NC Dog Training for Herding and Obedience - Golem Kennels Working Shelties

Farmville Tending

2012-01-06T18:23:00.000-08:00

At the Farmville clinic site, I used a sheep path for my graze boundary, Malcolm picked it up and honored it just fine. There he is, the short eared flying Malcolm.

Short eared because he was playing with his sister Punch, and his sire Brick went to grab his scruff and tell him no running in the hallway, and grabbed his scruff and eartip. So he's now missing the right tip of his ear, and for a while looked like a soap opera star in "in hospital with amnesia mode due to car crash/gunshot/appearance of old girlfriend" mode, head swathed in bandages and completed with a cone of shame. Guess that ear won't tip now!

Albert the ox....back into training

2012-01-06T18:13:00.000-08:00

Slobbertastic, learning to take a bit and be cool with it. Not bad, the fact that he took it the next day without avoidance meant I did it right the first time. Will be trying a hackamore as well to see what he prefers. Won't be using a shank bit, probably a regular snaffle, but might find a bosal too to try.

Isn't he gorgeous? He's not muscled up right now, waiting on me to order replacement equipment, needs 25" hames now, and bigger sweat pads.

Agility, no problem...

2012-01-06T17:48:00.000-08:00

Totally innocent setup, to prevent the dogs to get into the roomates' bedroom. Babygate, and some random stuff.

Gonna however, stood on that chair for 3 days and pondered the fact that wet cat food is taken in there to feed the cat.

And came to the conclusion she could foil this attempt.

Roomate woke to a small blue dog sneaking cat food in her room. Gonna gave a freaked out "Bip" and jumped back over, reversing her path.

When I asked her to show me how she got in, she gladly did it - chair, to suitcase, to narrow thing box against the wall, over the baby gate. She didn't touch the babygate, so she figured it was legal.

Therapy Resources to get started...

2011-12-06T13:31:00.000-08:00

There are two main certifying and insuring bodies for therapy work:

Therapy Dogs International:
http://www.tdi-dog.org/

Delta Society
www.deltasociety.org

Also concentrate on working on the AKC Canine Good Citizen Test, or the APDT CLASS as starting points towards the skills needed for therapy work.

CGC:
http://www.akc.org/events/cgc/index.cfm

CLASS
http://www.mydoghasclass.com/

These you can work on your own for a while so you aren't wasting time if a therapy specific class isn't open immediately near you.

Keepstone Turkey Trot Trial Results

2011-12-02T17:47:00.000-08:00

Blue getting his HTADI....Turkey!

We did well at the Keepstone Turkey Trot:
Gonna finished her HRDIs and RLFIs with a second and third
Punch finished her RLFIs with a third
Step finished his HRDIs with two thirds
Buddy finished his JHD

Blue got his HTADIt with placements, and got 3 championship points off of RLFIIIs and HRDIIIs.

Very proud of Step - I've only worked him twice in 6 months, and so we went on what he's been learning with his owners on his own farm, and genetics. Incredibly easy dog to work, very aware of draws, so much so that in his video you can see he's caught between bringing them to me and holding them. That's ok, he does a lot of holding at his farm while his dad fixes the electronet.

So in general, the pups are still coming along and I'm thrilled with how they are doing and I'm feeling that they are accomplishing the goals set for the litter. Hooray!

Blue's second Turkey Trot run...HTADIt

2011-11-29T13:26:00.000-08:00

His earlier run was better, this is his third run of the day, but that's how it goes. The turkeys were getting a little fed up with the whole herding thing, and he wasn't applying pressure as steady as he should.

Turkeys really need to be moved slow. No, not that slow. Slower. No. Slower. Cold molasses, Shannon calls it. If you don't, they go into hyperdrive and their stride is huge, as you can see.

Step of Three Waters Farm Turkey Trot HRDIs run

2011-11-29T13:19:00.000-08:00

Here is Golem's One Step at a Time PT HRDIs getting his HRDIs title, both legs 3rd places in classes of 7 and more dogs. So proud of how he and his owner Stephen are coming together - that I can see this dog maybe twice to work him in 6mo, and he works like this? Genetics plus daily farm work makes for a damn fine little young dog.

Official C course layout link from Linden Hollow Farm FL

2011-11-09T07:58:00.000-08:00

Here is the layout of the official course map from the trial - includes all three levels and yardage: Thanks Sherry Lee!

The C course is a hike out from the main barn and parking, if you look on google maps you can access it from the B course, and it is next to the B course and behind the pasture behind the small A course. There is a small white shed for B sheep in the corner of the pasture, and a good filled water stock tank for dunking heated tending dogs in the corner. The sheep on C were drawn to this corner of the field with the pens and tank and entry gate, so be aware when leaving the pen and hitting the traffic stop - both places where they might decide that they could make a break for it.

Sheep were reasonable, but I'm not sure they were familiar with being called out. They didn't act like sheep that were used to being called out of the pen or grazes, although by the end of my narrow graze they were starting to get the idea with my dog - Person rhythmically calls sheeeep, sheeeep, sheeeeeep, sheeeeep (or insert your rhymic call here) and if you don't move, dog will come put pressure on you until you come out. You can teach with grain, but also good to do positive reinforcement and positive punishment on them both, but gotta have some sort of verbal for them. Only fair to let them know what is expected and what the consequences are if you don't do what the shepherd suggests. With these you also had more of a challenge in your corners initially, and your bridge, as you had to put the dog farther from ideal then call them up to reset them as the stock passed, rather than being able to set them once. My sheep on Sunday were better about it and got the hang of wrapping around the dog on the corners by the time we hit our third use of that skill.

I would have like to string them out better, so that our road was easier to handle and they weren't so much of a blob, but hard to get them to relax. It somewhat happened for the terv and shepherd on Sat, we messed it up on Sat, and on Sun they seemed calmer in general but still blobby. That's the handler, dog and sheep problem - takes all three doing the right thing to string them out nicely. So I'll put the blame on us rather than them on this one. Easier on a bigger flock, or heavier flock. There was fence on a good amount of the narrow road, making this course an easier one than one out in the open, and as such perhaps a good one for hot dogs that need settling - you would have nearly 600' of narrow road adjacent to a fence to settle them and their sheep.

Grazes and roads were all very nicely mowed, with no boundary lines on the road, and no posts on the corner of the grazes. So if you have a dog looking for the side of the road, they'd either have to be working inside of what looks like a graze ( tall grass) or work in the road itself. I personally don't mind them being in the road itself, so it wasn't any different than my typical training situation. Grass was about 6-8 inches tall in the graze areas, so VERY easy to see where you were to go and the dogs didn't seem to have any problem. Spectators and photographer had a bit of a problem seeing my dog during the narrow graze, but that's because he's shorter than the average Shepherd! A few little track holes/short grass holes in the ADV graze, but nothing that should be a problem and of course that's seasonal anyway. I didn't mind lack of corner posts - I mostly train without, but that can make judging crisp corners difficult from a distance for the judges, and some novice dogs that need that extra little reminder. A couple of the grazes had two round corners and two crisp corners - not sure if that would be a problem for anyone. Remember - in reality a graze might be any shape at all, with any natural border, so little detail stuff like that should only get the person training only in one place and only too abstract. Grazes were on the small side, which was ok for an old dog, but might encourage running laps in drivey or hyped up younger pups. Graze times were on the long side of AKC standard, but still far too short for my taste. I think we did 12 for Adv and 10 for started?

Both bridges lacked wings, the started bridge being a white picket fence type, the advanced being two stock panels. Neither seemed to present a problem if the dog was handled correctly and the handler walked into the dog's pressure and confidently lead the sheep through. I think I "drowned" a few sheep on Sat, due to me being about 2 ft to the right of where I should have been, not leading them into my dog's pressure, and therefore losing several off the other side. Also my problem from not stringing them out enough - much easier to lead them over two by two than a big blob 5 sheep wide! I stopped the dog about 4 ft short of the bridge, and then called him up another foot, but they weren't settled enough to have him right at the panel where the ideal would have been.

The narrow graze as you can see on the map was inset, with the long side running along the narrow road. This presents a handling challenge to come into the short end properly (probably requiring a nice corner placement of the dog) and exit the opposite short end properly without running into the adjacent graze areas and staying on the boundary/road areas. Definitely doable though with this small flock, and probably up to 60 or so. Nice and long, and just narrow enough for the flock to span out across it. The sheep were happier to eat here, or they had figured out me and my dog, as they relaxed and nearly immediately started grazing on Sun. They stayed pointed the right direction, ate and slowly moved forward. Given that I used 39 min of the 45 min course, and was given no time max for the narrow graze, I'd say that it took a fair amount of time and that it might be possible to run overtime if you had any bobbles or stalls and still tried to graze them properly. That's strategy though, and I'll just have to wear a stop watch next time!

Overall a nice course, well kept and much appreciated!

Step of Three Waters Farm

2011-11-08T12:57:00.000-08:00

Isn't he growing up pretty? He works like a dream too!

Pow with his ribbons and award, and his dissapointed sheep

2011-11-08T12:55:00.000-08:00

They assumed when we came into the arena that we were there to take them out to lunch, as usual. I explained that Pow gets at least a day off!!!

We did it! POW HXCs!!!

2011-11-08T12:48:00.001-08:00

Here's a vague memory of how the layout of the of the C course at Linden Hollow Farm in FL, for any who are interested. I'll see if Sherry Lee has a pdf of the course - one was shown to me in my handler's meeting on Sunday.

Pow finished his HXCs (AKC Advanced course C) Sunday, with a first place, age 12! That makes him the only sheltie, that I can tell, with advanced titles in all 3 courses. 5th with an HXC. All of this stuff was clicker trained, mostly shaped in addition to natural talent. Most of it was trained as tasks.

Order of things: Pen, narrow road, wide graze, nr, narrow graze, nr, bridge, pause, traffic, nr, repen.

Points off went this way (79 score)
1 off exit and return to pen
8 off narrow road, mostly half points
4 off bridge, some of that was me correcting (angry sheep zen) to prevent a grip on a ewe who had been trying to pick a fight for half the nr. Pow had finally decided she needed discipline, but that would nq us in a trial.
1.5 off Pause and traffic
6.5 off grazes, narrow graze was amazingly beautiful, used it all up to the last foot, wide graze was not nice,he could do better, but was a bear of little brain.
0 off the placement.

I used 39 min and some on the course, of a limit of 45. I had no major issues, so that means that I took a good amount of time on my narrow graze - was getting fearful without a watch, but figured that the course was designed right and if they were meant to walk and graze and my graze was correct I should have time to get back to the pen. Yay me! Watch next time I'm on Advanced level....

He was not in good brain either day (stroke at age 7 means some days hes not all there), but I handled him better Sunday and fixed my junky mess from Sat. Even used my sharp corner (stand stay) to tuck them into the narrow graze and wide graze (figured it was educational for the sheep and got them entering the sides of the grazes I wanted).

Pow's year and a half old grandson, Malcolm was too much for lighter sheep, but I think my self control training and lots of sheep zen is the way to go. He tried really hard to do it right and he called off even though he was crying because the flock was reactive (because he was hot hot hot). He got to ride in the golfcart, that was fun. Work in progress! He llw out to and around the pen, down stay as I put the leash in my pocket, and stand stay to keep the sheep from comimg out while I opened the gate and called the sheep. When they didn't come out, he went to where he thought they could see they were free to come out, but they just didn't trust him. Half bolted out, but he stood when asked, HUGE ZEN!! Got the rest out but half had gone too far away for baby dog brain to handle, he was swiftly heading for threshold, so I called him to me (hooray for recall with bolting sheep zen combo!) and gracefully retired. So proud of my levels baby!! He is going to be a fantastic replacement for Pow.

Dumbell and other dog stories

2011-11-02T09:16:00.000-07:00

Best book I've read in a while on dogs: Sporting and bull breeds both, from the 20's.

Powwow.

2011-11-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

Always catches me by suprise how much I love this dog.

Border Guard.

2011-11-01T08:59:00.000-07:00

Malcolm is learning to be a good door guard while I feed and water the chickens and look for eggs.

Border Guard.

AHBA Trial Results

2011-11-01T08:46:00.000-07:00

Bonnie - 80 in HTADIs, her first trial level leg
Sadie - leg in HTADId
Punch -80 in HTADId
Charlie - finished his HTADIId title
Buddy - first leg on his JHD title

Blue wasn't feeling fast, so I pretty much retired him in sheep, and on ducks he was air scenting for his owners and wouldn't work. Sigh. Journey wouldn't pick up the ducks, and Bonnie's duck run showed that she's still a puppy and needs to do just sheep, just one run a day for a while. She was a sheltie of very little brain by afternoon, after having a good sheep run. Gonna was in standing heat AND giving me the paw before even going into the ring, so it went about how I thought it would, which is not at all. So it goes.

Sadie was hilarious, not really knowing what the call ducks were until about 15 ft of fetching proved that they were ducks after all, and she was good after that. Charlie tip toed after his ducks and was soo careful, even though he got the same group Sadie had, with one duck hunting for ripe fallen persimmons the whole entire run.

As far as clients go:
Janine and Kodiak got their JHD title
Renee and Merlin got their HTADIs title
Dennis and Casey got their JHD title.

Meanwhile, Greta and Bezl were down in GA playing ASCA after practicing on my stock up here, and apparently had a rough time on the ducks but did well on sheep and cattle. We'll get the ducks polished up, gotta get that WTCH!

Practice, practice, practice...

2011-11-01T08:14:00.000-07:00

We drove out to Alison's in Conover to try out her grazes and sheep, just these few days before the trial. Her sheep are conditioned for tending only, and are only worked by her GSD (who just earned her HGH, by the way!), so would be a good test for the boys. I figured that the FL sheep will likely be lighter, and a smaller flock, but it gives me something to guage by. We took Jack along for the ride, he was soooo excited to get to go with his dad and half brother.

Here's Alison, showing me her bridge work and general road work. Looks sooo much better than last time I was out, and Myr actually looks much more relaxed. No, wait, they BOTH look more relaxed.

Alison sorted out "something less than forty" sheep for us to work, dumped them in a graze, and I started Pow. Not bad, but took him a while to kick in, which I worry about given that our graze time on the wide graze is less than 15 min. Heck, a dog is only getting started at 15-30 min and settling in! Do I try to use all the dog I have and hope that I still have enough for road work after the wide graze? Stand him often to prevent him from wearing out and therefore maybe get hit a little on the graze but have more dog for later? What if we pour it on and then NQ and I don't have enough dog the next day? This will all depend on the order of the elements at the FL course - decisions to be made between the handler's meeting and putting his leash in my hand.

His gather out of the graze was fine, sheep called out great, his corners were fine, and road work generally ok. Her sheep were very curious about him, being a dog of a different color and breed than they were used to , and on his gather out he had 10 stand and look at him, but he showed he had teeth just like Myr and they got in line. First bridge my placement of him was a little off, trying to get a feel for the sheep and being mindful that I might need to place him off the panel in FL, depending on how light they are. These actually had no problem on the way back with passing him when he was standing properly right at the panel edge. Strategies.

Malcolm hadn't worked his many sheep, but we started with the graze, and after running a bit and testing the boundary a little, he settled down and patroled. Most stops were fine, directions were ok....and then the truck and trailer filled with children came. Ah, car pass! Sort of. The most distracting moving/stationary car pass I think I could have thrown at him, except maybe short of someone doing skeet shooting or something from the bed of the trailer. The kids were yelling about the doggie, and squealing, and he knew that he probably should be between the sheep and the kids/adults/trailer/truck, and he headed right over and stood, facing his sheep, ears twitching as children yelled 5 ft above and behind him. I was so proud. The kids got to see a sheltie work, and he got to learn to handle the moving car pass while on the graze ( which he's done before). That made my day though.

His removal of sheep from the graze was actually much better than I was expecting, and he got them moving and in line pretty well. I get too tense with him, I have to remember he's not his dad and he's most likely, at this stage, to get into trouble by going through the flock or circling, and that I don't really have to worry about chasing or gripping with him. He worked the length of the flock adequately, still needs work, but we've worked on that the least. I don't mind helping him a lot on the C course, he's just a baby. Corner was fine, and I expect the bridge will be doable.

He's fun.

Carolina Terrier Association Practice Day

2011-10-24T06:12:00.000-07:00

Gonna and Bonnie went to CTA's practice day. Gonna was a "pass" with use of her voice (finally), teeth, and paws. She apparently was jumping into and out of the box, as excited as she was to be working a rat.

Bonnie thought that the rat seemed just fine in the cage and she didn't want to bother it. Ah well, she's a therapy dog, it is ok if she loves everyone!

Upcoming AHBA trial

2011-10-19T08:47:00.000-07:00

HTADIIId: Blue
HTADIId: Journey and Charlie
HTADId:Punch, Gonna, Bonnie, Sadie?
HTADIs:Snap, Sadie?
HTADIIIs: Charlie and Blue

JHDs: Buddy (ES)

I think Dennis and Casey might be trying their hand at JHD as well.

Tending towards sunset.

2011-10-19T08:40:00.000-07:00

Pow, narrow graze as the sun sets. Love this picture, Little Horn in the foreground...

Thresholds - from conversations on Training Levels

2011-10-19T08:15:00.000-07:00

To me, being over threshold means the dog can't make decisions. Usually, can't make "good decisions" - but often either there are sooooo many decisions to be made that they completely stall out, or are so focused on one thing that no option for other decisions exist.

Nothing is wrong with a dog being in drive, and really, being under threshold doesn't necessarily involve a person at all. I think we are being self absorbed thinking it has to do with paying attention to us.

For example, fearful dog goes over threshold, can't make healthy decisions, bolts into traffic. A fearful dog under threshold might stay on the curb, hide under a parked car, or dive into a hedge - all choices made that are better than the bolting into traffic. None of these has to do with a human.

For herding, I've got one puppy, Malcolm, I'm trying to keep under threshold all the time. Signs he is redlining is barking, lack of power and focus, going over the tending boundary line when trying to graze his sheep, and not being able to keep the task at hand in mind. None of these require him to pay attention to me to fix and go under threshold, and him paying attention to me might be the wrong thing doing these tasks. However, it is him not being able to make decisions and follow through with clear intent.

I don't want him to be like his dad, throwing attitude at me, using too much energy to do simple things, and biting and hanging on to the livestock when a little nip would have done better. His dad, Brick, redlines quite a bit, and yeah, I'm responsible for that problem. I'm not sure that he finds being ground into the fence and bopped off fenceposts while latched onto a sheep neck reinforcing (it certainly must hurt) but he can't make the decision to let go - he is stalled out in that moment.

My trick is figuring out how to keep Malcolm from redlining, while bringing his drive up. Unlocking that drive while keeping his self control level to match it is my training challenge! Levels is helping, and making me very careful for how much I ask for and how I help support him in decision making. And I think that's all of our challenges with dogs that go over threshold - bringing up self control to match the reactivity. Levels can certainly do it. I think a lot about threshold in herding - gotta walk that delicate line quite a bit every day.

Malcontent

2011-10-19T07:15:00.000-07:00

Malcolm is prepping for C course. I'm pushing it I know, but I'm not. I'm keeping him under threshold, trying to only ask for as much drive as he can handle, since I know there's more available to me later. I'm defining threshold as keeping him mentally at the point at which he can still make decisions, and can still take input from me. Not franticaly running, not throwing attitude, no barking, just earnest work and desire to figure out what I want. Hard place to stay for a busy guy like him, but this is a work in progress that I've been really paying attention to from early on. The boundary really helps him - he knows he can rush at the sheep and scare them back into the boundary, but it is obvious that he then uses the boundary to put himself back into work mode, no matter how exciting the disciplining the sheep was. His sire, Brick? Got pushed into his chore job early due to Pow's stroke, and didn't have all the self control work to fall back on. End result is a dog that is over threshold a lot of the time, grips and hangs on, and has a hard time applying power cleanly and focused. I made that. Ah well. Learned my lesson. I don't want that with Malcolm, who has so much potential.

Malcolm is also subject to getting himself into situations, where his drive leads him to do things that he later thinks better of. Here's an example:He got into the chicken coop to get closer to the chickens, realized that there wasn't really a job to do (no boundary, how do I keep them in when I'm inside the boundary too?!), and then couldn't figure out how to get himself out. And dad, Brick, explaning to him the trouble he's in when I find out.
Really though, I just took him out, fixed the hole, and chalked it up to desire to work. No big correction - I want him to look to me when he needs help for support when he can't figure out what to do.

Another Pow tending vid, long

2011-10-12T12:05:00.000-07:00

Here's Pow working on Monday morning, doing a more full practice. Had Marq film me (which just about killed him, he had to go back to the car instead of filming Malcolm), so there's some shakeyness.

Unload from truck, pull more sheep out of the barn ( these are light sheep, so rather than having him scoop them out, I just sent mine in and brought them all out as a flock), several gates, a placement at a drainage hole, gates, narrow graze, bridge, wide graze, rather icky placement at the head of the flock, bridge, roadwork...etc.
Didn't show his car pass, although he does one immediately after the sheep unload from the truck - he's on the other side of the truck so you can't see him.

Pow video

2011-10-04T13:44:00.001-07:00

Some narrow graze and movement practice and a bridge. Very rough, but his brain isn't always fully functional. Ah, well.

AHBA Trial Results

2011-09-06T10:31:00.000-07:00

I'll try to get everyone. Another great trial at Keepstone Farm in Berryville, VA. Much thanks to Dana M., owner of Natti the Naughty Terv for these wonderful pictures.

Client dogs:
Charlie the Rough Collie: Q'd in HTADIId, titled in HTADIIS, third place in one of those

Natti the Terv: JHDs title

Sadie the Aussie with a tail: HTADIs title with two thirds

Snap the English Shepherd: HRDIs finished with a first place, Q in HTADIs

Journey the Sheltie: HTADIs title with a first
Blue the Sheltie: RLFIIIs title, missed champ points due to handler error

My dogs:
Punch the 1.5 yr old Sheltie (Brick x Whiskey): Finished her HRDIs, got a leg in RLFIs

Gonna the 1.5 yr old Sheltie (Pow x Whiskey) : Got a leg in HRDIs with a second, and a leg in RLFIs with a second!

So pleased with the girls - and happy that I divided the RLF entry into a run for each to try out, rather than having Punch run in both morning and evening. They work very differently, but well.

Upcoming AHBA trial

2011-08-29T10:39:00.001-07:00

Labor Day weekend, up at Susan's Keepstone Farm in Berryville, VA.

HRDIs: Snap (ES), Punch (SS), possibly Sadie (AS)
HRDIIIs: Blue (SS)
RLFIIIs: Blue (SS)
HTADIs: Snap
HTADIIs: Charlie (RC)
HTADIId: Charlie
JHD: Nattie (Terv)

Probably take Gonna and Malcolm with me to just keep them out of Marq and Phaedra's hair. Charlie is practicing for the end of this month at the Collie Club Regionals. Blue is now working on his championship points, Punch and Snap need to try to finish their HRDs. Nattie is having her debut.

Malcolm doing key retrieve at Lowes loading dock

2011-08-05T18:55:00.000-07:00

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Fun video of Brick

2011-08-01T07:18:00.000-07:00

Brick, sewing machine repair guy...

Quality of Life

2011-08-01T06:55:00.000-07:00

Prophet might not have much longer to be with his person, but boy, did he have a great time seeing sheep again! Nancy brought him over to have one last go at the sheep before he passes away. She was so pleased to see that as soon as he arrived, he remembered this was where the sheep and goats were (he hadn't been out for several years). He was revved up and ready to go! He barked, he leaped, he ran, he played in the trough - all in all, a great day was had by all.

So very worth it, to him and his person.

Rally successes

2011-08-01T06:27:00.000-07:00

Took the crew down to Greenville to the big set of shows, but only showed on Friday.
Charlie and Nari both finished their RE's, so they are all done with Rally! Kestrel I found I had entered in the wrong thing, so we just did a RA leg for extra, and I'll try to remember she's actually in Excellent next time. Ah well. She was a happy clam though!

Charlie made me proud. During his honor down, we were placed in a corner, with the opening in the ring gate just behind me to my left. Also the crowd side. I'm glad I'm relatively aware of my environment while training, as at some point the husky doing the heelwork decided that it was either bored, too revved up, or wanted a new handler (didn't see anything wrong with its current one, but heck, I'm just a human). I heard the pounding of husky feet, unaccompanied by human feet (so obviously not doing a jump/handler run by sign) and looked at Charlie and said "Leave it". Just after that I caught a blur of red and white zing past my butt and out the ring gate at a high rate of speed - the husky. Charlie didn't even flinch. We kept our places until the judge came by and patted my shoulder and told me that we had Q'd, but could we do the honor again for another dog. "Sure!" and we got back into place and did another round of down on the end of a 6 ft leash for a nice....rat terrier maybe? Then we got to do another round of heelwork, where I tried to fix the things I didn't do quite right the first round - just for kicks. Charlie had a great time, I was proud of him. Focus and leave it to the rescue! I think I can also blame herding for practicing the self control while animals are running.

Malcolm had his debut, with very little training. He was a trooper - big show, lots to be busy at, and a long day to wait for a puppy. Other than being distracted at the first sign, he did great and we got an 85 I think, for his first rally Q. He, and the other pups, really need a ton more focus work. Just focus work. It is such an important thing and the building foundation for everything else we do. Focus focus focus. Heck, the poor guy barely has LLW down, doesn't heel per se, and is sooo busy and interested in everything and everyone. He wasn't bad in the crate, a few barks then he figured out that it wasn't a big deal if I pulled another dog out and worked them - it wasn't like ducks or sheep were involved, after all.

Gonna and her Ox

2011-07-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

Poor Red

2011-07-25T09:25:00.000-07:00

Red was sure that the shelties didn't mean to let the scary staring creature loose while she was on the milking stand. The stare alone made her pee in terror.

This is Radley, an adopted dog from CBCR, now having the good life of obedience and herding lessons, ball throwing and a permanent home. She boards with me every so often and it is so good to see how much she is improving over time.

AKC Agility with Brick and Kestrel

2011-07-25T09:01:00.000-07:00

Well, it didn't go too badly! We showed Wed at the Havanese Nationals put on by the Monroe Kennel Club at Bon-Clyde in Sanford, and again on Sat. Brick q'd on Wednesday, with only a bobble on the chute, which got Kess entirely on her run. I only entered Kess on Wed because it has been easily 6mo since she's been trained, and I couldn't remember what she knew or didn't. Obviously everything BUT chutes! On Sat Brick was slightly wild, and crashed a jump coming from the table. I didn't see what happened, but when I looked over he was picking his front end out of the sand, so he really tripped on it. Didn't bother him any, kept on going, and no lameness. He hasn't been feeling himself lately, checking him for Lyme again. Bleh.

Took Gonna with me on Sat to check out the trial. I think she had a good time - attempted to pilfer string cheese out of someone's purse, offered a "go to mat " behavior on a stack of mats for sale - she looked like the princess and the pea. Too cute, and so proud of herself for finding a mat up so high and getting on there and downing.

Miss Natti cooling off after herding

2011-07-17T15:49:00.001-07:00

Bonnie in her new outfit for Therapy

2011-07-17T15:45:00.001-07:00

New herding techie tool..

2011-07-17T15:02:00.001-07:00

My tracks from my phone during Fridays herding with Gonna.

I love that it tells you how much of the time you are moving and how much of the time twiddling your thumbs (weak dog/too busy dog/distracted dog/etc), fussing at the dog (better not be), or just simply not going anywhere (tending during the graze), as well as speed and such.

My tracks from my phone during Friday's jaunt with Step.

See the difference? Gonna was a little weak, still learning to be pushy on sheep that are very hungry and don't want to walk. Step had no problem with the same ones on a similar trip around.

Blue HRDIIIs 1st

2011-07-13T09:53:00.000-07:00

Blue heading for the footbath. He was fantastic, and such a smooth run both times. It felt really really good.

Journey HTADIs 1st

2011-07-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

Journey was somewhat lackluster due to stomach troubles on Sat, but went on to get 1st place on Sunday and has been sooo very proud of herself ever since.

Charlie HRDIs 1st

2011-07-13T09:24:00.000-07:00

Here's Charlie, doing his hold in the freestanding Y chute so I can grab the crepe paper collar.

Gonna HRDIs

2011-07-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

Little Gonna, having a good time. She came sooo
close to passing on Sat, I think she was within 3 pts.

Doing their job

2011-07-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

Everyone has a job, or almost everyone, around here. Here are our unsung heroes, the dung beetles, two to a poop sphere, heading for the woods. I am always amazed by how perfect the spheres are.

Punch HRDIs - 4th place on Sunday

2011-07-13T08:56:00.000-07:00

We did some loose leash walking while waiting, then walked into the take pen on leash. On leash, we moved our sheep off of the sheep in the hold pens - mostly since Punch is still just a baby and not as strong in power as she will be later, and I want her to start her run feeling strong and confident, as well as having the sheep believe her. Trust me, they know when the dog is a puppy

I told her to stay and took off the leash, with the sheep holding off the hold pen sheep. Note the reaction of the sheep in the hold pens - they don't like her at all and were attempting to intimidate through the fence by lowering their heads, eying her and stomping.

And away we go - Punch confidently removes the sheep from the take pen and we start our ranch run!

Punch HRDIs...contin

2011-07-12T13:19:00.000-07:00

The freestanding Y chute, playing the role of a footbath on the way out, the role of a hold chute on the way back. Then a little stay as the sheep go across the bridge.

Then fetch them out to the graze, and hold them in the graze general area until the judge calls it. So here we are all waiting - sheep standing still, judge watching sheep, and me trying to keep track of puppy, sheep and judge all at the same time and still look casual. Punch is the little brown blip at my feet.

Punch HRDIs...contin

2011-07-12T13:17:00.000-07:00

Pick up and gather, and the turn around the cone, to head for the two freestanding panel obstacles.

Punch HRDIs...contin

2011-07-12T13:10:00.000-07:00

Here we are coming back over the bridge...after that was the ribbon pull in the freestanding Y chute again, and heading for the repen.

MAHA CAT Pics II

2011-07-12T05:59:00.000-07:00

Not bad for an 11 yr old dog! He had so much fun, I love that pic he looks like he's flying. And the wild stuff animals do in full collection in their run - front feet both between the hind legs, trying to get every little inch and use the spring of the spine to do some work on its own.

MAHA CAT Pics

2011-07-12T04:27:00.000-07:00

Not taken by me, obviously. I'm jealous of this camera set up! The wonderful husband of the trial secretary was sweet enough to stick around and take pics of all of us CAT people. I love getting to see what Pow looks like in full collection and extension during stride - really neat. I'd say that it doesn't look like he has much arthritis in his back yet!

So here he is at the start line, waiting for the go ahead to get the collar dropped and GO GO GO!

And the collar is dropped and off he goes. He's obviously trying to get all the traction he can from a dead stop.

MAHA Lure Coursing CAT test

2011-05-25T10:13:00.000-07:00

Ran Pow in the AKC CAT ( Coursing Ability Test) with MAHA last weekend

Huge amount of fun. Got there midday on Sat, walked the dogs (Powwow, Punch and Malcolm), set up the popup, crated and watered and then walked around. Watched several races before checking in, studying the course, pondering body mechanics and the amazing speed of the Whippets and Greyhounds. Really interesting watching all the different sighthounds and coursers - temperaments and body mechanics. Greyhounds, Whippets, Italian Greyhound, Borzoi, Afghans, Basenji, Ibizan and Rhodesian Ridgebacks in attendance at the MAHA meet.

Took Pow over and let him watch two races - that was all it took to get him fired up and ready to course. At check in, the stewards checked us off the list and made sure any females were not in heat, and gaited us up and down a bit to ensure there were no lameness or movement issues. After that, we waited some more for all the races to be done. Then they moved on to settling tied scores, then did Best of Breed runs, then the final Best in Field run - where each top breed dog ran together. I think it was an Ibizan, Whippet and Greyhound in one run in the weekend. Interesting to see them run against each other.

Lots to listen to and watch. Listened to talk about what makes a good lure operator - and saw it in action as a dog got tangled in the line and the operator came to a quick stop to prevent injury. Heard about different aspects of runs, how the lure operator can help the dogs out, and which dog in a run you orient the lure to (the one that is actively pursuing it, not cheating or attempting to run ahead). There was discussion about how much of a game lure coursing is and abstracted from the real thing, as the cheaters might be the more likely hunters, cutting corners and attempting to outwit the plastic bags, tough prey that they are.

It was hot, but I kept the dogs wet on the underside, and come time to queue up for the CAT test, Pow was still fine. It was about 5 pm when we ran. He nicely heeled up to the start, I fiddled stupidly with the leash (note to self: make slip leads for next coursing outing), and waited for the lure operator, judge and huntmaster to give the ok and make eye contact with each other. They asked if we were ready, hand signaled for the lure to start moving, and yelled "Tally Ho!!" And off he went. And he disappeared over the hill, to reappear in hot pursuit of the lure back towards us, and off again in a different direction. When finally the lure came to a stop after 600 yds, I called my dog, he came, I leashed him up and the judge handed us an orange Q ribbon, first leg accomplished!

The other CAT test breeds: Golden Retriever, Norfolk Terriers, Belgians, GSD's, I think Wire Fox Terriers, Border Collie, Doberman and something that might have been a Staffy or Staffy x Beagle cross. I'm probably missing something, but that gives you an idea of the wide range of fanatics.

The Rhodesians looked like they really would shine on an endurance course, longer than 900 yds. They seemed to fall into a steady pace, intent on simply running the bags until the bags gave up. The Borzoi seemed a bit bothered by the heat, and turned themselves off if feeling the situation not right. The Greyhounds were pretty steady, as were the Whippets - many runs of both of them. The one Iggy I saw lost sight of the lure yesterday once, and run uphill in an attempt to see the lure - eventually the lure was run back out to pick him up, as he was intent on staying out in the field to hunt it up! Ran great on his second run of the day. The Ibizans seemed to bark a bit while running, and were fun to watch - they seem to be a little other worldly and different from the other hounds.

Situational

2011-05-04T07:21:00.000-07:00

This is what I come home to Sunday from the trial. Baby Albert
with his head stuck in a bucket, and twins from Little Horn, with blood still on them. Sigh.

Lolziness and crisis in one. Why do I ever venture away from home?!

Step's PT run from PBCA 4/30/2011

2011-05-04T07:09:00.000-07:00

Bonnie's PT run from 4/30/2011

2011-05-04T06:59:00.000-07:00

Trial update

2011-05-04T06:55:00.000-07:00

Charlie finished his HSAd title, and Punch, Step, Syd and Bonnie all finished their PT titles at a fantastic ( yet again) trial at PBCA at Dee's Way to Me farm in Sanford. Shep and Gonna each got half of their titles done as well. I also handled Kieran for Aimee while she handled his mom Becca, and each got a leg to their PT's.

I'm also so proud of Dennis and his rough collie Casey who started and finished their HT title starting their trialing career.

Unidentified Juniper Parasite

2011-04-22T18:06:00.000-07:00

No idea what this is. Fungus? Insect Gall?
At any rate, it was orange and grey, firm about 1.5 inches in diameter. Very very large juniper tree.

Ah - Hannah B. told me - Cedar Apple Rust. Fungus.

Morning Bird Watching

2011-04-22T17:52:00.001-07:00

OH NOES!!!!

Here's Little Horn, still hasn't lambed yet. Soon. Soon. Please. She and Tosha over at 3H are having a competition for having the Easter Lambs I guess.

Morning bird .watching with sheep. Me, Marq, Brick and Pow and the sheep, two cups of coffee and some breakfast sandwiches. I think everyone enjoyed it, other than the sheep weren't happy to be made to do a very intensive graze only about 30 ft by 15 ft, but dealt with it nicely after they learned that the dogs weren't going to let them go to their regular graze.

Baby Al - Doesn't look so little anymore!

We saw: mourning dove, crow, blue jay, blue bird, thrasher, mockingbird, LBJ's, blue heron, canadian geese, two different woodpeckers, I'm sure I'm missing some.

Step working the border

2011-04-22T17:44:00.000-07:00

Step likes the driveway boundary much better than the mowed boundary, just the opposite of brother Malcolm. I hadn't done boundary with him, but I'm thinking that his owner Stephen had been doing something similar.

See the little bitty Step head over there? Betty knows where he is!

Someone's over the border! Alert alert!!

Remember when? Gonna

2011-04-18T10:34:00.000-07:00

Wanda and Blanca, Whisper and Bah Bah Rella

2011-04-18T10:33:00.002-07:00

Bo - Vine (Raggedy Anne's boy)

2011-04-18T10:33:00.001-07:00

Baby Al (Red's kid)

2011-04-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

Whisper and Bah Bah Rella

2011-04-18T10:31:00.000-07:00

Whisper and Bah Bah Rella.

Malcolm tending on the boundary II

2011-04-16T12:55:00.001-07:00

Malcolm tending on the boundary

2011-04-16T12:48:00.000-07:00

Puppy Birthday Party - Playin'...and Cake

2011-04-11T07:48:00.000-07:00

Puppy Birthday Party - Portraits

2011-04-11T07:05:00.001-07:00

Some family portraits were taken...

Puppy Birthday Party - Lamb Lookin'

2011-04-11T06:21:00.000-07:00

Great first birthday party for the puppies! Almost everyone was there, except grandma Spot and brother Step.

There was lamb lookin'-

Bonnie finished her RN!

2011-03-28T11:11:00.000-07:00

Hooray! Bonnie is now leading the puppy pack with an HCT and RN before a year old.
And now the pups are just a year, everyone has got to get moving on some titles, especially my guys.

Rainy Day Driving

2011-03-28T09:23:00.000-07:00

Malcolm doing some rainy day carting lessons - didn't have the right shafts so that's why there's no stops on the shafts and their placement is wrong.

He's such a good boy - hitched up in grandpa Pow's freight harness, butt bar (spreader) and all, and pulled right away, no big deal.

Going through and around various types of obstacles is started slowly and...widely. The narrows with a 90 degree turn is really big and open at first, then as the dog gains control and precision, we narrow it down. Same with pivots - start with big circles and slowly shrink the diameter as the dog learns to cross over in the front and maintain forward drive through a tight turn.

Later I'll get a hula hoop or feed pan and "lock" a wheel in that, so that the dog gets feedback if they pull forward on a pure pivot. Only one wheel should move on a perfect pivot, the wheel on the inside of the turn should stay exactly in place. Hard stuff.

Spot

2011-03-21T11:32:00.000-07:00

Lambs. Soon. I promise! Next week.

2011-03-21T06:12:00.000-07:00

Raggedy Annie is bagged up and looking uncomfortable - with 2 weeks to go. Maybe less for her! Little Horn as well is getting milk in, so those two and Red will be the first to lamb I think. Sheep gestation is 5 mo, and according to the lambing calendar, we put Ali Bah Bah in on Nov.1st, making March 26th the due date for the first lambs. I did feed for twinning, but we'll see what the results of that will be in the end. Might have had too high body scores to start with.

The milking stand that Marq made after the fact last year was put in use to shear Spot, and it worked quite well. It should make sheep milking to produce feta and other goodies much easier this year. Spot was fine with it until the food ran out, and I got near more sensitive parts like her belly and rump. Put up with it well though. Spot is much more wrinkly with looser skin than Emily, making her a nightmare to shear. You pull slightly on the wool, you'd nick her. Bleh. Slow going.

Snake!

2011-03-21T06:00:00.000-07:00

Oh so scary. Ring neck snake: Diadophis punctatus Since we'd seen smaller versions of this species, I thought this must be an adult, but from reading they get bigger. True to form - found in a planting bed, as was the itty bittier one last year.

The underside of this one was bright peach color, very very intense, with a dark mahogany top and yellow neck ring. Head was slightly darker than the body.

Miss Pregnant Ewe Competition 2011

2011-03-21T05:45:00.000-07:00

Here's Emily, in the Evening Gown competition, with a luxurious wrap and train combination sure to turn any ram's head.

Really? She's half shorn. I use cheap poultry kitchen shears and hand shear each year, since I only have two woolies to do usually. Does take much longer than electric, but only about 20 min, and they can just stand there and wait rather than getting tipped.

And here she is in the swimsuit competition. Not a horrible stacking job given that she's not halter trained nor show trained. That 4H experience coming back to haunt me I think. I was happy to see that her body score was so good under that fleece - I thought it was, but I have a hard time guessing feeling through the fleece sometimes.

Ali Bah Bah seems to be happy with her haircut - flirted right away with her.

Vegetation

2011-03-21T05:41:00.000-07:00

The Rhubarb is coming along, as are the 50 bareroot strawberries planted. The weeping willows and the hybrid willows are leafing out so far, and the cherry bushes are just staaaarrrting to get leaves. Lettuce, tomatos, peas, peppers and such will get put in today and tomorrow.

We do have fresh catnip available now though - first spring product!

Quality of Life

2011-03-21T05:34:00.000-07:00

Shannon brings Jessie the wheelie Doberman out when Uggie comes to work sheep. Jessie really loves the outings, hanging with Marq, who graciously tours her around for a half hour, and barking at the sheep. Kudos to Shannon for really making a huge effort to keep up Jessie's quality of life - Jessie is still doing rally and freestyle as well!

Pow and Malcolm tending, last Conover visit

2011-03-09T10:06:00.000-08:00

Punch at Farmville 2/26/2011 practicing for PT

2011-02-28T06:23:00.000-08:00

Herding Clinic in Farmville

2011-02-26T17:52:00.001-08:00

Portie Puppy Panda on ducks.

The other sibling Portie - forgive me for not remembering her name.

Aussie pup.

OES pup. Note the stock stick is ahead of the dog, so the sheep, if they give us any problems, would have had to deal with me first, protecting the pup. As it was, she had plenty of confidence in this situation.

BC that interestingly enough, only showed eye when I had a hold of the long line...

Big ole Aussie boy.

Punch being a good little clinic dog.

Icey looking thing, sheltie or bc mix. Very natural off the line, good worker.

Don't you love the bunny butt? Pem corgi, agility dog, trying his hand at sheep.

Catahoula girl. She was actually one of the few dogs that we didn't take the line off of, since my read on her was either pig or cattle breeding and she was too much for the sheep to be off the line. I think she had a good experience though.

Pow demoing gathering.

How I get my training done

2011-02-07T09:58:00.003-08:00

I combine it with running errands. Today was Step ( here for a sleepover weekend) and Gonna. You think I have time to do dedicated training field trips?! Come on. You don't either. It is really easy to put it aside if you make it a big event. Popping the dog out of the car for 5 min though? Most people can manage that.

Me: Breakfast at Waffle house
Them: Sits, downs, walking loose leash, confidence with moving vehicles, large trucks, etc.

Plus: Some tracking

Me: Carolina Stockyards to pick up feed
Them: stay in car even though back of car is open, while stranger loads feed

Me: Shopping at Walmart
Them: Sits, Downs, walking loose leash, Down stay, paws up on shopping carts, etc. Bellyrubs.

You can get a heck of a lot of proofing done this way, with very little extra time involved. And oh, by the way? The Siler City Waffle House is reserving tables...um, booths and stools, for a candlelit Valentine's Day Dinner. Very cute.

Country boy brings home the blue

2011-02-07T09:27:00.000-08:00

Pow did great at the Border Terrier Agility trials in Sanford. I, running a fever from the flu, handled him and Joy both days. Good old Pow - he Q'd on Sat in Novice Preferred to finish his NAP with a 1st place no fault run of 44.71 on a SCT 70 (128 yds). I slowed down a smidge with Joy over the last jump and she knocked the bar...bad me.
On Sunday b0th dogs did well. I had moved Pow up to Open Preferred, and got a 1st place Q with a no fault run of 52.46 on a SCT of 68 (146 yds). My first time in Open level anything. Joy Q'd in her Novice 20" class with a clean run. All in all, a good weekend, even if half was spent at Bon-Clyde and the other half in bed with a fever.

And Pow will be 12 in August. Ha.

Hooray for Speedy!

2011-01-12T13:17:00.000-08:00

He's now Miles! He got his forever home, with Sue, to do therapy and agility for his life's work. I knew if I held onto him long enough, his therapy job would come around! He made two work from home people and a same size miniature english setter looking Sammie very very happy, and now is quite the man about town.

He's local so he'll be coming for regular herding and carting lessons, like the other pups.

This also means that ALL the pups went to working gigs out of this litter - my 3, Syd has chickens, Shep has cattle, Step has sheep, goats and chickens, Bonnie and Speedy are therapy dogs in training ( Bonnie already visits!)! 4 already have some sort of herding title, and the other 4 will get done in April hopefully.

Puppies Tending - Just a start

2011-01-12T13:05:00.000-08:00

Brick - chores and doctor dog tasks

2011-01-12T12:23:00.000-08:00

This was all one take one morning, the typical tasks he has to do pre-client every day, unless some other dog is doing it for him! Note the lack of needed micromanaging, quiet work, and happy worker.

And another one, of him being in guardian mode, and passing by an injured sheep. Really really obvious alert if he walks through the flock then follows a sheep. You immediately grab it and tip it - there's usually an abcessed tick or something there, he hasn't lied yet! I've noticed Punch and Malcolm may have this behavior too, really hoping for it, as it is valuable.

Syd (Bob) update!

2011-01-12T12:19:00.000-08:00

He's coming along. Getting along well with his grouchy new aunt Sadie, and loving his backyard chickens.

Group Zen ("Leave it")

2011-01-12T12:14:00.000-08:00

Handy handy handy self control exercise that keeps dogs self controlled and safe. My most often used command probably!

Isn't he handsome? Another part of the demo crew...

2011-01-12T11:59:00.000-08:00

This, for those of you that haven't met him, is Salvador (Golem's Un Chien Andalou). He works with me at Petco when I need to shame clients into loose leash walking skills, or as a distraction for a CGC crew that is pre-therapy dog. At any rate, he loves going places - Petco, Lowe's etc, and his loose leash walking is pretty darn good. He does sit on command, but I've been really slack with his down, and his stay. Leave it is pretty good. He's fun, and he's really really a looker.

Frost and Felicia Pups

2011-01-12T11:53:00.000-08:00

Frost and Felicia re-do - above are the two new pups at Deep River Collies - a smooth boy and a rough girl. They are now 3-4 wks old, and working on figuring out how to get out of the whelping box. Very opinionated!

Below is Cordell, the singleton from the previous Frost and Felicia litter. Handsome boy, working on his sheep skills to hit shows in April - already has some conformation points!

Snow, a Frost daughter, has finished her championship recently as well!

School Visit!

2011-01-12T11:41:00.000-08:00

Students of the Duke School came to visit a while back since they were covering dogs and working animals in school in Kindergarten. 27 students and their wranglers came out to watch the dogs herd and cart. We talked about multipurpose farmcollies and how the shelties will guard their flocks AND herd - with Brick as an example, barking and trying to scare them off until given the ok command. We started off by sending a courageous teacher out with the flock with Brick and he worked happily for her, she walked up and down the arena with the sheep. The students thought that was just great!

We then showed duck herding with Punch, and then on to carting with Frost. From the letters I recieved afterwards, seems like Frost was some kid's favorites.

We then put away the couch collie, and got out Pow and Malcolm to demo tending style herding in the front yard on the tiny graze. Malcolm had no problem with the students watching him and was all business - I think this was his 4th or 5th time on the boundary at this point.

Then, finally, they all got to pet a dog! As soon as Malcolm was off duty, he went for sit and pet duty through the whole line of kids. No jumping, no licking, not scared or shy, just his business best. He's really shaping up to be something.

Albert isn't an ox....but sure looks like one

2010-11-25T05:18:00.001-08:00

He's got another year to earn that title - it is both job and age related. He has to be 4-5 yrs old or older, and working, to be called an ox. Right now he's a working steer, just 3 yrs old. I might have to save up to buy him brass horn knobs for his 1st oxen birthday. He certainly doesn't look like a calf anymore though - even in the spring he did, but now he doesn't.

Albert at work

2010-11-24T14:19:00.000-08:00

Around the cars in the driveway, through the gate, around the deck corner...

Around the coop, then down the chute...wait for me to open the gate.

And out into the arena.

Travois tryouts

2010-11-16T08:32:00.001-08:00

We hitched the pups up for the first time, to the travois. Gives them something that is loud and clanky, has two shafts, and a bit of drag, but no actual weight to it. I use pvc and an aluminum backpacking frame.
Here's Speedy:

Punch:

Malcolm:

Gonna:

Learned that you can't pet Speedy while hitched, as he turns to jello. He works just fine, is fine being hitched, but don't get into petting him.

Here's the results of a front end collision with petting while hooked to the travois:
For sale: 7mo old male pup, knows sit and down, come, well socialized, for sale as is and no promises as to driving use...don't check his dogfax record...
Seriously though - Speedy is still looking for a Therapy dog home, or a home with kids - he is a dog that can make a difference - so I'll hold out for the right situation!

Trialing updates

2010-11-16T08:10:00.000-08:00

isi

Collie Regionals results: Armani and Thorn got their PT's, Lyric finished her HSAs, Joy q'd in HXAs
PBCA trial results: Pow got 4 championship points, with 2 firsts in HXAd, Charlie got 2 firsts in HSAd, Nari finally looked like she was having fun. Journey had a good time, lost a few too many pts lost on one part of her HIAd run. Brick was wide open.

Triangle Shetland Sheepdog Club Rally and Obedience results: Kathy showed Joy to her CD, Charlie got two legs in RA with two 98's, Nari got two legs on her RE, Blue finished his RE, and Marion showed little Bonnie, only 7 mo old, to two legs on her RN!!

Upcoming Events

2010-10-21T02:45:00.000-07:00

Let's see - Collie Regionals (Joy, Charlie, Lyric, Thorn and Armani) in Fl at Sherry Lee's next weekend, PBCA AKC Herding trial (Charlie, Joy, Pow, Brick, Whiskey, Blue, Nari) in Rougemont,NC weekend after that, and the rally/obed/conf Sheltie Specialty (Joy, Charlie, Blue, Nari) in Mebane, NC the weekend after that.

Sigh - choices. I'm missing a shot at working cattle to go to the Regionals, missing a shot at the C course title to go to the PBCA trial, and missing something else good to go to the sheltie specialty. Bleh. Ah well, not like I could afford to go to anything other than what I'm going to. I haven't been to Sherry's before, and if the sheep are good for C that would be fun to go to next time she holds it, and maybe I'd have Nari ready as well as Pow.

The pups are really starting to pick up the sheep stuff. Punch shows signs of doctor dog - found Tosha who got bit a few days ago in the middle of the flock and followed her a bit. Funny when that happens - it is much like those old cartoons where the scent trail grabs the dog by the nose and leads them in a daze to the source. Punch obviously didn't even know where she was going or why, just got pulled to Tosha and along with her as she walked. I wouldn't have picked Punch to have that skill, but hey, I'll take it. Pretty valuable.

Opening day of falconry season

2010-10-18T15:55:00.000-07:00

And a glorious day it was. Cool, sunny, and we were driving against the morning commuter traffic. Poor 9-5'ers. I was pepped up on coffee and ice tea and a steak sandwich.

We followed J and W out to Falls Lake, to try W's new 6mo old bird, a Red Tail hawk, out on squirrels. We were decked out with orange, beating sticks and ready to try to make some squirrels move for the bird. As it was, the bird was thrown by so many new variables, just like a dog at its first trial. More people than usual, occasional vehicle and people walking dogs, us wearing orange, cool temps, different game than he's hunted before, conditioning of the bird himself, more close work in the woods than the open space he was used to, flight weight, youth, inexperience, position speed and intent of his handler, and probably a zillion others I didn't catch. I wouldn't have thought about the orange - dogs don't care if they even see a difference, so that's not amoungst my variables. Apparently hawks can see into ultraviolet, which is very cool. At an rate, the hunt was unproductive as far as squirrels being caught, but interesting and fun nonetheless for me. We didn't take the pups this time - the birds are new and learning and we'll combine the team when everyone knows their jobs. J's bird was flown on creance at a different site for practice, a female Harris hawk and looks to be quite the character. I love this pic of them - you can see the relationship being built, that's magic right there.

Later Gonna met W at a different site we were checking out for promise of rabbit - we didn't flush any and the pups are going to be fuzzy about what their job is until we do, just like the juvenile hawks. Gonna however did pick up our track afterwards and confidently went along showing me where we walked, after telling me which car we'd come in. LOL. Not the best rabbit dog today, but makes me ponder doing her TD sooner than later!

From my AWFA forum post on the pups..

2010-10-18T15:51:00.000-07:00

I've visited both Step and Shep, two males from the Brick prgn/Whiskey
prg litter this past week, at their homes for lessons on site.

I'm very pleased. Very.

Shep is in a cattle home, Step is sheep/dairy goat/chickens home. Both
pups go around for chores daily, are learning the boundaries well.

When I stopped by Shep's house, A. had a calf loose on the wrong side of
the fence. Not only was she on the wrong side of the fence, but she was
in a narrow area between two fences, one of which was hot. A opened up
the aisle while I walked Shep out wide - his nose found the calf about
50 ft away, and he air scented up to her nicely in the brush. We
pressured the calf, she popped out of the fence, and started down the
fenceline. A accidently stepped in front of her, turning her back
through the fence, but Shep and I repeated our procedure and pulled her
out again. Walked her up the fenceline up to the barn. The barn is
basically set up as a U shape, with one end opening into where mom was,
the other a dead end. Of course the calf went into the dead end. The
only way to get pressure correct was to send Shep in through a hole in a
brushy cedar, over a heap of planking, into that dead end - a place a
human would have a hard time going into, only about 3 ft high. He did
so on command, A stood in the right place to turn the calf - and presto
- job done!! Shep is doing well staying out of the pastures when he
isn't supposed to be there, and flushed a racoon in one pasture on a
fence check. He's got some work to do on his recalls off off stock, but so do
all the other pups!

Step had lessons on how to bring in the lambs today, and how to hold
them for body score checking/etc. He did very well, watching the stock
intently, and fixing sheep leaking out either open end of a small
makeshift pen without prompting by a person He rates well, and has a
lot of natural know how - I was just tickled to watch him chosing the
right position time after time. We worked on hanging out with the sheep
after putting them up, and about how to foster the guardian aspects
during daily work. We also went over how to get the chickens out of the
coop on command and leave them to roam after - this is hard for him,as
he thinks the chickens are not supposed to be loose when all the other
stock is behind fences. He's shaping up to be a great little helper.

I'm definitely seeing an increase in guardian stuff in the 4 I have
still here at my place - twice now they've broken out of the puppy/duck
arena and come to help in the sheep arena - once I was yelling at the
goats to not go through the fence, and today when a client dog was
barking too much at the sheep during lessons. They are becoming
sensitive to dogs having a lack of self control on THEIR SHEEP, and to
my sounds of impending livestock doom. That's great.

I'm thrilled with the farm placed ones in the litter - so far only one
dog doesn't have stock- but she has a horse and some sussex spaniels to
order around, so maybe that counts. They'll be fine farmcollies. And
yeah - their dad's a trialing dog, and so's their mom, and grandfather,
and grandmother. That's not all they are of course. A trialing dog CAN
be much more, if you select for the right things in breeding and develop
all their skills. I think we have to remember that trialing PLUS looking
at the guardian/hunting is probably fine - it is trialing WITHOUT
attention to the rest of the balanced farmcollie that is the problem. I
love being at a strange site with my dogs in with my ducks and people
can't believe it - gives me a chance to plug the balanced farmcollie,
every time!! Surely a few of us out there in public with balanced dogs
is good PR!

HCT'd and stuff

2010-10-15T12:20:00.001-07:00

Alibahbah just arrived today, brought to his new home by a client. I had Pow bring up two girls of mine to stand outside the trailer, so that he could just be brought down to his hold pen in a flock, instead of hassled in a new place. Less chance of wreckage. Funny thing was - my sheep load really really easily, so he came out, the girls went in. He stood there for a second, and got back in the trailer with them. Sigh.
I sent pow to hide alongside the side of the trailer, and shooed them out myself, with Meredith closing the ramp asap after them. The girls calmly escorted the new beau to the gate, we went through, they informed him that the white collie wasn't a problem, which he believed them and didn't even glance at Frost in the tight chute area. Got him sorted into a pen by himself, watered and hayed up.

The pups passed their HCT's last weekend, with Gonna doing a "belly rubs!!!" victory lap, Bonnie and Malcolm being handfuls, and Punch being very nice. I'll post some pics eventually - great photographer took some. The ducks did a great job, glad I keep them legged up, you can really tell the difference come trial time.

Whiskey and Nari both got their HTADIIId titles and a champ pt each, which is very cool.

Step is coming along at his farm - showing lots of natural talent and he'll be a great help there as they learn how to use him and his inborn skills. Shep is also coming along - both boys showed they can help with chores already at their respective farms. I'm very pleased with how they are turning out.

2010-09-30T13:21:00.000-07:00

Got one set of holding pens mostly done - good enough for classes at least. Took Malcolm,Gonna,Brick and Powwow with me out there - they zoomed around and had a good time peeing on the perimeter to show those neighbor dogs and foxes whose territory was whose.

Well - Malcolm and Gonna figured out how to go through cattle panels. This was quickly followed by application of new knowledge by first Gonna then Malcolm getting into the arena with the ducks and sheep and herding up a storm. Malcolm called off. Gonna would look at me out of the corner of her eye as she whizzed past. Finally caught her when she went into mud the depth of her elbows. Slowed her down enough that I could grab some fur. This doesn't bode well for Sunday, when they have their first herding trial, although it'll look not much different from Brick's first HCT test, and well, Pow failed his.

Pow. Failed his instinct test at 6mo old. Yeah. Believe it. He was working as far as he could and still work, trapped in a round pen with a lady who was grouchy and had a rake. He was sailing around the outside of the ring, as fast as he could go, still trying to get his sheep somewhere. I wasn't experienced, so I let her work him. Mistake. Real common mistake with farmcollies and corgis - handler centric. Needless to say, I knew better than to believe he failed, and never looked back. He certainly never lacked drive to work.

Sheltie moving ducklings 2nd day

2010-09-29T08:29:00.000-07:00

Brick the Doctor Dog

2010-09-29T08:28:00.000-07:00

Whiskey chores in one take

2010-09-29T08:27:00.001-07:00

Brickchoremovie

2010-09-29T08:27:00.000-07:00

Herding trial update

2010-09-20T13:35:00.000-07:00

Joy finished her Herding Started B sheep title this past weekend. Nari gave me a good day on Sun,but we lost too many pts on the y chute. Ah well. The ducks had their debut, and proved to be just as good workers as the previous flock had been.

While I was gone, Pow and a client helped out Kate at Humbug farm with the farm tour over there, doing a duck herding demo. They did fantastic, and the draw of getting to see a farmcollie in action led to Kate's slow day being her busy day!

Rally and Obedience Results

2010-09-04T03:42:00.000-07:00

Bonnie on sheep two weeks ago...

Joy got two legs on her CD, Nari finished her Rally Advanced title, and Charlie finished his Rally Novice title! Kathy of Deep River takes Joy in on Monday for leg number three - should do ok if her back holds up.

Missed my pups while at the show, but I was too busy handling 4 dogs. Tomorrow is a fun day at Richard Whorton's in Rougemont, where I'm providing ducks, and coaching clients. I'll take the pups to go sit around and do nothing, it'll be fun. Maybe I'll work them on ducks.