This post is late getting here since our girl's day actually happened more than a week ago but as they say, better late than never. I can't tell you how much I needed to get out and have some fun and what better way to do that then with Kelly, Rae, and Nancy! This was Nancy's first time down to work at Hog Dog so I hope she enjoyed it as much as we all did.
I have said this a few times already but the great thing about not having to accomplish anything is the lack of stress that it brings when working Diva. I simply love getting out there and just enjoying our time doing whatever it is that comes to mind. I decided to give the blind outrun a try since the sheep had seen us getting out of the cars and decided to head over the hill to the farthest corner of the pasture. Diva has worked very little but I love testing her and this task is one of the things that I have access to that really validates Diva's working ability. Without owning my own farm or ranch most of our "work" is done inside an arena or pen but Hog Dog's main pasture allows for a unique experience. Each time I send Diva out over that hill and across a pasture that is nearly a 1/4 of a mile I get a euphoric feeling. I stand there watching her head up and she always looks back a few times to make sure she is doing the right thing and then poof, she disappears and the wait begins. Somewhere over there are 25 or so sheep with my dog and I can no longer see anything. I have to trust that Diva is treating the sheep fairly, that she is rounding them up, and that she knows her task is to bring them back to me. I do, and I should, because out there with no human around it's instinct combining with training that is guiding her and she has all of the tools that she needs. The waiting feels like forever but when I finally see sheep coming over the crest it's a proud moment. Diva brings the sheep straight to the gate and in they go to the smaller field to get ready for sorting. I have yet to do it but one time I would love to put the video camera on the tripod viewing the top portion of the pasture just so I can actually see what happens after Diva leaves my sight. Obviously the sheep are gathered and no one is hurt but I am curious as to what method she uses to get the job done? Does she make an adjustment to her outrun once she locates the sheep visually or does she stay true to the command I gave? If it's the former will the video show that her decision was the right one given where the sheep are? I almost always tell her "away, go get your sheep." when I send her because where the gate is located the closest fence line is off to my right and I want her to cast out and hug the fence so she makes a clean gather. This bit of large field gathering came in very handy when she finished her OFTm. On that day I also sent her away and she kicked out so wide all the way to the fence and had a gorgeous outrun and lift.Very pretty! Hog Dog has been a crucial part of our journey and as we are nearing the end of 2014 I figure I should mention exactly how blessed and thankful I am to be able to work there.
Once everyone got there the fun began. Kelly and I had wanted to see if Raven would work for me so I took her out to sort and gave it a go. It was a very short attempt that proved even for a Aussie that appears to "live to work" it's still about living to work with their person. I have to admit though I was a bit surprised. Raven apparently loves me but not enough to work with Kelly standing where she can see her. As I was laughing and giving Raven back to Kelly Singe came charging out to greet me so Kelly said to try her. Again, it was a no go. I am loved but I am not "the one". So like a good sport Kelly then took Diva out to "work". Surprisingly Diva was happy to work with Kelly as long as Kelly didn't give her a correction. Corrections can come only from me apparently ;-). It was interesting to watch Diva with Kelly and I have no doubt that if I wasn't around Diva would settle in and really apply herself. I also am curious if Raven's tune would change should I take her out to work cattle. Guess maybe we can try that at our next girl's day ;-).
So there you have it. Just a beautiful December day spent with good friends chatting and working dogs. It's the simple joys in life that heal the soul and Diva and I love spending time with our friends!
The Diva Chronicles
Friday, December 26, 2014
Monday, December 8, 2014
WAV Trial
This post will be short and sweet...I think ;-). I don't have any pictures or videos to share of Diva but she did an amazing job in her sheep runs at the WAV trial at Keepstone farm in Berryville, VA. I hadn't planned on entering this trial just going out to take pictures and catch up with Kelly, Rae, and Nancy but a couple of sheep runs opened up and I figured what the heck! Diva already has her WTCH and we aren't trying to make a go for finals points so it was purely for fun...and that is awesome!
Diva did what Diva does best (ok, one of things she does best ;-)) which is go out and settle light stock. She may lack grip and not be super stylish but she can bring calm and peace. For these sheep the bubble was big and they couldn't tolerate over flanking. In both runs Diva had decent flow, the sheep walked, Diva walked, we made all of the obstacles with all of the stock, and had controlled re-pens. The one area I managed to mess up both times was coming from panel two to the center pen. Diva had the sheep nice and calm at the second obstacle and as they came through instead of telling her go bye get around I told her away get around...derp! So what I ended up with was the sheep coming through panel two and then Diva catching their heads and holding them on the fence until I had the good sense to send her the proper direction! Totally not her fault as she did exactly what I asked but it lost us the chance for that picture perfect line from obstacle two to the center pen and it made us have to actually work a little more to get them in the pen (which we did :-)). You would think after all of this time I would be able to know my go bye's from my away's but sadly that isn't always the case, lol. So we ended up with a score of 100 for the first run and a 113 for the second.
Did I mention how much I love my dog? Only worked 3 times in the last 5 months and still manages to put up decent scores! That'll do Diva!
Ok, so I can't have a blog post without a picture, right?! Nancy, Spunk, Kelly, Singe, Rae, and Catcher. The black bi working dogs of the Mid Atlantic ;-). Love you all!
Diva did what Diva does best (ok, one of things she does best ;-)) which is go out and settle light stock. She may lack grip and not be super stylish but she can bring calm and peace. For these sheep the bubble was big and they couldn't tolerate over flanking. In both runs Diva had decent flow, the sheep walked, Diva walked, we made all of the obstacles with all of the stock, and had controlled re-pens. The one area I managed to mess up both times was coming from panel two to the center pen. Diva had the sheep nice and calm at the second obstacle and as they came through instead of telling her go bye get around I told her away get around...derp! So what I ended up with was the sheep coming through panel two and then Diva catching their heads and holding them on the fence until I had the good sense to send her the proper direction! Totally not her fault as she did exactly what I asked but it lost us the chance for that picture perfect line from obstacle two to the center pen and it made us have to actually work a little more to get them in the pen (which we did :-)). You would think after all of this time I would be able to know my go bye's from my away's but sadly that isn't always the case, lol. So we ended up with a score of 100 for the first run and a 113 for the second.
Did I mention how much I love my dog? Only worked 3 times in the last 5 months and still manages to put up decent scores! That'll do Diva!
Ok, so I can't have a blog post without a picture, right?! Nancy, Spunk, Kelly, Singe, Rae, and Catcher. The black bi working dogs of the Mid Atlantic ;-). Love you all!
Tuesday, December 2, 2014
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.
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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.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
It's So Simple...Just Have Fun!
It should be obvious from the lack of activity on this blog how few and far my working opportunities are between. I am not normally one to waffle around in self pity but I must admit that telling myself that I wasn't really missing working stock with Diva is no longer the band-aide it used to be. Then With ASCA Nationals happening earlier this month I wrestled with so much envy and jealousy reading about people's successes and seeing the pictures. As is my true nature though I have decided that there is no sense crying over missed opportunities. 2015 ASCA Nationals are in TN and I am going to spend the time between now and then training with the intent to do MVA. There is an obedience and rally trial locally in February and I would like to get Diva's CDX and RA there. We also need to get back to doing some agility and yes of course we must ALWAYS work stock.
Yesterday Diva and I were able to meet up with Rae and her crew at Hog Dog for some long overdue laughs and sheep time. Diva was so excited when we pulled in that she started whining as we came down the driveway. I wasn't going to push my luck and ask for the big pasture blind gather but when we were half way up the hill (still out sight of the sheep) I asked Diva, "Where are the sheep?" and she was off like a rocket. By the time I made it over the crest she had everyone gathered up and heading my direction (at a pretty fast pace ;-) lol!). Once she had them settled with me she drove them down the pasture and put them in the small field for sorting so nicely. It made us both smile.
When we "worked" the first time I had her do a few baby outruns and then I just basically let her have some fun while fetching. She was slicey, fast, and grinning from ear to ear and I was having the best time watching her enjoy herself. Its easy to forget when your life is all crazy that the animals sometimes feel the pressure and stress just as much. Diva needed a chance to cut loose too. Once I reined her in we spent some time watching Rae work her dogs and just enjoyed the vibe together. Sun, a brisk breeze, sheep, and friends...priceless. **We missed you Kelly!!**
For our last little work session I wanted to practice something that does not come easy or naturally to Diva...shedding. What we did was on the most basic level and I assisted so as not to make it stressful for her. I was using a group of 15 or so sheep and had her push them along the fence line, changing direction when asked. Then when I saw a good spot I would stop her and ask her to walk in. I stayed within 4-5 feet of her and really showed her where I wanted her to walk in. When the sheep split I praised and then re-directed her to "watch" the group we had sorted. Rinse and repeat several times. Diva stayed happy and I made a point of not raising my voice or getting frustrated if one slipped back tot he group (the same one I might add...stinker ;-)). I was a great place to end with her and we both left happy. Keeping things simple and having fun was just what we both needed. Next week we head to NY for the Thanksgiving holiday and we will get the chance to work more sheep and cattle with our NY friends! Yay for more fun!
Yesterday Diva and I were able to meet up with Rae and her crew at Hog Dog for some long overdue laughs and sheep time. Diva was so excited when we pulled in that she started whining as we came down the driveway. I wasn't going to push my luck and ask for the big pasture blind gather but when we were half way up the hill (still out sight of the sheep) I asked Diva, "Where are the sheep?" and she was off like a rocket. By the time I made it over the crest she had everyone gathered up and heading my direction (at a pretty fast pace ;-) lol!). Once she had them settled with me she drove them down the pasture and put them in the small field for sorting so nicely. It made us both smile.
When we "worked" the first time I had her do a few baby outruns and then I just basically let her have some fun while fetching. She was slicey, fast, and grinning from ear to ear and I was having the best time watching her enjoy herself. Its easy to forget when your life is all crazy that the animals sometimes feel the pressure and stress just as much. Diva needed a chance to cut loose too. Once I reined her in we spent some time watching Rae work her dogs and just enjoyed the vibe together. Sun, a brisk breeze, sheep, and friends...priceless. **We missed you Kelly!!**
For our last little work session I wanted to practice something that does not come easy or naturally to Diva...shedding. What we did was on the most basic level and I assisted so as not to make it stressful for her. I was using a group of 15 or so sheep and had her push them along the fence line, changing direction when asked. Then when I saw a good spot I would stop her and ask her to walk in. I stayed within 4-5 feet of her and really showed her where I wanted her to walk in. When the sheep split I praised and then re-directed her to "watch" the group we had sorted. Rinse and repeat several times. Diva stayed happy and I made a point of not raising my voice or getting frustrated if one slipped back tot he group (the same one I might add...stinker ;-)). I was a great place to end with her and we both left happy. Keeping things simple and having fun was just what we both needed. Next week we head to NY for the Thanksgiving holiday and we will get the chance to work more sheep and cattle with our NY friends! Yay for more fun!
Monday, October 13, 2014
Dusting Off My Dreams: New Opportunities
I feel like it has been forever since Diva and I have been out to work stock and even longer since I actually had something to blog about. Unfortunately 2 months ago to the day my husband had a massive heart attack followed by an emergency double bypass surgery. To say that my entire world stopped would be a gross understatement. We were lucky though because despite some bumps in the road he is home and on the long road to recovery. All activities but the most basic and essential took a backseat, and rightfully so, but now that I can finally breathe again I am in serious need of stress relief. Participating at Nationals in 2015 has been on my mind but it's more than that. I really just miss getting out with Diva and working together. If my husband's medical emergency has taught me anything it is that life is entirely to precious to waste time stressing over things that are ultimately unimportant. Working livestock with Diva reminds me that life can be much more simple and peaceful. I want that. I NEED that. Perhaps I will get super competitive again but for now I am going to approach stock work from a different way.
This brings us to our latest adventure courtesy once again of me running a Craigslist ad. I received a response a couple of weeks ago from a guy who lives about 30 miles from our new house. He owns 40 purebred Icelandic sheep and has a 9 month male Aussie pup that he got from Pincie Creek. He grew up on a sheep ranch but this is his first stockdog and first Aussie so he was reaching out to me to not only to offer use of his sheep but to see if I could help him turn his dog into a useful helper. We spoke on the phone and agreed that coming out would be a good idea so we both could gauge if the situation would be a good fit. I had never worked Icelandics before but some online research gave me an idea of what to expect. Not all of it was encouraging as I found a BC forum where people discussed that the Icelandics could ruin a good dog :-/. Diva is not a powerful dog but she is effective and she does great with flighty stock so I figured I would do what I always do and give it a shot. if it got to dodgy then I would call it quits and stick to helping Doug out with Buddy.
Doug and his wife have 2 young daughters so he invited me to bring everyone out to the farm so the kids could play and entertain each other. Scott decided he would come along also so it turned into a family event. Doug's farm is in beautiful St. Mary's county down at the end of a quiet private road and you can imagine my delight when I pulled in and his fences are actually nice and safe for working :-). I have encountered some knarly fencing ;-). We made our introductions and he told me about his sheep and how things had grown and what the future plans are. I have to admit I very curious about shearing time and seeing these adorable spring lambs that can be born as many as 6 to one ewe!!! There is a lot of practical work to be done and I can see why Doug needs his dog to work. As we all know one good dog can replace several people and cut the time spent doing farm chores in half. I had decided to take Diva in the small barn yard area and just get an idea for how the sheep would react to a dog. Some moved off right away while the leader ewes not only turned to stare but approached and challenged. I let Diva get after the challengers as needed but called her off as soon as they turned and gave. We continued this process as we drove the sheep around for a bit. Diva was such a good girl that the sheep were not flighty and Doug was vastly impressed (lol :-)). He said his sheep are normally pretty light and scatter instead of flocking. Once I had a good idea of how they were going to react I asked Doug what was the chore that was the most difficult and yet most necessary to accomplish. His answer was that pushing the sheep into a funneled chute that lead to a small pen used for maintenance was always a fiasco that took the entire family a couple of hours atleast and left everyone upset. Doug set up his series of panels the way he usually did to get that chore done and Diva and I set about driving the stock in. It took very careful, patient, and yet strong push to accomplish the task but in just 10 minutes everyone was in and they had done so in a calm orderly fashion. The lead ewes had challenged Diva a few times but she did an excellent job of hitting and then backing off. To say that Doug and his wife were now mind blown was an understatement. You could tell that I had just given them hope that the bouncy wild puppy they had would eventually be able to help them work their sheep and save unnecessary marital strife ;-). We let the sheep settle and then I suggested it was time to bring in Buddy on a line and let him "help" Doug push the sheep back out of the small pen and into the field again. I talked Doug through where best to position buddy and he showed the enthusiasm that is natural to a 9 month old Aussie pup. What he also showed though was some good eye and quick learning as the ewes took the chance to test the new dog in their space. Once everyone was out Doug and Buddy (still on a line) drove the sheep around the field and I explained to Doug why I was having him do this. Buddy put the sheep in one corner of the field and then did a nice down to hold them while Doug and I talked. Diva and I held back by about 20 feet just to offer a little extra. Then because I wanted Doug, buddy, and the sheep to learn something together I had them drive the sheep back to the funnel chute and put them in the pen. Doug used the line to steady buddy and Diva and I hung back where we could help if needed. This is where I learned something very important about Icelandic sheep. They are very smart as far as sheep go. Just one calm time through the chute and into the pen had taught them to go right back in easily. This time they didn't balk and they didn't challenge. Doug laid Buddy down at the gate to hold for a minute and then we had a big party! What a good puppy. He had quit pulling on the lead by himself and he was really watching the sheep. Nice stuff for a first exposure! I told Doug that we should also reward the sheep by calling it quits for the day. They had been very quick to learn and I didn't want to sour them in anyway.
All in all it was a great day for both parties. Doug was excited to learn he could use Buddy on a line to help with chores and that would only make him better and more relaxed when we started working him off lead. Doug is also going to build a nice 40' x 40' pen from cattle panels so that the sheep can't run as far and we can manage Buddy's enthusiasm better ;-). For now I think it is wisest to work the Icelandics as a flock so that they get nice and dog broke. I can see how once they are sorted down to smaller groups the fight in them might come out more and that isn't good for a baby dog. Diva and I will use the small working pen Doug is making to dog break smaller groups at a later date. I am free to come out and work anytime I want which is wonderful and because there is a really practical need to get things done Diva and I can help with chores.
This brings us to our latest adventure courtesy once again of me running a Craigslist ad. I received a response a couple of weeks ago from a guy who lives about 30 miles from our new house. He owns 40 purebred Icelandic sheep and has a 9 month male Aussie pup that he got from Pincie Creek. He grew up on a sheep ranch but this is his first stockdog and first Aussie so he was reaching out to me to not only to offer use of his sheep but to see if I could help him turn his dog into a useful helper. We spoke on the phone and agreed that coming out would be a good idea so we both could gauge if the situation would be a good fit. I had never worked Icelandics before but some online research gave me an idea of what to expect. Not all of it was encouraging as I found a BC forum where people discussed that the Icelandics could ruin a good dog :-/. Diva is not a powerful dog but she is effective and she does great with flighty stock so I figured I would do what I always do and give it a shot. if it got to dodgy then I would call it quits and stick to helping Doug out with Buddy.
Doug and his wife have 2 young daughters so he invited me to bring everyone out to the farm so the kids could play and entertain each other. Scott decided he would come along also so it turned into a family event. Doug's farm is in beautiful St. Mary's county down at the end of a quiet private road and you can imagine my delight when I pulled in and his fences are actually nice and safe for working :-). I have encountered some knarly fencing ;-). We made our introductions and he told me about his sheep and how things had grown and what the future plans are. I have to admit I very curious about shearing time and seeing these adorable spring lambs that can be born as many as 6 to one ewe!!! There is a lot of practical work to be done and I can see why Doug needs his dog to work. As we all know one good dog can replace several people and cut the time spent doing farm chores in half. I had decided to take Diva in the small barn yard area and just get an idea for how the sheep would react to a dog. Some moved off right away while the leader ewes not only turned to stare but approached and challenged. I let Diva get after the challengers as needed but called her off as soon as they turned and gave. We continued this process as we drove the sheep around for a bit. Diva was such a good girl that the sheep were not flighty and Doug was vastly impressed (lol :-)). He said his sheep are normally pretty light and scatter instead of flocking. Once I had a good idea of how they were going to react I asked Doug what was the chore that was the most difficult and yet most necessary to accomplish. His answer was that pushing the sheep into a funneled chute that lead to a small pen used for maintenance was always a fiasco that took the entire family a couple of hours atleast and left everyone upset. Doug set up his series of panels the way he usually did to get that chore done and Diva and I set about driving the stock in. It took very careful, patient, and yet strong push to accomplish the task but in just 10 minutes everyone was in and they had done so in a calm orderly fashion. The lead ewes had challenged Diva a few times but she did an excellent job of hitting and then backing off. To say that Doug and his wife were now mind blown was an understatement. You could tell that I had just given them hope that the bouncy wild puppy they had would eventually be able to help them work their sheep and save unnecessary marital strife ;-). We let the sheep settle and then I suggested it was time to bring in Buddy on a line and let him "help" Doug push the sheep back out of the small pen and into the field again. I talked Doug through where best to position buddy and he showed the enthusiasm that is natural to a 9 month old Aussie pup. What he also showed though was some good eye and quick learning as the ewes took the chance to test the new dog in their space. Once everyone was out Doug and Buddy (still on a line) drove the sheep around the field and I explained to Doug why I was having him do this. Buddy put the sheep in one corner of the field and then did a nice down to hold them while Doug and I talked. Diva and I held back by about 20 feet just to offer a little extra. Then because I wanted Doug, buddy, and the sheep to learn something together I had them drive the sheep back to the funnel chute and put them in the pen. Doug used the line to steady buddy and Diva and I hung back where we could help if needed. This is where I learned something very important about Icelandic sheep. They are very smart as far as sheep go. Just one calm time through the chute and into the pen had taught them to go right back in easily. This time they didn't balk and they didn't challenge. Doug laid Buddy down at the gate to hold for a minute and then we had a big party! What a good puppy. He had quit pulling on the lead by himself and he was really watching the sheep. Nice stuff for a first exposure! I told Doug that we should also reward the sheep by calling it quits for the day. They had been very quick to learn and I didn't want to sour them in anyway.
All in all it was a great day for both parties. Doug was excited to learn he could use Buddy on a line to help with chores and that would only make him better and more relaxed when we started working him off lead. Doug is also going to build a nice 40' x 40' pen from cattle panels so that the sheep can't run as far and we can manage Buddy's enthusiasm better ;-). For now I think it is wisest to work the Icelandics as a flock so that they get nice and dog broke. I can see how once they are sorted down to smaller groups the fight in them might come out more and that isn't good for a baby dog. Diva and I will use the small working pen Doug is making to dog break smaller groups at a later date. I am free to come out and work anytime I want which is wonderful and because there is a really practical need to get things done Diva and I can help with chores.
Monday, July 21, 2014
Getting Back To What We Love: Part Two
I landed back in NY this past Friday for an extended visit which gave me the chance to get together with Dawn and Amanda for a girl's day at Dawn's. Diva and I haven't worked sheep in many months because I have been cautious about the sheep knocking into me and hurting my ankle. Time waits for no one though so I need to get past my fears and move forward, and that includes working sheep ;-).
Dawn's farm presents a great chance to work on sorting and pen work that I don't usually get so that is where I started with Diva. I was very happy to see that her lack of confidence on cattle had not carried over to sheep. She was eager to work and listening well. Our problem with sorting has always been the fact that Diva doesn't understand the concept of holding pressure and walking in to split the sheep. I tend to over command her and then she starts watching me and things don't go well. Don't get me wrong, we manage to do it but it isn't pretty and polished like I would like it to be. I started out trying to sort one ewe and her twin lambs from the flock but it wasn't go so easily. Dawn pointed out I was in the wring position and talking to much ;-). To make things easier we took it down to just the ewe, her twin lambs, and three other sheep. Diva and I still struggled to make things happen but eventually we did get the right ones in there. Dawn suggested that I needed to first work on shedding and then apply that to my sorting so that is what we will do next time.
Our next session involved the flock and working on the free standing pen. Diva gets out wide now but her circle lacks speed. I don't know if I will ever get her back to the speed she once had but that is another training goal. It took us a while to get everyone in and Desmond the ram was the last to go. Even though it wasn't pretty I stuck with my plan to make everything positive so Diva and I had a little party once I closed the gate. Much to my surprise when I sent Diva in the pen to pull everyone back out Desmond put his head down and challenged. I was equally surprised to watch Diva transform before my eyes and really get in his face. She never once backed down and Desmond left the pen. That should have been enough but one of the wethers crammed himself in the back and also started to challenge Diva. I really didn't have to say much of anything because she was focused and serious about the challenge. It was an awesome moment for her and I was beaming!
As the day went on we got to a point where all of the dogs were accompanying us everywhere and helping out as needed. Diva helped out with one puppy on sheep which was a cool experience on it's own. I stayed outside the small pen and Dawn went in with Diva and the puppy. At one point one of the lambs made a break for it and managed to get through the gate and back to the flock. I sent Diva out to bring the flock back from the arena (I am still outside the fence) so we could re-sort of the ewe and her two lambs. This for me was probably the coolest part of the day. Dawn was at the gate and Diva brought the sheep. I gave her one command and then I couldn't see her so dawn said to just be quiet. Lo and behold Dawn and diva sorted the right sheep with out a word and on the first try! Point made, lol. It's me. Pretty funny when someone else can sort with your dog without saying a word ;-).
We ended our girl's day by heading over to work cattle at a local farm. These cattle were very light and not into challenging which is exactly the type of cattle Diva likes to work. She did an awesome job being steady, driving around, working halfmoons on the fence, and holding pressure when needed. I was very happy with her work and decided to end after just one short session (score for me for being a good handler ;-)).
Dawn's farm presents a great chance to work on sorting and pen work that I don't usually get so that is where I started with Diva. I was very happy to see that her lack of confidence on cattle had not carried over to sheep. She was eager to work and listening well. Our problem with sorting has always been the fact that Diva doesn't understand the concept of holding pressure and walking in to split the sheep. I tend to over command her and then she starts watching me and things don't go well. Don't get me wrong, we manage to do it but it isn't pretty and polished like I would like it to be. I started out trying to sort one ewe and her twin lambs from the flock but it wasn't go so easily. Dawn pointed out I was in the wring position and talking to much ;-). To make things easier we took it down to just the ewe, her twin lambs, and three other sheep. Diva and I still struggled to make things happen but eventually we did get the right ones in there. Dawn suggested that I needed to first work on shedding and then apply that to my sorting so that is what we will do next time.
Our next session involved the flock and working on the free standing pen. Diva gets out wide now but her circle lacks speed. I don't know if I will ever get her back to the speed she once had but that is another training goal. It took us a while to get everyone in and Desmond the ram was the last to go. Even though it wasn't pretty I stuck with my plan to make everything positive so Diva and I had a little party once I closed the gate. Much to my surprise when I sent Diva in the pen to pull everyone back out Desmond put his head down and challenged. I was equally surprised to watch Diva transform before my eyes and really get in his face. She never once backed down and Desmond left the pen. That should have been enough but one of the wethers crammed himself in the back and also started to challenge Diva. I really didn't have to say much of anything because she was focused and serious about the challenge. It was an awesome moment for her and I was beaming!
As the day went on we got to a point where all of the dogs were accompanying us everywhere and helping out as needed. Diva helped out with one puppy on sheep which was a cool experience on it's own. I stayed outside the small pen and Dawn went in with Diva and the puppy. At one point one of the lambs made a break for it and managed to get through the gate and back to the flock. I sent Diva out to bring the flock back from the arena (I am still outside the fence) so we could re-sort of the ewe and her two lambs. This for me was probably the coolest part of the day. Dawn was at the gate and Diva brought the sheep. I gave her one command and then I couldn't see her so dawn said to just be quiet. Lo and behold Dawn and diva sorted the right sheep with out a word and on the first try! Point made, lol. It's me. Pretty funny when someone else can sort with your dog without saying a word ;-).
We ended our girl's day by heading over to work cattle at a local farm. These cattle were very light and not into challenging which is exactly the type of cattle Diva likes to work. She did an awesome job being steady, driving around, working halfmoons on the fence, and holding pressure when needed. I was very happy with her work and decided to end after just one short session (score for me for being a good handler ;-)).
Getting Back To What We Love
I must apologize for I am horribly behind on my blog. In part because I haven't had the chance to get out and work much but also because I didn't have an experience go the way I wanted last month and it really got in my head. Staying true to the intent of this blog I feel compelled to share the story but it has taken me this long to really be able to. Wounded pride takes a long time to heal!
After a long winter off because of my broken ankle Diva and I had finally started working again. I am not sure what made me think we were trial ready but when I heard of an all cattle AHBA trial in NY with very affordable runs I decided to enter. Getting an AHBA CH was on my "to do" list for this year and I very foolishly decided to enter HTAD and HTD level III. I assumed my dog was more than able to handle it and I assumed that we would get our Q's and start towards that CH. When you have these grand ideas about what will happen and things go vastly different it really knocks you down a peg or two. As it turned out the cattle were very combative and cranky after going through a 3 day clinic prior to the trial and the footing in the HTD field was very difficult for me to handle with my ankle. On our first run I, which was HTD, I walked to the post optimistically and sent Diva out the 300' to the cattle that were being held to a feed pan. I should have known by the way Diva left my side that things weren't right. She casually went out away but cut in to early and instead of pushing them towards me she was driving them back towards the draw. All of my attempts and re-directing her were ignored and she barked but lacked commitment. What I needed to do at that moment was walk out there and help my dog but the footing didn't allow me to do so. It was an epic fail. Ultimately the cattle moved out of range towards the draw and I called the run. Based on the first run I pulled the second HTD run and opted to wait for the HTAD where I was sure things would go better. It didn't. Diva failed to engage the cattle at all right from the start and she actually quit working. I was so embarrassed and angry that my WTCH dog was acting as if she had never seen cattle before that I once again didn't go out to help her. Instead I made it clear to Diva I was angry and called the run. Diva went back to the ex-pen and I vented my frustration. Nothing I thought was going to happen did and everything had gone wrong. In the final HTAD run I had decide that I would finally go out and help her have some success no matter what happened. Diva was slightly better but I had to be very close to her and really cheer lead things along. I called the run on a good note and went out to stew about where things had gone wrong. If not for having Kelly with me for the long ride home I might have just cried the whole way. I was embarrassed at our poor showing, disappointed in Diva, and mad at myself. Never mind that this was only the 3rd time Diva had worked cattle (or anything for that matter) in the last 8 months. I had envisioned us being great and we sucked.
This kind of failure left me with a burning desire to get back up to NY, work those same cattle, and have success. So a couple of weeks later Kelly and I were once again in NY. This time for a girl's day of working cattle. I had stopped pouting and realized that my expectations had been unreasonable. My plan was to stay in the arena and help Diva as much as she needed. The cattle were just as tough but I stuck to my plan and got right in there with Diva. In return she did so much better and when faced with a challenge she got down and gritty. As she got tired I could see her starting to lose her power so for our last go Dawn and Enya came in to work with us and we let the girls have some fun mixing it up :-). This was just what Diva needed and it was clear she was having a good time.
I left NY feeling much better this time and Diva left with a smile on her face!
To be continued...
After a long winter off because of my broken ankle Diva and I had finally started working again. I am not sure what made me think we were trial ready but when I heard of an all cattle AHBA trial in NY with very affordable runs I decided to enter. Getting an AHBA CH was on my "to do" list for this year and I very foolishly decided to enter HTAD and HTD level III. I assumed my dog was more than able to handle it and I assumed that we would get our Q's and start towards that CH. When you have these grand ideas about what will happen and things go vastly different it really knocks you down a peg or two. As it turned out the cattle were very combative and cranky after going through a 3 day clinic prior to the trial and the footing in the HTD field was very difficult for me to handle with my ankle. On our first run I, which was HTD, I walked to the post optimistically and sent Diva out the 300' to the cattle that were being held to a feed pan. I should have known by the way Diva left my side that things weren't right. She casually went out away but cut in to early and instead of pushing them towards me she was driving them back towards the draw. All of my attempts and re-directing her were ignored and she barked but lacked commitment. What I needed to do at that moment was walk out there and help my dog but the footing didn't allow me to do so. It was an epic fail. Ultimately the cattle moved out of range towards the draw and I called the run. Based on the first run I pulled the second HTD run and opted to wait for the HTAD where I was sure things would go better. It didn't. Diva failed to engage the cattle at all right from the start and she actually quit working. I was so embarrassed and angry that my WTCH dog was acting as if she had never seen cattle before that I once again didn't go out to help her. Instead I made it clear to Diva I was angry and called the run. Diva went back to the ex-pen and I vented my frustration. Nothing I thought was going to happen did and everything had gone wrong. In the final HTAD run I had decide that I would finally go out and help her have some success no matter what happened. Diva was slightly better but I had to be very close to her and really cheer lead things along. I called the run on a good note and went out to stew about where things had gone wrong. If not for having Kelly with me for the long ride home I might have just cried the whole way. I was embarrassed at our poor showing, disappointed in Diva, and mad at myself. Never mind that this was only the 3rd time Diva had worked cattle (or anything for that matter) in the last 8 months. I had envisioned us being great and we sucked.
This kind of failure left me with a burning desire to get back up to NY, work those same cattle, and have success. So a couple of weeks later Kelly and I were once again in NY. This time for a girl's day of working cattle. I had stopped pouting and realized that my expectations had been unreasonable. My plan was to stay in the arena and help Diva as much as she needed. The cattle were just as tough but I stuck to my plan and got right in there with Diva. In return she did so much better and when faced with a challenge she got down and gritty. As she got tired I could see her starting to lose her power so for our last go Dawn and Enya came in to work with us and we let the girls have some fun mixing it up :-). This was just what Diva needed and it was clear she was having a good time.
I left NY feeling much better this time and Diva left with a smile on her face!
To be continued...
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