This past Tuesday Diva and were back out to Chestnut Creek Farm to work. The lambs were going to get their 2nd official exposure to Diva and I wanted to practice some of my driving exercises on the older sheep. I am hoping that the new holding pens get finished soon because I think being able to have the lambs in a more uniform (in shape) pen will help this process go along better. For now we work them in their weaning field which is longer than wide and has one end that narrows down considerably right next to the gate. It is this area that I have to be most careful sending Diva into. What I don't want to do is to panic the lambs past the point of thinking and have them try and go through the fence or gate. This requires Diva to hug the fence line and proceed step by step while the lambs "think" it over. Once they decide they can move by her as she gets behind (the space is at most 4 feet wide) then they head up the field. I don't let Diva chase (not that she even tries) so within 10 or so feet the lambs slow right down and we all walk up the field. At the top of the field I alter her flanks and let her push them around a bit before they go back down to the small end and we repeat. Diva is great at this but because of the delicate nature I find myself really micro managing the process and asking Diva to be very specific. In short, I am talking to much and not letting her work!
This may not have become that obvious to me except for the fact that after working the lambs we went out and trained on the older sheep. What I found was that Diva was suddenly looking to me more than usual for directions and she wasn't covering as well as she normally does on the fetch...hmmm. Definitely a problem! I seemed to have finally crossed that line between in control and over controlling. What I decided to do to start fixing this was leave Diva with the sheep in the field while I went outside and had a conversation :-). The look on her face was completely mystified and while I explained what I was doing to Jeff it took almost 5 minutes of Diva just staring at me and occasionally glancing at the sheep before she decide to go move them around herself. I was refusing to say anything to her at all because I wanted her to go do something independently and even more I wanted to see what that something was :-). When she finally started working it was calm and she gathered up the sheep and brought them to where I stood on the fence. Then she stared at me and waited. While she was staring the sheep saw their opportunity to escape and they did. I said nothing and in less time than the first she went back out and got her sheep again. We continued doing this with me saying nothing until Diva was bringing the sheep to me and then only watching them and adjusting to hold them there. When I was satisfied with her holding I made one comment "walk em' up" and she started driving them around the pen. Periodically she would stop and look at me but as long as I didn't say anything she continued working and watching the stock. In total we spent about 20 minutes doing this and I was pleased with the result. I will be doing this again with Diva the next time we work and also going back to some fetching and "fun" to refresh.
We have a little over a month until the next big trial and I want to bring our A game but not at the expense of having a flat dog. I need to be very careful that I am working with her instinct and not rushing things along for my own benefit! The really good news about Tuesday though was that Diva and I got back to agility class after our 3 week hiatus. It was fantastic to get to run and I loved the challenge that training courses brought. Diva's running A frame is holding good but I am at a cusp as far as making a decision on what I want the rest of contact criteria to be. The dog walk will remain 2o/2o but I am considering having the teeter be a 4 on contact with a quick release. The word of the day with agility is CONSISTENCY!
The Diva Chronicles
Thursday, June 28, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
A to Z For Better Herding
Continued from the "Hot, Hot, HOT!!!" post......
We then took our turn on the broke sheep. I have been trying to get more precise with Diva about "there" and having her do a straight "walk up" on the stock, especially into pressure. To practice a lot of these elements I wanted to work on alphabet patterns with the sheep. The idea is that I stand in the center of this square pen and have Diva move the sheep in the shape of a letter from the alphabet. I don't know if any has or has not done this as a training exercise with livestock but I got the idea from a book that does agility drills :-). To start with I am picking some of the easier letters like "L", "N", "X", and "Z". The point would be to smoothly be able to switch from driving down the fence line to going across the arena (from a fetch to the handler then back to driving) and then on to the next fence line. You would have to be able to work all your flanks smoothly and have a good there to make this happen. I hope that everyone can picture what I am talking about in your mind but if not, I do intend to do some diagrams of these exercises and post them on this blog.
"L" is of course not all that hard and is a good place to start. Diva was easily able to drive the sheep in the "L" pattern in both directions (I like to flip the letter as well to be even on both sides). Then I moved on to "N" which presented a challenge to us that we had a hard time with at the trial. After fetching the sheep to me across the diagonal Diva needs to walk up and push the sheep off to the corner beyond me. This is where a straight walk up into pressure is needed and we did struggle last night. I find that Diva wants to always move a couple of steps in one direction or another when starting her walk up. From what I can see this is her way of releasing the pressure she feels from having the stock being pushed into a corner and she isn't technically being bad or wrong for doing it. Working lighter sheep though a couple of steps can cause the sheep to move out of position, especially if she takes those couple of steps at a trot. So this is where we are at. I am getting technical and asking her to slow down. I know that Diva is a smart dog and once she learns that she can do this things are going go along nicely.
I intend to continue working all of the letters of the alphabet as we progress and eventually I would like to start trying this with ducks as well. Next week we will revisit "L" and "N" but also add in "X" and "Z". Keeps the dog and the stock guessing!
We then took our turn on the broke sheep. I have been trying to get more precise with Diva about "there" and having her do a straight "walk up" on the stock, especially into pressure. To practice a lot of these elements I wanted to work on alphabet patterns with the sheep. The idea is that I stand in the center of this square pen and have Diva move the sheep in the shape of a letter from the alphabet. I don't know if any has or has not done this as a training exercise with livestock but I got the idea from a book that does agility drills :-). To start with I am picking some of the easier letters like "L", "N", "X", and "Z". The point would be to smoothly be able to switch from driving down the fence line to going across the arena (from a fetch to the handler then back to driving) and then on to the next fence line. You would have to be able to work all your flanks smoothly and have a good there to make this happen. I hope that everyone can picture what I am talking about in your mind but if not, I do intend to do some diagrams of these exercises and post them on this blog.
"L" is of course not all that hard and is a good place to start. Diva was easily able to drive the sheep in the "L" pattern in both directions (I like to flip the letter as well to be even on both sides). Then I moved on to "N" which presented a challenge to us that we had a hard time with at the trial. After fetching the sheep to me across the diagonal Diva needs to walk up and push the sheep off to the corner beyond me. This is where a straight walk up into pressure is needed and we did struggle last night. I find that Diva wants to always move a couple of steps in one direction or another when starting her walk up. From what I can see this is her way of releasing the pressure she feels from having the stock being pushed into a corner and she isn't technically being bad or wrong for doing it. Working lighter sheep though a couple of steps can cause the sheep to move out of position, especially if she takes those couple of steps at a trot. So this is where we are at. I am getting technical and asking her to slow down. I know that Diva is a smart dog and once she learns that she can do this things are going go along nicely.
I intend to continue working all of the letters of the alphabet as we progress and eventually I would like to start trying this with ducks as well. Next week we will revisit "L" and "N" but also add in "X" and "Z". Keeps the dog and the stock guessing!
Hot, Hot, HOT!!!!
Summer has finally arrived in Maryland and with very little transition from mild to downright miserable. With temperatures soaring into the upper 90's combining with high humidity it's the type of weather where humans, dogs, and stock are all uncomfortable. It is also a fact of life in Maryland, so if you intend to get anything done in regards to training then you need to learn to use the mornings and evenings to your advantage.
Diva and I went out to work at Chestnut Creek Farm as we normally do on Tuesday evenings and found that we had a group of newly weaned lambs to start dog breaking. These are the type of tasks that I love doing with Diva because she is so kind and easy on the stock. She will wait patiently for the lambs to check her out and then walk up easy to push them on. To add some challenge to our job the lambs were in a pasture that bordered where their mothers were. Diva had to walk very slowly down the fenceline and give the lambs a chance to think without them trying to get through the fence and gate. Jeff was standing by while we worked the lambs and I am sure that at first he was wondering if this might not go all to well ;-). Sheep aren't exactly the smartest animals and lambs can get panicked very quickly! My plan was to push them up away from the gate and into the top of their field a couple of times and call it done. Diva did a fantastic job and at the end I think both Jeff and I were satisfied with the lambs first dog exposure.
Diva and I went out to work at Chestnut Creek Farm as we normally do on Tuesday evenings and found that we had a group of newly weaned lambs to start dog breaking. These are the type of tasks that I love doing with Diva because she is so kind and easy on the stock. She will wait patiently for the lambs to check her out and then walk up easy to push them on. To add some challenge to our job the lambs were in a pasture that bordered where their mothers were. Diva had to walk very slowly down the fenceline and give the lambs a chance to think without them trying to get through the fence and gate. Jeff was standing by while we worked the lambs and I am sure that at first he was wondering if this might not go all to well ;-). Sheep aren't exactly the smartest animals and lambs can get panicked very quickly! My plan was to push them up away from the gate and into the top of their field a couple of times and call it done. Diva did a fantastic job and at the end I think both Jeff and I were satisfied with the lambs first dog exposure.
Monday, June 18, 2012
The Highs And Lows Of A Trial Weekend: Part 2
Saturday at BVASC brought the opportunity for two arena trials on ducks and sheep. Going in to the trial Diva had a leg in both started sheep and ducks so I was hopeful that we would get to finish up those titles and move on to open. I actually never gave sheep much thought. I figured that it was a given so I spent my morning worrying about ducks.
If you remember back a couple of posts ago I mentioned that other than a once the prior week Diva had not been on ducks in 8 months. This alone was enough to make me wonder if I was crazy for entering! See, Diva and I have a very love hate relationship with ducks. She loves them and I hate them, lol. So you can imagine my surprise when our first duck run came around and not only did we do well but we did great! Diva was fantastic with the young ducks. she didn't push, she got out wide, and she kept the course going smoothly. I had taken to heart some of the tips of the judges from the day before so on the re-pen I remembered to bring Diva in and move the stock off the gate. The young ducks drifted pretty far back up the fence so once I had the gate open I sent Diva around on a go bye and she very carefully came in at balance and walked them in. We were both smiling and I was certain that we had gotten a Q. Shortly afterwards when the AM trial was over I had the chance to talk with the judge, Dana McKenzie. She made sure to tell me how nice Diva was and that she was not only kind to her stock but that she had a very good natural sense of balance. Those are the kinds of words that make your heart swell with pride. Diva not only got the Q with a score of 92 but we also took 1st place and finished off her STDd! Our AM started sheep run also ended with a Q and finished her STDs but due to handler errors the score was not what it could have been. I didn't uphold my end of the bargain and I wasn't where I needed to be to keep the run going smoothly.
With two new titles earned I decided to move up to open in both sheep and ducks for the PM trial. I believe I had a good case of over confidence going on in regards to sheep all weekend and so once again I fixated on what it was going to take to be successful with the ducks. I gave some thought to working the center pen with the sheep but ultimately in my mind I pictured us just really cruising through the first part of the course. What I didn't account for was how much these sheep were going to lean on the dog and how sticky they were going to be to me! I can't tell you how many times, and from several different sources, people have told me that you have to work light sheep to practice for a trial. The sheep I work normally are what some might call heavier or fetchy so I always take any opportunity to work with light sheep that I can get. When the sheep were set out I sent Diva on a go bye and gave her a there when she was where I thought she needed to be. It was just a bit to early because the sheep spotted me and raced to my side. I had Diva walk up but no matter what I did or where I tried to put her we could not get the sheep to leave me alone. Now that I am out of the arena I can of course see several different options that I should have tried but while we were in there with the sheep getting hot and Diva and I getting frustrated I decided to call my run. We never made it through the first obstacle, we never made it through the second, and we never tried the center pen. I was so upset with myself and disappointed by what I thought should have been an fairly straight forward run that I couldn't wait to get out of the arena. What I didn't know was that in open if the handler crosses the line you only lose 15% of your total points and you can still get a Q. I should have let Diva fetch the sheep to me around the course, done the center pen, and re-pen so that we could end on a good note and I might have walked away with a Q. I acted very rashly and I wasn't thinking in my dogs best interest when I bolted out of that run. I was embarrassed and it sucked...plain and simple. All this time training and all of the good things we have been doing and we couldn't even drive these sheep down the fence line. It wasn't Diva's fault, it was mine.
One of the greatest things about Diva is that she doesn't hold a grudge and she doesn't sulk. She certainly must have felt my frustration as we stomped from the sheep arena down to the duck arena. Being that Diva was in heat we were the last to run in both sheep and ducks. The judge for ducks asked me if I wanted to take a minute to collect myself but I just wanted to get on with it and be done so in we went. This is where Diva really got a chance to be a super star. She picked up her ducks easily and once they started moving the course just flowed. No rush, just calm steady motion of ducks and dog. When the ducks cleared the second panel I opened the gate to the center pen and Diva lifted them off the fence and brought them straight to me. I was in the wrong spot so we over shot a little bit but I adjusted and Diva did a splendid job of maintaining control and covering for me. All 5 ducks went in and I closed the gate. What I wanted to do was yell for joy but of course we had to finish ;-). I opened the gate, Diva pushed the ducks out, and we moved on to the re-pen. DONE! Time to celebrate and how fortunate for me that even with my sulky mood and our poor performance on sheep that we got to end on such a good note. Our score was a 111 which gave us our first leg towards OTDd and a 1st place!
Diva makes smile, she makes me laugh, and she covers for me in a way that I imagine a good stockdog should. I have to believe that having a dog that can compensate for the human errors and still get the job done without abusing the stock is why these great dogs were developed. I know that she doesn't live to work stock any more than she lives to do agility but what she does live for is to do ANYTHING with me. So tonight as I am writing this I feel incredibly humbled by the fact that I have a dog that wants to be be whatever it is I want her to be. And further more, she has the intelligence and athleticism to make it a reality. Dana McKenzie wrote on one of my score sheets a little note and part of it said..."...Should go far once she gets "Mom" straightened out.". I do believe she is right...when will I ever learn? Thankfully I have Diva walking beside me while I try and figure it out!
That'll do, Diva!
If you remember back a couple of posts ago I mentioned that other than a once the prior week Diva had not been on ducks in 8 months. This alone was enough to make me wonder if I was crazy for entering! See, Diva and I have a very love hate relationship with ducks. She loves them and I hate them, lol. So you can imagine my surprise when our first duck run came around and not only did we do well but we did great! Diva was fantastic with the young ducks. she didn't push, she got out wide, and she kept the course going smoothly. I had taken to heart some of the tips of the judges from the day before so on the re-pen I remembered to bring Diva in and move the stock off the gate. The young ducks drifted pretty far back up the fence so once I had the gate open I sent Diva around on a go bye and she very carefully came in at balance and walked them in. We were both smiling and I was certain that we had gotten a Q. Shortly afterwards when the AM trial was over I had the chance to talk with the judge, Dana McKenzie. She made sure to tell me how nice Diva was and that she was not only kind to her stock but that she had a very good natural sense of balance. Those are the kinds of words that make your heart swell with pride. Diva not only got the Q with a score of 92 but we also took 1st place and finished off her STDd! Our AM started sheep run also ended with a Q and finished her STDs but due to handler errors the score was not what it could have been. I didn't uphold my end of the bargain and I wasn't where I needed to be to keep the run going smoothly.
With two new titles earned I decided to move up to open in both sheep and ducks for the PM trial. I believe I had a good case of over confidence going on in regards to sheep all weekend and so once again I fixated on what it was going to take to be successful with the ducks. I gave some thought to working the center pen with the sheep but ultimately in my mind I pictured us just really cruising through the first part of the course. What I didn't account for was how much these sheep were going to lean on the dog and how sticky they were going to be to me! I can't tell you how many times, and from several different sources, people have told me that you have to work light sheep to practice for a trial. The sheep I work normally are what some might call heavier or fetchy so I always take any opportunity to work with light sheep that I can get. When the sheep were set out I sent Diva on a go bye and gave her a there when she was where I thought she needed to be. It was just a bit to early because the sheep spotted me and raced to my side. I had Diva walk up but no matter what I did or where I tried to put her we could not get the sheep to leave me alone. Now that I am out of the arena I can of course see several different options that I should have tried but while we were in there with the sheep getting hot and Diva and I getting frustrated I decided to call my run. We never made it through the first obstacle, we never made it through the second, and we never tried the center pen. I was so upset with myself and disappointed by what I thought should have been an fairly straight forward run that I couldn't wait to get out of the arena. What I didn't know was that in open if the handler crosses the line you only lose 15% of your total points and you can still get a Q. I should have let Diva fetch the sheep to me around the course, done the center pen, and re-pen so that we could end on a good note and I might have walked away with a Q. I acted very rashly and I wasn't thinking in my dogs best interest when I bolted out of that run. I was embarrassed and it sucked...plain and simple. All this time training and all of the good things we have been doing and we couldn't even drive these sheep down the fence line. It wasn't Diva's fault, it was mine.
One of the greatest things about Diva is that she doesn't hold a grudge and she doesn't sulk. She certainly must have felt my frustration as we stomped from the sheep arena down to the duck arena. Being that Diva was in heat we were the last to run in both sheep and ducks. The judge for ducks asked me if I wanted to take a minute to collect myself but I just wanted to get on with it and be done so in we went. This is where Diva really got a chance to be a super star. She picked up her ducks easily and once they started moving the course just flowed. No rush, just calm steady motion of ducks and dog. When the ducks cleared the second panel I opened the gate to the center pen and Diva lifted them off the fence and brought them straight to me. I was in the wrong spot so we over shot a little bit but I adjusted and Diva did a splendid job of maintaining control and covering for me. All 5 ducks went in and I closed the gate. What I wanted to do was yell for joy but of course we had to finish ;-). I opened the gate, Diva pushed the ducks out, and we moved on to the re-pen. DONE! Time to celebrate and how fortunate for me that even with my sulky mood and our poor performance on sheep that we got to end on such a good note. Our score was a 111 which gave us our first leg towards OTDd and a 1st place!
Diva makes smile, she makes me laugh, and she covers for me in a way that I imagine a good stockdog should. I have to believe that having a dog that can compensate for the human errors and still get the job done without abusing the stock is why these great dogs were developed. I know that she doesn't live to work stock any more than she lives to do agility but what she does live for is to do ANYTHING with me. So tonight as I am writing this I feel incredibly humbled by the fact that I have a dog that wants to be be whatever it is I want her to be. And further more, she has the intelligence and athleticism to make it a reality. Dana McKenzie wrote on one of my score sheets a little note and part of it said..."...Should go far once she gets "Mom" straightened out.". I do believe she is right...when will I ever learn? Thankfully I have Diva walking beside me while I try and figure it out!
That'll do, Diva!
The Highs And Lows Of A Trial Weekend: Part 1
The long anticipated trial weekend has come and gone for Diva and I, and I have many thoughts. We had many success, some in areas I had concerns about, and we also had some failures that I didn't expect. I think the main thing I can take away from this trial just confirms what I already know in my training. Handler errors are usually the reason things don't work out ;-). Diva was a wonderful partner to me this weekend and she never ever let me down. I can't say the same for myself but alas I am still a work in progress.
Friday BVASC offered two farm trials on mixed stock (sheep and ducks). I entered both in the hopes that we might walk away with a new title. The AM trial went very well for us. Diva was calm from the start when we pulled the sheep out of the barnyard and drove them up to the arena and sorting pens. Sorting is not something I have to do a lot of so I had reservations about getting it done. I am also keenly aware of the fact that Diva does not have a very precise and steady walk up. In light of that when I was at the gate and had a marked sheep within arms reach of me while Diva was just holding them to me I took the opportunity to grab it and shove it in :-). Luck be with me because then the other 2 marked sheep went right in and one unmarked. I decide that with that having gone very smoothly I would leave the one unmarked sheep and move on. We very likely could have sorted it out but Diva had done well and we were very early in what was a decent length course (total time allowed 25 minutes). My thought was to take the points lost in favor of not getting the stock or Diva stressed in the pen work. From the sort we took the sheep across the arena and into the back field to set up for the long outrun and gather. Diva did a very nice away side outrun and when I had the sheep with me we set of walking down the long side of the course to the duck arena and chute. There is section of woods open to the sheep and as we came close to the duck arena gate I made the mistake of moving into drive position and the sheep took that opportunity to dart into the woods. I sent Diva in to get them and she went but the sheep were good about using the trees to their advantage. At this point I remembered to go help Diva so I walked into the woods and the sheep went back into fetch mode. We walked down to the gate and I put them into the chute. From there we had to take the ducks out of one expen and move them to a hold. Once the hold was cleared then you had to repen in another expen on the opposite side of the arena. These were very young ducks that hadn't been worked much but if the dog was right and worked slowly they were nice and honest. We were able to get all of the duck tasks done and then moved back to the sheep. Diva pushed the sheep up the chute and held them at the gate to the barn yard while I opened it and then we put them back in a stall. I think that at that moment both Diva and I were bursting with joy. I had no idea how we would score but the fact that we had gotten through it was enough. A good friend, Amanda Farnsworth, happened to capture that exact moment on camera. I think the picture says it all! When all was said and done we ended up scoring a 105 which earned us a 3rd place and a leg towards OFTDm.
The PM farm trial brought a new group of sheep and a new set of challenges. We started in the barn yard again but instead of moving the sheep up the hill to the arena (which is what their routine is) we had to take them down into the duck arena and put them in the chute right away. Right away Diva and I lost the sheep up the hill to the arena and had to go get them. Once we were back down where we needed to be the sheep kept getting stuck around some vehicles that were parked there. Eventually though we did manage to get them into the duck arena and then the chute. Then it was on to duck work. This time we had to take the ducks out of the expen, put them through a duck chute, and then repen in another expen. Diva and I got through the obstacle fine but we had some trouble getting our group into the repen. Hindsight being what it was (and having the judge tell me ;-)) I realized that it was my fault that the ducks didn't go in the pen. I was standing to close to the entrance and waving my stick around. We ended up with 3 penned and I decided to move on. Unfortunately that was pretty much how the rest of the run went south. We took the sheep out of the chute to the arena and proceeded to sort off the marked ones. We got the sort done but this group of sheep were very strong on the gate and I think I lost a lot of points forcing the gate open while they struggled to get in. It was not ideal but the draw back to the barn was so strong that I knew if I called Diva in to push them off the gate that they would squirt out and we would lose them back down the hill. From the sort we went across the arena and into the back field to set out for the outrun. Here is where we lost our run altogether. These sheep, unlike the morning group, live on this farm so they know the lay of the land. As I was fetching them to the hold point they took every opportunity to lean on Diva and try to get by her to run down the side of the field and back to the barn. Diva and I were both getting stressed and all it took was a split second for the sheep to see their moment. They bolted and, instead of sending Diva on a hopeless chase, I let them go. Of course they went all the way back to the woods and down by the duck arena which put us off course. Right about the same time as Diva and I started down to the woods to collect them I also heard them give the 10 minute warning. I didn't feel like we had enough time to work our way back up the field and do the proper outrun/gather so I decided to salvage what I could and open a lower gate that lead to the barnyard area. Once inside Diva and I put the sheep back in their stall and it was all over. I felt some serious frustration at the end of that run but there were also things to look back on and appreciate. Diva tried hard but none of the sheep we work regularly have particularly strong draws and they certainly don't try and beat the dog. It's not something I have trained for but you can be certain that I will be finding situations to work on it in the future :-)!
Friday BVASC offered two farm trials on mixed stock (sheep and ducks). I entered both in the hopes that we might walk away with a new title. The AM trial went very well for us. Diva was calm from the start when we pulled the sheep out of the barnyard and drove them up to the arena and sorting pens. Sorting is not something I have to do a lot of so I had reservations about getting it done. I am also keenly aware of the fact that Diva does not have a very precise and steady walk up. In light of that when I was at the gate and had a marked sheep within arms reach of me while Diva was just holding them to me I took the opportunity to grab it and shove it in :-). Luck be with me because then the other 2 marked sheep went right in and one unmarked. I decide that with that having gone very smoothly I would leave the one unmarked sheep and move on. We very likely could have sorted it out but Diva had done well and we were very early in what was a decent length course (total time allowed 25 minutes). My thought was to take the points lost in favor of not getting the stock or Diva stressed in the pen work. From the sort we took the sheep across the arena and into the back field to set up for the long outrun and gather. Diva did a very nice away side outrun and when I had the sheep with me we set of walking down the long side of the course to the duck arena and chute. There is section of woods open to the sheep and as we came close to the duck arena gate I made the mistake of moving into drive position and the sheep took that opportunity to dart into the woods. I sent Diva in to get them and she went but the sheep were good about using the trees to their advantage. At this point I remembered to go help Diva so I walked into the woods and the sheep went back into fetch mode. We walked down to the gate and I put them into the chute. From there we had to take the ducks out of one expen and move them to a hold. Once the hold was cleared then you had to repen in another expen on the opposite side of the arena. These were very young ducks that hadn't been worked much but if the dog was right and worked slowly they were nice and honest. We were able to get all of the duck tasks done and then moved back to the sheep. Diva pushed the sheep up the chute and held them at the gate to the barn yard while I opened it and then we put them back in a stall. I think that at that moment both Diva and I were bursting with joy. I had no idea how we would score but the fact that we had gotten through it was enough. A good friend, Amanda Farnsworth, happened to capture that exact moment on camera. I think the picture says it all! When all was said and done we ended up scoring a 105 which earned us a 3rd place and a leg towards OFTDm.
Diva pushing the sheep up the chute
Working the pens for the sorting
Waiting patiently
Holding them to the gate
Almost done at the gate to the barnyard!
The PM farm trial brought a new group of sheep and a new set of challenges. We started in the barn yard again but instead of moving the sheep up the hill to the arena (which is what their routine is) we had to take them down into the duck arena and put them in the chute right away. Right away Diva and I lost the sheep up the hill to the arena and had to go get them. Once we were back down where we needed to be the sheep kept getting stuck around some vehicles that were parked there. Eventually though we did manage to get them into the duck arena and then the chute. Then it was on to duck work. This time we had to take the ducks out of the expen, put them through a duck chute, and then repen in another expen. Diva and I got through the obstacle fine but we had some trouble getting our group into the repen. Hindsight being what it was (and having the judge tell me ;-)) I realized that it was my fault that the ducks didn't go in the pen. I was standing to close to the entrance and waving my stick around. We ended up with 3 penned and I decided to move on. Unfortunately that was pretty much how the rest of the run went south. We took the sheep out of the chute to the arena and proceeded to sort off the marked ones. We got the sort done but this group of sheep were very strong on the gate and I think I lost a lot of points forcing the gate open while they struggled to get in. It was not ideal but the draw back to the barn was so strong that I knew if I called Diva in to push them off the gate that they would squirt out and we would lose them back down the hill. From the sort we went across the arena and into the back field to set out for the outrun. Here is where we lost our run altogether. These sheep, unlike the morning group, live on this farm so they know the lay of the land. As I was fetching them to the hold point they took every opportunity to lean on Diva and try to get by her to run down the side of the field and back to the barn. Diva and I were both getting stressed and all it took was a split second for the sheep to see their moment. They bolted and, instead of sending Diva on a hopeless chase, I let them go. Of course they went all the way back to the woods and down by the duck arena which put us off course. Right about the same time as Diva and I started down to the woods to collect them I also heard them give the 10 minute warning. I didn't feel like we had enough time to work our way back up the field and do the proper outrun/gather so I decided to salvage what I could and open a lower gate that lead to the barnyard area. Once inside Diva and I put the sheep back in their stall and it was all over. I felt some serious frustration at the end of that run but there were also things to look back on and appreciate. Diva tried hard but none of the sheep we work regularly have particularly strong draws and they certainly don't try and beat the dog. It's not something I have trained for but you can be certain that I will be finding situations to work on it in the future :-)!
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Finally, Some Ducks!
After 8 long months I was finally was able to get Diva on some ducks today. The timing couldn't have been better since the BVASC trials are a week away! In those 8 months Diva has really started driving and gained some great experience on both sheep and cows so if push came to shove we would have gone out with no "practice" and trialed on ducks anyway. It's all a part of my "have faith in Diva" plan. Sometimes you have to trust your dog and trust the hours you have put into training to see you through. Diva did not disappoint me!
Diva was calm, she was listening, she was walking or in an easy trot, and she was flanking wide in both directions. I helped her a couple of times to pull them off the fence on the go bye side and after that she was able to do so on her own beautifully (away side was no problem to start). For the first time ever I actually was able to enjoy working ducks, and coming from me this says a lot, lol! I could appreciate the finesse and precision that ducks take and I was able to ask Diva to be correct. Things weren't going so fast that I was struggling to make adjustments in time. I think that during our first trip in the pen two things happened simultaneously. 1.) My heart grew with pride watching Diva and knowing that she and I have made it a long way. And, 2.) I let out this huge sigh of relief knowing that I hadn't misjudged our readiness to trial.
I once asked a question on a FB forum about how much people expected to translate from one stock to another when training their dogs and the responses were mixed. Most agreed that they didn't expect much. I don't know how to explain the change in Diva since we worked ducks at the AHBA trial but, from where I stood, it sure seemed like she was using everything she had picked up on sheep since then. I am not going to over think it though ;-). She did a fine job for me on those ducks and I was smiling like crazy.
That'll do, Diva!
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Good Friend, Great Dogs, And Good Times!
It's the first of June and for Diva and I that means our first trial of the year is fast approaching. I have been exceptionally busy over the last couple of months so training time has been limited. Oddly enough I don't really feel under prepared because when we have gotten to work Diva is doing fantastic! She has really gotten the hang of driving now and better yet she has no problem switching back and forth between driving and fetching. I just can't impress enough how fortunate I feel to have such a biddable and keen partner to work with. She isn't as stylish as some or as tough as others but she does what I ask her to with a smile on her face.
I wrote a post a while back about musings on "first dogs" and I must say that now, more than ever, I can see how much Diva has made me. Possibly more than I have made her! Anyway, here I am less than 3 weeks away from a big trial weekend and I feel great! Some of you might be chuckling right now when you read this but believe me when I tell you that where I am at as a handler is miles beyond where I was just last year. Last year I felt nervous, obligated to try and impress, and like I had something to prove. This year I know the only obligation I have is to be fair to Diva and in return she is going to give me the best she has. If I uphold my end of the bargain then she has what it takes to succeed. I've learned a lot from all of the working arrangements I have found and I have had to deal with less than ideal stock. All of those experiences have taken away my doubts and excuses. I don't worry about what the sheep might do because until I am there working worrying won't help me anyway!
So today Rae and I decided to meet up at Hog Dog to work sheep and have a little stress free friend time. In the catty world of dog people it is nice to have someone you can just enjoy socializing with without an agenda. I like that about Rae and I am sure she will say the same thing :-). We managed to get in 2.5 hours and the weather before today's big storm outbreak was gorgeous. Diva did the sorting and pen work for everyone today and since we used the entire flock in different areas she had to be aware of the lambs and their tendency to squirt out of the group. Her driving has made such progress that sometimes I just stand back and smile. Today was no exception and she easily pushed the large group away from the draw and down the length of the back field. With the upcoming farm (and possibly ranch) trial I wanted to use the big field to practice those large outruns. The back field is very nice for this as it is L shaped. Because it is narrower than the other larger field the dog really has to get out on the fence line. The other great thing about working at Hog Dog is the sheep tend to be on the heavier side and also VERY honest. They don't cheat and there are no draws really that I have ever found unless you have left a gate open to another pen/field. I love that you can drive the sheep to anywhere in the field and then leave them to set up an outrun and not have to worry about them moving away until the dog applies pressure. Are they the type of sheep you will find in a trial situation? Probably not, but they are excellent for teaching the dog not to slice in because they get sucked into the movement and they are wonderful to help teach a dog to push on the stock (very necessary in cattle work).
Diva (and Parfait) waiting their turns to work
Diva wearing on the drive. Nice steady work and calm livestock!
Doing a beautiful go bye outrun
Pushing them back up the field to set up another outrun
A little go bye correction to keep them headed straight
After the work comes some fun with friends!
Diva stealing the jolly ball while Rhythm wasn't watching!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)