Descent into Obsession

I think I am riding the slippery slope from hobby herder to obsessed herder. Yes, I have succumbed to the magical pairing of handler and dog. I wake up at night muttering "away", "go-by". I don't count sheep - rather I see them dashing through the field being trailed by little black dog.

Since Bonnie is still to young to train seriously I have been laying awake at night plotting ways to steal Beth from John. Perhaps getting rid of him entirely - so I can have her all to myself. Maybe that is going to far. I wonder if I would get Beth in a divorce? Hmmm...that is a possibility. On second thought, I wouldn't be able to afford the cost of the classes without his income. *sigh* That means I need to encourage him to work MORE overtime! Yeeehaaa! That'll do it!

Given this obsession I am heading down to Fido's Farm for more practice this afternoon and tomorrow. We won't be able to go Saturday, since we have a fantastic class through PNW Border Collie Rescue we are attending at Packworks

I finally got the video put together of me working with Beth last week. As you can see we are still beginning but things are starting to come together. She is much further ahead than me and we are working on our communcation. We had a few wobbly moments but in general they turned out okay. I would love to hear what you think of it...and any suggestions on things I may be missing or need to focus on.



And finally, just for Sheepkelpie over at I Love Lucy & Friends I put together a video of one of my first lessons with Chris Soderstrom and her Kelpie Rosie from December. (Due to the snow storms we were in the arena working).



Enjoy!

Weekend at Fido's Farm

Yesterday (Saturday) since John had to work overtime Chris worked Beth & I had another session with Chris's Kelpie Rosie working on driving.

Today (Sunday) we went back to Fido's for some more practice. Since John is going to be working mandatory overtime over the next several months. I am going to be working Beth most of the time.

Chris took Beth out into the BIG field with lambs and set her up on some very long out runs with more snarky sheep. Beth is responding nicely to pressure, stopping and dropping to correct cutting in on a flank, and reliably looking back. She said Beth is doing everything perfectly, she just needs to build on her confidence - which will increase the speed.

Beth has already come so far in confidence it is amazing. That was our objective in beginning herding with her. To bring her from this....




To this...


Today when I worked Beth she challenged me a bit. I really hate to admit this (because I have been working on it for so long) but I still have a heck of a time remembering which way is "away to me" and "go-by". I kept trying to practice on the mole hills in the field - first facing it "away" and "go-by" then turning my back "away" and "go-by".

Good intentions however...still can't remember it. 'doh. Truthfully I have a hard time remembering right from left without pretending to hold a pencil in my hand.

I screwed Beth up a few times today. I need to remember the commands are based on the dog's relationship to the sheep - not mine. One time I told her to 'look back' and sent her on 'away' realized that it was actually 'go-by' and Beth turned around - looked at me in confusion and promptly laid down in the middle of the field (I think she was swearing at me in her head). She told me by stopping in her tracks that I was WRONG! It gave me a chance to correct it.

Another time I hosed a command she turned on a dime and ran in the other direction around the sheep and drove the sheep right into the fence *UGH* - she was doing what I asked - even though I was wrong AGAIN. It really drives home how dangerous this can be for the dog and the livestock - and the awesome responsibility you have on your shoulders to keep them all safe. One wrong command can seriously hurt an animal.

All the work I have been doing with Rosie (Chris's Kelpie) has paid off in technical knowledge(sorta). Now I just need to spend time in practice so it can become second nature. I shouldn't have to wonder....is that 'away' or 'go-by'?

The only day John is going to be able to work Beth will be on Sundays which is also the day that Fido's has Corinne Berg teaching agility. I watched part of the agility class today and really liked what I saw. Agility at Fido's with Corinne Berg Next Sunday when John is working Beth I think I am going to take a class with Ranger.

Ranger and I are already in agility at Dogs World Training in Sumner, WA. I hope they won't have heartburn about me taking classes at Fido's too.

Mr. Happy Update: Happy saw the vet this morning too - they said he is in perfect health other than being a chunky monkey. The vet said that his missing teeth and jaw seem to be nicely healed. The vet absolutely LOVED him. She said she might know of the perfect family for him. She said she was going to call me this week. *Keep your fingers crossed for Happy*

Pursue Your Passion

Cathy Lester's artwork is wonderful. This one is my favorite. If my husband is reading this - John, the sweatshirt would be a perfect present.

Cathy Lester's artwork can be found here http://www.cathylester.com/

Today I tried to pursue my passion. My passion found me laying flat on my back gazing up at the beautiful blue sky with three sheep looking down at me.

Chris had me work her Kelpie, Rosie (who was the the second Kelpie in history to qualify for the Border Collie Handlers Association National Nursery Finals). Our new mission is to have me 'ungreened' when Bonnie is ready to start training. That will be about 6 months or so.

It is going to take me that long to learn how to walk again.

Chris had me working on circling (the line between the sheep and dog, stepping on it, off of it, using my flag to apply pressure and etc). Then we practiced 'sheep sandwich' - which is accomplished by walking backwards and keeping the sheep between the handler and the dog. This helps me learn how to control the pressure the dog is putting on the sheep and how to keep the sheep from running me over - among other things. This typically is a good training method - for people who can walk well backward.

I am not one of those people. Especially not in a field full of mole hills & holes. I need to remember, toe/heel, toe/heel, toe/heel. Not Heel...drag, whoops, hole, falling, oooofff, ooow...oy sheep schmutz :(

Good news: I found muscles in the back of my legs I had forgot existed. Bad news: All the padding on my hiney didn't protect my tail bone.

Tonight...Ibuprofen is my passion.

I did get some decent shots of John working Beth after I managed to hobble my way out to the ryegrass field. One of the guys Chris introduced us to today invited John to enter in a trial next weekend (just for practice!). THEIR FIRST ONE! Woohoo! (I am scared already for him)

John started thinking about it and kinda freaked out in the field. I am not sure what he is doing here - airplane imitation maybe?

Beth said "if you can be an airplane - I can be a bunny!"

The amazing two headed sheep made another appearance today. Beth, thankfully handled it with ease.

Beth was steady, controlled and her outruns have been beautiful.

She has been coming out of her shell and working on her "eye"




Sheep butt close up



Amazing to think that this little girl was a drug detection dog flunkee

Which way did she go?





They make such a good team. Until last year, John had never been around stock in his life. He was a 'city boy'. When you adopt a border collie - a whole lifestyle change sometimes comes in the door with the dog. John simply adores Beth.

Beth's passion is now John's pursuit. All because of love...that's pretty cool.