Got to the desert at 7:15 a.m., 28 degrees, and not a breath of wind. When there is no wind it is like a day at the beach. Blow a little wind chill factor to it and I wouldn't have lasted an hour. This morning it was nice enough to work for two 1/2 hours.
When Wayne wasn't polishing his truck, I gave him and Jet a few pointers. Jet has been taking advantage of him. The two of them (Wayne and Jet) both have "selective hearing." Must be a guy thing. I showed Wayne how not to let Jet have his sheep if he didn't flank correctly. As beginners we all want to just stand there like a pole. Heck, there is a lot to watch. So we started with the basics. The dog is coming too fast, step into him, dog is coming at a nice pace, step back and let him have the sheep. Dog doesn't take the first couple of steps correctly on the flank, down him. Only let him have his sheep when the flank is what you want. Basic stuff, right? hahaha This is good. This gives the hubby a chance to see that there is a little more involved to this working sheepdog stuff.
When it was time to load the sheep, I told Wayne go ahead and let Kilt load them up for you. He said, "She won't listen to me." "It's okay," I said, "just get her up on her feet and flank her." I should have known when it took 5 commands to get her off a down into a stand position it wasn't going to be pretty. "Come bye Kilt," he said, and wham bam, thank-you mam, she flew into the sheep, tail in the air and took her licks while she could. Bad dog Kilt. That the fastest ever I have seen the sheep load.
We took the sheep to breakfast.
Wayne said, "See, I told you she wouldn't listen."
I paid for breakfast. It was the least I could do. :0)
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Friday, November 13, 2009
700 yard outrun
Wayne and Jet helped me set up outruns for the girls in the desert today. We basically worked in the hills. I am working on blind out runs and getting the girls (Yoko and Kilt) to come in deeper behind their sheep. It was extrememly helpful to have my husband, Wayne there to help out on walkie talkies. This isn't for couch potatoes. I bet I hiked, walked and ran several miles myself this morning while working the dogs.Kilt doesn't have a "natural" kickout at the 3/4 marker on the way out to get her sheep. Thank God, Jet is the king of outrunners and his daughter has inherited the good genes. Kilt has more eye and is drawn in towards her sheep. She is getting better, but still needs to be further back at the top. I had to get on her her about 5 or 6 times with running to her and telling her to "Get Back" this morning. Her last outrun was the above photo with the sheep set at 7oo yds. behind a hill on the ridge. When Kilt got to the 3/4 marker she could spot her sheep and started to veer in. Wayne radioed me to let me know. I counted to five and as I was just about to blow my whistle she kicked out on her own and came in beautifully deep behind her sheep which I could not see from where I was standing. Wayne said she stopped herself before starting her lift and began her walk up. SUCCESS! End it on a good note.
Yoko is a dream. If I asked her to do two back flips she would attempt it. Her first blind outrun she ran too wide and I gave her a walk up whistle. She veered in on the walk up whistle, slowed, and then caught sight of her sheep. She flanked out and then to her surprise there was Wayne with a stocking cap and radio. Yo was thinking...Ahhhh What/Who's that? She ran hesitantly up to him and then started wagging. Wayne pointed to her sheep and she happily went right back to them to pick them up. Too cute. I never say anything when things out of the ordinary happen like that. Shit happens.
I gave her a couple of "Get backs" on another outrun which she took better than her mother. Her last outrun I gave her a "Get back" at the 3/4 marker and she kicked out and went at least 75 yds behind her sheep. Again...quit while you are ahead!
I only have about 4 mos. of working in the desert (weather, snakes, etc.), but our time out there is absolutely invaluable.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Desert dwellers
How nice to have company this morning in the desert. Mike Burks and Sport joined me (without) the chick mobile. :0) It was a balmy 60 degrees outside. We practiced "blind" outruns and "hill" work. Of course, So. Calif. style....rattlesnake gaitors and a snub nose 38 in a fanny pack. The dogs for the most part are used to working flat ground. The hills add a different factor to things.
The blind outruns were way too fun. It took a few failed attempts to get the dogs to listen when they couldn't see their sheep. We are going to have to do this way more often. Asking a dog for flanks when there are no sheep in sight takes some "trust." As with anything else, it all boils down to consistency in training.
It was nice to be able to show Mike how well Kilt can flank and listen out in the wide open spaces. She feels the need to take over when we are trialing. She downright embarrasses me at trials. I love her push. I love a zillion things about her, except for the fact that she hasn't partnered with me on the trial field. We are going to go for some lessons to see if that will help.
There was a raven that kept following Kilt and the sheep. It kept flying in front of the sheep while she was driving. This same bird along with a few of it's friends bothered Kilt and the sheep the last time we went to the desert to practice. The raven didn't bother anyone but Kilt. Go figure? In fact, the last time it tried to swoop down on her head. I'm not sure what they are protecting. Wierd.
Plus, we got the giggles over the Border Collie "swaggers." Both Kilt and Sport on their initial walk-up "swagger"(for lack of a better term to call it) They lift their hind legs high and almost cross over in the rear versus single tracking while stalking their sheep in slow motion. We tried to film it. It's pretty hilarious and was quite entertaining. Border Collies are just so strange. :0)
Jet helps out with fetching, driving, and holding sheep for the other dogs in order to get his exercise. We asked him to go one step further today. We sat back in our chairs listening to the "stillness" of the desert while I let the sheep have half a flake and some water in a big red bucket. When we were through practicing I asked Jet to go out and fetch the red bucket. Of course, he wanted to fetch the sheep, but with some urging, he went and brought the red bucket back to the trailer. That Jet....he's a good dog. In fact, he's the BEST in my book.
The blind outruns were way too fun. It took a few failed attempts to get the dogs to listen when they couldn't see their sheep. We are going to have to do this way more often. Asking a dog for flanks when there are no sheep in sight takes some "trust." As with anything else, it all boils down to consistency in training.It was nice to be able to show Mike how well Kilt can flank and listen out in the wide open spaces. She feels the need to take over when we are trialing. She downright embarrasses me at trials. I love her push. I love a zillion things about her, except for the fact that she hasn't partnered with me on the trial field. We are going to go for some lessons to see if that will help.
There was a raven that kept following Kilt and the sheep. It kept flying in front of the sheep while she was driving. This same bird along with a few of it's friends bothered Kilt and the sheep the last time we went to the desert to practice. The raven didn't bother anyone but Kilt. Go figure? In fact, the last time it tried to swoop down on her head. I'm not sure what they are protecting. Wierd.
Plus, we got the giggles over the Border Collie "swaggers." Both Kilt and Sport on their initial walk-up "swagger"(for lack of a better term to call it) They lift their hind legs high and almost cross over in the rear versus single tracking while stalking their sheep in slow motion. We tried to film it. It's pretty hilarious and was quite entertaining. Border Collies are just so strange. :0)
Jet helps out with fetching, driving, and holding sheep for the other dogs in order to get his exercise. We asked him to go one step further today. We sat back in our chairs listening to the "stillness" of the desert while I let the sheep have half a flake and some water in a big red bucket. When we were through practicing I asked Jet to go out and fetch the red bucket. Of course, he wanted to fetch the sheep, but with some urging, he went and brought the red bucket back to the trailer. That Jet....he's a good dog. In fact, he's the BEST in my book.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Mike's chick mobile
That's Mike Burks saying "I need something to make me stand out in the crowd."
Mike found it....the $40 Craig's list "Chick Mobile" for tooling around the trials
Sunday, November 8, 2009
USBCHA Porterville
Me and Kilt waiting for the sheep to be exhausted back to the set-out area before our turn at the post in open
Fail often to succeed sooner. Set small goals. Okay....Kilt in her third open trial has manged to go from a 48 to a 61 to a 65, along with a few RT's (mostly me RT'ing her for not listening). I'm fairly pleased with her outruns and lifts. It was difficult to get deep at Porterville due to the shortness of the field. 400 yds and there wasn't much room to get deep behind them. I saw many bad open outruns....oodles of redirects and several dogs that had to be chased down in 4 wheelers and trucks.
Yoko was great for the amount of work time has on the clock. They set the nursery outrun like the open dogs. I was so glad for that. I'm tired of them setting the nursery outrun at the pro-novice level. I heard a few people say that it was too hard for the nursery dogs. They only had 5-6 nursery dogs entered. By the way, the sheep were absolutely perfect. No one could possibly complain about the sheep! They were 2 farm flocks of dorpers put together. Rare for us So. Calif. people to get farm flocks. Anyway, Yoko's first outrun was AMAZING. She had a nice quiet lift. It must have been too quiet for her because then she buzzed them up their rears. But, we actually made it to the cross drive panels, before I saw her getting a bit frustrated and retired her. Her 2nd outrun was the pits (for her). The judge only took 4 points off. I would have taken 12 points off. She started off okay and immediately veered into the center. I started whistling her ass down and she blew me off. Before she hit the center line she blew herself out and went wide around her sheep, but she was pretty jazzed up by then. She came onto her sheep like a torpedo sending one of them clear back to the set-out pens. I have a photo of her sitting pretty behind 4 of them.....waiting for her next command. Uh....that would be a recall little missy.
Fail often to succeed sooner. Set small goals. Okay....Kilt in her third open trial has manged to go from a 48 to a 61 to a 65, along with a few RT's (mostly me RT'ing her for not listening). I'm fairly pleased with her outruns and lifts. It was difficult to get deep at Porterville due to the shortness of the field. 400 yds and there wasn't much room to get deep behind them. I saw many bad open outruns....oodles of redirects and several dogs that had to be chased down in 4 wheelers and trucks.I think because there wasn't a fence. I rarely work with a fence. Our outruns are practiced in the desert. But, we did manage a zero off our shed and pen. I guess that tells you a lot about our drive. That bitch (Kilt) just wouldn't give up the sheep and flank.
Yoko looking for her sheep to be set in nursery
Yoko was great for the amount of work time has on the clock. They set the nursery outrun like the open dogs. I was so glad for that. I'm tired of them setting the nursery outrun at the pro-novice level. I heard a few people say that it was too hard for the nursery dogs. They only had 5-6 nursery dogs entered. By the way, the sheep were absolutely perfect. No one could possibly complain about the sheep! They were 2 farm flocks of dorpers put together. Rare for us So. Calif. people to get farm flocks. Anyway, Yoko's first outrun was AMAZING. She had a nice quiet lift. It must have been too quiet for her because then she buzzed them up their rears. But, we actually made it to the cross drive panels, before I saw her getting a bit frustrated and retired her. Her 2nd outrun was the pits (for her). The judge only took 4 points off. I would have taken 12 points off. She started off okay and immediately veered into the center. I started whistling her ass down and she blew me off. Before she hit the center line she blew herself out and went wide around her sheep, but she was pretty jazzed up by then. She came onto her sheep like a torpedo sending one of them clear back to the set-out pens. I have a photo of her sitting pretty behind 4 of them.....waiting for her next command. Uh....that would be a recall little missy.The competition is fierce out here. It's nothing like 10 or 20 years ago. Susie Applegate and Jennifer Clark-Ewers are producing and training dogs that are superior in every way. Handlers are snatching up and buying up open dogs and importing them just making the competition even more fierce. People with actual day jobs send their dogs out to trainers to be trained for months at a time.
There are only a handful of us (maybe only on one hand) that are training their own dogs, enjoying the journey as we go. I'm proud to be one of those die-hards. Hey, when we do good....it is oh so sweet. When we do poorly, it's back to the drawing board. And, no, I only work my dogs 2-3 times a week. So, I do take that into consideration and enjoy every minute of any success. :0)
P.S. The only bummer about the Porterville trial was that I was missing the California Breeders Cup at Santa Anita. Damn.......I wanted to be in two places at once. I believe Zenyatta and Kilt have a lot in common!!!!!!
Friday, November 6, 2009
Right or left handed dog?
Some people tell me they have a right handed dog or a left handed dog, because the dog has a tendancy or a preferance to go in one direction more than the other. I tell them; than you haven't really had a dog that was one sided!
Kilt is right handed. That means ever since Kilt was a pup, she could only circle to the right. While she is out playing with the other dogs, she will only circle to the right; in the house she circles to the right. What makes a dog right or left handed? God if I know. Must happen in the birth canal :0) But, I can tell you that she has had a litter of 5 pups and all of them were well balanced. None of the pups show this particular irritating quality (for lack of a better word to call it.)
How have I dealt with this exasperating idiosyncracy? Wow...has it ever been difficult. Kilt is a hard driving, pushy son of a gun. I love her for that. When she is driving, her right handedness doesn't seem to effect her working ability. She will drive and flank naturally into the next county. But when we are fetching she is always off to the left side going "away to me."
We are constantly doing "walk-abouts" allowing her to fetch the sheep to me. I am forever changing directions to keep her on her toes. But, I can still see that something is not quite wired right.
Kilt is a fabulous ranch dog. We haven't partnered up on the trial field. Oh yeah...she has her share of PN ribbons, but mostly because the sheep were too difficult for the other dogs. It wasn't because of our "finesse." :0) I have moved her up to open, hoping a longer outrun will relax her a bit. I have to admit though, I have learned more from Kilt than any other dog I have owned.
And, to Kilt and Jet....thanks for Yoko!
Kilt is right handed. That means ever since Kilt was a pup, she could only circle to the right. While she is out playing with the other dogs, she will only circle to the right; in the house she circles to the right. What makes a dog right or left handed? God if I know. Must happen in the birth canal :0) But, I can tell you that she has had a litter of 5 pups and all of them were well balanced. None of the pups show this particular irritating quality (for lack of a better word to call it.)
How have I dealt with this exasperating idiosyncracy? Wow...has it ever been difficult. Kilt is a hard driving, pushy son of a gun. I love her for that. When she is driving, her right handedness doesn't seem to effect her working ability. She will drive and flank naturally into the next county. But when we are fetching she is always off to the left side going "away to me."
We are constantly doing "walk-abouts" allowing her to fetch the sheep to me. I am forever changing directions to keep her on her toes. But, I can still see that something is not quite wired right.
Kilt is a fabulous ranch dog. We haven't partnered up on the trial field. Oh yeah...she has her share of PN ribbons, but mostly because the sheep were too difficult for the other dogs. It wasn't because of our "finesse." :0) I have moved her up to open, hoping a longer outrun will relax her a bit. I have to admit though, I have learned more from Kilt than any other dog I have owned.
And, to Kilt and Jet....thanks for Yoko!
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
Boo Boo Bear - Time to hibernate
It's really not a video. I just had the camera set on video by accident. When I went for my morning coffee at the Heart and Soul cafe in town the other day, this sign was on the door. A black bear has been hanging out at the bottom of Jupiter Mountain (right across from us) and lots of town folk have stories to tell about him.
We have had some big forest fires in the last decade in and around Green Valley. We used to get black bear right on our front porch. So I'm kind of glad we have a new resident bear. Hopefully, some moron won't feed him and some other nut won't shoot him.
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