A Gorgeous Fall Day

    It's not often I feel inclined to rave about the weather, especially early September weather in Maryland, but today mother nature delivered a beautiful fall like day that was perfect for working stock! Diva and I had morning plans to meet our agility trainer at Hog Dog to help her do a first exposure for her young Sheltie as well as get in some work for one of her Border Collies. The first order of business was to go out in the big pasture and bring down the flock. It's been a while since I have worked on Diva's blind outrun and so in the interest of having things go smoothly I walked to the top of the hill before sending her. Once she had the sheep to me I had her push them off and drive them down the pasture to the smaller working fields. The feeling of working in such a wide open space after doing a lot of trialing was awesome and I was able to enjoy my walk while appreciating how Diva was managing the group. Once the sheep were  where I needed them to be I proceeded to sort of 3 older ewes to put in the round pen and a group of 5 to put in the "arena" field (said loosely because it is a tad to small to be a true arena). The rest were left in the back field to serve as a draw for the arena group.

   Today really wasn't about a working on a specific task but more just enjoying the day and relaxing. I spent a little bit of time working on a better go by outrun and then practiced some inside flanks and walk ups on the group in the arena and then decided it would be wise to work the round pen ewes some before putting a green dog on ;-). Diva was happy and confident, the sheep were calm, and I remembered to smile :-). With her job done I put Diva away and we got down to doing the instinct test with the young dog. Instinct tests are the best! I know I have said this many times before but I LOVE watching a dog turn on. What I saw from the sheltie was a very engaged, confident, and naturally balanced dog. He was fast at figuring things out and never once in either of his two trips in did he stop to sniff, eat poop, or even look away! This one has the potential to be a very nice working dog and I hope my agility instructor sticks with it with him (hint, hint ;-))!

    As exciting as that was the best part of the morning came when Diva helped her BC friend have a major break through in working through the pressure of a fence and stock. Her first time in the arena she worked very nice but it was easy to see that she was very sensitive to the "bubble" and any fence or obstacle. Rather than force her or continue to cause stress by repeating a failing exercise I suggested that we put all of the sheep (about 20) into the round pen and then let her work with and watch Diva. Diva is awesome at working with other dogs because she doesn't get distracted by them nor is she possessive of her stock or space. While we stood on the fence line I had Diva drive the sheep around and then flank to pull them off the fence...rinse repeat. At first the BC wasn't sure but then she really started working with Diva and following her lead. It was actually a really touching thing to watch one dog helping another to figure something out. Our input was very minimal and in the end she was able to start going between the stock and the fence! I am told that this has been a long time issue for her and that it has prevented her from moving forward. My guess is that another time or two in a packed round pen with Diva and she will not be nearly as worried about the external pressures! I am continually amazed by Diva and how far she has come. He capacity to be what I need in the moment is what makes her so special as well as her easy going nature. Truly a dog I can take anywhere and get results!