Indoor herding - sheep, border collies and friends on New Year's Day
Today I went to Eagle Creek Livery owned by Randy Dye in Bowden. Randy has a beautiful spot west of Bowden Alberta with fields for his sheep and horses. He also has a great indoor arena where we can practice all winter! The view above is from Randy's back deck, of one of his fields and some horses.
There's my Honda Element parked in front. The photo below is Randy's big arena, which is two storeys high. Today there were 6 people working their dogs, which made for a great get-together.
The people out today included me, Penny Caster with Border Collies Duncan and Brock; Abe Marshall (who has a fantastic Scottish accent) and two of his dogs...Abe teased us for getting there so "late" (11 AM) as he had been working all morning, so I didn't meet his Border Collies, sadly, but saw one finishing up just as I got there. Abe has been at this for a long time and this 11 month old dog was working beautifully! Another couple - Jerry and Billie - came out with their Kelpie and Aussie, both nice dogs. 
Louanne Twa was out with her Border Collie Isla and her Kelpie Risk. Above is a picture of Isla working. I apologize for the dust specks, it was too cold to water the flooring, so it was quite dusty but great for the dogs and sheep!
So when you are in this building, you enter the double doors which lead to the arena. If you turn right, you head up the stairs to one area where you can stand and look over the arena, or keep heading up to a coffee room and bathroom. It is "heated" (we were comfortable but still kept our jackets on). How great is this? We all sat and watched each person train. Those sheep in the window were being moved about by Penny's Brock.
In a way, this is great because you can't hear the comments as you work. However, when I worked Ted and Jet - they did well but my handling needed some improvement (I am never hard enough and my dogs walk all over me, which I will improve!). Louanne and Penny stood on the stairs and hollered helpful comments which helped my sessions a lot!
We all laughed when Louanne pointed out that between dogs, the sheep were all waiting and looking at the entry gate, as if to say WHO will be working next?? And look, one or two sheep are actually looking up at the window! I added another goal to my list of things to do this year - learn to whistle!
Category Article Border collie, herding training
