Herding Talk Thread

[Dova]

:D Ok now I should tell you what I'm on about . We went herding yesterday AND I love my dogs :D, Izzi was driving like she'd been doing it forever, had to start with her fetching then I stopped, let her drive the sheep past me & just stayed behind, she kept going & going, WOOHOO we're on our way to intermediate, well gotta start somewhere ;). Pebbles did some beautiful casts, good shape & speed & didn't run the sheep over top of me, she did some lovely work, we'll start a bit of driving with her next time. Delta's finding out she doesn't have to yell at the sheep to make them move, she's driving, on a long line, nicely & understanding the flank cues very quickly. Now if I can get my rear into gear & get in the right positions we'll be right .

[piper]

:D Ok now I should tell you what I'm on about . We went herding yesterday AND I love my dogs :D , Izzi was driving like she'd been doing it forever, had to start with her fetching then I stopped, let her drive the sheep past me & just stayed behind, she kept going & going, WOOHOO we're on our way to intermediate, well gotta start somewhere ;) . Pebbles did some beautiful casts, good shape & speed & didn't run the sheep over top of me, she did some lovely work, we'll start a bit of driving with her next time. Delta's finding out she doesn't have to yell at the sheep to make them move, she's driving, on a long line, nicely & understanding the flank cues very quickly. Now if I can get my rear into gear & get in the right positions we'll be right .

I'm jealous. ;) I rang the guy I am intending on going to and he is in the middle of harvest so not doing any untli the new year and then it is weather dependent. So mosy likely March before we manage any work again ;)

You need to get someone to video some of oyur work and upload it so we can all see.

[superminty]

Hi all. Been great hearing about everyone's training successes, it inspired me to get in some more training Had a training session worth bottling today

I split the session into three short parts.

The first was working on yielding and improving the shape of the cast i.e. keeping on the edge of the flight zone and not "slicing". I think he has finally got the idea of this yielding thing He left beautifully almost every time, lovely and soft and steady. He is also responding really nicely to my pressure and is correcting the shape of the cast when asked. My aim is for the sheep to not move at all until he is at balance. At the moment he moves them a little with the side of his body as he is cutting in a bit at the top but I reckon one more session on shape might just fix that.

The second part was working on stops (pause) and not cutting in when changing direction. He is not so good at this but then, I haven't yet taught him sides so it is to be expected. Also did a bit of work on our walk up and I think he understands this pretty clearly.

The third part was driving practice. Great success He drove the sheep all the way up one side of the paddock (A course size) on a long line, with me only needing to adjust his position a couple of times,. He was also happy to move the sheep away from me (I was 10 metres behind at some stages), and is putting pressure on in the right place i.e. when I give my balance cue. He is however swinging around to face me when I ask him to down so will need to work on this. He did stop though when asked (I am amazed!) and remained facing the stock, so there is hope :D

All in all, a great day.

And I learned yet another lesson about how smart sheep are. In one of our breaks, I tied Cash up outside the paddock. The sheep were about 15 metres away. They figured out quick smart that he was not a threat when outside the paddock, and started taking little steps towards him, keeping their eyes on him all the time. They could have just wandered off at any stage, and had done so in our other breaks. Well, Cash got mighty narky about being stared at by sheep and started barking at them as eyeing them wasnt getting him anywhere. Well those darling sheepies just kept creeping towards him, completely unconcerned. You can't say sheep don't have a sense of humour

Completely different story once he was back in the paddock with them! I just love how they choose their battles.

[matilda1]

We took our two herding today.

It is sooo much fun.

It was Katies second time and she has grown so confident. she was incredibly 'cautious' on her first day and I thought she would never be confident enogh to do this, but today she turned around completely and went in too hard. She IS a cattle dog, but the trainer assures me she will soften up and get the hang of it all. She's only a puppy and it's only her second time.

So we have just backed right off and are just taking it easy and letting her soak in all the info. She had such a good time though, and it was ncie to see her confidence grow,

She now is relaxed with all the other dogs around too where as she was very shy the first time.

This is Katie:

For goodness sakes Katie "DUCK"...work is a long way from here.

And we also took our recent Mildura pound rescue Skye.

It was her first ever time herding and although she was very cautious as her personality is very soft, she very quickly figured out what she was supposed to be doing and took to it really well. (also only a pup)

She will benefit from having another go sooner rather than later (what a shame)

Skye was even smart enough to stop and sit when asked to. What a good girl

[superminty]

What a sweet looking girl Skye is. Oh I want another one so bad

[Kirty]

Would you like Dash, minty??

[matilda1]

My friend is taking the picture of Dash to show his kids tonight. He may be very interested.

Will let you know ASAP.

Obviously if she finds a perfect home in the meantime that's good news, but I think he's pretty keen to meet her.

[matilda1]

What a sweet looking girl Skye is. Oh I want another one so bad

She's SUPER sweet.

I can't believe someone dumped her.

I love my blue fuzz ball, but I have truly fallen in love with Skye too.

[JulesP]

Glad to hear you all had fun herding.

My little feral decided to do some herding too today. The 'sheep' however was a very aggressive rottie. I don't know what she was thinking!

[matilda1]

Glad to hear you all had fun herding.

My little feral decided to do some herding too today. The 'sheep' however was a very aggressive rottie. I don't know what she was thinking!

That's dedication

[superminty]

Would you like Dash, minty?? ;)

Yes :D except I can't have another do til I move out of home (permanently this time ;) )

Such a pity coz I need a soft dog due to my kelpie boy being a bit full of himself.

[Dova]

Went herding Sunday, I'm so excited I can hardly think :D, took Izzi out to bring the Texels in, not trained sheep, started on the long line, she did the yard work as well & nothing was going to stand her up an old ewe faced Izzi up but she put it where it belonged & took no crap :D. Then on the way out I turned Izzi loose & she worked like an old hand, no running around the sheep worked the sides & kept them moving, I had to open the gate & muffed that up a bit but nothing Izzi couldn't fix. That was real work & Im so proud of my little girl :D I could just burst. Pebbles is starting to get the driving thing, but it was hot & she'd had a big night at an agility trial Saturday night & we both needed some , got home at 1.30am . Delta will be very ready for HSa next year she can work great, I've got to train carefully she had a bad life before we got her but she's coming along beautifully. Yup I'm the happiest vegimite around at the moment :D.

JulesP how scary was that glad you both came out ok though.

Great photos BellaDonna, real action shots especially the one of Katie :D.

That's a bummer Piper it's hard not being able to get out training, I'm trying to get as much as possible in before the hot weather starts.

[superminty]

You are on a roll Dova. They make you so proud when it all comes together

I think I finally like my dog Only took 4.5 years. Have always loved him to death, but only now am I really liking him. Probably has a lot to do with the percentage of the time he actually listens to me these days...

[Janba]

You are on a roll Dova. They make you so proud when it all comes together

I think I finally like my dog Only took 4.5 years. Have always loved him to death, but only now am I really liking him. Probably has a lot to do with the percentage of the time he actually listens to me these days...

I know what you mean about really liking your dog.

Cole is almost 4 and while I have always loved him and enjoyed training him in the last few months he has really matured and his work is showing it. It also helps thgat I have learnt to shut up and trust him when we are doing things like obstacles because he will put the sheep through obstacles and pen them by himself with very little help from me. It also helps when people like Ann and Colin say he doesn't grip or bite sheep despite the rumours that go round though he can body slam with the best and he to my knowledge he has never pulled wool. Even Colin said that every time I bring the dog out lately he has just gotten better and that we are now really working as a team.

Last weekend we did a yard trial, short course and 3 sheep trial. The yard trial was fun as I've never trained it and only had 1 attempt before 3 years ago. He did a lovely job despite my fumbling with gates and having problems working out the draft and scored 80 in the encourage which I though wasn't bad for a dog who definitely isn't a yard dog - we pushed them up the race from the outside as I knew I couldn't have put him in the yard with the sheep to hold them of the gate to the race - it was too small and he has too much prescence on sheep.

In the short course and 3 sheep we had young unworked sheep and nobody finished the short course. He was one of the first dogs and did the first obstacle well and no problem getting them through a metre wide race standing 2 metres off the fenceline then fell to pieces at the third a small with a race on the end. He wasn't that from placing in Open.

The 3 sheep we had to enter novice to trial on the light sheep as I wanted to see how he would go. Did a very good cast and lift but one sheep took off in the delivery back to the release area and I asked him to "look back" to collect it which we have only started training and he crossed so was diqualified. On hind site I should have sent him to the side and hoped the run away sheep would have come back to the other. He did the collect them and put them away easily. Only 2 people got scores in novice and in 3 sheep you don't have to comlete the course to score. What was really nice was that he read his sheep and worked the edge of the bubble instinctively.

So we are off to Wattle flat in January for another unofficial 3 sheep then hopefully some proper 3 sheep trials.

ETA He still isn't softening enough atthe top f the cast and is reluctant to stop ther but at least now he is very deep at the top and walks up on his sheep.

Did I sy I love working this dog

Edited November 24, 2010 by Janba

[Dova]

Hey Janba sounds like Cole is going really well :D you should be proud of yourselves, feels good when it all starts to happen doesn't it. My three are all so different, Izzi works wide & slowly, she's also very sensitive to me raising my voice so I'm trying to remember to be QUIET . Pebbles just loves to play with the sheep by running around & shouldering, but we're getting that under control & working on the driving so at the moment she's but getting there. Delta is just young & thinks everything should go at 100mph yelling all the way , I use a long line & harness for teaching her to drive at the moment & she's learning so fast, she'll be ready for HSa next season :D. I love all my girls so much , that includes my old dog JC, she use to bring the cows up & move pigs from yard to yard but only puts the sheep in the trailer when we're trialing now, she's 13.

We'll be expecting a WOOHOO post in Janurary Janba, your making real progress with Cole .

Just a small change of subject, I've been reading the rules for intermediate & it's a huge jump from what you can do in HS to intermediate, is it just me being wimpy or does anyone else agree, I'm also going to have to ask someone to explaine parts to me because I don't understand some of it . OK enough wimpy whining I'm off

[Janba]

Just a small change of subject, I've been reading the rules for intermediate & it's a huge jump from what you can do in HS to intermediate, is it just me being wimpy or does anyone else agree, I'm also going to have to ask someone to explaine parts to me because I don't understand some of it :D. OK enough wimpy whining I'm off :D

It is a jump but in intermediate there is heaps you can do to help the dog and watching a good handler do an intermadiate you do realise this. After the cast when you reach the handlers peg you can move up to 4 1/2 metres towards the Y shute to start the direction of the first drive or step up to 4 1/2 mters away from the sheep to help the dog get them off you leg.

Once the sheep have cleared the Y shute you can move anywhere in the handlers zone between B and C and from fence to fence so you can walk parralel with the sheep and just in front or behind till they reach the exam pen. Once they leave the exam pen you can do a fetch till you reach the edge of the handlers zone then the dog only has to drive them about 4 metres to marker 4 for the cross drive. You can the walk parralel with the sheep till they reach marker 5 then do a normal fetch to the pen. Hope that makes sense.

The one thing wirh the driving particularly in advanced is you need very good flank commands, a good walk up and stop all on verbal or whistle command.

It is in advanced that it gets harder as you can't move from the handlers peg till the sheep reach marker 3 (in the corner above the exam pen) then you walk straight to the exam pen and stay there till the dog as done the cross drive and the sheep are at marker 5 then you walk straight to the pen.

I am really pleased with Cole - he has just matured so much in the last 2 months. We had our last training day today and we just worked on casting him the open 3 sheep arena and letting him work out his distance on the flighty sheep as he bought them to me then worked them in the square. If anything he was too wide but that is better than 2 clsoe with these sheep - they jump fences.

[JulesP]

Anyone going to the Nyora clinic tomorrow? I am taking Amber for her first real go. woohooo

[Dova]

Anyone going to the Nyora clinic tomorrow? I am taking Amber for her first real go. woohooo

I'd love to Jules but don't think I could make it there & back then be ready to go to work Monday , have a good time. Was going for a lesson tomorrow but it might be to hot, check the weather report tonight.

[JulesP]

lol Dova, there were a couple of SA at the clinic! Don't think they came over just for the day though Sounds like the clinic is heading to you though

Well Amber was a bit of a shock! She goes in and doesn't want to have anything to do with the sheep! I had given her a couple of goes as a younger dog and she had shown really nice instinct. A watching judge said she would have given her a pass in HT.

So first time in - zero interest. This was in an enclosed area. We took her into the A course yard. Second go I did some lovely herding whilst she watched by the gate. She did one arch around. She was also more interested in herding me! We are walking behind the sheep and she was nudging me with her nose on the back of my ankles.

She then got to sit and watch whilst I worked another young dog. Poppy would have gone mental at that but Amber just sat and watched. Took her back in and got a little bit of interest. Stopped her as she wanted to have a go.

Had lunch took her back in and she happily chased the sheep all over the place! Finished at that.

All very strange.

[Janba]

Not that strange - from what I have read you have been doing obedience training with her and asking her to work close to you and focus on you then you put her back on sheep after not having had much exposure to them and ask her to work away from you and focus on the sheep. Hope that makes sense. It is not a huge problem as most dogs with instinct will very quicly start working again.