Musings About Stockdogs And Herding

 **Note: I am late finishing this post so "yesterday" was actually last week on Wednesday ;-)**  

    Yesterday Diva and I went out to work sheep at Hog Dog. I was originally planning on going over to Doug's to work the Icelandic sheep, but Rae was available to meet at HD, so I chose friend time. Diva and I got there first so we gathered the sheep from the big pasture and brought them down to sort. I know that in the videos I shared last time a few people noticed the rather lame ewe that was in the group and expressed concern that she was being worked. Normally we try to not work her at all, but she does live with her flock so no matter what she has to get moved from the pasture to the small fields and then sorted off if there is a place to put her. Once Diva and I had everyone down in the lower fields we sorted off the lame ewe to her own space, left a group of 4 in the round pen, put 6 in the small pen with the sheep shelter, and stuck 7 in the arena field. This made a nice mix of groups and gave us options for exhausting sheep as needed. Sorting is one of the hardest tasks for Diva so I used it to begin my quest to train commands for the short flank movements. This is where I think it will serve us the most in the long run also. I don't think it will take long to cement these commands but I do have to be very careful to be consistent and clear in my use. Another "me" issue that I want to tie into this is the volume I use when giving commands in close quarters. Whisper and keep the tone calm!

     My tone and over use of commands causes Diva to start watching me and in return she stops watching her stock. I get frustrated so I use more commands and this is a vicious cycle. In an effort to stop this I tried to wait Diva out and just let the chips fall where they may...let me just say how much I suck at that! We actually spent the better part of ten minutes out in the arena with me just saying nothing and Diva alternating between fetching the sheep to me and then driving them away again. If I hadn't been so annoyed I would have probably been laughing. See if you can picture this...I am leaning up against the gate which is located in the middle of a long side of the arena (so no corners ;-)). Diva goes out and gathers the sheep straight to me but since I don't tell her to "stop" she pushes them on me and then past. At which point she kicks out to go turn them back and then proceeds to drive them by me and out into the arena. She looks back at me and I haven't moved or said anything so she kicks out again and fetches them straight back...rinse repeat about 5 times (no joke). Finally on the 6th fetch back to me I can no longer take it and I raise my hand, no verbal command though, and she stops and holds the sheep to me. The look on her face is priceless because I can clearly see it all right there..."Ohh, you've finally decided to do something eh? Good human." I wanted to be mad because Diva didn't just fetch them and hold them to me from the beginning. I wanted to be mad because she was watching me for instruction. I wanted to be disappointed because she didn't work with intensity or focus. Umm, hello, she isn't a Border Collie and by now I totally know this ;-)! So what did she do? Exactly what I have taught her to do. She channeled her instinct and brought me the sheep. When I said nothing she assumed that wasn't what I wanted so she took them away again. When she got a certain distance away she looked to see if she had done the right thing and because I said nothing she once again used her experience to make a decision and brought them back. When I finally said something she immediately stopped and held the sheep which is what I had wanted all along. It made no sense to her that I suddenly stopped communicating so her default response is the same as with any training we do...keep trying something until I get it right. The point of this long rambling is that my experiments are just my idea and Diva has no idea why I try something new. At this point in her career she has certain behaviors and skills and those will naturally be what she does because she has been rewarded for them in the past. I really like the idea of seeing what a dog will do on it's own but yesterday showed me that with no way to communicate that to the dog it can be an exercise that causes stress for both parties when things don't go as they hope or expect. Now, I will say that this was probably doubly frustrating because the HD sheep are very well broke so there isn't as much finesse needed from an experienced dog. I will definitely try the "wait and watch" again when we get out to work the Icelandic sheep because they are no where near broke and can be challenging. In that case Diva will have more to do on her own and I expect to see a much different reaction as she has to work harder and focus more to get the sheep to me in the first place.

    When we worked the second time Diva blew the gate sort and pushed the sheep through me so we spent time fixing that. When I sent her out to pick the sheep back up and bring them back to the pen I said nothing and she got caught fetching them but not rating or finding the right balance point. The result was sheep that split a few times as they reached the pressure point of entering the re-pen area because they didn't really want to come back in the pen and she was applying to much pressure to fast. Rae was there now so I tried to keep my sense of humor about it as I kept my mouth closed and made Diva figure it out. It took another failed attempt on her part before something clicked and she suddenly rated herself and walked the sheep straight in. Diva needs more chances to do this and I need to let it happen without feeling the need to micromanage. We need to spend time sorting, moving from pen to pen, and holding stock to me. The reason I have perhaps neglected this portion of our work is because it can be very hard on the stock. Sheep don't love being in a packed pen and they certainly don't like when the dog gets that close to them. Many times you get sheep bunching up stepping on each other or rushing the gate. If I owned my own sheep I wouldn't worry so much but because I don't I am acutely aware of this and always try my best to use the stock in such a way that they aren't knocking themselves around. When it comes to cattle it is simply a lack of opportunity in general. When Dawn had her calves we made huge progress because she had a set up where you could push the calves from one pen to another and really get the dog in close quarters feeling confident. I am a firm believer that when a dog lacks confidence on a particular type of stock getting them moving them in a close pen does wonders. They can't bounce out of the pocket and this keeps the handler from having to say to much or getting frustrated. Of course it is very necessary that you have nice broke stock when you do this or you stand the chance of just getting your dog beat down. Anyway, pen work is our weakest link and I need to really make an effort to do more of it. 

     Something else that has me thinking is that I recently joined a Facebook group called "Cattle Dogs Only" at the suggestion of a working Aussie breeder I trust and like immensely. Her advise was to just sit back and read, which I have been doing. What I am gathering is that there are a heck of a lot of people out there using dogs to work cattle and most of them are pretty far removed from the trial scene. Things that I see on videos posted that make my eyes pop out are praised as quality work from "real" cattle dogs. The other thing is a pretty prevalent disregard for the Australian Shepherd. Most are working Border Collies, ACD's, Catahoula's, Hanging Tree Cattle Dogs, or some cross of the above. More than once while reading something I have almost let my fingers loose and made a comment but I can tell that nothing I have to say will be well received. I really want to defend the Aussie and put up my "proof" that they can work but when I actually step back and see what kind of work they are interested in I know it's not the same. Now there may be a few of the usual Aussie people piping up but it's the ones who prize the same qualities, and that quality is working cow/calf pairs on big open land and hitting both ends hard. This is the group of people who we, the Aussie fancy, are missing out on and I think we need to ask ourselves why? Why aren't there more Aussies being chosen for ranch work? Why don't we see more Aussies in the cattle dog trials? A few days of reading this group has shown me that the market is there but what isn't is the proof that the dogs can actually do it. If you never see something then you may never know that it exists. I fear that what these people are seeing of Aussies is sub-par working dogs and that has cemented their opinion. Both sides are to fault here as far as I can see. The more I read the more I realize how closed off some ranchers can be. They do it the way they know and because that works for them they keep on and see no need to look beyond that. On the other side we have some people who clearly have dogs that are useful on their hobby farms and/or are good trial dogs that get above themselves and can't see that there is a difference in the work done on a large scale ranch working pairs vs. taking broke stock around an arena. They assume their dogs can do it without actually testing it or proving it. While some of those dogs might very well be able to do it it's not fair to assume anything. There is a responsibility that comes with representing your breed in the working world and that supersedes putting labels on dogs like "working bred" just to make them more marketable. Riding on the pedigree and working accolades of grandparents and great-grandparents is no longer adequate if we want to retain any respect in the real working world. The dogs simply must walk the walk, and not just talk the talk. 

   

Agility And Sheep!

    For the first time in 18 months, yes I said 18, Diva and I practiced agility together! It's been a long road to get to the point where I actually feel like I can trust my ankle enough to get out there and focus on handling Diva and believe me it wasn't pretty nor polished, but we both had a great time and I can see where we might actually be ready to trial at Nationals. Diva was so excited to be playing! I think she nearly pulled my shoulder out yanking on her tug toy, lol. We worked a little on weave entries, dog walk contacts, and a did few jumping lines. I called it quits after 30 minutes though because to be fair to Diva. Her heart will always say yes even if her body says no. Now that we have started again I plan on keeping up with it so expect more updates and some videos soon!

    Once we were done doing agility we took a break in the car until it was our time to work sheep. I stopped to take a few cell phone pics of the ewes with lambs on our way up the field. They are growing like crazy and still very cute! Forgive the poor quality. I didn't bring my big camera with me today because I knew I intended to video our sheep work instead. 

Once the lamb viewing was over Diva and I set out into the big pasture to go find the sheep. They were over the hill (I know because I saw them on my drive into the farm) and normally I would send Diva on a blind outrun to go get them but today I wanted to stay out in the pasture and work the group so that I could get some nice wide flanks without the boundary of the fences to restrict Diva. I only took 4 videos and I am going to share each on it's entirety...unedited. I suggest turning your volume down some as there are a few points that I repeat a command rather loudly, especially as she goes out on the first outrun which was easily 600'+. Overall I was pleased with Diva today. Her "go by" was now broken so you will see us struggle with that a few times but towards the end I felt things were coming together and she was taking it more reliably. I think the main issue is that I need to be consistent with what I say (shocker, right?!). I have always just said go by but to Diva that means kick way out and do a go by flank which is annoying and not what I want when she is working close in. What I plan on doing is retraining this part to have a small motion on cue to "by" and also of course to "way". This is a gap I missed and one I think will help us communicate much better. 

So on this first video you can see I send her away. The sheep are not really in her sight at that point so she kicks out nice however once she catches sight of them she tries to cut in and take a much more direct approach.  Truthfully this only matters because I want to be pretty but ultimately I know Diva and if it were just me getting chores done I wouldn't correct it because she is never cheap and she settles the sheep really well once she has them picked up. For today's practice though I end up having to stop her and get after her to really get "out" away which she then does beautifully and we carry on. 

   

     The next 3 videos are other parts of our field work and don't really need an explanation. You will see where the "go by" is an issue and I have to correct her more than once each time to fix it. Unfortunately as soon as I start correcting her the flood gates open and I say to much. I do encourage her a few times on her flanks to keep going. It may not be apparent in the video as the indicators are subtle but each time I could see her just about to pick her own "there" and stop so to prevent this I gave the flank command again and pushed her on until I said "there". On the last video near the end there is a point where she brings the sheep to me and I say nothing. You will see Diva peek around a sheep at the back to see look for instruction. As she does so the sheep decide to walk off as she is no longer controlling the moment. I really wanted to say nothing but I lacked the patience so I gave her a command, away get around (I think, lol), and she brought them back to me. Everything had been so quiet and nice that I wanted to end on a good moment instead of nitpicking and possibly causing things to deteriorate. Say less and let the dog do more is always a work in progress. 

    It was one of those days where Diva and I really got to enjoy each other and that is a blessing. Diva is 7 now and she is in what I consider her prime but according competition rules she is a veteran. I suppose some of the early signs are there like a few white hairs on her muzzle and around her eyes. One day I will have to think about her cutting back but for now we are still moving forward with a can do attitude!
   

Easter Vacation: New York Here We Come!

    Last week was Easter vacation for the kids so we loaded and headed to New York to visit family. One of my favorite parts about getting home, besides seeing my family, is that I get to go work stock with Dawn and Amanda. Dawn's schedule was very busy but we did manage to get in some sheep and cattle time, yay! 

   We started our day at Dawn's house working sheep and I had made mention that Diva was needing work on her away side while fetching. Of course I no sooner said that than she went out and did some truly beautiful work, which included several gorgeous aways. Seriously, it was picture perfect and I am not one prone to bragging unless it's warranted. Diva was working calmly and deliberately so the effect on the sheep was very calming. They settled immediately and moved nicely where she asked them to go. I was beaming and Diva was smiling! Amanda took some pictures on my camera so I have a few to share :-). 

    After working the sheep we headed over to Sue's to work cattle. I got a first hand taste of what it is like to try and take your own photos while working your dog...it isn't pretty, lol. Diva was tired (not really in shape after a long winter break) and she also didn't want to slog through the "mud" that took up one side of the pen we were using. He reluctance lead to slow response times taking commands and me getting frustrated so there was a point I had to put the camera down and go out and really work my dog. Sue's cattle are so nicely broke and they really want to be right. I love that they will fetch right to you and this allowed me to try and be quiet while Diva got back on track and watched her stock. Of course this also means I had cows close up in my camera lens a time or two ;-). Towards the end I think things finally shifted and Diva got a boost of over confidence. This lead to a naughty moment where she blew into the cattle and almost pushed them over top of poor Enya who was helping by holding one side. Enya was fine and Diva got her proper chastising so we finished up with some more fetching and called it quits. I really need to find cattle closer to home again so that I can put some time into getting Diva to work farther away and even more independently. We all know that giving commands is a vicious cycle. Once you open your mouth it seems like you have to say more and more or else you have the dog stopping and looking back. I accepted a long time ago that Diva needs to check in with me, but there is room for improvement and that will only happen with consistent opportunities. It was wonderful to work cattle again though and I am eternally grateful that Dawn continues to make this happen for me every time we get up to NY. My plan is to work sheep as much as possible while continuing to look out for new cattle opportunities and of course looking forward to being back in NY in May!

Spring Has Arrived!

   It's been a while since I have had anything noteworthy to write about and I must admit that this entry is several days overdue. Winter this year was long and brutal with bitter cold and record snow for some areas. It made getting out to train with my already limited schedule nearly impossible and so Diva and I sat at home until we nearly exploded from the boredom. I finally started looking for something we could do inside that would stimulate Diva's thinking and give her the mental exercise that Aussies so deeply need. What I decided upon was nose work and what fun it is! Classes were out of the question so as with most everything we do I just started researching online and went work on our own. In the beginning I had no intention of using the actual scents used in competition so at the suggestion of an online friend I used vanilla. We started with 4 old shoe boxes but quickly outgrew that and moved to 8 Tupperware containers. Diva loves nose work so things progressed much faster than I expected. In just a couple of weeks she was searching my kitchen with every drawer and cabinet opened for just a q-tip marked with vanilla! Inspired by the simplicity and ease in which she learned I moved to doing outdoor searches and vehicle searches. I don't know that we will ever participate in competition but I did order the real scents and have started her on recognizing them.

    Nose work is great and it gives us something to do at home but nothing compares to working stock. Right as I was really about to hit an all time low Kelly staged an intervention and we set up a girl's day at Hog Dog. None of us had worked our dogs much so it was a very low key easy going hang out session and that's was just perfect. Diva and I revisited all of the basics after having so much time off which included fetching, rating, and fixing a broken "away". It was nice just being out and as a bonus we got to see the new baby lambs! Proof that spring has finally arrived! 

   The following week I was once again feeling blah so Kelly made the drive down to Hog Dog again and we worked dogs and hung out just the two of us. Diva and I went back to refreshing the basics. More lambs had been born during the week and neither Kelly's dogs nor Diva could seem to get past wanting to watch them, lol! I don't know what it is about lambs but our dogs love them and more than once we were left giving commands that were ignored while the dog stopped and just stared through the fence at the babies. It's both cute and frustrating ;-). Near the end of our time there I took a few sheep and went out into the big field to work on the free standing pen. My goal is always to be able to stand no where near the pen and have Diva do the work on her own. The group of sheep I had were very nice and so we accomplished our task a few times with relative ease and that made a good place to stop. It is sometimes hard to not go out with a big agenda for training but I think I have finally matured enough to see the value in easing back into work. Happy dog, happy sheep, and a happy handler is a good training day!