My goal is to find different sheep for the girls to work. So, I found Yoko the heaviest sheep I could fine...Dorsets. These sheep are used to working in a large flock. Sure enough, they really weren't all that confronting, but they would just stand there and face her. Maybe a head nod or two from some of them. Makes me wonder if they are retarded. Yoko in a heartbeat grabbed a heel. This is a difficult habit to break. I probably started this habit by starting her out on goats. She realized goats don't mind a head bite, but they HATE a heel bite. The goats will confront other dogs and take hit after hit to their HARD heads. I think they find it amusing. That is until Yoko comes along. They get a move on as soon as she nips a heel or two. Quite frankly, the Dorsets didn't really care if Kilt bit them on the head or not when they confronted her. What a strange breed of sheep.
Dorsets
I missed a great short video this morning. Kilt was sitting off lead by a sheep pen at the gate while Yoko was working. One of the Dorsets decided it didn't want to work with Yoko and ran over to the pen gate. Now Kilt knows it isn't her turn to work. She is minding her on business. This Dorset starts to crowd her. I thought it was going to sit down next to her. If you could have seen the look on Kilt's face! It was worth a picture! She slightly cocked her head towards me to let me know she was doing as she was told, minding her own business. One more little shove into Kilt's shoulder by the Dorset who wanted in the gate and Kilt, BAM BAM BAM to the nose. The sheep ran back to the other group. Kilt sat down as she was before, and gave me a great big cheshire grin.
I must have laughed 5 minutes straight.
P.S. Yes, many a cow will move off a dog without force "until" you need to put that cow somewhere it doesn't want to go. Same goes for sheep. And, that pertains to these particular Dorsets I found for them to work. They were not used to working in groups of 3-5, unless they were being fetched. They were very happy to follow me; very unhappy to drive away. I wouldn't want to work them on a daily basis, but once in awhile is okay. It made the BC girls have to put on their thinking caps. :0)
I have been watching a few more runs on the webcast from the finals. There was a dog that I felt shouldn't have been eliminated from the semi finals. I feel the judges should have been a tad more lenient with a nip or two from the dogs working the range sheep. Some dogs got away with a nip and some didn't. Some needed a grip and didn't have it. Yes, maybe the best score should go to the dog that doesn't have to use a grip, but there is a lot of "luck of the draw" in these competitions. Meaning, you have to pray for a nice going packet of sheep. But, all in all, I think the judges are getting a bit more lenient about calling grips. I remember watching my first Nationals and watching Alasdair and Bill (I believe). A sheep in the shed ring tried to run Bill down. Bill protected himself with a grip to the nose. He got DQ'ed. Even though I knew very little way back then, I would have never DQ'ed that dog as a judge. I would have bought that dog a filet mignon that evening for supper. :0)
P.S. Yes, many a cow will move off a dog without force "until" you need to put that cow somewhere it doesn't want to go. Same goes for sheep. And, that pertains to these particular Dorsets I found for them to work. They were not used to working in groups of 3-5, unless they were being fetched. They were very happy to follow me; very unhappy to drive away. I wouldn't want to work them on a daily basis, but once in awhile is okay. It made the BC girls have to put on their thinking caps. :0)
I have been watching a few more runs on the webcast from the finals. There was a dog that I felt shouldn't have been eliminated from the semi finals. I feel the judges should have been a tad more lenient with a nip or two from the dogs working the range sheep. Some dogs got away with a nip and some didn't. Some needed a grip and didn't have it. Yes, maybe the best score should go to the dog that doesn't have to use a grip, but there is a lot of "luck of the draw" in these competitions. Meaning, you have to pray for a nice going packet of sheep. But, all in all, I think the judges are getting a bit more lenient about calling grips. I remember watching my first Nationals and watching Alasdair and Bill (I believe). A sheep in the shed ring tried to run Bill down. Bill protected himself with a grip to the nose. He got DQ'ed. Even though I knew very little way back then, I would have never DQ'ed that dog as a judge. I would have bought that dog a filet mignon that evening for supper. :0)
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