Karen Child clinic at Fido's

Sorry no pix again. I was lazy.
Lynda & I headed south to Marroni's in Olympia on Friday to attend a 'trial tips & strategy' clinic. We stopped in Bellingham to pick up a few groceries to contribute to the usual feast fare at Jeff & Dee's, so got to their place about 3:30p. Pat Pederson was also arriving to stay there while at the clinic too so we had a great visit. Sat. nite in the hot tub was wonderful! Jeff cooked up the steaks we brought impeccably on the BBQ while Dee added crab stuffed mushrooms as an appy & grilled asperagus. Plus on Sunday, Jeff did chicken & ribs in his smoker for another awesome feast! Their hospitality is so over the top as to be hard to describe! Thank you thank you, my Border Collie family & friends!
We began with an hour or so of discussion in Chris' house but we had so many questions and it was so worthwhile that we stayed there til lunch. I told Karen later that if I learned nothing else all weekend, the new 'mantra' she gave me would be worth every penny. She talked about how trialing is very much a mental game; she said "Never give up" even when something goes very wrong - decide that the next element is going to be perfect. "No more points off" for the rest of the run. So if you see me post on FB or elsewhere: NGU/NMP you will know I am saying 'never give up/no more points'.
Then the clinic format was for each to run a trial course while Karen spoke to us on walkie talkies with tips and advice. Followed by a question/answer period right after. Pat & I went first with the only Open dogs, followed by Lynda with her P/N dog, Try. Then a couple Ranch dogs and the rest were Novice and/or never trialed to date. So we had a big range of experience but still lots to learn from everyone. I worked Blair first, then decided to try a P/N size run with Jayne. The sheep were held on grain and were very heavy so they tested Jayne's patience at the lift(meaning she bust in and gripped). I decided to run Owen on a P/N course on Sunday to see how he would handle it, which was a test but he did ok. Then Karen suggested that I exhaust some runs to allow him to build confidence picking up sheep at the pen/people/dog etc. I was extremely pleased with how he improved! He is so much like Dusty in that he settles and calms sheep, is a very good listener, will never get into trouble. He walked them up a short alley & thru the holding pen gate with confidence and patience. I think he will be ready for P/N trials before Jayne as going out a bigger distance is not as big an issue for him. It is obvious that the further away from me he is, his confidence gets shakey but...his cool head helps more so he gets the job done & will build upon each successful experience. Lynda ended up working her Nursery dog, Lark the rest of the weekend and got some great tips/experience on her.
I am very glad I finally got to work with Karen and will make sure to get down there more often when she is doing lessons. Every clinician I have been to has been excellent and it is interesting that while they have often said much the same thing, sometimes "we" can only hear it at certain times or after it has been said many times in slightly different ways. Karen is the first one that allowed/made me more aware of the mental side of it. Maybe because I am only now ready for that or......? Martha McHardy has always, right from the get-go, pushed me to 'step up' as a handler & encouraged me to push my limits but something Karen said, just clicked. Timing I guess. But I encourage any handlers that read my blog to go to a number of different clinicians: ones that have similar 'philosophies' but will be saying things just slightly differently.