Back to normal rainy winter

No pix because it has been rather grey this week. We are having our normal Feb. weather of cloudy, showers, cooler temps etc. But still fine to work dogs which I did on the usual Tues. & Thurs. this week at McLeods'. I've been working Blair to tune/fit him up for Heppner next month so that has been such a pleasure. I am focusing on Patrick's advice with the young dogs and concentrating on making my whistles/commands as soft and quiet as can be and yet still heard. Blair responds to ultra-quiet as well as the strident loud ones.....but I'm sure he must feel a lot better about the nicer softer new ones. I'm taking turns with the youngsters so Owen worked on Tues. and Jayne on Thurs. Yesterday was quite a challenge; the working group were being over-reactive(= idiots with poor Jayne) but I decided to try to find exercises that would take advantage of that. It was hard but useful.
Today I am doing major house cleaning as I have invited a gang over for a potluck 'Olympics in the Valley' tomo. night. God only knows where all this dust comes from!!! So wrong so wrong. I can sweep and wash floors, vaccum dust-bunnies, but the other places that gather-attract a layer of DIRT is just.....over the top. Didn't used to happen in my old shack in Burnaby. I blame the proximity to the busy traffic on 56th ave. Except it makes sense in summer with all my windows open but not in winter....hmm.....border collies......? One drawback to retirement; less $ for luxuries like regular house cleaners. Still is ugly, especially when compared to how frickin sterile/clean this house was when I moved in! How on earth did those people have time to do anything other than clean? No pets partly. I hate house cleaning.

More pix from today

Lynda's Try still wants to work some more after his session.
Kristi's Rex says he didn't really mean to knock over her chair while she was out working Lou. "bad puppy"!
Littermates Sam & Lexy never took their eyes off the sheep the whole time they were tied out beside us in the field. Especially Lexy aka Meerkat.
Susan's Kyu driving.
Lani & Blair waiting for sheep at the other end of the field to catch their breath before Blair goes on a big outrun.
Oh my, what a good boy my Blair is....Wonderdog showed his stuff today.

Big Field in the sun & spring weather

On my way to the big field I spy these guys grazing in someone's horse paddock.
So I hopped out of my truck and snuck around the back to get out my camera and snap off these shots. Deer and coyotes thrive in the middle of hobby-farm-suburbia-Fraser Valley.
Got to the field early so let my pack have a good run. Dusty and Owen figured out how to squeeze through the gate. Moss offspring; Blair and 1/2 sister Jayne were perplexed. hmmmmm?
After I opened the gate, the whole crew goes for a big run.
Then Pam arrives to unload the sheep. I must sometime get a picture of them in the trailer going down the road. It is too funny, they all look around like a bunch of tourists on a Sunday drive.
Pam's Tally gathers them to go into sorting area

Pam and Tally divide them into groups in the holding pens. They have stopped and are looking at Blair & Jana who are intently observing the process.
Rose's Jana is working 'Biscotti' & friends.
Lou & Blair watch and wait their turn.
Pam's dogs watching Kristi & Lou.
Biscotti thinks she can lead her friends through about 10 Border Collies and get to the gate. You can tell that the 'May' dogs and the 'May' sheep have a special relationship.
Rose, Susan, Kristi & Pam enjoying the sunshine while Lynda is working one of her dogs. Hopefully Rose got some good shots too with her zoom lens.
It couldn't have been a nicer day. Nor could one want to spend a better afternoon; working dogs with good friends. I worked Blair and Jayne. I sent Blair on a couple big outruns and pretty much kept my mouth shut. He did awesome; went deep, hit balance, lifted nicely and fetched a wee tad fast but the sheep were prone to take off so I let him feel his own pace. His second run was the other way so he stopped 'short' but he was probably correct and feeling the pressure to the gate. What a good boy. Hoping this will help gear him up for Heppner.
Jayne did some really really nice work. I was extremely pleased with her. We worked a bit but couldn't do any sort of gather as the sheep were booking it to me before she was even half way down on her outrun. So Lynda came out with young Lark and held the sheep for me. Jayne did very well going a good P/N distance and picking up without problems. She paced herself very well also so I kept quiet and let her feel the sheep. Such a relief to see that she can make the transition to a bigger distance without falling apart. But we still need to get more consistent work in this kind of space. Lynda's young Lark is really make nice progress too; natural deep outrun and easy to stop and pace. She is going to be a very nice trial dog for Lynda.

Flyball Fun

As begged, I mean, requested by Louanne; no pix from this morning at Flyball or this afternoon while puttering around the yard getting ready to mow it tomorrow or Sunday...yes it needs it in places. Started up the ride-on in the garage but think I should fill my gas can before venturing out.
We had perfect conditions for flyball and a huge turn-out; we were in the shade of the rodeo grandstand, otherwise we would have all been too hot. As it was we all were shedding coats & jackets while running dogs. Saw a teenager from the high school in shortshortShorts as many of them file past us en route to McDonald's for lunch. ;-) Over 16c degrees today.
Dusty is coming along very quickly according to everyone and it is obvious that he loves this game. Seeing that he isn't going to be much of a trial dog, it is nice for him to have something that makes him feel 'special' and OMG does he ever know it! As soon as I put the other BCs up in their kennel runs & put Wyatt in a crate in the house, Dusty dashes to the front door. I use my Mom's Honda to drive to Flyball and as it is parked in the front driveway, he knows that it is different from loading up in the truck topper in the garage. Man these dogs are SO smart and read us SO well. lol
I stopped at the Dollar Store on the way home to pick up a 'For Sale' sign to put in the window of the Honda and also got a 3' X 5' Canadian flag which I hung up in my front room window for the Olympics. There are Canadian flags and signs everywhere you look this week; the biggest outpouring of patriotic pride and energy that I have ever seen. I think it is so nice for our young Canadian athletes to see, at home, first hand all of the support and enthusiasm behind them. They have dedicated their lives to excel and are being rewarded, podium or not.
Next on my 'to do' list will be to wash and wax the Honda so it looks good and get an ad on craigs list & the Buy&Sell. I only drive the car once a week at most so it just isn't worth putting insurance on it this year or to keep it up. It will be kind of sad to sell it as every time I drive it or even look out my window to see it, I am reminded of my Mom. So many memories of her in that car over the last 20 years. It is a lot of fun to drive as it really goes like a little sports car. If you stomp on the gas pedal, it leaps ahead like a Border Collie leaving the post on an outrun. lol But it is also hard on my arthritic knee to be changing gears all the time. I also have a Canadian window flag on it and saw them everywhere today on the way into town and back. Go Canada Go!!
Oh yeah, what is sheep dog related about this? Pam is hauling her sheep to the big field tomorrow. YIPPEE!!! I need to get Blair out on some big space before we head off to Heppner next month so this will be a good step. And of course so good for the youngsters, Jayne & Owen to get out in a bigger space too. Last but not least, sorry Louanne, but it is going to be even more awesome weather tomorrow. We'll have to watch the dogs to make sure they don't over-heat. And will have to take a cooler to keep the beer cold. I will take pictures.

ho hum another day in paradise

Margaret, Nancy & Rain, Rose with Dusty in front of her. Taking a coffee break in between working dogs.
It was a windy day and the first group of sheep were a little too wild for Nancy's young Rain. So Rose is bringing out a different group from the exhaust.
Rose is holding the new group with grain so that Rain can have a shot at lifting off a person.
Nancy & Rain driving. Beautiful snow capped north shore mountains in the background. What a view McLeods have from their front yard!
Another coffee break. Jana is getting a snuggle on Rose's lap.
Dusty starts his session with a walk up to bring the sheep out of the heavy draw in the corner gate.
Pushing them off nicely.
A little flank and now they are coming towards me.
Dusty has a nice pace as he fetches them to me.
Turned the 'post' then heading out on a drive down the field before we try for an outrun. This is pretty much the sequence of how we start most sessions.
Margaret's Kane fetching sheep. As you can tell from the reaction of the sheep, Kane was too close and too fast. Marg got him steadied up and had nice work after this.
Setting things up to practice penning. This is a y-chute which is much harder to put them through than the regular pen.
Jana & Dusty watching with heads through the fence as usual.
Same pose but from inside the gate.
Please, please let us work.....we can do SO much better!

Oympics Day 6

On my deck today. Outside a gorgeous warm clear blue sunny sky for WINTER Olympics! ha ha ha But the scenes at the Women's Downhill were stunning. What a race the American, Lindsey Vonn performed! Brilliant! Mancuso was amazing too.
My boring back yard with green grass protected by that cross fence. Other parts are quite chewed up and muddy but will come back I think. Dusty has stolen Jayne's favorite toy. But no fear; what Jayne wants, Jayne gets.
Even Wyatt was out in the yard playing with toys. This is the main route around the back of the shed to the other side of the yard. So is the worst muddy section. Luckily it was very dry after the sunshine of the last couple days.
Here is the other side of the yard accessible by going around behind the shed. Dusty has his favorite toy in his mouth; it is like a pacifier and he makes it squeak with every bite. It is rather annoying but so far, no complaints from neighbors. If you look closely at the background, you can see that my lawn is ready for mowing.
Rreeaaadddeeee! sshshshshshssh! This picture was actually taken after the next one. Take note of the toy Wyatt has in his mouth.
Whoopeee says Jayne! Blair is about to lose his favorite toy as Wyatt heads over to take it from him. Blair is such a wuss.
No working dogs today, just spending a couple hours playing in the back yard while I was on my laptop on the deck supervising them while surfing. ;-)
However yesterday in weather much the same, I did work Blair and Owen at McLeods'. I need to get Blair in shape and tuned up for the Heppner, Ore. trial over St.Patrick's Day next month. I pushed him hard to see if he would exhibit any symptoms of EIC/BCC but it looks like he has totally outgrown it which is good. I did the same with his son, Owen and he came off the field showing barely discernible signs so I think he will outgrow it also. Especially as I now know how to manage my training sessions to avoid it. They both worked well; I did some shedding with Blair and mini-Look Backs. Also worked on keeping my whistles soft and quiet; so much that Blair was turning and looking at me in question! LOL I was really pleased with Owen being able to take all the training pressure I could put on him. And I could see the progress we have made since 4-6 mos. ago. Slow but sure. I also put the sheep tight on the fence and got him to "Watch em!", then asked him to squeeze around & bring them off the fence. One time, he had to push through and did a little air snap. Which I was glad to see as he never ever grips at any other time. Maybe what I have perceived as lack of confidence is actually more of a very cool head....one can only hope. :-)
More working dogs tomorrow. This sweet break in winter weather is supposed to last right through the weekend so maybe we can get Pam to haul her sheep to the big field. If not, I may try to get down to Joe & Heather's place in Arlington.
GO Canada GO! Haley and the gals putting another lop-sided whupping on Sweden today. My fav. winter sportsto watch: women's hockey, women's & men's curling, figure skating, long & short track skating, snowboard cross, cross country skiing, & men's hockey. The rest I could skip.

Olympics Day One

Well I have nothing really about Olympics of course but should have perhaps taken some pix. It was Flyball with special boy, Dusty this morning. Nicely indoors at the Cloverdale show barn....yay! Some new dogs that are looking quite awesome. Dusty is right there with them, but his handler has no goals in mind for him....this is just a 'social' thing.
Then home to watch Olympics. So sad and devastating to hear about the poor Georgian luge athlete who died in a training accident today. But then encouraging to watch the rest of the opening day of events. Much to celebrate as Canadians. Oh kd lang! bring tears to my eyes!

Feb. in BC

This was in the shade on my deck. It feels about 5 degrees warmer in the sunshine.
Anyone want to buy a '90 Honda Prelude? Literally driven by a little old lady - my 94 yr.old Mom. It goes like a sports car!
Snowdrops in full bloom with daffodils coming up in the background.
Close up on more daffodils.
More snowdrops.
Rhodo budding.
Big rhodo bush coming along. Buds on every branch.
This might be a tulip.
It was a beautiful sunny day so I had to take these pix for my prairie friends. ;~}
This will be the first time in history that we are wishing for snow in Feb. with the Olympics coming next weekend. Most venues are fine but the nordic events scheduled for Cypress Bowl just 20 miles north from here doesn't have enough snow. So they are trucking it in from Manning Park! Vancouver is known as the city where you can ski on the mountains and swim in the ocean on the same day or something like that.

Lesson with Patrick

You will have to excuse the old photos and poor quality with my old Pentax. I didn't take my camera on Sunday so no new pix but thought you might enjoy seeing Joe & Heather's beautiful Island Crossing Farm This is a shot similar to my 'home page' one but taken a few seconds later. Dusty gathering up the flock.
Here he has them moving nicely through the gulley and is pacing himself pretty decently. We put them in the round and gate sorted a group to work.
This is also why I posted these pix. This is a lot of what my lesson on Owen and Jayne was all about; getting the proper distance while driving(or fetching). You can see here that Dusty is too close; the lambs all have their heads up and ears back with tension. I have been letting both Owen and Jayne do this too much. In part because of working in a small space and by the time they are correct, we hit a corner. However I know I am still doing it even when we get out to Pam's big field. So I need to work on that a lot.
Sorry this is so far away but even so you can see how the better distance has relaxed the sheep and they are moving much better. I must confess that I probably didn't place Dusty here, he most likely did it himself. Owen and Jayne should both do it IF I help them feel it!
The sun was setting here so this shot is dark. But again, you can see how far off Dusty is and yet has nice control of the sheep. I wanted to post these last two shots so I can come back & remind myself what the correct distance looks like. Of course that distance can change depending on the sheep among other factors. But it will remind me I hope.
The lesson with Patrick was great as usual. He is very patient and explains things really well. It is kinda sad that he was saying the same things that I've been told over & over. ;-) You would think I should be making progress not just repeating the same mistakes. When Lee sent Jayne home to me, she said my biggest challenge would be keeping my commands soft with Jayne. Sure enough that was the big thing Patrick found that needed changing; all my whistles are of the "Emergency!!!STOPNOW!!" Or "FLANK FAST&HARD" Or even...sigh...."WalkUP!" For 6 years Martha has been telling me to develop nuances with my whistles....sigh...lol So my beloved big blaster capable of being heard at a 1/2 mile is getting hung up and I'll bring back out my baby blaster or the custom one, Margaret's hubby made. We'll see if that helps a bit too.
I need a shock collar and someone to zap me everytime my whistle or command is strident or harsh or even just too loud. Patrick used a soft "listen" or "Jay-ane" and she responded much better than to my "HEY!" or "AYE!" or "GRR!" or some other gargled sound intending to be a correction. Another note to self: use the same damn 'noise' consistently. I also find myself saying "There now" and "There" and "Right There" - I need to pick one and stick to it. Such basic things and I am still doing them. Along with blowing two commands, instead of one and then a correction if not taken. So that was mostly for Jayne although Owen would of course also benefit.
Patrick's read on Owen was positive and good to hear. He said there was enough dog there to keep on working and having fun with. He didn't think his stopping/slowing up short on his outrun was from lack of confidence as much as developing a habit of coming in tight. (because sheep have usually headed down the field) What I saw as Owen then not covering, Patrick saw as Owen pushing them off line from being tight. So we worked on teaching him an "Out" if he slows down=starts getting tight.
I absolutely LOVE working these sheep. They are forgiving if the dogs are right but will take advantage if not. One ewe kept trying to break off and leave the group in a very big way. Both Owen and Jayne did a very good job of picking her up & putting her back in. She got away on Owen one time near the end and we let her go but I was happy that he held onto to her up to that point. Plus it was a mighty test of Jayne to go after a single and not lose her head.
I would encourage everyone to work with Patrick if you get a chance. Lee Lumb is hosting a 2 day Open Handler's clinic followed by a one day clinic in Coldstream in April. I wish I could afford to go but....have chosen a closer one with Karen Child that month. Here's hoping that I can really concentrate on softening by then. And proper distance. So that Karen can see something different for me to work on. I have never had the right opportunity to work with Karen so I am really looking forward to Fido's in April.