It's spring now....

And still no sheep for me!! :(

I'm waiting for lambing to be done so that I can see if my boss (who has about 100 head) will lease me some sheep for the summer. It's tough, though, because he's had a very bad experience with a boxer who lived in the rental acreage adjacent to their place. The boxer got out and between him and the other dog, they badly damaged a number of sheep. So, there's not much trust there for the breed, and really, who can blame him??

On the upside, I am registered for a clinic at Downriver in September...Lord I hope I can get Porsche on some sheep in August after her puppies go home!!! I'd like her to be a nice surprise.

Anyway...out into the sunshine which has finally decided to show its face after a week of terrible weather!

Can't wait...

Well, it's December here in freezing cold Alberta and I'm itching to get back to herding with the girls. I'm hoping to go out to Downriver Farms this February and maybe March and do some work with John Carter. I'm hoping to get some sheep this spring as well - I need to get my fence up but that shouldn't be too much trouble. If all goes well, I'll be able to pick up about five or six cull ewes to work with this summer. Can't wait! LOL

I hope all is well with everyone this holiday season and I'll touch base with you all come spring! :)

Oops!

As I was going through my blog and photos, I realize I forgot something very, very important...

Thank you to Cathy (with Spyder), Cathy (with Quade) and Kathy (with Chip) for taking such fantastic photos of Porsche and I all weekend!

...and Terry - don't think I'm not coming to hunt you down for the photos you took of us! /wink

Thanks again everyone!!

Home again!

I decided to drive home last night instead of waiting until this morning, and boy am I glad I did. Between unpacking, laundry and tidying up, I have a day's worth of work to do today... I'm also glad of the time to be able to go through my photos (over 900 of them!) and refresh my memory about all of the things I saw and learned.

I am so happy that I decided to attend the herding camp...SO much information and so many wonderful, supportive people, from Arlette and Allen Stieb, our hosts, to Trudy and Dave Viklund and John Carter, our instructors, to all the other attendees – everyone was lovely.

Stay tuned for further adventures of the herding crew here at Tienlung!

Good job, Porsche! That'll do!

Hot! Hot! Hot!

You can imagine how on her game Porsche was working in the direct sun at 28C. She broke out after the stock and scattered them, and then fought to find balance...her brain was not on the work. Like me, Porsche was hot and tired.

John had us achieve balance a few times and then asked for a stop (which Porsche happily gave) and then we called the lesson. It wasn't the best session to end the camp on, but although it wasn't pretty, I did learn a lot about my dog, even in the short time we worked the stock. John does have a wonderful way of turning what on the surface appears to be a less successful run into a learning experience. :)

On John's advice, we didn't run Porsche a second time (I had already decided that a second run was out considering the temperature), but after I settled her in her shaded crate with her wet coat on (happy dog!), I sat and watched the rest of the runs. I have been amazed at how much I've picked up all weekend watching other people's dogs!!

Great job, Porsche!!

This morning was the best lesson yet!

Porsche was very good at finding balance and fetching the stock to me. We worked with Trudy this morning, and upon her suggestion, we continued to work on having Porsche find balance and fetch softly. I got a very nice stop from Porsche, and on Trudy's suggestion, I will ask for a stop and then immediately send her out again...you can see by Porsche's behavior that she thinks that when she's asked to stop that she's either in trouble or the “game” is over. So, I'll be working on very brief stops (on and off stock) and then continue on with whatever our current game is.

I was thrilled when we left the pen...I'm sure people could see the huge grin on my face a mile away. Well, since this is Saskatchewan, maybe two miles! :)

How many ways can I say "Awesome"?

Porsche and I had two morning sessions with Dave today. The first session didn't go quite as well as the second because I put too much pressure on Porsche with my body language (came through the sheep at her) and made her worry and shut down.

The second session was superb. I kept my body language very quiet and used almost no stock stick, except for the few times Porsche was overflanking because she wasn't watching me. Though she was still worried about doing the right thing, she kept to balance, steadied up and stopped very nicely. Before we went in, I asked Dave for a goal, so he outlined a simple pattern of moving the stock from one corner of the arena to another...really, once I had a goal, that's all I needed to be able to set in my mind what Porsche needed to do.

One of the things I need to work on is to visualize the side that I want Porsche to go to, set her up for it and then trust her to do it - I have a tendency to chase her, which makes her worried that she's doing something wrong. Trust my dog, trust my dog, trust my dog!!

Tomorrow's lesson should go well as I will keep my body language quiet from the start so Porsche should have more confidence. :) I know I sure do.

Overall I am SO pleased that I came to this clinic - I'm going to have to keep in touch with some of the people who I've met and find more clinics to go to. I'm also going to go to some trials to see what we're up against - again, it's all about the visuals for me!

This afternoon we went out to the large flock (about 300 head) and watched Trudy, Dave and John work their advanced dogs. It was pretty cool to see the dogs work...only you couldn't see the dogs work because you couldn't see the dogs - you could only see what the sheep were doing.

I need to work with more stock so I can get a better read on them. Practice, practice, practice!

Afternoon with John Carter

Porsche and I worked with John Carter this afternoon. There is a big difference in his teaching style compared to Trudy and Dave. It was very interesting to watch him instruct both myself and others and a great learning experience.

This afternoon was all about the basics. Porsche doesn't have a solid stop, so that's what we worked on. John had me put Porsche in a sit-stay and then move away towards the sheep. Once I was mid way, I called her to me. Part way to me, I asked her to stop. If she stopped, I moved closer to the sheep, and in essence, she was rewarded with a greater chance of getting the sheep if she continued.

The exercise was very effective and brought a number of things to the forefront. First of all, Porsche is an obedient dog who wants to please me. Secondly, she is VERY aware of my body language and stock stick so I have to be aware of what I'm doing with them. Thirdly, she covers very well and can do so at a very nice slow controlled pace.

After she found balance, she walked up gently and life was good!!

I hope to use today's exercise to introduce Porsche to the sheep tomorrow and then continue to work on balance.

Porsche flanks nice and wide, for the most part, as long as she's not moving too quickly.

One other point of interest - I have spent the past year or so restraining my energy, as I have had a tendency to steam roll my dogs in the past. What's interesting was that in order to get Porsche to stop sometimes, John had me "get big" - not to go towards her, go backwards, actually, but when she didn't obey, but the pressure on and then the second she gave even a little, release the pressure immediately. Hard for me because I have a difficult time "letting go" that quickly. I'll do if for my Porsche dog, though! :) She's a good worker and really wants to be right.

It's interesting...I watch a lot of the other dogs at my level and Porsche has one thing that many of them don't right now (though I'm sure it will come!), perhaps because she isn't a tight eye breed. Not sure what it is, but Porsche is happy to go slow if you give her the opportunity. If you put her brain in a thinking state, she'd rather move slowly and make the right move, rather than moving quickly...worried about making a mistake, but we'll use it for now.

Great session and more of a foundation to build on! Thanks, John!!

Long day of learning

Today was long and at times a bit hard. As I sit here in the trailer watching the girls maul each other and in general make a mess of their half of the pop up, I'm almost too tired to write. It was a warm day today and I can guarantee I'm more wore out because of it than Porsche, who did most of the work! LOL

We worked with Trudy this morning . The first run went pretty well overall, with me working to help Porsche find and maintain her balance point as I walked backwards. The second run of the morning was much, much harder. The sheep had a hard draw to the gate and I couldn't figure out how to move the sheep out of the corner and away from the gate without letting Porsche roar in, like she sometimes tries to do. I spent about two or three minutes protecting the sheep in the corner, when my brain clicked in.

WAIT! This isn't working. Find a better way. Oh yes! It's the DOG'S job to bring the sheep to me, not the other way around. Right! Check! Got it!

So, I moved out into the center of pen and asked Porsche to go get the sheep. It wasn't pretty, but she did her job and brought the sheep to me.

Hard session but well worth it as my brain got one more piece of the puzzle sorted out!

Brilliant Day!

What an awesome day we had. It was nice and overcast all day so it was perfect working conditions. :)

After an early morning exercise where 20 of us got to be the dogs and move a sheep through an obstacle (we got it on the first try - a first apparently!), everyone got to try their dogs on sheep to see where we all fit in on the scheme of things.

As is usual, Porsche was a bit of a gong show when she picked up the sheep but settled pretty well. I was working with Dave this morning and he helped inspire some confidence in myself. In the afternoon, we were all split up to work with the three clinicians. Porsche and I got to work with Dave again. :)

We got to learn the "hula" (pressure and release)..and yes, it really does look like the hula, minus the hips! We also talked about zones of power and how to put my zone of power on the sheep,vs on the dog. Porsche also started to develop the start of a very nice fetch, but only when I was square to the sheep. It's pretty cool, actually.

I still feel as though I'm missing the visual...the end goal, I think. I think that may come when I have worked the stock more - not my dog, the stock. I definitely need more stock time.

Oh yes...I also learned to point my stock stick, claim my space and move...it's cool and it works when I remember to do it! LOL

Well that's enough for me today, I think...a lot to remember, more to learn - I'm at the point where I know so little I don't know what else there IS to learn! :)