First Milestone with Sting...

Last couple of days have been working Fly and True besides Sting and Quade.
Fly is going to be an easy girl to get going, much like Sting has been. With Fly
starting out much the same since I dont have a round pen and just working in a corner of the sheep pasture,taking sheep off the fence in different directions and settling back on the fence on balance.
She has a nice stop, even doing abit of work from the lift position to fetch sheep to me.She is a bit grippy when coming in tight on her flanks...but this behaviour should extinguish it's self once she feel comfortable /confident covering her stock over the next few days.
True, I really have to be patient with her as she is terribly one sided , so will take a group of sheep to a small cattle pen and set it up that she has no option but to go in both directions.
Sting and I brought the sheep out of the sheep pasture and worked them in a bigger area that isnt fenced in totally ( bale yard ) felt like we hit a nice mile stone in our training , she is SO much fun to work.

Updates on the crew...

Well I am way behind in results this fall on the crew out there. ( Please let me know if I missed anyone as I sure dont want to leave out anyone intentially )

-Mary Lou & Bacchus Q'D on two of his Started Agility runs

-Marianne & Cord earned their Agility Dog of Canada ( ADC title ) a couple of weeks ago
-Jyl & Magnym got his ASCA open gamblers title this weekend.
-Sandy and Wile E finished his Novice Rally O Title with 2 First in Class awards.at the Red Deer Show a couple of weeks ago. He scored a perfect 100 on Friday
-Sally and Lily Q in both Excellent B Standard and Jumpers with Weaves, earning 10 MACH points and her first double Q!
-Terry with Ralf two Q's in Rally with a High in class Advanced Rally and Miss Evo.. new Rally Novice with a 2nd place in class
-Dianne's Austin picked up his first Major at HMM.
-Jackie's Meg has earned in the last 2 months following NADAC titles NCC TGN TN-O
-Lisa 's Paris earned her RN at the Halifax Kennel Club show in September with a 99 and High in Class– She also earned her Advanced Agility Dog of Canada (AADC) and her Advanced Games Dog of Canada (AGDC) this year ( March and September respectively) and qualified for the AAC Nationals in Ottawa.Denim (Ziggy x Paris) earned a “Q” in AAC Starters Gamblers in October
-Jerrie & Desi Q'd her Open Gamblers run Saturday for her Open Gamblers title. Moved her up to Excellent for Sunday & she Q'd her first run there. Picked up 1 Q Saturday & both Q's Sunday for her Open Standard Title. Desi adds another HOF point for Walker's ASCA HOF Sire

Girls day out....

Been looking forward to hooking up 'with the girls' which consist of Joan Holmes, Jackie Tomayer, Lill Roth-Lee and Lyn Ferris. It's a kinship that picks up like it was just yesterday when we 'do 'get together....core of the conversations is usually working dogs and the tangents that flow out from that.
Today we got together to work dogs at various stages in their training at Joan's place and her flock of mainly Barb sheep. ( Jackie regrettably wasn't able to come at the last minute ) Weather was really decent for this time of the year which made the day more than enjoyable with good company.

Joan has a great set up with her sorting pens/round pen as well her arena was set up with panels for Course F to do abit of test driving that design with the dogs. While there we walked through the various sized corrals/pens on the farm to see if an ASCA Farm Trial Trial was feasible and discussed different ways to make the course flow. It was certainly do'able.

Of course first order of the day was to check out those darling pups that are boot'n around pretty good in the whelping box. (sidebar: L Bar J has a website and blog with the parents/litter on...worth checking out for any one
interested in a good cattle dog )

Sessions in the pen were great especially with the help from outside the pen with the more experienced 'eyes' adding to the progress with valued training tips.

Looking forward to the next working session with the girls...

*

photo by Lyn Ferris

Jot notes...

a few notes to myself...
Quade...have been labeling the stand when offered and now getting it fairly consistent. I get a better send on him as he is anticipating the flank and is set up for leaving at a better angle...with 'the down' he turns into the stock , so gets up coming into them...note to self to watch for that as well.

Walk abouts with Sting continue....takes less time at the beginning of the lesson for everything to gel into a nice relaxed walk about the small sheep pasture....going to take the flock out into the cattle pasture for a more open area ...Sting is covering her sheep well in the sheep pasture so just stepping up on an other comfort level for her and see if she continues to cover her sheep.
Will need to work on taking sheep through a gate in that lesson....also need to get rid of the rake.

photo by Terry Stickle / Practially Famous summer 09

2nd Agility class...

Just notes to look 'back on' from some future date to see how far we've come
Derby driving through 2 tunnels with curve in last one.
Holding his stays fairly good
Doing weaves with wires/open channel
Contacts with back chaining the bottoms
Doing the dogwalk with loaded targets

Took Fly to the class which follows Derbys.
She hasnt seen equipment since last winter class so
abit wild on contact equipment....worked on bottoms to
reinforce 2 On 2 Off ( I'm not interested in teaching any
of my dogs running contacts....I need a solid pause there )
Worked on a release to 2nd target from the contacts
Did some distance work being aware of my body language
with 'triangles' and 'indirect pressure' on dogs 'path'

Fly has solid start lines , everyone here is taught to sit stay
and proofed on that everyday at meal time and everywhere else
I can fit it in while doing chores/yard work. It's one lesson that
gets taught from the time they are pups and built up on with proofing.

Wish it wasnt 3 hours on the road to do agility ....if it was closer I'd try
and get in at least another session during the wk. Between calving season and winter storms in Jan, it's going to be tough getting to the 2nd set of classes so will have to try and make it to the odd drop in training nights.

I need to find a building to rent in my area to set up my equipment for winter training.

Getting up right and leaving....

I'll probably be spending alot of time working on this to finese what we have
....doesnt help that I've done too many flanks via sling shot when starting a fast dog.Which results in some poor form ....all they think about is getting there as 'hard and fast' as they can which flattens the shape of the outrun. At the time I was thinking I was taking advantage of a dog on the right lead to flank with some distance so I could hustle my butt to slow them down at the lift...thankfully I get to a few clinics and come away with more insight in what the dog is thinking & better ways to do things.
The criteria is getting up more relaxed therefore more thoughtful on how he leaves....which will help him bend around his stock.
So starting from square one in each new place we take the stock, will build up on that. Basically is tapping the ground with the stock stick to remind him of 'space' and/or pointing at his inside eye (direct pressure/release when they give ) pending on what it takes to change the demeanor to thinking
his first steps at the beginning not the end result....
If they dont get up right, then down and reset it up...remember to watch where your position is ,if the dog downs in a different spot...the angles will change....as well make sure the dog does not gain any of your 'ground' when doing this excerise as he basically is taking away your space by coming forward...put them back. Remember...On a flank the sheep should only see your dogs 'sides'
You own your space something to be mindful of and to keep reinforced...
All training may hinge on 5 principles but the dog needs to be in a thinking mode to learn any of it...the sooner the dog is thoughtful in his session...the more will be accomplished in a few minutes vs going through the motions with more time involved.

pictures taken by Practically Famous / Terry Stickle summer 2009

Eye Contact....

Too much eye contact...mine with the dog.
Know I have a bad habit there and need to be more conscious of when I'm doing it. Making hard eye contact or alot of eye contact with your dogs eye pulls them in tight...Twigged into this when working on releasing my dog to stock for his out runs... I was still doing it....one of those ' V 8 moments ' as I'm working through this part of training.

Wind basically died down with the sun trying to shine through the clouds.
Worked in the small cattle pasture as abit of grass there from first cut of hay...enough to let the sheep settle to a graze as I worked on sending my dog....basically was trying to set the criteria that the dog had to get up right and if he didn't ...no sheep and we set it up again with the idea ...we have all day to accomplish this.

When he was right he was allowed to finish all the way to lift > then fetch back to me. With the sheep happily grazing they needed a dog engaged to lift them which is what a person wants...the dog to feel that bubble and push it forward at an appropriate pace back to you. The dog never gets
to learn 'the feel' of that bubble if the sheep always leave before the dog makes contact with them.

Quade and I have come along ways and considering how we spent the first couple of years we may take alittle longer to retrain a few bad habits than if we started with a clean slate...however I couldn't ask for a better dog to teach me to improve my skills as a handler....I wouldn't be without him for getting the work done around here. (Infact while I was gone to the states my son was using him for cattle chores and those 2 have never worked together...they managed just fine )
Anyways our journey certainly has made it easier to train and work the other dogs here....what took me the better part of the year to accomplish a certain set of skills on a dog is taking me far less time with fewer holes to fix.

Worked Sting in the sheep pasture, mainly off the fence and doing what I call 'doodling'.... basically a walk about with the dog balancing the sheep to me ....serpentines, figure 8's, 1/2 circles, stair steps ,etc...with a stop / settle in the middle of the pasture mixed in there....all keeping in mind everyone's space.
She's coming along just fine.

Part of the miles...

Today was even windier than yesterday..anything not nailed down is in the province just east of us.
A whistle ( and dog trained on one ) would of been darn handy for the OLF in the field...sheep wanting to head to Timbuktu with the high wind on their butts made for more walking and getting in the right place and a person had only a nano second at that.
Couldnt work on the sends like I wanted to in the field and in hindsight (like 'now' realized I should of taken them to the cattle pasture to see if they would of settled better on grass and then work on the sends as
sheep did not settle at all in the field & dog couldnt hear me d/t wind )
Quade typically never barks unless not clear with what I want and I'd get that bark when he realized he was coming up short on his flank...usually 2 o'clock...felt like I was doing too many redirects with moving stock so
ended up coming back to the empty bale yard and worked on squaring up our flanks /distance and seeing if I could fix my flip 'away' on the one flank that I still get from time to time....works if I softly call his name or 'here' before squaring him, so his head turns in instead of out...hoping to install some muscle memory so it happens less often but realize that some residue will show up as a default behavior when tired or stressed.
Will take sheep to the small cattle pasture and work on send exercises over next few days. If I can get him to leave properly from the get go, it'll help solve the coming up short on those bigger outruns (moving sheep)....so will work increments to make things more solid and will work on those in several areas on the farm/field which will give me 'different acting sheep'
Training sheep are wonderful for working out some training excercises but *if the sheep leave and fetch back to you *before the dog even gets in the right position ...the dog never learns nor understands his job completely.
Something to be very aware of and not to be complacent about....so a person can use environment to 'change' their sheep and / or travel to get on different sheep so the dog continues to learn how to read /cover sheep....which obviously builds confidence.
All part of the miles to a seasoned dog.

Short training session today...

Have had 6 hrs sleep in the last 48 hrs (called back in for shift replacement after my set of nites) ...certainly dragging my butt this afternoon.

Wind has picked up...worked the dogs for only a few minutes, not feeling at the top of my game mentally but wanted to work sheep in
the wind because A) chores have to be done regardless and B) typically the weather is what ever is served up on a trial wkend and you & your dog have to handle livestock on any given day.

Livestock do work different with weather changes especially with a weather front coming in ie) cattle with their heads & tails 'up' are going to be handled alot different than cattle with a relaxed demeanor....flight zones change,co-operative animals become Unco-operative animals....and your dog will read all this in spades. Typically everything ante's up abit more in that triangle of Stock / Dog / Handler of how each affects / feeds off the other with their reaction to the situation.

Quiet confident voice and body language is obviously key and it becomes more natural with miles tucked under a person's belt in 'all' weather
and situations. So when you get up and see crappy weather instead of groaning about it, think of what a great training opportunity it presents you :)
( Remind me of this come January and it's been 40 below out with no end in sight to the cold snap :):)

Minding your P's & Q's

Making the most of chore time with the girls for other training....generally 'minding' me.
True comes along with Sting when I'm bringing feed into the sheep pen. It's basically an 'obedience' lesson for her ( self control and to remember the task at hand ) all starts before we open the gate to enter...the girls have to sit stay and wait to be 'invited' in...then they have to sit stay while I bring in the feed and close the gate. Both would love to be working the sheep as they are moving off to the far end of the pasture as we are coming in ( good impulse control for True ) Part of the lesson is that just because there is sheep in the pen...they dont always need to be worked.

True has a nice 'that 'll do'/come on her so it gets reinforced as we walk over to the feed bunk to fork hay. Both are put on stay between the sheep and feedbunk. It's a good lesson for True to remember she is on stay...(sometimes she forgets and gets up to shop for pasture raisins ) so without repeating the command she is re-parked...I want her to remember the first command.
A simple excerise that will help lay down some ground work with True before I start her on stock.

Derby's first Agility class...

Yep knew it all along...Derby would love agility classes.
He had his first agility class (introduction to agility equipment.) ... didnt take much to encourage him to drive through the tunnels or hop on the wobble board...food or a ball was involved. Even worked in a few stays with a release to the obstacle.
Pictures are blurry

Forming good habits....

Hit the stage several days ago.
You know where if you do something 'x' amount of times , it becomes an important part of your routine and if you miss a session it *really* bothers you....and I truly hated missing a training session the other day esp with the weather being decent and winter arriving any day.
Still working the flock out in the neighbors stubble field which not only gives me a bigger area to work ( no fences or obstacles to work around )
it's giving me the added bonus of sheep not content to 'park in one spot'...they are unsettled out there so makes for me having to be quicker on read > decisive action...something a person needs when trialing :) sometimes it makes for alittle more walking on my part to make sure I set it up for success before the sheep take off looking for the next bit of 'green' .
Quade is reading his stock well on the lift / fetch back to me ...since it's a flock there is some wear back there and he covers his sides /draw well.
The release/send improving which affects the flanking > top.....it's coming... but think I need to get together with Joan & Lill for a pair of eyes to see if I'm on track. Came away with a smile on my face...lots of good boys when he was right ....sure felt like a good session.
Sting's sessions continue & have all been an improvement on the previous one as we work more in the open sheep pasture.
Derby's first agility class tonight...looking forward to them.

Lest we forget....

In Flanders Fields By:

Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918) Canadian Army

In Flanders Fields the poppies blow Between the crosses row on row, That mark our place; and in the sky The larks, still bravely singing, fly Scarce heard amid the guns below. We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie In Flanders fields. Take up our quarrel with the foe: To you from failing hands we throw The torch; be yours to hold it high. If ye break faith with us who die We shall not sleep, though poppies grow In Flanders fields.

Fixing the Flat...2nd session

**Better session this AM, felt better about it and ended on a good note...still needs improvement

Stella and that Groove of hers...

***

Well Stella may have found 'her groove' she has problems walking backwards...even more so when trying to train , walk backwards and watch for the gopher holes AND take pictures ...all at the same time.
Yep fell again.....kinda cringed while it was happening...figured I'd get mowed over again as it was on fetch.
All action stopped when I disappeared from view...sheep looked at each other rather sheepishly as 'they' didnt cause that one...Sting a little worried 'cause it sure wasnt her fault as she came to a polite sit.
( At this rate I will be really stiff and sore for CPR recerts' tomorrow )

Anyways inspite of my clutziness out there we had a great training session with Sting. I havent labeled any thing for a command basically try and be quiet and let her be right and reward it with a quiet 'good girl' and
a quiet 'ah' to pause her up to rethink. She has a natural stop on balance when putting the sheep on the fenceline which is either a sit or a stand all with out pressing the sheep on you. The pace on her fetch is coming along nice...again dont have the sheep pushing on me, she'll come out to tuck her sheep in. Did more work in the middle of the pastureso we arent crutching near the fence.

I had started her with just a stock stick as she was sensitive enough with that ( worried about the rake ) I just started usingthe rake last few days to help with the overflank which has helped with that, but need to keep it in a neutral position when not using it ( quiet body language ) I'd like to get rid of it so it doesnt become a crutch instead of a tool in the next few training sessions.

Training will be sporadic this wk as between annual recert's and 12 hr shifts ( no daylight to train ) there will be limited opportunities.

Coming to balance on the fenceline

Tools of the trade...

...for chores that is

Fixing a flat...

Quade and I took the flock out to the neighbors stubble field to do some driving / OLF. The sheep pasture has some clutter that gets in it way.
I wanted to work on my flanks as noticed Quade was flat partly because he wasnt releasing his stock. Pictures show what I was seeing and needing to work on.

I let him push the stock off into the field and called him 'all the way' back to me and then sent him on his flank. I may have been doing a little too much calling off just enough to do inside flanks / fetch so I have to make sure I do both..not sure if he is just anticipating or I've spent too much time in one area.
Next few days will tell as we brush up on some flank work. The Go byes were better than the Away's It got too dark to take pictures of the good note we ended on.

Respecting space....

Today wish I had my camera with me to capture the progress Sting is making in her lessons, was so pleased in how it ended.
Started out with the plan to work on our sends (release to stock on my terms ) since she blew her first stay yesterday. No problems in that department today.

The lessons ended up being A) reminding my sheep I have a personal space as well to help B) Sting steady up on her stock. My flock of sheep basically have a small flight zone to be worked but need a lesson every so often that if the dog is being right that they dont need to mow you over. Sting is for the most part kind to her stock , no cheap shots / gripping / flossing her teeth...she'll shoulder bump if coming through a tight spot ie) bringing sheep off the fence line

Our lessons have been on the fence to working across the short end of the pasture and ending on balance either on the fence or in the open. I wanted to work on moving the flock down the long fence line and starting Sting in the 'lift' position, only got tripped up and mowed over pretty well from the get go with the sheep...Sting was patiently waiting for me to release her.... ( good girl )

( Sheep lesson is a couple of 'taps' on the leaders nose and if 'they choose' to run into my swinging stick after that...they dont make too many following...However you have to keep the dog out of their space so they are rewarded for appropriate behaviour , it's like a promise that if they are good, you make sure the dog is being good & vice versa ...goes along ways to keep stock from getting sour)

One rake tossed/speared in the space 'infront' of Sting was enough to help her ... after that just needed to raise it to 'touch' her eye and put it back in neutral and walk a nice pace. We had success going up and down the fence line with some really nice work without walking backwards ... couldnt have been happier with the progress we are making.
However tomorrow is always another day and I look forward to what we have instore for us.
Definately having a blast with Sting.

Job starts at the gate....

Almost wishing for some snow cover to cover all the drab brown/drought looking landscape...looking pretty sad this time of year but has been wonderful weather for working dogs.
Took a series of pictures of Quade pushing sheep off the gate for me so I can come in with grain and not have sheep on top of me...they really are rude creatures that have no respect for your personal space so a dog sure is handy for bringing in feed. I use Quade for the bull pen as well as they are too darn quiet and can easily knock you around with a butt of their heads.
I have Quade park the sheep in the middle of the small sheep pasture I have here and hold them for several minutes...then I get him to re-push them down farther to the end of pasture, hold them and then
call him off to flank him around....he didnt release his stock in the picture so is tight on his flank in the picture. There's a few draws which he covers when the sheep lean.
I'm hoping tomorrow I'll have more time to take the flock out in the neighbors stubble field for some OLF exerces
as no fences / bigger area to work....see we need to do some work there.

Now if work would calling me to fill shifts with all this decent fall weather ....I'll be more than happy.

Another lesson day....

Working N's so abit short on training time....
Sting decided her lesson would be 'sends' as in waiting until she is sent.
She was more than happy to be headed to the sheep pasture and did wait (off leash ) as I walked through the gate first and then let me repark her to send on a flank. However that was short lived and she was on her way to gather her sheep as 'they' were getting out of dodge.

A dog is typically 'right' to cover their stock... it's so instinctive to want to stop motion...so I try not to make a big deal of it with a green dog and work on waiting / sending, a few short fetchs across the short end of the small sheep pasture...and some 'that will do's' / and walk away from the sheep with my dog and reset up in another spot.
She learns she gets the sheep on my terms and is rewarded for that by allowing her to work.
I can see a more confident dog as we journey along here.

Quade's time was spent pushing the sheep off the grain bunk and doing some short driving down the length of the pasture, one of his 'favorite jobs'...

Today was a decent fall day for weather...think last year we had snow that stayed...geese still hanging out by the lake

Father's daughter....

Happen to have the camera with me while taking True for a walk, decided even tho' she isnt bathed/groomed we were long over due in any new pictures of her. (Still has some old coat that needs to go ) Trick is always getting her to stand still and give some expression/ears for the camera....
we managed to get a few.
Think with True we'll concentrate with Obedience work and then decide either Agility or Stockwork down the road with her.She's lightening fast but needs to work on 'self control' so obedience work should help with laying down some of that foundation.
She's alot like her dad.

The blue tag reads '67' RAM....

He's the new ram lamb. A Dorper x Kat cross that my husband picked up for me while away at a dog show a few wks ago. I wanted to keep my flock as 'hair' but wanted to add abit more weight to the lamb crop so will see what we get next spring for a lambs.
Figured I'd stick with ram lambs since they challenge a young dog less than a mature one and I cant be bothered watching my back with a mature breeding ram during chores. They really are a pita to have year round,so once breeding season is over, the bardizzo's come out....they end up being another training sheep.
Working Sting in the sheep pasture, we havent been in a small pen since August. We seem to be managing just fine out there ....working on steadying up on her stock. She really is enjoying working her sheep everyday, turns herself inside out after each session when you tell her what a good girl she was ... she so wants to please.
Did I mention how much fun she is to work :)
Worked 'off balance work' ( 2 different exercises...starting off balance & ending on balance and vice versa ) with Quade...note to myself ...I have to be conscious of how I open my shoulders so my body language is clear; it's coming along....would help if it was like breathing and I could just go out and do it without _thinking_it_out_....good thing he is a tolerant dog.