Get out...

Today we worked on lateral outs (for some of the dogs). Yoko is probably a bit too wide and too deep without nary a word spoken. Kilt.....well, Ayeeee...You...... still needs a kick out. I'm not giving up. It ain't over till it's over. LOL We may not have any finesse at trialing until she is a veteran (over 7 yrs. of age). Hey, she does have a handicap....me, but I'm learning more every year.
We (Bryan, Mike and I) put the sheep on this small butte. The idea was to have the dogs go around the bottom (both directions) and come up over the back side to pick up their sheep. Everyone did this exercise pretty well. When we moved the dogs to the "bowl" with small hills on both sides (not like the mountains at Zamora..hahaha) the dogs wanted to slice in as they neared the top. Everyone learned when we give an "out" we don't mean give a foot or two. We want a 90 degree turn out. We want to see some effort.
I think we were in agreement that one good way to do this is to stop the dog and walk to the dog and out and past the dog (ala Derek Scrimgeour). Kilt almost needed a GPS on her after being corrected a few times. It always embarrasses her for me to walk out to her.
I think we sometimes fall into the "LAZY" habit of yelling "get out" over and over and the dog hardly gives any ground. Pretty soon the command means absolutely nothing to the dog. This isn't a sport for lazy people, especially if you are trying to do your own training. :0)
It was a gorgeous sunny day in the desert. Bryan brought wonderful turkey sandwiches with a ton of avocado and we sat around and chatted while the sheep rested and grazed after being worked. I can't think of anything I'd rather do than work dogs with good friends.