Bring on the cows!



 

    Every trip to up to NY I always make a point of getting over to Dawn's to get in some cow time. This trip it was particularly important because we have a trial coming up and this will likely be our only chance to work cows before then. My focus for today was to work on our take pen skills and just establish more confidence in close quarters. The last time we worked cows was back in January and Diva did a very good job of working the off side and taking control. She has become very fond of getting to the heads and turning her cows but I have yet to get the much coveted heel grip. If we had more access I think that she would eventually get it but I can't say I am unhappy with how she is working and therefore I am confident that we have enough skills to make a bid for our WTCH in April.

 

    Below are a sampling of videos from today though some of the better work that came near the end I didn't capture. What we were doing was using a set of gates, small pens, and two fields to work. The idea was to have Diva push the cows from one pen to the next, back and forth, and then out into one field or the other while maintaining control and immediately turning them back and re-penning. I wanted her to get comfortable applying pressure and holding it as she has a tendency to want to bounce out of the pocket and go to the heads. In the first video she did a nice job of pulling them out of the pen but she lost one when it came to covering in the field. The next time she was faced with same task she covered better and the calves turned immediately and we re-penned.

 

   We also did an exercise in the smallest pen where I went out and then Dawn and I were both (from opposite sides of the pen) encouraging Diva to move the cows and grip. We made a lot of exciting noise and offered encouragement for every time she got close but in the end she hit the heads (and a couple of shoulders :-/) but no heel grips. On the bright side she ducked kicks appropriately and didn't take any hits and for that I am always happy. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spring Is Just Around The Corner...

   Seven weeks. That's how long it had been since we worked stock until yesterday, March 1st. I have committed myself to going out to Indiana to trial in April and to be ready for that Diva and I have to get out and dust off the cobwebs. The time for softness and excuses has passed. We are 5 Q's away from a WTCH and I want it so bad I can hardly stand it. Perhaps after the first one I won't feel so much excitement about the next? Who knows, but I am not too ashamed to admit that at this point and time it is foremost in my mind.

   When we got out to the farm yesterday the workable sheep were out in the large pasture. Most of the older ewes are separated now into the back pasture with the ram for lambing time so what is left are a few ewes that are pregnant but not as close to lambing and last years ewe lambs. A total of 11 sheep which gave me plenty to work with. I started Diva by gathering the sheep and then working on flanks out in the large pasture. Diva has a notoriously strong sense of balance and it can be hard to remind her that she must continue on her flank until I say otherwise. Particularly to the go bye side. It's the basics that make the whole and so I find myself wanting to re-visit and polish good flanking, "there", and walk up. Once I accomplished what I wanted in the pasture I had Diva drive the sheep down to the smaller fields and sorted sheep off into various areas. I put the 3 older ewes and one lamb in the round pen and 3 lambs back out into the big field. After a short break I took Diva back out in the large field with the 3 lambs and worked on driving and inside flanks. There is a free standing pen out in this pasture and it wasn't long before the lambs figured out that they could use it as a shield. It was a great opportunity to get Diva taking her flanks and walking up so we worked at it until she was able to push them past the pen without them cutting around it and coming over to me. After getting them driving up the field I had her navigate the lambs through the panels and around the cone. This was all done out in the open and off the fence line. We took another short break and then went in and worked the ewes in the round pen. This is a pretty small area and with very fetchy broke sheep it was a nice way to work on inside flanks again and challenge Diva to keep them driving while I stayed stationary in the center. For not having worked in a so long I couldn't have been happier with how she did!

   Rae came down to Hog Dog and joined me which was another wonderful part of getting out to work stock. She brought along with her a 6 month old puppy that belongs to a friend and is visiting for some training, Esme. Those who know me know how much I adore watching first exposures. I find it so interesting to see the raw product! I ended up taking Esme in to the round pen with some nice broke sheep to give her a first exposure to stock. She showed a lot of interest for a 6 month old puppy but naturally she wasn't 100% secure working with me(a stranger). To help her get comfortable after the first time in the pen we brought in Diva to show her the ropes. Diva likes to work with other dogs and she really thinks its fun when I am not on her case about working to close or cutting her flanks ;-). Below is a video of Diva and Esme having a good time!

Girls Weekend In PA

  For those of you who follow this blog I guess it's not hard to figure out I have had little time for training this winter. To add to that, Diva tweaked a muscle in her right front leg at Thanksgiving time and spent 6 weeks on restricted exercise. By the time the holidays were over I was jonesing for some training time and to hang out with the girls! We ended up planning for the second weekend in January that involved spending Saturday at Amanda's working stock and then Sunday staying at Kelly's to work her sheep and ducks.

  Diva hadn't been on any stock since Thanksgiving so my plan for Amanda's was to give her some duck and cattle time. We worked the Call ducks first as a easy way to warm up and she did very nice. A bit fast to start but settled in well. My main purpose was to widen her out some and work on keeping her flanks square. This has always been a challenge for us on ducks. I almost hate to admit this but given how naturally she took to working ducks it's something I haven't put much training into. I know there is much debate about the weight that duck titles are given towards earning a WTCH and that many true stock people don't take them seriously. While I don't love working ducks I do appreciate it much more than even a year ago.

When it came our turn to work the cattle I asked for 3 head in the smaller PT field. I love working the cows in that size area as it lets me stay close enough to help and also gives plenty of chances for Diva to get them out of the corners. Diva came out all business with the cows and wasn't taking no for an answer. She did it by barking, as is her default way, but it was effective because her posture was authoritative. Amanda came by while we were working and made a comment about how much stronger she was and putting herself in the right place. It had been about 6 months since Amanda had last seen her on cows :-). Diva no longer hesitates to work on the opposite side of the cattle from me and she loves to get to the heads. There were a few spots where she was looking like she wanted to hit the heads but Amanda's cows are smart enough to know when to turn away ;-). All in all I was happy to see how she handled the cattle.

This sequence shows her confronting a challenge and then moving to drive the group off

 Always time for a "Barbie"moment. Say cheese!

  

   Unfortunately when it came to Sunday at Kelly's I had to bow out without working Diva. When I woke up that morning I knew something wasn't right and with in an hour I was certain that I was sick and only going to get worse. I made the 2 hour drive home with a fever, the chills, and stopped to be sick twice. It was the most miserable I have been in a long time. A trip to the DR. the next morning confirmed I had the dreaded flu :-(.