Returned from a 3 day trial outside of Spokane, WA and it is time to re-evaluate where I am going and what I want when I get there. I don't want to be a screaming blue meanie. Whats that you ask? It is a middle aged woman in a blue rain suit yelling uselessly while her dog continues to do what she is doing. Was my dog being 'bad'? No, she just wasn't hearing as she was so focused on what she was doing. Which was playing cutting horse on the cross drive instead of driving the sheep across the course. The sheep where light and easy to turn if your dog was not in the 'sweet' spot. As Rave does tend to get ahead slightly, perhaps because where we work there is a strong, very strong, draw that the sheep like to bolt to, so Rave has to be slightly further up to hold them. So then when she does that with sheep that don't have that draw they turn back, she then flips them back, and then she moves up to much again and oh boy now this is fun, cutting doggie. So what do I do. Yell Rave, Rave, knock it off, etc. No avail. She is not in a state of mind where she can hear. So finally it does cross my mind, which also is not functioning in a state of mind of thinking, that I should go to her, sacrifice the run and train. Calmly and quietly. And I did. Only not until we had had quite a few runs. Um, talk about slow on the uptake! And guess what. Once I did that I really started to enjoy the run. No score to speak of but my dog and I where now on the same page and working together. It felt good. I enjoy trialing. The people and the dogs at the trial where great. Saw some mighty fine work, and some mighty quiet handlers too. So my new focus and goal is to just consider every trial a training ground. I really don't care if I score high or not, that handler's line is just imaginary, it can be stepped across. What I like is that feeling of my dog and I working together with new sheep and a new location, seeing some good dogs and visiting with people that have the same interest as I do. And Rave did do one really awesome thing this weekend, at least to me it was. The wind was blowing hard and the solid tarps lining the back of the arena where billowing out. We where bring the sheep back for the re-pen when whoops they slipped under the tarp to hide. Well I figure that Rave could handle this. She is awesome at 'real' jobs. So I sent her from about 50 feet back, she did a sweet little outrun, slipped under the tarp and eased those sheep out, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 out they came as calm as could be with Rave relaxed and in control behind. She scooped them up and held them off the gate while I walked up there and opened it for the re pen. Now that in my book was a stellar performance!
