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!

Giving Back

    When you get a 46 degree day with sun in January it's best to go make the most of it. I have been trying to get together with Doug for a couple of weeks now so that we could do a training session with Buddy. Buddy is 11 months old now so it's time to start laying the foundation for him to be a useful farm dog. Doug has been very gracious in offering me free use of his sheep whenever I want and it is my intent to give him something back in return by helping him start his dog and using Diva to make tasks that are normally a headache less stressful. Eventually I expect that Doug and Buddy will no longer need our help but for now this mutually beneficial relationship is working out great. Diva and I have set about really dog breaking the one group of 6 sheep so that they are easier to put a young and very enthusiastic Buddy on. The Icelandics have proven to be wonderful sheep to work with and in the group we are using there is a badger faced ewe that is what the Icelandic farmers refer to as a "leader sheep". She is head of the flock, incredibly smart, and I love working with her and watching her figure it out. She has already sorted out that if she comes to me and stays close that is the place I want her to be but she is not at all heavy so as soon as the dog gets to pushy she goes on by. I believe she has her last year's ewe lamb by her side, an all black ewe, and she too is picking up on the fact that the dog isn't a threat if you just move where they ask you too. Doug has told me that these 6 will be alone for the next two weeks at which time he is going to bring the rest of the ewes back together and sort off the rams to their own field again. He also told me that shearing day will most likely be the 2nd weekend in April so we need to have the flock working nicely with the dogs and practice sorting them.

    Diva didn't have to do much work at all to get the sheep into the small pen so that we could work Buddy. She went out and fished them out from the section of trees in the barnyard field but when it came time to push them into the chute she lost them because she didn't wait and apply a steady pressure. The lead ewe had stopped and turned to face Diva and instead of waiting a few seconds and doing a nice walk up she blew in at her and caused the stock to split. A quick verbal correction from me and we set things up again at the mouth of the chute and the sheep went right in. I wasn't really mad at Diva for getting after the ewe because I could see that there was some exchange going on between the two of them as they were starring each other down but I was disappointed that she stirred the pot and chose to breach the bubble. What I hope Diva will learn from these sheep is to make better choices under pressure and to watch all of her stock as opposed to getting caught up in the moment when some action goes down. Anyway, once we had the sheep in there it was time to really get a feel for what Buddy would do. I asked Doug if it was ok if I took him (on leash) around the stock a few times so I could watch his response. Buddy is everything an un-schooled young Aussie can be...he is strong, rushing, pulling, and completely zoned in on the heads. My stick ment absolutely nothing until I hit the ground in front of him once really hard and then I got the, "fine, if I can't play my way I don't want to plat at all!" attitude. He wants to pursue, split, and really pull some wool and he has no stop. I tried letting the line go to see if he would eventually get around but for now he is just intent on making them move. So what does this mean? It means I am going to be come a better trainer (Yay!!) and Doug has a lot of homework to do, lol. I gave Buddy back to Doug and then Diva and I showed him what fetching was supposed to look like. I explained to him about the basics of directional commands, walk up, and how when he was guiding Buddy around the stock how to tell if Buddy was truly releasing pressure or still leaning on the sheep. We talked about loose eyed working dogs and I explained that he need to get a good stop on Buddy. Buddy needs to start going out to "work" daily and even though it might be frustrating using a young dog that turns 20 minutes of chores into an hour, if you don't use him he will never learn what he needs to do and be able to do it. As we stood around talking dogs and sheep Buddy noticeably relaxed which is what I was hoping for. I then had Doug take him on leash and just move the stock around the pen, changing direction periodically and practicing downs when he had them held in the corners. It was much better (more productive) and it gave us a good place to call it quits. 

    So until I get out there next week I hope that Doug finds some time to work on his homework with Buddy and perhaps just getting more exposure will help him settle down. If we find that having just a few sheep gives him to much of chance to focus on one or two then we can look forward to having 30 ewes together and seeing if working the flock as a whole changes his approach. This is what I love the most about working livestock with a dog and particularly about starting young dogs. You need to figure out what works, develop that teamwork, and it doesn't always just come easy. 

Happy New Year!!

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

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

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

The approach was cautious...

Then there was some sniffing and snorting...on both sides :-)

Enough with hogs. Lets talk about sheep Mom!

See why I love this field? It's level, dry, and big! 

Waiting while our sheep take a breather

Watching and waiting

Showing patience and holding calm pressure

Driving them back to the gate to put them away

Good Friends, Good Times, Good Fun!

    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!

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!

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. 

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!