It got hotter and hotter, this week, so that in the evenings when I went to put the sheep away for the night, my enthusiasm for working Spot (or the other dogs) was dwindling down to almost nothing. Uh-oh. As a result I just went back to meat-and-potatoes for Spot: working on his flanks, stops, and nice pace, for very short periods before either he or the sheep got too hot. Poor Coal and Ryme got very little work but I did try to give them a run each night, of some sort to keep up their fitness. The foxtails (FTs) are popping up everywhere which is normal for this time of year; I am string-trimming them in their patches where and when I can.
Our wonderful doggie chiropractor was here and adjusted all three boys. In addition, we had some great conversations about dogs and many other topics! :) Ryme has his ongoing issues and his bad rear leg but he is doing OK. Coal was pretty good except he has evidence of hard driving on his front legs and front feet; I need to make time to work on his front legs daily and keep the circulation going there. Spot did not seem to show any issues yet but I am still having him tuned up quarterly to stay on top of things. He got the fitness thumbs-up and rightly so.
Today being a day off work, we got to spend more time and work sheep and dogs at the larger field. Spot got to take some sets off of a stock handler, a practice scenario that we try to take advantage of whenever possible. Spot is doing OK with taking sheep off of a spotter. He can certainly use more practice with that scenario but is handling it all right for now. I sent him three times, and on the middle run I said nothing and just let him bring them. I know Bill wants us to do more work with Spot working more on his own, so I am trying to fit that in and see where we are, under the layers of the "onion" (so to speak).
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| This dog just wants to please :) |
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