All I Can Say Is...WOO HOO!!

  Thanksgiving, a time to give thanks for who and what you have in your life. 

   I know I am guilty of not always taking the time to appreciate the little things but I would like to believe that after Scott's heart attack I have made leaps and bounds in that area. Not only am I appreciating the bad times as much as the good (hey, it's better to argue and have the chance to make up than not, right?! ;-)) but I have really settled into an understanding of what's important and what's not. This calm has spread into my work with Diva and I think the positive affect is incredible. I wrote about just having fun last time and how it made everything better and guess what, it worked again! Now I know this isn't rocket science so forgive me if you are reading this and have already reached this enlightened point but out there are people who still haven't. So here it is, just give thanks for the dog you have and appreciate the time you have together. The rest will fall into place and I bet you and your dog will be happier in the long run. Simple. Don't covet what someone else has, don't try and force your dog into being more like so and so's dog, train the dog you have because that is what will make you a great trainer/partner and that is what bring out the best in your dog. I found my smile again while working Diva and when I took the time to look down Diva was smiling back up at me. 

    So what happened last Wednesday that has me all excited? Diva and I went out for a girl's day with Dawn and Amanda in NY. Dawn has an excellent hook up for working cattle so we headed over there first. It is mostly Dexters with a couple of dairy heifers thrown in the mix. My expectations were pretty low given that our last time working cattle was months ago and on some very tough stock. I had managed to end on a decent note but I was having to support Diva a lot. So when I sent her to out to get her group I was pleasantly surprised at how bold and confidently she went. I couldn't help but smile because I had a lot of dog! Diva was making space on the fence, covering wide and fast, and she was being appropriate with pressure and release. To say that she was working awesome would have been putting it mildly. Diva has always been good at driving cattle but making space and pulling them off a straight area on the fence is hard for her. She usually isn't willing to make a space and she would rather bounce out of the pressure. On this day she had no issues what so ever getting around the cattle and cutting off the attempts to break for the draw. So what was different? I have a list of things I think played a factor. 1.) I wasn't trying to achieve anything other than to have fun. No pressure. 2.) I left my stick in the truck. This is something I may do from now on when I am training. I can't tell you how many times I have waved my stick at the stock and had it influence Diva in the wrong way. It's distracting and honestly waving it around or banging it on the ground doesn't help me or her all that much. I wouldn't say this will work for every dog and handler but it does work better for Diva and I. And 3.) Diva is fit. She is very lean from all of the frisbee we have been playing. Last time I weighed her she was down to 37lbs which is pretty good for a 20.5" bitch. This is a whopping 5lbs less than what she weighed this summer when we last worked cattle. She was slow and sluggish then which I played off due to stress and heat (which still may have contributed) but let's face it, less fat equals less bulk to move around and feeling better. Whatever the factors might be Diva was on and she was amazing! 

   Once we finished with the cattle it was back to Dawn's house to work sheep (after a hot chocolate break of course). Diva did a nice job with the sheep and I took the chance to add in a little work on her shedding. I have come to realize that for Diva to really focus on the sheep it's best if I can set up a situation where I am not a big part of the picture. We have done the part where the sheep are in balance to me and I call her through to split them. She does it with no issue because Diva isn't bothered by pressure from sheep but she also does it while watching my face and awaiting the next command. This is a vicious cycle that has me giving her more commands which in turn has her watching me more. What it boils down to is a mechanical shed and a frustrated handler and dog. This is not what I want when I go out to work so I have been trying to think of something different. Last time at Hog Dog I used the fence and a large group of sheep to just get her walking into them with me behind her (if she can't see me she isn't watching me ;-)). She did great with that step so at Dawn's I figured I could try with a much smaller group but using the same idea. My only goal was to find the point when Diva kind of locked in to the task and really shedded off the sheep herself. I got a short video clip of that moment thanks to Amanda. I am still saying far more than I want to but it's obvious in the video when Diva really gets it. In time I will hone this and then start adding myself back into the picture but for now I am beyond pleased with her progress.