What a great weekend! The hospitality and food at McLeods' was over the top delicious and superb as usual. Sadly the weather was awesomely sunny & warm on Sat. - the day we scheduled for the indoor judging clinic. But it was a very good learning day; Lee went over the USBCHA rules for field trials and answered questions, ending with us critiquing a video of Gettysburg runs. Although it was hard to judge the line(s) on the double lift fetches, surprisingly we were pretty close to the actual scores. We carried on the discussion and laughter over dinner at a local restaurant.
Sunday openned with much cooler weather and typical west coast drizzle. We spent the morning working on shedding then moved on to penning in the afternoon. The lambs were very challenging to pen which offered us a great opportunity for learning what to do in those difficult situations. As more dogs were successful, they were changed out for a fresh group and the challenge began anew.
Today was much warmer and the precipitation held off for the lessons all morning. I used 2 yr.old Jayne as Lee had started her for me last winter. She really gave me some clear ideas to sort things out at the top, where I had been having some trouble. I have been used to giving Blair and Dusty a lie down whistle as they arrive at balance... also trading off with some silent gathers for training purposes. But Lee instead, wants to see the dog steady themself up as they turn in to the top - at about 1 or 2 o'clock. I 'knew' that from working with her last year, but I didn't really 'get it'. I would give a verbal steady command but didn't demand/insist of seeing a change in pace - usually from a gallop or run down to a trot. I didn't have the correct picture in my head. Nor did I truly understand that the 'steady' is a command just like a lie down or flank. Give it, and get a result. If not, correct until you get it. Since Jayne hasn't been steadying up as she comes around all this time, she has been coming on too hard at the top as well. I have been struggling with trying to figure out if I should make her obey regardless if the sheep have already run half way down the fetch or if that would be losing her trust because she is losing her sheep. Anyway, the way Lee explained it made sense; if she comes around at a trot or a walk if necessary then the sheep are not as likely to run as fast or far down the fetch. I will then have time/space to get a stop before they get 1/2 way down and can flank her & do some cross driving as well. Which also helps 'train' the sheep not to bolt straight to your feet every time. When I got Jayne back from Lee last year she had a lovely outrun, lift and fetch showing some really good pace & feel on the fetch. So while I didn't completely 'break' that, I sure didn't make progress with her. Poor dog. But hopefully I finally 'get it' and see what Lee told me a year ago more than once. It if funny how you have to hear something over & over sometimes before the vision becomes clear in your mind. She also repeated advice about getting Jayne to hold the pressure & not go to head while driving. Saying Jayne's name or 'right there' when she leans to the outside. Lee is an excellent teacher and I would highly recommend her for anyone in the PacNorWest. She is holding a Herding Camp at her farm near Vernon, BC this June that is a great learning opportunity. She will have two other instructors - Norm Close is one of them. The students are divided into small groups or 4-5 and work in three different fields each with a different instructor. It is followed by a N/N, P/N and Nursery trial on the weekend. Info. is on the BCSDA website.
I hope writing this all down here will help me remember. And I can come back to refresh when needed. Nothing better than a weekend full of dogs and sheep!
cheers Lani
These are my young Jayne working at my friend's nice big field on Sat.
