Pushing

My Blogger site was having some "changing pains" and then my cable got fussy.  Now all seems good with my world of blogging so I am going back to post some of the happenings from my birthday week. 

It all started last Monday when Sally had an ulcer between her toes and, though not getting worse, it certainly was not getting better.  My vet did an exploratory surgery and said....he was not sure she would be good to run by Thursday.  Then I noticed she was coming into heat.....and Bella is on a trial break.....so as much as I hate missing a fantastic party....I pulled from my South Dakota trip.  Then I crawled back into bed and pulled the covers over my head for a real good pity party!  The kind of party I hate attending! This was short-lived as my good friend from the Border Collie Training Center called and said...."GET DOWN HERE!"  So I did........

The first evening of working dogs was all about assessing what I saw in my girls at LaCamas.  I have worked real hard on pace and feel with Nell.  That is good...if not great.  But now...I think I need to give her some push back...and eventually push on lambs that are so very different from ewes and lambs.  Geri showed me some things she has been doing with her seasoned open dog Jim

and her younger dog Dan.

We talked through some of the nuances of "pushing" and how my Nell like to push and control at the same time.  So she will push and then slide off to catch the sheep's eyes to keep them together and not running.  Part of my task was to show her to push from behind and that sometimes that quick pace is what we want.  Which is a topic for a blog on another day...because I am like Nell....I LOVE CONTROL!

So Nell and I had a go....

and with a bit of practice.....

she started loving to push!

And then Geri handed me a bill for my aerobic workout!

Needless to say.....we used sheep that would allow a push with much success and both Sally and Nell got a good push going.  The first step into learning how to work together as a team with the pedal to the metal.......

Seize the Day!

Colliding Rivers Classic.....

Well, I'm home....the summer run of sheepdog trials is officially over for me......ending at Colliding Rivers Classic Sheepdog Trial in Roseburg, Oregon. What a big fireworks finale of a show it was as Nell made her debut into open!

The field was not too huge....but it felt extremely complicated for me and my girls. Here is why...in this picture you can see the fetch gates and on either side there is a bunch of tall vegetation that lines a dry creek bed. At home, to get the biggest outruns I can....I send through gates all the time and I now know.....my girls look for gates. Also, at home, tall vegetation grows on the fence lines.....and my girls don't know they can look for opening in said vegetation when it is not growing on a fence line. Instead, they saw the "gate" aka fetch panels and used this to get up to the sheep. Most of the seasoned open dogs did not have any issues with the outrun and did a great job of bringing the sheep.....for me, it is another step in the direction of putting some miles on my dogs!

This trial was on lambs again, a little different from the lambs at LaCamas. These seemed a little older and were good buds.....so if they split from too much dog pressure.....taking the pressure off showed the lambs regrouping and wanting to stay together. However, with age...came a sense self-assurance......and in the mid day some of the lambs went on strike making the dogs work very hard indeed to bring them down the field.The first day did not see that many pens......handlers had to work hard to get the lambs to want to go in. 

In a nut shell......Saturday both of my girls brought sheep to my feet.....finding their sets with some help from me!  Nell was very frustrated and had the "grip of the trial", taking a lamb down to create a bit of order.  I walked!  Sally got to the cross drive before timing out and I was very happy with both girls for the team work they showed with me even though we were in over our heads.  Sunday...well...for the first time in my life....the set out was radically moved from the first go to the far right of the field.  Sending right was the way to send, .....left was very hard on the dogs as it was a blind outrun once the dog got past the creek.  I  sent Sal left...and she found the set out pen of sheep over the hill and, though I could call her off....I could not get her to see the packet that was set for her way closer to me.  I sent Nell right but she was sure the only way up the field was through the "gate" and ended up running all over kingdom-come until she found the buggers...and brought them.  I again walked once we got sheep through the fetch gates......I wanted her to think about all the help I gave that would have put her to the lambs if she would have listened.....I sure hope that is what she took away to think about!

And here is what I learned....I have come a long way in my relationship with Sally and Nell in the past year.  Both dogs worked very hard for me and neither got too rattled or quit working even when the going got tough.  I also have some things to work on......Sally definitely has a sweet little blow out now.....but not a pull in on her outrun......I will need both to compete at tough trials.  Nell is young and need to learn to trust my input....instead of thinking "yea yea, I know".  And for me.....well, it is to continue to push myself.....become a master reader of the sheep.....work on better understanding between my dogs and myself of what my commands mean and clean them up for precision and clarity.  And though I can shorten the learning curve.....some of what I must learn comes from experience.....so I will persevere, pay my dues, bring forth experiences that continue to teach me and my dogs.....and continue to learn though watching, setting, scribing, asking and being open to see the nugget of truth in what is being shared.

Seize the Day!

I love this picture....Lana checking her time at the pen!

Trying to Figure Out....

I am having difficulty posting pictures to my blog....well actually these difficulties are turning into impossible picture posting, so while I sort it out......because I have a ton of really cool photos to post.....I thought I would post some thought from LaCamas.

While at LaCamas, I asked a fellow training friend...."what makes a person decide to move a dog to open?" Over the years, I have seen a few dogs moved to open prematurely, in my humble opinion. One would be my Sally. I ran her in four pro novice trials before I moved her up and, though I do not regret it....I do feel like I pushed her too fast in our relationship. Now a year later, I believe we are clicking and she is doing open work with me.

My friend shared some sage words and I now summarize and share them here with my interpretation..... "move the dog to open when you are no longer training during the run, when your dog is working for you and you feel you have the team relationship to work through what can happen on an open course". This isn't to say that your runs will go perfect, or that you don't have things to continue to work on and train, or that your dog doesn't need time, miles, and experiences. But certainly do not move a dog up that can not complete a pro novice course time and again.....and I am not talking about winning.....instead completion of a course with good method and team work.

Who would have ever thought at the beginning of May....as I began my intense "Figure Nell Out or Die Trying" quest.....that I would be moving her to open at Colliding Rivers Classic Sheepdog Trial....but here I am. Nell's debut! I feel like we have been a consistent team all summer...with Nell wanting to work with me each time we go to sheep. So, here I go....jumping off that cliff into the ocean of possibilities! Bring it on!

I'm packing the car......and getting ready to leave....and of course killing a bunch of time trying to sort out my inability to post photos here!

Seize the Day!!!!

The Traveling Blogger

Well, it is that time of year....yes sirreee....and my wonderful husband and fabulous children got me a little baby lap top! It is so freaking cool!!! Now I can blog on the road....which is exactly what I am doing right now. Gosh technology is GREAT!

My plans changed in the blink of a vet visit.....all things leading to the road to South Dakota were falling apart. Bella needs a break from trialing.....then Sally got a sore on her foot and though I started treating it at LaCamas....it was not getting any better. A brief exploratory surgery and a change in antibiotics left my vet wanting to see her again if things did not improve. A three day one way drive was beginning to look very different with the possibility of running just one pro novice dog. So I cut my losses...and sadly pulled from the trial and road trip.

As with most "things" in my life of dogs.....it went from crazy wild...to boring and mundane...to crazy and wild as I packed the car and headed to Tulelake to work dogs with Geri and Lana. I am very excited as Geri is going to show me some ways to help Nell bore into sheep.....and Lana asked me to help move her "mob" of sheep tomorrow morning! I had best read up on the article Lana wrote for the Working Border Collie Magazine about this sort of task! I'm hoping she will allow me to work Bella on this large group.....I think it would be very good for her.

Then....Miss Nell is moving to open! She will be running at the Colliding Rivers Classic in Roseburg over the weekend. Making lemonade out of lemons and the disappointment of not making it to South Dakota. I'm hoping to get this lap top all figured out to wow you with my updates on my Rocking Life on the road!

Seize the Day!!!

LaCamas 2010

I just returned from three long days at LaCamas. This year, the trial was full to the brim and overflowing with open and pro novice handlers. The number of handlers combined with short course times and challenging lambs made this year's LaCamas sheepdog trial one that sorted the men from the boys! Sort of brings back one of my favorite quotes from A Knight's Tale....You have been weighed, you have been measured.....and you have been found wanting.

The pro novice field was a short drive from the open field. I pulled Bella from the trial.....even before I saw the sheep I knew that we had some relationship strengthening to do. She is not the kind of dog to readily forgive me for putting her in over her head time and again. Nell ran Thursday and Friday......and now, this is our fourth trial in a row where I feel her working for me and with me...and I am so ready! I have spent so much time working on pace and feel with her......that I had to laugh when I asked her to pick it up she almost keeled over! Needless to say...these little lambs were not the sort to easily pick up the pace and still remain in control.....and Nell and I have some work ahead of us. I will say...she got a 48 her second go, timing out on the drive.....losing only two points on her outwork was absolutely thrilling.

Sally's open runs made my heart sing. Her first go I needed three blow outs to get her to the top but she took them all without a cross and her lift was spot on! A fast fetch came from letting her sort it out.....and that bit of chase was seen on a crazy fast drive! Our shed was clean and we got to the mouth of the pen. Her second go only needed one little supportive blow to keep her out on a path to the top. Again, her lift was great....and then those little lambie buggers started trouble! Both Sally and I were in over our heads.....probably more me than Sally.....she ended up making a quick decision to bring the three that wanted to come and left the nasty two behind for the coyotes! I left the post...stopped her....got a sweet little look back and away she went for the two. An RT but with so much more to it than that! Really, I felt this was some of the best team work we have ever done!

One of the best parts of LaCamas for me, was getting to watch some fabulous handling! Of course Patrick Shannahan and Riggs were spot on winning the first go. Both the MacRae's were handling two open dogs......and that was a learning lesson each time one of them walked to the post. I always admire Lavone Calzacorta and Rob Miller's runs....plus Geri Byrne and Candy Kennedy. I missed a bunch of friend's runs.....but caught Cheryl's go with Flint her second day...and Monique's go with Lucy that ended up with sheep at her feet!

It was fun talking to those I respect.......about my runs....and taking away ideas on what to work on next. Really the support of those who could see the beauty and improvement....and then give that gentle nudge in the direction of that "next" makes trailing so much more fun. It becomes more about the dog, reading sheep, and the relationship...and less about who is better. Sort of "same song, next verse"........a bad run does not make me have a bad day nor does it make me a bad person.

I took a bunch of pictures.....here Geri is running her dog Dan in his first ever Open trial.

I also got the privilege of watching Charlotte and Zeke run novice! Some day she is going to kick my bootie....and I will get the privilege of knowing....I helped her do it!
It is time for me to stop procrastinating and get on with packing to go to South Dakota! Off on one crazy adventure.....with stops along the way both coming and going to work dogs with friends! But I must pack first...and grocery shop.....and put out feed for the sheep.....and......

Seize the DAY!!!!

From Clarification to Questions

So I wanted to clarify something.....I posted last week that I let Nell decide which way she was going to outrun at a recent trial....and what I meant was, I don't always do this.....but in this given situation: Sending left was definitely the "more correct" way to send a dog because of the pressure at the top....however, left was also the more complicated way to send the dog because of the terrain and a fence corner. Sending right......the dog could see the sheep more on the outrun.....and the fence was no issue......but since the top was a little shallow, the lift could create havoc for even the best outrunning dogs because of the pressure at the top to the set-out pen on the left. When Nell assured me she wanted to go left...I let her because if she nailed it...she would be in a better spot. If she did not nail it...my correction would be better understood. And lastly, if she over-ran the top (which Nell can do on occasion) the sheep would show her the error of her ways....and might just lead to more trust between us on the next outrun. Too much information? That is me in a nut shell!!!


In other news: Gyp got a new collar......it seems to fit her a little better!
I love this collar! The brass plate has all my information on it so the dogs don't need to wear tags. It also has a middle brass ring for ease of snapping on a leash. I get my collars from Gun Dog Supply.


Lastly, here is my question......what makes somebody "deserve to be successful" when it comes to working dogs and stockdog trials?


Off to work some lambs...LaCamas starts tomorrow!


Seize the DAY!!!!

Next Best Thing To Being There......

CHECK IT OUT!http://www.nationalsheepdogfinals.com/webcast/