusing that as I was desperately trying to figure out who's lambs were who's so that they could be sorted off together the ewes really could care less and didn't call out. So much for making my sort easier! Diva did a nice job of holding the sheep to me while I gate sorted a group that was heavily comprised of lambs with a few adult ewes in for comfort. We worked that group after they were in the arena and focused on staying out wide, rating, and watching for the draw. The lambs are all sensible but fresh and they quickly let you know when the dog is putting to much pressure on them. Diva has beautiful wide flanks and outruns when I am standing still but when I am moving she tries to work in much closer and gets caught up with motion as opposed to watching and rating her stock. This always makes me laugh because she can go out and do a much nicer advanced course with me not helping at all than she could go out an do a started course in fetch mode. It's interesting that fetching, which is her most natural default, also seems to put her brain on auto pilot. She keeps her stock together nicely but she doesn't pick up the nuances of individuals in the group as much as she just works the whole. This is why I love having lambs to work. Their less predictable reactions keep Diva watching and force more natural rating.

    For our second work session we used a group comprised of 2 adult ewes and 3 lambs that didn't belong to either ewe. The lambs in this group were very strong to the draws and to add another element of difficulty we left the gate into the shelter pen open to add another draw. I was originally going to go out in the pasture with this group but when I sent Diva out to gather them it became obvious that there I had plenty to focus on in the arena. Diva could easily gather them  and hold them to me but when I asked her to flank around and come in straight behind me to drive them off the lambs kept making a break for the draw while the ewes moved in the correct direction. Diva was taking the right commands from me but what she wasn't doing was taking them wide enough that she could catch the lambs eye before the scooted by. I ended upsetting this up several times before we had success and Diva finally squared off wide enough on her inside flanks. During some of the "out takes" Diva lost the lambs into the shelter pen and had to go in and bring them back out...another great teaching opportunity as she wanted to take a more direct route around them than the lambs could handle (especially without the comfort of and adult). I corrected her twice for trying to go to straight and she finally opted to hug the fence and pick them up nicely.

   The last time we worked was more of an exercise in letting Diva just figure things out. As Rae was coming out of the gate she slipped in eager to work so, I had Rae close the gate while I stayed exactly where I had been outside. Rae and I were conversing and I made no effort to give any commands or make eye contact. It all of the sheep together so plenty for her to watch. Diva looked at me for a minute before she set off and gathered everyone. I assumed she would fetch them to me which she did but then instead of holding them she flanked in and drove them away. Once they were going she changed her mind and flanked out to fetch them back. This repeated a few times before I saw Diva's mind set change and she started holding the group to me. Such a large group though has it's own ideas and so she had to constantly go and tuck the sheep back in which was perfect for what I wanted to accomplish. We ended there for the day and I must say that I was pleased. The lambs were an excellent surprise and I hope that I can get back out again soon before they get too broke.

Breaking Cow/Calf Pairs

Enya doing a nice job of moving everyone quietly

Doesn't this look so silly with the calves next to the Holstein?

Enya holding her pressure and waiting for the calf to turn with it's mother.

Diva hasn't seen many outdoor kitties. She really wanted to make friends with this guy but he wasn't all that impressed, lol. Her mind was totally blown later in the day when he ran up a tree and she couldn't see where he had gone. 

Diva driving them nicely before she stirred the pot

    Sometimes it seems like the universe is conspiring against you, or at least that is how it felt this past weekend when Scott, the kids, and I tried to go to NY for Memorial Day. What started out as a celebration of having my truck back quickly turned into a long day that ended with my truck on a tow truck and us right back where we started. To add insult to injury my FIL's truck caught on fire and burned beyond saving on 495 as he was heading home from helping us. The Hyon family is no stranger to adversity though so we rallied the next day, loaded the Volvo wagon, and finally made it to Gram's.

  My Mom's 3 adult ewes all had there lambs, 5 total, so I was excited to get up there and see them. Sheep are far from my favorite farm animal but I must admit that baby sheep are adorable and wildly entertaining with their antics. It was nothing for me to sit around by the barn and snap a few hundred photos. Mom is up to 16 sheep for now, so this fall she will have 6 mature ewes to breed. Next spring should bring even more lamb chaos, lol!

    My plans while in NY were very limited as we were only staying for a long weekend and ended up being shorted a day due to vehicle troubles. Dawn and I agreed that Sunday morning would work out best for both of us so I met her at her place anticipating we would work sheep. Surprise, surprise! Dawn suggested we go over to Sue's to work her cattle because 3 of them had recently given birth. I will be honest and say that up until this point I have avoided cow/calf pairs with Diva. This is for a couple of reasons. First, I know she isn't a strong dog on cattle and breaking cow/calf pairs is intense. 2.) I don't own any cattle and this isn't something you will get at a trial so, it isn't a skill set I put much emphasis on. When we arrived at Sue's we were greeted by some of the cutest calves ever. For those who aren't familiar with Dexter cattle they are a smaller beef breed. Sue also has one lone dairy heifer, who happens to be exceptionally tall even by Holstein standards, so when the calves were next to her it made for a very odd perspective. We all went into the pasture together but Diva and I hung back in the shade while Dawn and Enya got a feel for the group. These were all previously well broke cattle but with 3 babies under a month old it was clear the dynamic had changed. Enya is an exceptional cattle dog so she did a great job backing the challenges down and waiting for the calves to move off. That in my opinion is the biggest challenge to dog breaking pairs. The calves know nothing about dogs so they are curious or indifferent which makes them stand and stare. When mom moves off it takes a patient and confident dog to walk in and wait for the calf to follow. Where this all goes south is if the calf doesn't follow or mom feels like the dog is to close and she comes back to "save" her baby.

    After Enya had moved them around a little bit we decided to give Diva a go. It started out ok but Diva felt the pressure and threat from the mother cows  and I had to force her to stay in the pocket. Getting her to walk into the heads in the corner was also an effort and took a lot of encouragement. She wanted to bounce out and try and make motion with motion which is a pet peeve of mine. Trouble for Diva started though when I sent her to the far end to turn the cattle back and one calf choose to just stop and watch her. Diva paused and then made her big mistake. She knew I wouldn't let her kick out so she fainted a dash in and barked at the calf (something that works for her on adult cattle most of the time). All hell broke loose at that point because said calf's mother turned back and came running in full attack mode. Diva ran for cover and I can't say I blame her. Momma cows on the defensive are nasty!! Once she turned away I sent Diva straight back in and Dawn quickly sent Enya in to help.Between the two of them the group was moving again but they were now all on the defensive. That same momma kept trying to challenge and started bawling her head off which brought the bull racing from the barn to answer her cry for help. It was a situation where we knew that  if we continued to push nothing good would be gained. We let the dogs move them up the pasture together one time and then called it a day.

   Diva would have been fine if she hadn't barked but she lost her patience and confidence so she reacted. I know it wasn't an "I'm in charge" bark but more of a "stop looking at me weirdo" kind, lol. I didn't go there expecting her to be a rock star because I know her limitations very well. She will always be extremely kind and is fantastic when working weaned calves that are flighty but she is not a dog that see's a charging cow and stands her ground to meet them. She has always had a sense of self preservation and that is what holds her back in a way from being dynamic on cattle. I learned long ago that I can help her confidence by working her in specific ways and very regularly so this is what I will need to do in the next 4 months leading up to Nationals.