Nell's IN!!!

Nell is sitting at 120......2012 USBCHA National Finals.....here we come!  I can't think of a better place than Klamath Falls to run in our very first finals.  Three years ago.....as a two and a half year old, Miss Nell went out to gather sheep so the set-out folks could practice at the 2009 USBCHA finals on the night before the big dance opener.....and the whole handler community watched.... as my Nell crossed and ran the sheep and gripped at the shed....and well, I needed counseling.  The next day, as I sat at the gate at the hour where the early birds wanted to sneak in, I met Bruce Fogt for the first time......he introduced himself as the person who had watched me run my dog the day before.  My Nell, who has taught me so very much, mostly about myself....together we get to experience the finals for real!

With a month and a half ahead of me.....days on the calendar blank and ready for some sort of plan.....I've begun to look to those who have blazed ahead to the details of what to do to "get ready". With only one trial between here and there..... I know my 'old' nature would be to over practice, drill, and then practice some more.  Instead I will keep to a good fitness plan and do the things I know I need to do.......some of which is homework just for me, while other of the tasks will be about Nell and me.

That said, I've been thinking a lot about training vs. handling.  Funny how those feel like two lakes tied together with a good sized river.  This year, my second year in open with Nell, and first with Bella, has been mostly about learning how to handle each dog and train to support that handling. 

Possibly the difference in how I train and handle came from how I started out, those who most influenced my early training days weren't close for post-trialing discussion.  As I began looking for handling help, I've sat at trials watching runs, watched video trial runs, and began working with a mentor whom I felt their handling style was the direction I was leaning.  Since then, I have played a bit with who I am as a handler.....for the first time running dogs that allow me to experiment and live with the consequences of that. The truth lies somewhere between the two lakes of training and trialing, leaning more towards sifting myself, pushing myself out of comfort to find the answers in myself.  Of course a good mentor is priceless! My training leans more towards one theory. But when I step to the post, I swim towards "tools"  taken from the theory of the handling I long to achieve.  I like a dog that can work with little input but also want a dog that will take input when given.  And so, I watch and watch, and learn, and experiment, and ask questions, and apply, and live with the consequences...and at the end of the day working towards understanding and developing that very special relationship of "partners". 

My trialing summer has been filled with finewools and mixed flocks.  Mixed flocks in the fact the sheep were older and not of the same gene pool....racism has not been killed in the world of sheep for sure!  The days have been filled with great learning; about the sheep, about my dogs, about me.  Then I come home and get firmly grounded with my own flock, small as it is, and a Sheep Boss and Shepherd that enjoy the pleasures of watching me get my hinny handed to me allowing me to learn while they get dog work and I'm filled with incredible joy.  Sending my young dog out into a field of 600, the same young dog that has crossed a few times at nursery trials much to the worry of a few but not me, and watching 50 sheep try to roll over the top of her as she came in not looking for all the sheep.  The understanding that began to dawn......a small correction giving the bend and also seeing the beginning of her looking for sheep instead of just running out.....those are the days words minimize. 

As I think on it, that is how I differ on training vs. trialing.  Sorting Miss "it does not matter which way I go as long as I bring the sheep" Gyp will happen in a few different way.  First is addressing her not really looking for the sheep, or thinking as she runs out.  I am hoping the big flock gathers allows the sheep to teach her to look and think.  I'll add in some "stop and bend out" training as we go along so I have that tool if I need it. I will also try to develop her natural, so she has that if I am not there to help her. And then once she has understanding in both training and instinct, I won't bat an eye to utilize this handling tool at a trial.That is my plan...and while some would put the stop and bend out on first, never letting the dog be wrong.....others would let the sheep teach the dog.....I want both!  We'll see how that works for me.....while Bella is an onion...Gyp has become a guinea pig.

LaCamas is just a week and a half away....better get back to over thinking, working and dreaming.....

Seize the Day!