A Bunch of Great Runs

The field at Big Willow is not huge......but very complicated. Either way you send your dog.....it will lose site of the sheep on the outrun. Sally and I have been working on two aspects of losing site of sheep on outruns....1) having her actually look for her sheep all the way and not think they are always set at 300 yards and 2) taking a redirect once she gets started on her outrun. Last year, Sally was certain that a bunch of swaying sagebrush way up on a hill were her sheep....pretty much end of story.

A year later: My first run with Sally, she crossed on her outrun but came back onto her sheep as if I had sent her right instead of left! Sally ran the sheep a bit on her fetch...and together, we fought the sheep and lost every panel.....got our shed....and settled into the mouth of the pen....time up!

I spent the day watching, taking mental notes, and thinking about how to improve...what's next. When to redirect, how to hold her off the sheep but let her work on, and further improve the teamwork that we are just now beginning to develop. Second day: I talked to her and tried to redirect earlier in her outrun.....she did blow through but as I watched her, I felt her hitch and think....when she topped the little hill and saw the sheep she blew herself out for our very first ever non-crossing outrun at Big Willow! Atta Girl!!!! Our fetch was very nice, hitting our panels...the sheep were pushing on Sally and I tried to hold her off and let her work in a rhythm suiting the sheep. Around the post.....and gasp....Sally sliced a flank and went to the sheep's heads! We ended up retiring at the first drive panels due to some serious overflanking on Sally's end....and handling management issues on my end. But here is what I have to say.......I was a winner!!!!! Yep, 30/RT......on the scoreboard but Sally and I won! This whole sheepdog trial experience is about relationship...and it has taken me a whole big fat year to settle my head on that! A Big Hat once told me, "you will go to trials and see a rare dog that is so talented they take your breath away.....but the winning scores are often the dog and handler teams that have the best relationship in addition to training and understanding." Well, that is my version of what was said.....and that is what I am striving for.

Here are a few of my thought about other runs that were memorable for me....fist and foremost was Rob Miller and Jen, who ran right on my heals the second go so I did not get any photos. The sheep were pushing on Jen in a similar fashion to how they pushed on Sally.....but Rob handled it with such finesse. His dog never overflanked, he let the sheep go and took control with incredible timing, and his dog ended up face gripping to cash the check! Amazing to really identify what was happening on both our runs...that for me is an important step in improving my handling. Thanks to Rob for talking with me after our runs!

Patrick Shannahan put down the winning run the first day.....I always watch and take notes...especially as he sheds!

Ellen Skillings ended up winning the whole trial......I missed her run as I went home to spend Mother's Day with my really awesome family.....but I did catch her near-flawless run the first day. Here she and Emer are bringing the sheep on one beautifully straight fetch. I am working on my "mental management" when it comes to running my dogs at sheepdog trials. Disciplining myself to think, first and foremost, on what I really liked, then spending some time thinking about what went wrong, why it went wrong and ending on how to improve. I continue to sift through what input I allow myself to listen to and what input runs off my feathered back. Those I respect, and want to be when I grow up, seem to wait for me to come and talk to them. They give great, honest feedback when I ask for it and am ready to hear it. They are also the same people who can help me celebrate the beauty and improvement in my runs.....and for that I am so very thankful.

Big Willow....what a trial! The course is complicated, the sheep are so bloody honest, the whole trial is a mirror, showing the unedited truth of what the dog, handler, and relationship truly is. I have work to do....but today, I will embrace my progress, celebrate my Sally, and call myself a winner!

Seize the day!