Finally, A Break In The Weather!

   Maryland has been dishing out some of it's most miserable summer time weather over the last month with heat and humidity in the dangerous levels. I always err on the side of caution and will be the first to admit I loathe being overly hot so Diva and I haven't been out to work stock in forever. Today however we finally got a really nice break from the oppressiveness and made our way up to PA to deliver some Hotstyx and work cattle. Tee Creek is just a little over a week away so it's time to get serious and put our game face on. My game plan for the day was to work on small spaces and pressure in the pens, walking straight up on the heads, and practicing continuous flanks until told other wise.

   We started out with a nice group of 3 that needed to be pushed on as they were very interested in grazing. This is the type of cattle we are likely to encounter at Tee Creek so it was a good training opportunity. Diva is doing very well at driving her cattle and also going to head but we struggled with her not completing her flanks when I was asking her to peel them off the fence and get around. I also had her put them in the 3 sided pen, hold them, and then take them back out a few times. She did well with her hold but was slower than I wanted in taking her go bye (in to me) flanks to neatly tuck them in the pen. This seems to be something I am going to have to work on more in general and so I chose to not nitpick today in favor of rewarding her for what she did well and boosting her confidence. Our big highlight for the day came when I was singling out cows and having her walk up on their heads while they were grazing. They had been moving ok off of Diva but not giving her 100% respect so far. Diva surprised me by really focusing on the cow I had her walking up on and taking things step by step without using her bark and bounce technique. When she was within gripping distance and the cow still hadn't moved off or even looked away I told her "Get a hold of that!" and surprise surprise she made a very clean nose hit that had the cow and myself shocked! Only one of us was delighted though ;-). Yay for Diva! Even better was she immediately stopped pressure when I asked her to and then went back to driving. That was the only time she hit but definitely not the only time she was in their face making them move. I can see where when I am giving her permission to get in there she is doing it in a confident way and she isn't harassing after they turn.

   The second time we worked a new group that had one steer that didn't want to stay with the group and would head back to the re-pen if possible. I worked Diva on being more precise with her flanks, especially at the course obstacles where Mr. Steer would skim by if she wasn't careful. We also did more flanking exercises and I finally got a few nice continuous flanks that weren't flat on the away side. When we re-penned this group I had Diva put them in and take them out a couple of times which was great pressure work for her. She was much quieter working in the small spaces and only used her bark when she had to make motion. Unlike the first trip in she also wasn't distracted by having to walk by the other holding pens with cattle staring at her.

   Normally I would only work her twice but the 3rd group was a group of calves that are lighter and a little less predictable that the seasoned cattle so I wanted to take the opportunity to see what she would do after having to push so hard in the previous sessions. Right off the bat she went in stronger than these calves needed and then when they trotted off she got sucked into the motion and was tuning me out a bit. She was also reluctant to make a space to peel the calves off the fences and they weren't as willing to come off as the older cows. It took me several attempts to get her going all the way around and while I was happy with her effort she was a long way from pretty trying to get in there. On a good note, she quickly figured out that the calves took less push and was doing a nice standing stop and walk up which gave them plenty of opportunity to turn away calmly.

  For not having worked in a few weeks she was very good and I was smiling from ear to ear at the end. We will likely have time to get in a couple of work days at Dawn's when we get to NY next week and I hope to get out and work sheep once this weekend. All in all I feel very good about where she is at mentally and physically pre-trial. Tomorrow she has an appointment with Dr. Z to get "tuned up" but I haven't seen any signs of lameness since her last appt. so this more maintenance than anything else.  

Don't Over Think It

   T-minus 1 month until Tee Creek and after having found out last week that I got into all 4 cattle runs it seems that all I can think about is what might happen. I have crawled in to bed every night and played out possible scenarios until I fall asleep, which I am almost certain places me pretty close to the edge of obsessed ;-). Perhaps the most laughable thing about this is that I have trialed there before, know the cattle (somewhat), and it's course A all weekend long! In my mind though I figure that if I go over it enough when push comes to shove I will have an answer. I have pictured everything, from where I will stand once I open the take pen gate, down to which side of the chute will work better for sending Diva deep into the corner coming out of the second panel to set up for the center. I feel like I may soon need to make myself a T-shirt that says, "Keep Calm And Trust Your Dog". Diva has got this, I know she has. She is a much better cattle dog than she was a year ago and we are a much better team. We have trialed on some pretty challenging stock and learned some of the tricks of trialing from those with more experience. I shouldn't be concerned at all but the nervous excitement of finishing her WTCH has me twitchy.

    With the summer weather in full effect we have had very few chances to get out and work. High heat and oppressive humidity don't make for much fun. We worked sheep last Wednesday at Hog Dog but sessions were short and far between to save the dogs and the stock. I focused on more inside flank work with Diva and straight walk ups. There isn't much to report that I haven't written about before. She continues to be much better to the away side as far as inside flanks go and needs reminding the first couple of sends to keep moving regardless of what I do. I suspect that this will be a work in progress for us for sometime. I have a picture in my head of what I want it to look like and suffice it to say that it isn't there just yet ;-).

   In other news we have started back to agility training as well. On Friday we had our first private lesson to work on actually training the running A frame. Diva has needed some remedial contact training for a while and I need some serious attitude adjustments. I have been getting so serious about Q'ing that I am taking the fun out of agility and putting a lot of pressure on Diva. Just scowling at her is enough to flatten out her performance all together and at the last trial we attended I was grouchy with her all day. My main goal is to go out there and run fast, trust my dog, and have fun. In looking back at videos and pictures of me when I am working Diva I rarely ever smile. I am not sure why this is but my guess is that it has something to do with concentrating. Diva is very tuned into me and she is sensitive to pressure so I need to fix this problem quickly. A smile and a little praise in the middle of working go a long way with her and so I am reminded of something my Grandmother always told me. "You get more with honey than you do with vinegar." Good call Grandma! It works with dogs and husbands ;-).