I had a great time at the Jack Knox clinic in Arlington,WA over the weekend. As usual, Joe Haynes' sheep are awesome to work. We even had pretty good weather with the rain holding off until Sun. afternoon.
I worked Jayne Sat. morning and Jack pretty much summed up that what I was doing was right and she just needs miles. The sheep wandered off into the gully while we were talking but Jack said to send her anyway - quite a bit further distance than what I usually work. He said to trust her more...so away she went out of sight into the gully and brought the sheep back very nicely. I also did some longer drives with small flanks that Jayne handled just fine. So I guess the lay off over the winter didn't hurt her nor the fact that we work predominantly in a small field. Jack made me promise that if I ever sell her I am to call him first. LOL
I worked Dusty in the afternoon. I know what his issues are but I wanted Jack to see him again as he was the one that told me not to give up on Dusty at a previous clinic a couple years ago. Sure enough Dusty showed his lack of confidence; the sheep were across the gully and up against the fence. When Dusty tried to come around them, they headed off along the fenceline towards the exhaust. Exactly the kind of thing that throws Dusty for a loop. Sure enough he didn't turn on any afterburners to cover them and fell into 'follow' mode. Jack said the same thing he said before; scatter the sheep, make things fun for Dusty so that he has to cover. I said that he was FIVE years old, how long is it supposed to just FUN! LOL Jack said that he does see a big difference in Dusty and that he has come a long way.
I worked Jayne again Sun. morning with the same results. I was very pleased that she handled being in the new place on different sheep without any inclination to blow up or bust through. Then in the afternoon I worked Blair. I wanted to find out what Jack could suggest on keeping flow happening in his drive as opposed to our usual stop/start method. Jack immediately picked up that my walk up whistle was part of the problem. It is too sharp, too quick which is why Blair gets up too fast. He said to use my voice or change the whistle. So that is something to work on.
Fun weekend. Great to see & visit with everybody after the winter.
About Me
- WalkOn Border Collies
- Langley, BC, Canada
- This is what happens when you are addicted to working sheepdogs. The 'title' photo is of my Dusty gathering the flock across the infamous 'gulley' at Joe Hayne's awesome farm in Arlington WA.
MarCar Blair
the Wonderdog, my first trial dog who came to me as a started 2yr.old.
Winterburn Dusty 2003-2013 RIP MY Sweet boy. Love you so much.
my first Border Collie puppy that I got about 6 mos. before Blair
Jayne
my first bitch from Peter & Pam Gonnet, Another Moss offspring and Kathy Knox Jake grand daughter. My two favorite trial dogs.
Owen means 'of noble birth'
son of Blair and out of full sister to Dusty. The youngest addition.
Wyatt
the one who started it all. rip my sweet boy.
5 comments:
Love reading the stories of you work with your dogs...I'm living vicariously through you guys!! :)
nice blog and great that you enjoyed it :-)
Awesome! I'd love to work with Jack someday. It's interesting how the different dogs work, isn't it? Glad you had a good time. Any photos?
I can see everyone of your dogs doing what you described in my mind.....well written!!
And Blair...give him a kiss!!
I took my camera but didn't get any photos - had good intentions but lack of follow thru. LOL
Too busy listening and learning I guess. Dawn Pucci took some, I'll ask her if I can post any. I have learned SO much from both Kathy and Jack; I took my very first clinic from Kathy 4 yrs. ago after I had Blair for 3 days! I was clueless about working a Border Collie! My very first lesson was the day I got Blair - with Don Helsley, who calls Blair "Precious". I'm so sorry I wasted so much of Don's time in that lesson - I had absolutely no idea what I was supposed to do or accomplish. My mentor is Martha McHardy from Vanc.Island and she encouraged me to go to Kathy, Jack, Don, Patrick, Bill and of course, Peter Gonnet. They all have a very similar philosophy in their method of working dogs. Over the last few years I have found that they all have the same message albeit sometimes said slightly differently. But eventually it sinks into my thick skull. I've also had super lessons from Lorri Schubert and Lee Lumb.
I love Jack's biggest message: don't try to 'make' your dogs be right, allow them to make mistakes. Correct the wrong and let the right flow. Don't over command your dog - give a correction that makes the dog think "What? Huh? What should I have done differently?" He reads dogs like they are his own flesh and blood...he gave a lot of different - almost opposite 'tips' for dogs at the clinic. Depending on what he read that the dog needed at the time. One dog needed help covering sheep and a solid stop once he achieved it. While another needed to be left alone more to think it through for himself. Dogs LOVE him. Even my Dusty who usually will only work for me....will work for Jack.
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