From There To Here: Happy New Year!!

Ok, it's finally here. 2015! I have been putting all of my hopes and dreams on getting to this years ASCA Nationals and it's time to start kicking it into high gear. My working resources have once again been smiled on and I have 2 new prospects for working large numbers of beef cattle as well as a large (180+) flock of sheep. Both of these farms are about an hour to two hours away from me but when you want something then you need to push for it and that is what I intend to do. My other blessing for stock work is much closer to home and that is where Diva and I went today. You might remember me mentioning that I had found a group of Icelandic sheep to work and that their owner, Doug, has a young Pincie Creek Aussie. Doug has his ewes split into various groups now so they can be with the ram he wants to use on them for breeding. The last time I was out he had all 35 ewes together and the 5 rams separated into their own field. Doug and his family are really wonderful people and he is genuinely interested in getting his dog to a point where he is useful on their farm. I had made mention that if we had a smaller pen to start his dog in as opposed to the large pasture it would really help and when I got there today there was not only a lovely 40 x 50ish pen but also an awesome 6' x 50' chute that we can utilize! Did I mention how nice Doug's fencing is too ;-)?

The group in the barn yard for today was comprised of 5 ewes and one ram. The Icelandics love to turn and come at a dog but they are also very smart and quickly learn what is being asked of them. When Diva and I went in the ram right away made a big show about coming towards her and I just let it play out. Diva hit him once on the nose and did her bounce bounce bark routine and he turned tail and smartly joined the ladies. While we worked he would periodically try again but Diva had his number and it was never a real issue. I did a little bit of work in the new pen but it was mostly just to see if I could get them in there with Diva as they are fairly cagey about being pushed down to the corner where the gate is. The sheep were being so good so from there I took them out into the pasture and worked on driving them and then having Diva peel them off the fence line and start teaching the sheep to fetch. I guess I expected them to want to run more but I have to say I am impressed at how quickly these Icelandics really figure it out. If the dog is fair (and Diva always is) then they work very nice. Part of me is thrilled that I am only "dog breaking" this small group so that the rest will remain as they are because they have so much to offer in keeping a dog sharp. Of course perhaps Doug will disagree because our big "chore" will be coming up in March when we need to be able to use the dogs to help with the sheering. My guess he will prefer the dog broke and compliant ones for ease of handling ;-).

I didn't bring my camera with me today but I should have. Instead you get a few lame cell phone pics and a short video clip of Diva driving them. As a bonus you also get a video of Diva meeting the hogs for the first time :-). She was skeptical at first and then tried to put on a good show. Those pigs were not impressed...poor Diva, lol!!

The approach was cautious...