Indoor herding practice with Jet and Ted
Sadly they are low quality but I managed to single out some shots to show you some neat things about working him today. Then I threw away all of these little 5 second videos!
Both dogs made me so happy today. We have not worked stock since last summer so it was great to be out with them and see that they were both on their game, and I didn't let them down too much. Sometimes a rest is a good thing too.
These are Ted's group of ewes. You don't see them in the photos because they were with me unless we were doing an outrun. But mostly I practiced flanks, then let him have his sheep (fetch) then moved them for another small outrun, and more flanks. I really liked this group for Ted. I believe they are Katahdin-Dorper crosses - and they are Louanne Twa's sheep (wintering with Randy).
I love these next two shots, captured from video. In one, he is on a lie-down facing me and the sheep. To test his flanks, I used voice only and gave him his AWAY command (go to the right)....
This is Ted leaping up and immediately going AWAY. Since my goal today was to ensure we had not forgotten too much, this was a sight for sore eyes...good boy!
The last time I worked Ted was outside and he was pretty wilful about doing things his way. He can be a puzzle because he comes off as mr. eager-to-please and then seems to ignore me - but I am realizing that he really gets into the zone in his efforts to do things right and it is his concentration that makes him not listen. I've noticed this in tracking as well. So as Scott Glen said once, I have to get into his mind, to reach his feet! So today, I kept him calm going in, and used his name more than usual when I needed him to come in my direction for an inside flank. That seemed to work. Also, I didn't hesitate to say Ahhhh! and NO! to break his concentration and then give the right command again.
Here are two more stills showing him on a down, and taking a COME BYE (to the left) command. I particularly like this one because as you can see, he was angled to go 'away to me' but took the command beautifully.
Come Bye!
Sometimes he took off on his own but it was when the sheep were moving and I had to give him credit for keeping an eye on them when they were behind me. All in all I felt that our work flowed today and there were no major hitches. I let him know when he was a good boy more often too. This is a new idea I have from Schutzhund, about the proactive use of praise and calm use of 'noooooo.' As I noted above, one thing I was most happy with was how he had no confusion on his flanks after this time away from work and it seemed to me he was much better on his lie down - in part I think because the overall picture was once of calmness for him - less anxious, more likely to take his down better. Ted and I penned the first four sheep in an empty box stall and I had him help me get out the next four for Jet. Since he was working so nicely I asked him to do a short outrun and walk-up with them, hoping they would be less anxious after seeing how nice he was - and be well-behaved for Jet.
In the ONLY picture of Jet (above) you can see she has a very different style from Ted in that she runs a bit more with a crouch and her butt is up in the air. Sometimes I see her little butt start "hopping"a bit as she gets jerky and it is sign that she is winding up and to start calming things down and letting her think. I only saw this once today and called her away and had her lie beside me and told her she was a good girl. I let her watch the sheep for a minute, then we went back to work and she was fine.
(This is another shot of Ted flanking...)
I let her bring them to me and gave her a down which she took, then had her push them back up a little (they wanted to get away from her so ran back pretty much on their own). I felt so good about what I saw, that I decided to try something I worked on with Scott last winter which was to send her and let her make her own decision once the sheep were with me. She stopped herself half way as the sheep were already by my side, and stood trying to assess things. She leaned one way, then the other, then decided to walk in slowly and stop and hold them to me. I sent her to the left to turn them around me, and this time had her walk on and she was very nicely controlled and even on a bit of a line. Miss Stompy Ewe faced Jet and half-heartedly stomped, then turned and walked off with the others, and Jet simply held her pace and came onto the sheep with a lot of power. She is such a neat dog, like driving a high-end sports car - I just need to learn how to handle her!
I knew I might be over-reaching, but decided to try an inside flank and asked for a come bye. She stuttered a bit, so I had her lie down, then asked again and she was just awesome. We did some outruns from the other end, then I had her push the sheep around from a distance for me and I was nearly floating to see her listen so nicely. What a great feeling. She is such a talented little dog, when part of me works her, another part of me feels like it is hovering over and watching her and smiling. It is hard to describe. If I can get ahold of her, I would be so proud to trial her. Ted has always been a given as an easy-to-handle dog, which is why I have him - he has been my teacher. Trialing Jet has always been some kind of far-fetched idea but I feel pretty determined.
I have lost a lot of time with the upheaval in my life, but perhaps we can get back on track! Sorry to have no photos of Jet. Next time (and there will be one!)
Here's one last shot of Teddy doing an outrun. It felt so great to be out with them today! I miss sheep!
Thanks to Randy for a place to practice! Here are some more pictures of his facility from one year ago!
PS River and Caden got to have a run and play ball at Pam and Jerry's later - they live down the road from Randy's house. So they had fun too, but, no pictures LOL! Dam battery!
Category Article Border collie, Jet, Sheepdog training, Ted
