A Little Help from My Friend

Rave and I went out to Dianne's to work the cattle again today. Rave needed a boost in confidence so Dianne got out a young BC by the name of Rudy to help out. Together they moved the cattle around the indoor arena. It was pretty neat to see them automatically work together to get the job done, rarely interfering with each other. You could see her gain confidence by having another dog. After a rest we tried Rave alone again. She still was lacking in confidence so Rudy got to come in and help out some more. It was great to see Rave relax and use her instinct. I also got in all the wrong places causing to much pressure on her. I have a ways to go to learn where I need to be and what I need to be doing. Poor Rave.

Get Along Little Doggie

I went out to Dianne Deal's this afternoon. After a morning of snow the afternoon warmed up and it was quite pleasant. First time I have been at Dianne's and haven't frozen. This was our first time working cattle at Dianne's place. We worked in the indoor arena. There where 4 beef calves that they use to train their cutting horses with. One of them was larger than the other three. Our first go was a bit high charged as Rave flipped from working nice to running, flying by the heads. We worked on calming her, having her pick the cattle off the wall without a rush. I was pushing her a bit to much there and causing her to rush through which in turn generated the fly by the head. At the end of the turn Rave was snorting adrenaline! There was another lady out there with her BC and they took a turn while Rave rested in the car. After her turn she left.


So our second turn went much better. Dianne told me to let her chose when to move into the wall, just don't let her move to the outside. Rave remained calmer. I got in a couple of good corrections when she started pushing to hard and causing the cattle to break which of course caused Rave to do another fly by, she does so enjoy doing that ;-) Of course I missed it as many times as I corrected it but we where doing better. I was still tending to watch Rave instead of the stock, even when I couldn't see her. Now that is a special talent! I love to see Rave peek around the cattle to see where I am. A couple of these guys had a wicked, no kidding kick. Rave got tagged on the shoulder once I think, but managed to dodge all the rest of them.


Goals, Plans, and Accomplishments

• Had a couple of nice slow fetches
• Need to work more on pace
  Continue to work on the stop
• Have patience and let Rave work it out, don't rush

Two Steps Backwards

I went out for a lesson at Dianne Deal's this Thursday. We worked in the large field. I am not sure how big it is but I believe it is about 20 acres with no fences. There are roads running along the sides where the cars can pass at 55 miles an hour. It makes me nervous but I am getting a little more used to it. I have been out there several times now.

Rave and I are working on her driving the sheep in a straight line away from me, instead of bringing them to me which she much prefers to do. We had to pick them up outside their holding pen. Rave had to go around a small ornamental pool where she would loose sight of the sheep to do the pick-up. This confused her as she was sure that way must be blocked. It took several times to convince her to travel around the pool to the sheep but she finally got it.

Then we proceeded out onto the field. I was having trouble with her pushing on the sheep to hard, being to close. These sheep are used to border collies. They are not used to a dog that moves like Rave so they needed more distance between her and them to feel comfortable. At one point a sheep broke off and Rave followed it behind the hay bales but did finally return it to the group with no harm done.

I am really trying to watch the sheep's heads to know when to turn or stop Rave. It is hard for me to get that timing just right. I also need to stay parallel to her when I am driving, not behind her. Staying behind her pushes her up and that is not what we need! Rave is a bit confused by all this new stuff. As the sheep get further in front of her she is convinced that she is going to loose them and takes off to turn them back. Also Rave's outrun has tighened up, become more narrow. It seems we are getting worse instead of better but I know that it is just the learning phase and at some point we will break through. The question is, how long will it take?

Goals, Plans, and Accomplishments

• Work on stop. Stop means stop!


• If I don't want her to stop use another word, slow down, ack, whatever


• Keep relaxed


• Watch the stock's head
  

Working After a Layoff

I worked Rave for the first time in about ten days. I have been out of town to sunnier climes (Miami and Charleston, SC). It was mostly sunny and a bit brisk here at home. Perfect weather to work the sheep. I started out by sorting the sheep for Rave and Colt. She enjoys doing this chore. I have been working on the push so when all the sheep went into the open pen I had Rave go in and ease out each sheep one at a time through a barely opened gate. As the sheep are wise to those that go out get worked, they don't want to go out. I had to remind Rave to apply steady pressure at the back instead of 'going around' the pen to have the sheep come out. I sorted out a group of two of the lighter woolies and added a katahdin for Colt's turn and placed them in an adjoining pen.

Today I worked Belle, my almost bottle baby sheep, as a singleton. She was mostly rejected by her mother when she was a lamb. I was able to hold her mother and let Belle nurse for about a week when she reluctly agreed to allow Belle limited acess to her milk. Belle got good at grabbing on the run but I am afraid she didn't have much in the way of nurturing. Therefore she doesn't quite act like a normal sheep. She isn't as bonded to the group as the others. So although she will try to get back to the group when working as a singleton she is easier to move off then the other woolies. The hard part is that Belle starts playing hide behind the person (me) and Rave is then behind me. I become the center of a tightly held sandwhich. And I can't see Rave and the sheep at the same time. It becomes a little hard to know when to stop Rave to attempt her walk up. We worked on it awhile and there where a couple of times that Rave did do a nice slow head on walk up, giving the sheep a chance to turn and move off. I was really happy with that. And when the sheep would make a bit of a break to get back to the others Rave did a good job of kicking out a little to cover. I was also very happy with that. We did not drive far or straight but I think it is developing patience in Rave. Hope I am not just fooling myself!

After working Belle I put her away and took out a group of lighter Katahdins and drove them around the arena so that Rave would have a positive experience at the end.

Later, when I went to do the evening feeding I decided to work the ducks a little bit. I took out a group of 4 and we drove them down the arena. We had a hard time holding them on the cross drive that went in front of the ducks' pen. I took them back down to the far end of the arena and we worked a little longer on the drive. I am still stopping Rave to soon on her cover to keep the sheep or ducks going on a straight(ish) line. I really need to work on that.

Over all we seemed to not be quite in sync today. Guess we are rusty.

Goals, Plans, and Accomplishments

• Had a nice steady walk up on the singleton. Couldn't have been prettier
• Work on my timing, trusting Rave more and not stopping her to soon on her cover
• Continue to work on the drive. Concentrate on timing
• Work on the stop, I have let this slip away