We Just Came For The Cattle

   WAV hosted their 3rd ASCA trial at Keepstone Farm this past weekend and as always it was a great time. June is a fickle month in the Mid Atlantic and after starting out with low temps and rain we were treated to scorching heat and high humidity. It was tolerable under the ez-up canopies at best and a lot like swimming when you were out in the arena under the sun. Diva and I were only able to trial on Sunday and I had just entered the AM and PM advanced cattle. Part of me wanted to do sheep and ducks also for the fun but with the weather I was glad I didn't. I will admit that nothing makes me more miserable than being hot, lol.

   For the AM trial we ran 2nd under judge, Tony Padgett. The cattle were being gate sorted so there were no set groups. Just as Diva and I entered the arena someone on the neighboring property decided to shoot their gun. It was very close to the take pen in the woods just behind it. I am extremely fortunate that Diva is not noise sensitive so she barely flinched. I made sure to tell her how good she was and be upbeat. Once we gave Tony our number we headed to the take pen and bam, another shot fired. Now like I said, Diva doesn't really care about loud sounds but I wasn't all that keen on walking closer to where the shots were coming from and I couldn't see into the take pen yet to see how the cattle were reacting. It must happen frequently enough that the cattle don't care because when I opened the gate my calves weren't upset. I sent Diva in to get around and at the backside she hesitated a moment but one re-direction from me and she pushed them out nice and calmly. That take pen pretty much set the stage for the rest of the run. While the theme for many people would be "slow down" I was the competitor wanting my dog to speed up. Diva must have been channeling her inner Babe The Pig because whatever she said to those calves had them settled instantly. It was the most orderly walk to the first panels ever! Once behind there they got a little stalled out and one calf turned to face Diva. I had to encourage her to walk straight in a few times before she finally puffed herself up and gave one authoritative bark which did the trick and everyone started calmly walking the cross drive. There was no stopping as they came into the second set of panels and when I sent Diva away she kicked out (at a walk, lol) and they all turned and literally walked straight to the center and through. I didn't have to do a thing to help. We went down to the re-pen, pushed them off the gate, opened it, and Diva walked around and pushed them in. My mouth was dry from encouraging her and I was frustrated that she wouldn't speed things up but, ultimately she used exactly the amount of pressure that was needed and everything was exceptionally quiet. She was never off contact and except behind the first panel it was continuous motion...just at a very slow pace. When we left the arena I was happy but I figured that more than likely the cattle were just hot and were going to work slow all day. I was wrong. The cattle were honest and fair but if the dog stirred the pot they would get to running and once that happened they didn't stay together well. 

    Our PM run was under judge Andrea Hoffman and I had high hopes that I might get a little more speed out of Diva. I don't know why I thought I needed it because, ultimately a slow run is smooth and smooth is fast. Not mention it's easier on the stock and that is supposed to be the point of trials...to simulate real work. Thankfully there were no more gunshots. Diva was 5th to run and when we got to the take pen I found 2 of our calves had laid down for a nap. Take pens are never Diva's strong suit when it comes to cattle because she still isn't all that confident on the heads. I sent her to the back end of the calves because I thought that if I sent her to the heads she might bark and stir them up. She wasn't real sure what to do with them lying down but I encouraged her and pushed on them enough that they got up and came right out. Once again Diva walked the calves at a slow amble all the way to panel one, across the cross drive, and through the 2nd panels. I sent her away again and the calves pulled off the fence at a nice walk and headed to the center Y. I had positioned myself on the left side of the Y to help if need. As they approached the center the first calf picked up a trot and when I sent Diva out on a go by to head him off I could see she wasn't going to make it in time so I hustled around the Y and got in front myself. The calf slowed to a walk and I tried banging my stick on the ground but this caused another issue. Diva was still heading around to me on the go by but to her a banging stick means she is doing something wrong so she stopped and kicked back which caused the calf to move forward. I had to stop Diva and wave my stick like a light saber to make that sound to get the calf stopped again and then I called Diva around to me so she could walk into him and push him back. Diva is much stronger when I am close by so when the calf put his head down to lean on her she rose to the challenge and got after him. The great thing about that was it was enough to push all of the calves back together and up to behind the first panel but because Diva settled immediately they didn't get amped. I sent her go by to panel one and she moved them out of the corner and then literally brought them straight down the middle to the chute and through at a flat footed walk. Patience and teamwork made us very successful and I was thrilled with our effort. We re-penned just as in the first run and that was a wrap for our trial day.

    So how did we do? Well trial 1 Diva got a nice score of 107 which earned her a 2nd place to her BFF Singe who had a lovely 107.5! For trial 2 we earned another nice score of 109 which was not only first place but HIT cattle! I have a good idea of what we need to work on before Nationals and it was wonderful to get to spend the day with friends. 

These are in order and show pretty much how everything went except when we finally got them through the center (Kelly had to go do her sheep run :-)). Thank you Kelly for taking these though. I love them!

Passing On The Love For Herding

   It was a beautiful Sunday and I can't think of a better way to spend it than working dogs. The icing on the cake was that Jessica was able to meet me at Hog Dog so I could work Myst on sheep. Between us moving, Scott's medical emergency, Jess getting married, and her now expecting a baby things have not been working in our favor as far as Myst's stock training goes. I hate to admit it but, up until today it has been nearly a year since she was on sheep! If you remember in some of my earlier blog posts I shared pictures and videos of a VERY keen red tri puppy. She had a lot of enthusiasm to work with, a desire to get around them, and a decent down even with excitement. What she lacked was maturity, a desire to "see" the human in the picture at times, and she was difficult to get to change directions(orbiting). Today I knew that she would be excited but I wasn't sure what else I would find. Diva had done the gathering and sorting so we had 4 ewes and 2 lambs in the round pen. The lambs were a wild card, but ultimately it's good for Myst to not just have "knee knocker" sheep.

   When Jess handed her leash to me by the cars Myst was already gunning for the sheep, so we took a few seconds to introduce the rattle paddle and establish which one of us goes first when walking ;-). Myst pays great attention to noise so the paddle backs her off and widens her out great. I must remind myself to not over use it though so it doesn't lose it's impact and to be quicker with verbally rewarding when she responds by widening out. Inside the round pen we started just walking on lead around the sheep and staying respectful of a loose lead. She was really being very good so it wasn't long and I let her go as she stepped out to move around them. The result was very nicely to balance and fetching them to me albeit a little fast and pushy. For my part I tried to keep changing direction and push her out on her flanks. She squares much better to the go bye side but unlike the last time I worked her she was much easier going both directions and reading my position fluidly. Jess took some videos so I will let them speak for themselves.

    These first two video clips are from her first trip in the round pen. She is very fast but giving a pretty decent amount of space and taking the correction from the paddle well. Towards the end I almost took a tumble but caught myself on another sheep. Pushy dogs makes for very pushy sheep!

This last video is from the second session. It's a bit longer and you can see she is getting hot and tired but more importantly she keeps on working. We had a couple of interesting mishaps when the two lambs decided they no longer wanted to play and went under the gate (through no fault of Myst's). You see Taylor standing in the round pen because she is blocking the gate. Myst is a smart cookie and when she watched those lambs escape under the gate she walked over, took a look, and slid under herself to go after them. While I appreciate her tenacity the "shelter pen" held a group with several lambs and she is no where near ready to be in those kind of close quarters with a bunch of very light lambs. Thankfully while I was busy trying to get the gate open she fetched the sheep to me and then downed and held it until I could come in and get a hold of her. Lot's of praise for NOT making a big mess!

    It's always fun to bring along a new dog but yesterday I got to start sharing my passion and knowledge with a different kind of youngster, my daughter Taylor. Taylor has been wanting to "work" Diva for a while and with the end of the school year near it's a good time to start. Diva will work for Kelly to a degree so I am hoping that with time she will see the fun in working with Taylor. I would love for them to do juniors together! We started yesterday with both Taylor and I walking and working together. I was able to explain why we did certain things and Taylor practiced learning the correct flank commands. It was rather amusing to watch Diva as she sat facing Taylor waiting for a command. Taylor would tell her something, with me standing behind her, and Diva would move just her neck and head to look around her as if to ask me if that was what I really wanted, lol. I had to back up a few commands to get her to go but I hope once I feel comfortable staying outside the pen this will change and she will really listen to Taylor. For yesterday we did a lot of walking around and learning that you can tell what your dog is doing by watching you sheep, learning the flanks, and learning to steady up or down your dog if the sheep get to pushy. Taylor loved it and she talked the entire trip home about how she wants to "work dogs". 

Lessons From Lambs

   Diva and I met Rae and her crew at Hog Dog yesterday morning. It's a rarity to get June temps in the low 60's, so despite the drizzle it was still a very pleasant time. The real fun from yesterday came with the discovery that all of the ewes and their lambs are now available to be worked. Not only does this give us a much larger flock but, it allows us to create all sorts of interesting groups when sorting. 

    Diva and I collected the flock from the large pasture and did the initial sorting of working groups. I found it amusing that as I was desperately trying to figure out who's lambs were who's so that they could be sorted off together the ewes really could care less and didn't call out. So much for making my sort easier! Diva did a nice job of holding the sheep to me while I gate sorted a group that was heavily comprised of lambs with a few adult ewes in for comfort. We worked that group after they were in the arena and focused on staying out wide, rating, and watching for the draw. The lambs are all sensible but fresh and they quickly let you know when the dog is putting to much pressure on them. Diva has beautiful wide flanks and outruns when I am standing still but when I am moving she tries to work in much closer and gets caught up with motion as opposed to watching and rating her stock. This always makes me laugh because she can go out and do a much nicer advanced course with me not helping at all than she could go out an do a started course in fetch mode. It's interesting that fetching, which is her most natural default, also seems to put her brain on auto pilot. She keeps her stock together nicely but she doesn't pick up the nuances of individuals in the group as much as she just works the whole. This is why I love having lambs to work. Their less predictable reactions keep Diva watching and force more natural rating.

    For our second work session we used a group comprised of 2 adult ewes and 3 lambs that didn't belong to either ewe. The lambs in this group were very strong to the draws and to add another element of difficulty we left the gate into the shelter pen open to add another draw. I was originally going to go out in the pasture with this group but when I sent Diva out to gather them it became obvious that there I had plenty to focus on in the arena. Diva could easily gather them  and hold them to me but when I asked her to flank around and come in straight behind me to drive them off the lambs kept making a break for the draw while the ewes moved in the correct direction. Diva was taking the right commands from me but what she wasn't doing was taking them wide enough that she could catch the lambs eye before the scooted by. I ended upsetting this up several times before we had success and Diva finally squared off wide enough on her inside flanks. During some of the "out takes" Diva lost the lambs into the shelter pen and had to go in and bring them back out...another great teaching opportunity as she wanted to take a more direct route around them than the lambs could handle (especially without the comfort of and adult). I corrected her twice for trying to go to straight and she finally opted to hug the fence and pick them up nicely.

   The last time we worked was more of an exercise in letting Diva just figure things out. As Rae was coming out of the gate she slipped in eager to work so, I had Rae close the gate while I stayed exactly where I had been outside. Rae and I were conversing and I made no effort to give any commands or make eye contact. It all of the sheep together so plenty for her to watch. Diva looked at me for a minute before she set off and gathered everyone. I assumed she would fetch them to me which she did but then instead of holding them she flanked in and drove them away. Once they were going she changed her mind and flanked out to fetch them back. This repeated a few times before I saw Diva's mind set change and she started holding the group to me. Such a large group though has it's own ideas and so she had to constantly go and tuck the sheep back in which was perfect for what I wanted to accomplish. We ended there for the day and I must say that I was pleased. The lambs were an excellent surprise and I hope that I can get back out again soon before they get too broke.

Breaking Cow/Calf Pairs

Enya doing a nice job of moving everyone quietly

Doesn't this look so silly with the calves next to the Holstein?

Enya holding her pressure and waiting for the calf to turn with it's mother.

Diva hasn't seen many outdoor kitties. She really wanted to make friends with this guy but he wasn't all that impressed, lol. Her mind was totally blown later in the day when he ran up a tree and she couldn't see where he had gone. 

Diva driving them nicely before she stirred the pot

    Sometimes it seems like the universe is conspiring against you, or at least that is how it felt this past weekend when Scott, the kids, and I tried to go to NY for Memorial Day. What started out as a celebration of having my truck back quickly turned into a long day that ended with my truck on a tow truck and us right back where we started. To add insult to injury my FIL's truck caught on fire and burned beyond saving on 495 as he was heading home from helping us. The Hyon family is no stranger to adversity though so we rallied the next day, loaded the Volvo wagon, and finally made it to Gram's.

  My Mom's 3 adult ewes all had there lambs, 5 total, so I was excited to get up there and see them. Sheep are far from my favorite farm animal but I must admit that baby sheep are adorable and wildly entertaining with their antics. It was nothing for me to sit around by the barn and snap a few hundred photos. Mom is up to 16 sheep for now, so this fall she will have 6 mature ewes to breed. Next spring should bring even more lamb chaos, lol!

    My plans while in NY were very limited as we were only staying for a long weekend and ended up being shorted a day due to vehicle troubles. Dawn and I agreed that Sunday morning would work out best for both of us so I met her at her place anticipating we would work sheep. Surprise, surprise! Dawn suggested we go over to Sue's to work her cattle because 3 of them had recently given birth. I will be honest and say that up until this point I have avoided cow/calf pairs with Diva. This is for a couple of reasons. First, I know she isn't a strong dog on cattle and breaking cow/calf pairs is intense. 2.) I don't own any cattle and this isn't something you will get at a trial so, it isn't a skill set I put much emphasis on. When we arrived at Sue's we were greeted by some of the cutest calves ever. For those who aren't familiar with Dexter cattle they are a smaller beef breed. Sue also has one lone dairy heifer, who happens to be exceptionally tall even by Holstein standards, so when the calves were next to her it made for a very odd perspective. We all went into the pasture together but Diva and I hung back in the shade while Dawn and Enya got a feel for the group. These were all previously well broke cattle but with 3 babies under a month old it was clear the dynamic had changed. Enya is an exceptional cattle dog so she did a great job backing the challenges down and waiting for the calves to move off. That in my opinion is the biggest challenge to dog breaking pairs. The calves know nothing about dogs so they are curious or indifferent which makes them stand and stare. When mom moves off it takes a patient and confident dog to walk in and wait for the calf to follow. Where this all goes south is if the calf doesn't follow or mom feels like the dog is to close and she comes back to "save" her baby.

    After Enya had moved them around a little bit we decided to give Diva a go. It started out ok but Diva felt the pressure and threat from the mother cows  and I had to force her to stay in the pocket. Getting her to walk into the heads in the corner was also an effort and took a lot of encouragement. She wanted to bounce out and try and make motion with motion which is a pet peeve of mine. Trouble for Diva started though when I sent her to the far end to turn the cattle back and one calf choose to just stop and watch her. Diva paused and then made her big mistake. She knew I wouldn't let her kick out so she fainted a dash in and barked at the calf (something that works for her on adult cattle most of the time). All hell broke loose at that point because said calf's mother turned back and came running in full attack mode. Diva ran for cover and I can't say I blame her. Momma cows on the defensive are nasty!! Once she turned away I sent Diva straight back in and Dawn quickly sent Enya in to help.Between the two of them the group was moving again but they were now all on the defensive. That same momma kept trying to challenge and started bawling her head off which brought the bull racing from the barn to answer her cry for help. It was a situation where we knew that  if we continued to push nothing good would be gained. We let the dogs move them up the pasture together one time and then called it a day.

   Diva would have been fine if she hadn't barked but she lost her patience and confidence so she reacted. I know it wasn't an "I'm in charge" bark but more of a "stop looking at me weirdo" kind, lol. I didn't go there expecting her to be a rock star because I know her limitations very well. She will always be extremely kind and is fantastic when working weaned calves that are flighty but she is not a dog that see's a charging cow and stands her ground to meet them. She has always had a sense of self preservation and that is what holds her back in a way from being dynamic on cattle. I learned long ago that I can help her confidence by working her in specific ways and very regularly so this is what I will need to do in the next 4 months leading up to Nationals.