Update

Sorry no pix.
Weather has been off & on; rainy days followed by nice sunny day. Since my last post, Lynda and I went out to work dogs at Downriver for a change of venue. Good to get out on different sheep even if in a small field. Otherwise just the usual work at McLeod's twice a week. I've been juggling working my 'four' dogs with Kit now included. She is coming along but still mostly doing puppy stuff. But a nice cool head on her and I'm not wanting to push her very much until we are bonded more. She is still needing to settle in to being a 'city' dog outside in my yard with all the noise from the neighborhood and traffic. I like her a lot and think she has awesome potential - would be a great trial dog for anyone. And then there is Jayne. Who has been working awesome ever since Kit came here. Jayne is such a talented dog it would be hard to part with her. So I am giving her the summer = 4 upcoming trials from this week's Whidbey til Lacamas in Aug. to decide about her. If she can keep her head together then maybe she doesn't need to go to someone with their own sheep and a big space.... So then I will also have to decide what to do with Kit. She is going to make a good dog but I can't really afford to keep/train/trial 3 young dogs all of almost the same age. As it is, I am juggling entries between Dusty, Owen and Jayne in P/N for the next few trials.... arrrggghhh
On another note, I can't believe I got my lawn/hay field mowed again with my trusty Sears Craftsman. Poor machine is being truly pushed to the limit this spring. I was lazy and didn't get it done a week ago on one of our sunny days. But finally got her done on Sat. I had friends staying over the weekend to compete in the BC Agility Regionals - pal, Julie got a first place with her Woody dog from Geri Byrne. Big congrats to that team!! Dusty's littermate, Drift was in contention but lost out due to handler error(according to Julie). They are all going to be tough competitors in P/N this weekend at Whidbey too.
Our pal, Pam relented and hauled her sheep to the big field yesterday; knowing that we were all entered in the Whidbey trial. So thankful to her for the opportunity to work in a big space now & again. Lynda & I each worked our dogs to stretch them out; we did Try & Jayne, then Lark & Owen. Ran into a few issues with the big distance with Lark & Owen but it was very very good to get those things solved/worked on while training & not at the trial.

Kit works sheep

The holiday Monday was gorgeous so Lynda & I took advantage and played with our dogs all day. She showed me how she does some 'packed pen' work in the alleyway leading to the back field. I tried it with Owen and he was a star; snuck around the fenceline like a pro. I was apprehensive but tried Jayne and she did very well also. Not a natural or easy going about it as Owen, but got the job done without panic or grip etc. Lynda & I also did some work together holding sheep off the gate. Very good stuff for building confidence by walking up on heads. Then we each did the same working a single & holding it off the gate.
Here is Kit doing a little gather.
This picture was taken just before the one above.
Kit flanking to hold sheep to me.
Kit has a good lie down and calls off her sheep easily. She has not had much time put into her but seems like she will train up with no issues. She is not grippy and doesn't lose her head or slice through.
Driving is foreign but she was willing to walk up and take a few steps past me. She has the equivalent of a few weeks of puppy training I think. I actually expected her to have more practical skills from working on a cattle ranch but I guess they really didn't put very much time into her. However she will come on just fine.
I worked her again yesterday and saw much the same. Today is a day off and we are back to spring showers. Sure glad I got my lawn mowed again yesterday morning.

Working dogs today

Kit would have loved to work some sheep today. Look how nice and clean she is after her bath & brushing yesterday.
Here is the new beastie Blueboy.
Pam's sheep looking on to the new group being brought out.
View from the top for Jayne's first gather. Pam is setting as her sheep stick to her like glue and give the dogs a good opportunity to get to 'lift'.
The grass is getting really high and the cows can't begin to keep up with it. Lynda was standing with Pam at the top and taking pix of Jayne as she lifts. She was a very good dog today....must know why Kit is here. lol
This is the distance I sent her for her second gather.
Jayne on the fetch. She brought them with good pace and feel and little direction from me.
This is the distance of our third gather. The field is 400 yards fence to fence and I think we were close to using half of it.
Jayne on the left almost hidden in the tall grass, doing another nice calm lift. Wow I was impressed with her today!
Making a nice sidepass to keep them online. Thanks Lynda for taking all these pix! Later on Lynda worked Lark and I worked Owen. We sent them on bigger than P/N outruns to stretch them out and both dogs did awesome. Lynda also worked Try a bit later sending him on an Open distance outrun; he was incredible! Did the best outruns of his life! Kicked out to the fenceline and stayed quite deep(for him) at the top. It was a great learning day for all of us. The weather was great; a little shower before I left home this morning but mixed sun/cloud all afternoon. It was very muggy and hot out in the high grass but not too bad for sheep or dogs.
Oops, here she is again. Miss CoverGirl May - the lovely Kit! ;-)
Keenly watching Nancy work Seeker. My oh my but what a short tail she has!!
Looks a lot like her daddy, Mik I think. Long legs and neck. lol I think she was much relieved to see that there really still are sheep in her new life. But still wondering if they will be for her. Well....maybe tomo. or Tues. at the latest. I think it will help her bond to me to take her to sheep fairly soon.

Meet Kit

Kit will be arriving tomorrow to the Abby Airport from Sask. She is two, born Dec.'07. Jo Zoerb's Mik X Sommers' Gyp. Litter mate to Lee's Jeb. Same way bred at Jamie's Max & Jennifer's Max. Newest addition to the Dorman pack. If she works out, Jayne may be for sale this summer. Will be posting lots more pictures soon. Kit comes from a big cattle ranch was deemed not quite aggressive enough for cows & would make a better sheep dog. Jayne is very talented but is being held back by my lack of big spaces to stretch out her comfort zone.

Mother's Day & more Metchosin

My Mom goes for a walk nearly every day. You can see my old truck on the right. I got back home yesterday, just in time to mow my lawn before the downpour today. Mon; 26c & sunny. Tues; 13c rained til about an hour ago.
Caught on camera.
Posing for camera! lol
back in Metchosin on the farm.
Wyatt is looking for sheep poop.
Beautiful weather for all of my stay in Metchosin.
Owen & Blair, son & father
Dusty was pretty happy to find his favorite toy lives on the farm.
Blair found his special toy too.

May in Metchosin Thurs.

After running the two packs of dogs this morning(MarCar 7 + Dorman 5), I left the gate into this field open to facilitate easier turn out of dogs later. The flock of 40 ewes and about 80 lambs discovered the open gate just before noon. As they say; the grass is always greener...
This is where we sit having coffee in the morning to watch the dogs run & play. Without sheep of course.
Happy flock chows down on the fresh green grass. Beautiful warm sunny day thank goodness as it makes caring for a dozen dogs much easier than rain & mud.
after an hour or two, some start to drift back through the gate but quickly rush back into the field as Blair & I come through the yard.
Blair stands in the gate the flock has gathered up as Blair waits to be sent.away to me Blair goes deep into the woods to get to balance.Where's Waldo?This is out of focus as I hurridly took this shot as the sheep went through the gate and back into 'their field'. But I thought the sharpness of the branch made it kinda cool pic. The branches hang low of this row of windbrake trees protect the kennels and yard from the infamous evening winds of Metchosin.Then Blair carefully pushes them down the field.And he waits so they can get through the gate without pushing.'That'ldo good boy" This is also the view from the kitchen window and back yard, looking south across the Juan de Fuca Straight to the Olympic Peninsula in WA.Blair, Jayne & Owen in their kennel runs where they are staying this week.And when I turn around this is where I am staying this week. Also, if anyone can tell me how to get rid of this stupid blue font and underline, I would appreciate it!

Springtime Showers

We are having a pretty typical spring here in the PacNorWest: warm and sunny followed by rain showers. Grass is growing like crazy. Tough to find a good day to mow the lawn when one wants to do fun things on the nice days. ;-)
Friday was Lynda's birthday so we celebrated by going out for Dim Sum. Her sister & a friend are here visiting from Ontario for a week so Lynda took the week off work. However she is now suffering from a bad cold. So she didn't make it out to Pam's big field today. Just Kristi & I weathered it out in a cool drizzle to work our dogs.
Yesterday I headed out to Abbotsford for the afternoon to take in the Flyball Tourney. The Kings did pretty well, especially considering that Margaret's Kane put a tooth through his lip and had to be pulled from competition. Rose's good old boy, Craig stepped in and took his place at the last minute. Plus there was a fire at the Stetson Bowl where all the club's equipment is kept so practice on Fri. was canceled which also meant late rushing around to find replacements was done. So the different box meant a few more fumbles than usual. But the dogs did their best as usual and fun was had by all.
I am probably heading over to Metchosin this week to help out Martha who is pretty sick from an infection which complicates her MS. Then I will go up to Pt.Alberni for the week end to spend Mother's Day with my Mom - for the last time she says. We are pragmatic, she & I, about that sort of stuff. So I tend to believe her - at 94, she is pretty knowledgeable about her health and gradual weakening, failing strength. While I know it is coming, it will be a different world for me, without her as my anchor. But such is life....and death.