The Off Season

'Tis the off season for sheepdog trials. But that translates into the "On" season for training, and other things.

It seems like several friends have posted that they got their females spayed lately...it is the off season and if you are going to have major surgery done, now is the time, when there are no trials to go to nearby. Spot joined into this activity, as he got neutered on Friday. So far he is rarin' to go. I decided to have this done (after setting up two appointments in the summer and then wimping out and cancelling them) to see if we can diminish his hormonally-driven behavior that has started to become a problem at trials. I can't get his nose off the ground before we run, and a few times he has run over to visit with the setout dog at the end of his outrun, instead of focusing on lifting his sheep as he should. This is extremely frustrating for me, after putting so much work into his training. As if we didn't have enough problems in trialling, he has started doing this, maybe 25% of the time. He never does it at home, or in lessons or clinics. Just at trials. Very frustrating. So I just decided to try to end the problem with neutering since I am not going to breed him. I certainly hope that it works. So far he seems unconcerned...it will be a week or so before he can work again although he says he is ready *today*. That Scrimgeour stamina gene...oh my!!!

Ryme turned ten this past week, on December 6th. He is still a little bit lame, which is a bummer. He is getting better, but it is a very slow process. He is still my very good boy. :-)

Ryme really wants to work. I am still hoping that he can go back to work once his leg is healed.

It is very strange to go work dogs and only take one dog...as a result of all of the above. Cap is the only one left (Coal does not work any more) right now. Cap is just such fun to work...he is constantly asking the question, "what next, boss?" and wants to please. We have just barely started inside flanks. He knows the stop and walk up whistle. I am blowing the flank whistles when he is already doing them. He doesn't know his sides on command yet, but he is improving on those. After our lesson last week we are mainly working on gathers, with a little bit of driving.

You will have to take my word for it, but these pictures above are showing Cap and me, from our lesson last week. The clouds were gorgeous that day...winter is the best time to train, as far as I am concerned. Other than the short daylight hours, I love the softer ground, greener grass, and cooler temperatures that all allow you to train a bit longer and work things out with a younger dog.

I've put up a few Christmas decorations. It is a good time of the year, the off season.

New Month

We're now into December. Thankfully, we are getting some rain. This is what our skies looked like, for several weeks of November:

The smoke was from the deadly #Camp Fire.  Just too much unimaginable loss there; the trauma for many is ongoing...

Meanwhile, the daylight is very short, so I have little time to work dogs, but I am managing to squeeze in some short training sessions here and there on week nights by starting my real work at 6:30 a.m., and of course on the weekends. Cap is coming along well.  This picture is from last Sunday:

We went for a lesson in Zamora, yesterday. I'll be working on lengthening the outrun and increasing Cap's scope. I got good information from the lesson, and enjoyed watching the others. There is a hint of green on the fields! Yippee!

Out of curiosity, I sent  Cap's DNA into Paw Prints for the border collie profile. He came back as a Normal on all of the tests except that he is a CEA carrier. This is good information to have. I'm glad he is just a carrier and not affected of course. Now I just wish a DNA test for the EAOD would be released.

Cap on a Sunday Afternoon

Here are some more little videos of Cap. In these we are just walking around and I am letting Cap bring the sheep without a lot of command. He does not know his sides 100% yet, which is obvious in the videos. He is trying hard to please though, and is really fun to work.




One more:

Cap Pushing Sheep Into a Corner

These are a couple of short videos of Cap pushing sheep into a corner, taking them out again, and pushing them back in. I found a place to stand next to a corner where I don't feel vulnerable and I am not worried about getting hit by the sheep, especially those with the horns. Cap is mostly making fairly nice flanks and he is trying really hard to please and do what I ask, despite the close proximity to the sheep and the new exercise.

The Contract

There is a contract of sorts, that we make with the dogs when we bring them into our lives. They are cute and funny and young and healthy...and in a few short years they are elderly and silly and still funny perhaps, but with growing health problems and limited mobility. This is the contract that we agree to. My thoughts around this lately are growing sad. Coal is now twelve. My handsome open dog who ran joyously up the hills at Zamora, and at Dunnigan, and all the other trials, bringing me trial sheep, doing chores like a comfortable and reliable well-worn saddle, is growing old. And now he has some health issues. He is developing kidney trouble. The vet has put him on a special diet of low phosphorous food to help delay the problems. But he has to go potty a lot, drinks a lot of water and according to the vet needs to be allowed to drink all he wants. We have worked out a plan for now, so that everyone is comfortable. The thought of all this makes me super sad. He is very quickly losing his hearing, too, so we have to manage his freedom when there are no fences to protect him. He's super anxious without me and is glued to my side; I wonder if the hearing loss makes him more needy to be right with me.

Coal is still silly and within seconds of waking up in the morning, is searching for the nearest ball or toy to toss around, or a nylabone to chew on ferociously while I stumble out of bed. He seems to still be enjoying life and that is what I will try to maintain.

Ryme is right behind him at nine years old, and will be ten in December. I had dogs two years apart, years ago, in Alix and Augie and I should have known better than to do that again because I will soon have two elderly dogs to care for, once again. But this contract is not always foremost in our minds when we bring that puppy home.  Ryme is still working and doing chores and I hope that continues for a good while. I don't know what I will do without him. Spot and Cap will have to step into his jobs.

Huge Relief

We had a bit of a scare this week, with Ryme. Our doggie chiropractor was here, to do her magic tuneups on the dogs for their quarterly visit, and she found an egg-sized lump on Ryme, under his ribs on his left side, that was not there the last time she checked him (which was early August in an off-cycle visit). It's a little scary in a nine year old dog to find a fast growing lump like that. The dogs were all due for annual visits to their vet, anyway, so I made an appointment for Ryme to be the first one to get brought up to date. I totally did not need a big expensive vet event, right now, and moreso, was worried about Ryme's health. At nine years old you just never know what is going to happen. Bid was nine when we lost him so it is always a scary year for me with the dogs.

Anyway we were able to get in with our vet the same week, Friday afternoon, which was amazing. They've been booking out two to three weeks recently so I felt this was fortunate. Ryme does not like going to the vet. He gets very worried and in the past we have only been able to do a very sketchy exam on him. But this time he was a trooper. While he was worried, pulling me towards the door, he was good as gold when Dr Joy examined him. She said right away, "oh that's a lipoma". Whew! But then she said she could tap it to make sure. Once again Ryme held still for her to insert a needle into the growth and get some cells to view, and yes, she confirmed it was a fatty tumor, or a lipoma. This was a huge relief!!! I am so grateful that this is not a big problem for Ryme, and a huge bill for me. We have lots of work yet to do; he is my right hand guy for close sheep work, sorting, pushing through the chute, and so forth.  And he will be my backup for exhaust at the Finals.

I felt bad for the staff at the vets office. They were working with a new computer system and Friday was the first day for it. They were a bit stressed. I can relate! They are also combining two practices and offices. A vet practice that burned down last October in the Santa Rosa firestorm is combining with the vet that I have gone to for probably almost twenty years. I am hoping this will be a good thing, but for now, until they get larger quarters, it is a bit crowded and crazy in there. Eventually I think it will be positive. I felt very positive with Ryme's news! Now I just have to go back with the other three dogs, and bring everybody else up to date, probably split into two visits to spread out the cost. No pet insurance here, although that might have to happen someday.

Gratitude all around, for good news... :-)

Stubbed My Toe

The ground is so darn hard. Poor Cap has bruised his toe again. No sheepdog training for him, this weekend while we rest him and wait for him to heal up. I do not want to work with a limping puppy! (Even though he is willing...). It's hard to wait as he is so much fun to work with.

Here is Cap from a couple of weekends ago, doing some pretty fancy footwork following the ewes...

Watching the live streaming of the International in gloriously green Ireland, it makes me quite jealous of nice green grass to run sheep and dogs on.

Between the hard ground and (even worse) all the fires in California and elsewhere that keep popping up, rain cannot come soon enough!

Meanwhile we are making lists and packing and prepping for the Finals...it's getting real!

Unfolding Cap

Cap is going well for me. I'm really pleased with his work ethic and willingness to work with me, and not against me. He is now fourteen, going on fifteen months old.

We have worked nearly every evening, all summer. It was good timing for him to be the right age to train, during summer when I have lots of daylight after my work day.  We have been able to squeeze in for one lesson with our trainer, and that went well...so I am working on those takeaways until such time as we can go back for another lesson. Cap has a very nice feel for sheep, which one would expect given his parents. His stop is fairly reliable for a puppy, and normally on his feet, but sometimes lying down. I haven't pushed for either stop position. He stops fairly well so I don't care at this point if it's standing or lying down. He is learning his sides and will indulge me with a few steps of a drive. All in all, he is a fun project to unfold! I'm excited to see where his progress will take me.

Cosmo keeps watch on the two old girls while they eat separately from the larger group

Are they trying to save on pasture space, or what? :-)

Summer is drawing to an end. Fall is in the air.

It's Getting Real!

It's getting real! The 2018 National Finals website link is below:

https://www.sheepdogfinals.org/

 (photos from 2015 Finals, also in Alturas)

The Story of June...

... and likely continued in July:

Constantly adjusting...

Goober

It's brown now

Yes, brown

The green is irrigated potatoes

Cap dozing in front of the fan on a hot day recently. He is no dummy!

Happy Birthday to Cap!

Cap turned a year old on June 21, 2018.

Photo by Jill at LHM/HM sheepdog trial

One year!

Cap and I are putting in the "miles", so to speak. I work him almost every day. He has a little stop, a little call off, and goes around both ways. He's eager and fun. Every day he shows me just a teensy bit more of what's in there. We have a lot of work to do.

13th

At Little Horse Mountain we had a good run. I can't remember it - the run is a blur in my memory - but we had a good run.

We were 13th. Just one point out of "the points". People seemed shocked and came up to talk to me about it. My response: "he is trained! "  This made one person laugh hysterically. I laughed, too, and told her that I was so glad I could make her laugh so hard!

It's all in there.  Spot is trained.

On the last day of the trial (PN and Nursery day) Spot worked his heart out for me. I learned a lot about him that day.

This is almost at the end of two hours of trailing sheep home after the trial. He does not give up.

There are lots of things I'd like to post about. I am working Cap nearly every day. He is a year old now and ready to train. The days fly by and are full. For some reason I think I need a picture for a blog post, but maybe I don't. The pictures take longer. Maybe I will try some without pictures...

May Happenings

Here it is not even high summer yet, and it feels like we are squeezing every minute out of every day. Sheep chores and maintenance have taken a lot of my time when not working my "real" job.

We went to Pt. Pleasant Mother's Day trial and had a "pleasant" and rewarding experience (got a score again finally, whew...). Spot ran out well, as confident as he ever has in a trial. I loved his outrun. His approach to the sheep was good, after he went to flirt with the setout dog. He, and that problem, are getting "fixed" in June. Gah. I could have strangled him. From there we did OK, missed part of the fetch gate with some of the sheep but got our act back together and made all the drive panels. Hey, we can run a course after all! Who knew? :-) The Maltese Cross with a turn in it was very tricky; the sheep were flightier than normal, perhaps due to the high winds that were blowing all weekend. It took us two tries to get the Maltese but we got it finally. We went to the shedding ring for the single but ran out of time. Still a score. Not bad except for the diversion at the top of the outrun. Glass half full.

I ran Ryme and Spot both, in a little AHBA arena trial the day before. They both got numbers, and Spot even got nice a third prize basket. It was fun to see old friends, mainly from our Pescadero "glory days". Pescadero and the AHBA trials there, were such a great venue to gain experience, one of many that we don't have any more. I'm happy to still have the AHBA venue where I can run Ryme occasionally and just enjoy what the dogs do without the stress of open. But that's another topic. How do our dogs gain experience with shrinking venues and limited opportunities? I am on a quest to work this out or else give up Open for any subsequent dogs. It's that serious...

Speaking of subsequent dogs, my little man Cap has now had his first lesson with our trainer. That is, Cap and I had our lesson. I am the one who needs help, as always. Cap is fine. He has matured past the biting phase of a couple months ago (when I didn't work him, hoping maturity would help) and now he works really nice. I am thanking my lucky, lucky stars!!!!! What a nice pup. He is biddable and wants to please, and is keen and showing nice shapes. We are just in the very beginning puppy stages but I am very excited about this boy's future. His "grampa" liked him. I am over the moon.

Not at the lesson, but practicing, Cap tore his foot pad for the first time. My baby! Another milestone. The ground is drying out. The foxtails are appearing and we are still battling thistles. Time to get some footie toughening stuff and apply it.

And now back to see what else we can accomplish today! 

Glamour Side of Sheepdoggin', Part I

I think this will kick off a new series of posts, entitled, "The Glamour Side of Sheepdoggin'". Here is Part One.

Thistle. Cutting it. Bagging it. String trimming it. Disposing of it. Yuck.

In general: string trimming, mowing, clipping, weeding, digging weeds. Yuck.

Nothing to do with dogs or sheep, but maintaining the property for same. Yuck.

Somehow barn cleaning is more satisfying; at least you get to throw in the sweet-smelling clean shavings. And thistle is annoying because it goes right through your gloves, as if you didn't even bother to put gloves on.

Huge kudos and props to those who have been helping with "landscape maintenance" (for lack of a better word) at the pasture.

As a value-added bonus, Where's Cap? :-)

Can you find Cap?

 Eight pairs of geese honking away in the pasture tonight, and he's oblivious.

Now That's a Recall!

Cap, still enthusiastic about his recall, after we worked sheep and then took a walk around another pasture. Ahhh, youth! :-)

Sunday was also barn cleaning day. This whole sheepdoggin' thing may be some sort of a weird fitness plan.

13,627 Steps

We had a Very Big Day. Friends came and worked dogs. Ryme and Spot and I held sheep for the younger dogs to learn how to take sheep off of a stock handler/spotter. Ryme and Spot each broke their stay, once. Bad setout dogs! :-) Most of the time, they were good. It is fun to help others get their dogs going and to see that breakthrough when the younger dogs decide that it is really okay to go around that strange person and her dog, to lift the sheep and take them down the fetch, all properly! We discussed the conclusion in the great Vergil Holland book, the Handler's Post, about how we often lose 50% of the trained skills we have at "home", when we take our show on the road, even just to friend's to practice, let alone to a trial.

My phone says I did over 13, 627 steps today. I am not a big walker, because of my foot and leg issues, and I "save" my steps and walking for working my dogs. I have my "goal steps" on my phone and My Fitness Pal, set at only 7,000 steps, instead of the 10,000 that most everybody else has. I try to make up with other activities (like riding my exercise bike). My average normal steps are about 4,700 per day. Today was a biggie! :-) It is good to know that I "can do it" when necessary.

I also took this guy out to sheep today. Cap is just over ten months and ready to go. I have been waiting but the time is now. He is keen, fast, but still a team player at this point. I want to get a bit of a handle on him before he turns a year. Sometimes big changes happen at a year and my goal is to have at least a little bit of the structure of going to the sheep and coming off the sheep in place by that time. He stops on his feet, for now, which is acceptable.

It will be an interesting summer. My steps may top 7,000 more regularly.  We have one tired puppy (actually four tired dogs and one tired human) tonight.

Just Workin' ...

Here are some nice photos of Spot from last weekend, just working. Despite our string of failures at the spring series of trials, he does work well for me. Sigh. These are photos that Gloria took  while I put Spot through his paces, so to speak. :-)

The below photo is one I took, of Gloria and her young Ben, son of Nick (who is Spot's brother). Ben is coming on really nicely, at just fifteen months old.

The future is bright!

And this is just because...shearing...and I know the grass won't last.

Wait, what happened to our wool!?!?

Not Bad for Ten

Orange tag - 10 years old

Freshly sheared, little  "orange tag" does not look too bad for ten years old. She looks way better than last year. We have been feeding her (alfalfa pellets and grain) separately since last year's shearing when we discovered how thin she was under her wool. She doesn't have much left in the way of teeth but has a Scottish Blackface attitude all the way! I figured a pet sheep is preferable to a dead sheep, any old day.

White tag - 8 years old

As long as we're talking about it, this ewe (freshly sheared, front and center) is eight years old and doesn't look bad, either.  She is not getting supplemental feeding and there is another just like her in good shape in our dog training flock, as well.

white wether - six years old

The white Dorper-Dorset wether freshly sheared, left, is six years old. He is looking pretty good too, and there are two others like him. Our flock is getting older but they look good and healthy for dog work. We try to take good care of them. They are not chased or abused and spend most days just being sheep.

Unconcerned about shearing; when is supper? :-)

And the wool comes off, for another year...