Our First AHBA Trial

Have you heard the phrase, "I'd forget my head if it wasn't attached."? Lol, well that is me sometimes. I was reviewing the blog thinking about things I have already written about and what I should cover to be as thorough as possible when I realized that, though I made reference to it, I had not ever posted the video of Diva doing HTAD I (sheep) this past November.  It's hard to keep up with what I have emailed, Facebooked, or posted on the Aussie Board :). 


This video has some very good things in it as well as some key points when it was handler error leading to mistakes. We had never done any AHBA before and I found I did enjoy the venue. Aside from different courses it was nice to get to watch so many different herding breeds working. What you won't see on the video is that Diva and I stood in the middle of the pen for several minutes while the stock handler was having a very hard time sorting out my group. There was a lot of shouting, banging, and sheep crashing around! Diva did an amazing job of staying calm despite the excitement and that alone made me proud. 


After the free standing pen Diva went out to cover and I made the mistake of yelling "No" at her which caused her to peel off and come back in to fast. The sheep split and it took her a moment to put everyone back together. Definitely handler error! I should have trusted her to do what she needed to do. Overall it was a fairly smooth run and we ended up with a Q and 3rd place out of 13. 

We also did one HTAD I duck run that day which ended up not going as well. Diva still hasn't had much duck time so she doesn't rate as well with ducks as she does with sheep. Her enthusiasm and desire to work them gets the best of her. I also had not practiced having her work them off the fence so when we needed to do that she could easily get them off but she wanted to over flank and would send them back to the draw. No Q for us but a great learning experience!

Nice And Easy

Diva and I went out for a little work session today. The weather was gorgeous, sunny and 58 on the 17th of January! I don't have a whole lot to say about it other than Diva did some nice things and a few not so nice ones ;). 

In this first clip Diva is supposed to go bye but at the last minute she changes the plan and does an away side gather. BAD DIVA!!!

In this video Diva is doing a little driving. This has not come easy for us and as you will see I tend to say a lot more than I should and some of it isn't even applicable. I think I heard myself say "sit" atleast 3 times when what I really wanted was a stop or wait. Can you say handler error! 

Setbacks

 I have been focusing a lot of attention lately on two main things, driving and holding pressure. Diva is a very natural fetching dog so the driving has not come easily. To further aggravate, the sheep where I work on a regular basis are very broke and pretty heavy. What I found when I set out to start teaching her the drive on these sheep was that she didn't know how to apply pressure AND hold it so in response she would try and get around to cover the heads and put pressure there. She was also still wanting to wear wide and on the small group of 5 head this caused us to travel more of a zig zag pattern than a straight line. Can you picture it in your head, lol? Diva looking at me for help, sheep not really impressed to move, and me having to keep up a steady stream of commands which caused Diva to get worried and speed up. Clearly this wasn't working out!


Finally on impulse one day when I was out in the huge pasture collecting the flock (about 25 head) I decided to ask Diva to drive them. Voila! It wasn't perfect but Diva could now wear wider and not affect the side to side motion so much and I didn't have to constantly correct and re-direct her. She was gaining some confidence and walking up and I felt happiness. Out in the large field and as a flock the sheep were more willing to move too, it just seemed like a win, win situation. I did this a few more times in the following work sessions and Diva was making good strides. I was letting her push them past me and gradually hanging back farther and farther as she gained some distance. She was understanding that it was ok for her to take them away because periodically I would have her get around and bring them back so we could repeat. Then disaster happened :(!


It was early October (2011) on a very pretty afternoon and Diva and I were out working as normal. Same plan, same goals. Go out, get the flock and work on her driving. Things seemed to be going well and she was pushing them away nicely. I had slowed my own pace and was about 100' or so behind her when all of a sudden the ram turned around and challenged Diva. Now this ram has never ever been an issue. In fact he has always been somewhat of a chicken when it comes to the dogs so my first inclination was to see what she would do and ask her to "get him up". Diva has never been inclined to grip and it is something that I have always wanted to try and encourage under the right circumstance. So as I watch her lock eyes with him and get down low I told her to get him up and she lunges forward and barks (but doesn't bite). The ram holds his ground and once again they are eye to eye but this time he steps forward first and she loses some confidence. I am to far away to help her (my mistake) and the ram seizes the opportunity to charge. Diva is scrambling to get out of the way and I am now running to save her. Fortunately a smack from my stick sends him back to his ladies but the damage was done. Diva was intimidated. 


The things going through my head at that moment all over the board. I was concerned for Diva, angry at myself for not being closer, angry at the ram (very illogical, I know), and hard pressed to act as if nothing happened so that I didn't coddle Diva. I immediately told her to walk up and went with her to help push the flock. I have heard that handler response during a situation like this can leave a lasting impression so my goal was to get her working again and show her I was there to back her up. I kept my voice low and calm and every time the ram would turn I would crack him with my stick. It took about 10 minutes of Diva and I doing this together before I saw her start to relax again. At that point I seized the moment to send her on a couple of yee-haw outruns to liven her spirits and then we quit. 


What I learned from that day was an important lesson. A ram during breeding season is a whole different animal than one who is not, regardless of his previous history. I was lucky that he remained respectful of human correction because Diva and I were out in the middle of 10 acres with no one around. If he had decided to take me down he could have hurt me. The other thing I learned was that Diva needed a bite command, even if I had to train it in. We are still working on it ;). Having this happen was a huge setback to our driving and it couldn't have come at a worse time. The silver lining was that the following day I was headed up to work with friends and Diva had a chance to work sheep, cows, and ducks. I was concerned that she might be hesitant but Diva showed no reservations! Not the toughest dog in the world but she still has a desire to please. That'll do Diva!

Here is Mr. Ram in all of his glory

The Raw Product

I found another fun video for educational purposes. This was taken when Diva was just 7 months old. It is only our 2nd time working sheep "alone" (without trainer). Diva's first exposure came at 13 weeks old and from there we did one lesson a month with a somewhat local BC trainer. Once I got permission from the sheep owner to rent time on the sheep and work on my own I started doing that and moved away from taking lessons. It certainly wasn't because I knew what to do on my own but I didn't like where the training was headed and I was seeing things in Diva that worried me. She was about to hit a natural fear period for young Aussies and the "rules" of stock work were causing her to do more avoidance behaviors like eating poop and bombing off. My concern was that she would turn off altogether and since I was now officially bitten by the stock work bug I didn't want that to happen.

So in this video we have a very young pup and a handler that has only ever worked sheep 4-5 times. This is the raw product!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dP76ia-Y4QQ

We've Come A Long Way!

I'm on a role these past few days with updating the blog and trying to continue to fill in the back story. In going through my old hard drives and digging deep into YouTube I came across the video for Diva's first ever ASCA trial in started sheep. Watching it now makes me cringe but I also have a new appreciation for how much work Diva was doing and how she covered for me. Aside from some barking and being fast I lucked out that she was as honest and kind as she is because I certainly wasn't helping her any. In fact I don't think I actually said any flanking commands. In default mode I just kept repeating no and lie down, lol! 


The judge was Dana MacKenzie and I can clearly remember her saying during the started handlers meeting even if we felt things were going bad keep working until she said to stop. I guess I took that to heart because there were a few times I probably should have stopped but she never said to ;). We did manage to barely eek out a Q with this run and I give all of that credit to Diva!


So here is the video this was taken in April 2010 at a BVASC trial. 

If you have been following this blog then you have probably watched the video of Diva last month doing an AHBA trial. We've come a long way!

The good, the bad, and the downright ugly (truth)

I had the chance to get several video clips today from our work session. Diva and I worked for about 15 minutes on Monday morning but prior to that she has been off for a month due to the holidays and travel. I should have re-read yesterdays blog post about expectations because I certainly did have mine pretty high! With all of the ewes except these 4 with tiny lambs or about to lamb my stock options are limited. These girls are pretty darn heavy and not the best for teaching the drive. I make all kinds of mistakes the more frustrated I get and as you will see Diva starts getting "soft" and clingy.

These next three clips are us doing some baby work on inside flanks. Some of it goes ok and then there are a few flubs that left me laughing. The good thing that can be seen on these video's is that Diva has no issue coming into me and pushing the stock off. This is a great start for driving but where we seem to go wrong is once she gets a certain distance away from me it doesn't feel right to her and she wants to balance and fetch them back. I know I am guilty of expecting to much so perhaps the issue is more handler related and less dog! Her "there" button still seems to be broken too ;).

So in this last little clip I am using the line to help her be in the right spot. Not my favorite technique but I could feel my frustration rising and we weren't getting any where. As we start heading back towards the camera I did drop the line, Diva gave me a few good solid driving steps and I called her off. It seemed like a good place to end it!

Firsts

 The problem with starting a blog about something that is already underway is that you have so much to catch up on and in the mean time new and exciting things that you also want to write about keep happening. I have a couple of videos that I wanted to share because they are key to Diva and I growing together and reaching my goals. The following videos were taken in April 2011 on the same day. Up until this point Diva had only ever worked sheep. I had always wanted to give her a chance on cows and ducks but it wasn't until this point that had a source. I had signed us up to do a Terry Wofford cattle clinic in PA and in preparation for that I thought that we should at least get in a first exposure to make sure she would work them or it would be money wasted. 


 So what you will see below is her first exposures to both cows and ducks. She started with cows and then had an hour or so off before we tried her on ducks. 

 Now is probably a very good time to talk about expectations and disappointment. It is easy to have high and unreasonable expectations especially when you regularly get to see qualities you admire in another dog. I told myself that I just wanted Diva to show an interest in the cows because if there was interest we could develop and teach some skills. The truth was deep down inside I hoped that she would walk in that arena, walk up on those cows, and go in for a heel bite...clearly that didn't happen ;). I had long been watching Kelly's girl Raven and for better or worse her "style" is what I have come to appreciate and therefore hoped to see in Diva. It isn't going to happen and I understand that now. Those expectations have caused me more than once to place unfair pressure on Diva and at times I have been disappointed. In the past few months since Nationals I think I have done much better in accepting Diva for what she is and her own style. I want to enjoy the journey with her, as she seems to enjoy it with me, because in all of our days working together I can never remember her looking up at me like I disappointed her. Sadly I can not say the same about myself. This is an important lesson for anyone new (and maybe some even old) to stock work and trialing.  Train the dog you have and not the dog you wish you had. Every dog has something they can teach you!

2012: The Year Of The WTCH

Happy New Year!!


Here we are 3 days into 2012 and I am feeling compelled to set some goals for Diva and I. I have never been one to stick to New Years resolutions so hopefully this year will be the year I finally stick with it (that might be a resolution in itself? :)). Diva did some nice things in 2011 with very limited trialing. She earned a CD, RN, RS-N, JS-N, GS-N, JS-O, 2 legs to her RS-O, 1 leg to her GS-O, JS-E, 1 leg of STDd, and she qualified for novice Obedience Finals in ASCA. She also earned her first leg in HTAD I sheep. As far as training goes she worked cattle and ducks for the first time in 2011 and did her first stock clinic.I often say I wish we had accomplished more but when I really step back and see it for what it is I am proud of what we did get done. Diva is just a fun happy dog to work with and a joy to train.


So for 2012 I have some lofty goals but I think that Diva is capable if I can budget in the money and time for trialing. This year is going to hopefully be the year of the WTCH! I have marked my calendar for 3 or 4 large weekends of stock dog trials and if we can pull it off that should do it. Is it ambitious, yes, but the idea is to finish the started and open titles in early spring and then train through late summer and move into advanced for the two trials that are within driving distance in August. I would also like to get an FTD, RA, RE, RS-E, GS-E, and start working on an ATCH. I have debated about ending her Obedience career as she doesn't seem to enjoy it all that much but for now I think I will wait and leave the door cracked. A CDX doesn't seem unobtainable and if I am already at a Rally/Obedience trial then what the heck ;). 

OFA: The waiting almost killed me!

 At Nationals during a chiro adjustment Diva yelped out as her one hip was palpated. I had never heard her cry out like that before so of course it worried me. Up until that point I hadn't had radiographs done of her hips but that yelp set the wheels in motion and I started looking for a place to get her done as soon as we got back from Wisconsin. 


 Diva's somewhat questionable breeder did not have OFA's done on either Sire or Dam but in cross checking her pedigree with the OFA database I was able to find a record for most of her 4 generation ancestors. Of those I could find there were 5 excellents, 13 goods, and 2 fairs. No reported dysplastics though I doubt they would have been listed had they been in there! Of course we all know that a dysplastic puppy can still be born to two excellent parents so having this small bit of information did little to ease my mind. 


The next "traumatic" unfolding came when after calling all around I discovered that most of my local options required sedation. I won't ever say that Diva is like my child because I have human children, and for me it's vastly different. She is family though and I love her with all of my heart. Diva is not a kennel dog, she has never been boarded anywhere, and prior to this she had never been out of my sight at a vet office. It all seems rather silly now but at the time I was feeling a lot of guilt about having to leave her for the day and worried that no matter how mild the sedation something would go wrong. The saving grace for this entire process was that Diva's new vet happens to be same woman who owns the facility where I rent sheep time and do agility. I knew she understood performance dogs and better yet, I knew her outside of her profession.


Thanks to a good friend providing some necessary distraction for the day I made it through and got the call to come pick Diva up around 3pm. When I got there she was resting in a crate and she hardly made a big deal about seeing me (I am wondering if this love affair is one sided? ;)). The vet reviewed the rads with me, pointed out things she noted, and gave me her educated "prediction". At this point I was just happy to have my dog back! 


Here are Diva's hips

The following day a new and torturous kind of waiting began. I had overnighted the application and radiographs to OFA so I chewed my nails and sat on my hands trying to restrain myself from stalking OFA. This worked for about a week and half when I made my first call ;). I am sure that they deal with many anxious owners so kindly they never did say anything about my calls and patiently told me what stage of review the films were in. 3.5 weeks later I received the results....Diva was OFA Good! 


Now that the first OFA experience is behind me I anticipate any future experiences to be less stressful....right? ;) Diva never did act like it bothered her and in fact she even gave me a gift to make the memory last. Diva experienced the post anesthesia coat blow so I have been vacuuming hairballs and brushing out coat for weeks!