a blog about Kilt and her kids plus Trouble our JRT mascot.

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Sequim, Washington, United States

Saturday, August 28, 2010

Fast, slow, and presence

Jet says, "Get those girls off my aching back."
I'm working on changing speeds right now with all three BC's. Over Labor Day I will be trialing Jet and Kilt in an advanced "timed" arena trial, obstacles mandatory, with some large cash prizes. The trial filled to capacity, so I had to choose one dog to scratch. Bummer. Yoko really needs the experience, but Jet is 10 yrs. old this year, so Jet got the nod. Kilt was a shoe-in....she is all about speed. Yoko got put on a waiting list just in case there are last minute scratches.

I have been using a lane (alley way) for working the dogs on their speeds. Once in a while it is
great training to give a lot of commands very quickly (thanks to Derek who taught me that).
Yoko is 2 1/2 yrs. old now and she can take a bit more mental pressure. I'm still working on her confidence. She got it notched down a peg or two at the AHBA trial by that big ol Dorset. But, today she did a grand job with 5 sheep that wanted out of the alley way back to their flock. They trotted right "into" her, daring her to stop them, hardly giving her the time of day. The first time she laid down, eyed them up and gave a half hearted feeble attempt at stopping them. The 2nd time they did that to her she got her arse off the ground and hit the lead ewe. Yahoo! And, she did it with just a shhh, shhh from me. I keep telling Yoko that excellence isn't necessarily all talent. It is an attitude. With the right attitude she can compete with the BEST.

They ran right over the top of Jet. He knew he was a bit too aged to compete with the likes of them. Kilt...well, no one bothers Kilt. She has that slinky, sultress swagger as she walks into her sheep. It is all about PRESENCE. And, that Kilt has. Even with presence you need to build confidence to be able to back it up. Yoko needs to know that she can move anything. All, in all it was a short training session, but a good one.

1 comment:

Karen said...

Be sure to have someone video you and your dogs at that trial! (I'd like to see it)
Hoping you do well and win some of that CASH!!