April Thoughts

April showers bring...........May flowers, as the old saying goes...here we are and April is almost over with. I keep trying to find time to blog but with the long daylight in the evenings, it seems like I run out of energy and time and do not get anything typed out.

April showers have also brought lots of growth in the fields, to where we are not feeding hay to the sheep, right now. The sheep are enjoying a lot of green stuff to their hearts' content.  The boys are also enjoying romping in the pastures, foxtail-free, for now.  The end of May normally signals the beginning of bad foxtail (and tick) season around here so we are in that special time of year right now with no foxtails and very few ticks (I have only seen one).

We went to the Northern Nevada sheepdog trial which is a very nicely run event. This is the third time I have gone, not all consecutive years, but  our third trip overall in the series of (I think?) four annual trials. The trial runs like clockwork, with many volunteers and great helpers. The BBQ on Saturday night, put on by the Borda family, who supply the fresh yearling sheep for the trial, is not to be missed. They provided deliciously prepared tri tip, lamb, chicken, and sides, for all the handlers at the conclusion of Saturday's trial; it does not get better than that! It was great to visit with old friends. The trial was filled to (over) capacity with good dog handlers and dogs. The weather was absolutely delightful; low to none of the winds that Carson City is famous for.

It Sucks To Suck

But, this year our own results at Carson City were the worst of any of our attempts there. Spot and I retired again, both runs. This is getting depressing. It does suck to suck. I know neither of us really sucks but it feels that way. I do think Spot is getting minutely better. He got a gold star for his outrun on the Saturday run. He accidentally was allowed (by me, handler error) to view too much of the exhaust of the prior run's sheep. Spot was pretty well focused on the exhaust. But, to his credit, when we went to the post, he ran up and out on the field as he should do, on the outrun, putting exhaust behind him. That is a huge improvement in his experience level. From there, it went down hill. Like many of the other dogs, he could not lift the very lively and fit yearling (freshly shorn) finewools away from the setout and its strong draw. They ran to setout and we retired. 

Our Sunday run was not much different although he seemed to run out more confidently in a manner of speaking. But, again he could not bring the sheep against the strong draw, and we retired. This was after waiting all day, and running third from last out of 59 dogs. I almost bailed, watching team after team bite the dust.  Out of the 59 dogs, 25 of them got letters, either RT or DQ (mostly RT). The fact that we do not have any chance to train on finewools is a huge disadvantage for us and this is the overall message that I am taking home to ponder, after this spring "series" of trials. Six RTs in a row, on finewools.  In our lessons we have been working with Spot pulling sheep off of a very strong draw (the barn, "home", etc.) but those sheep are not these yearling range ewes who can out run a dog and are as fit as a Thoroughbred on the first Saturday in May.  Trialling is pretty darn depressing right now. I'm glad we don't have much more before summer when mostly likely I will be taking a break. And yet:

It Is Still Amazing

I still find it amazing that these dogs will do what they do for us, consistently and over time despite the mistakes we make in handling and those inevitable and rare times that we let our emotions get in the way. I still find it fun, even exciting, to bring a dog on and train all the little bits and pieces that they need to know in order to be competent.

I am thinking, hard, about how I will bring on another dog (Cap) and the huge "holes" that need to be filled in the sheep department, for training. I am also thinking, hard, about when and whether I will (ever) move another dog to Open, again, because it is so daunting, and if I can't fill those holes then it hardly seems fair to the dogs.

Cap and I are awaiting his first real lesson. That will be a new chapter. Pondering.

March Came in Like a Lion

While February 2018 was "precariously dry" as I wrote in my journal, March came in like a lion, precisely on March 1st. We had rain and wind, and rain and wind again. Raining so much it became hard to work the dogs and the sheep got stressed. One of our Scotties got really sick but with care and medications she pulled through. Sometimes you wonder why Mother Nature has to do it all at once?

Mr. Technicolor continues to grow... (photo by Barb McP)

We went to Sonoma Wine Country, and we went to Zamora; two Open runs at each trial, and all four runs, RTs. No scoreboards in this post. :-) At least I got these pictures of the boys at Zamora before I left for home:

I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed, but I've been telling myself that I will not get really upset over these spring trials, as I knew they would be really hard. In three of the four runs, Spot got out to the sheep. That is huge. In two of the runs, we got the sheep at least partway down the field. Lots of the teams could not do that. Each trial has its tricky bits, Sonoma has the draws and Zamora just has the immense course. Both have the range ewes who are not Spot's forte. Still, his outruns are improving, and we are both less nervous than last year at this time. We are trying. I know how much work I have put in with the lessons and practicing and trying to analyze our best strategies, and pretty much don't care what anyone else thinks. March was hard on me. The cold and wet weather seemed to exacerbate my foot and leg pain to the max, again. I made an extra visit for acupuncture. Super grateful for that help.  Super grateful also, for the friends who provide feedback and support on the sheepdog journey. Gloria sent me the Teddy Roosevelt quote, "the man in the arena." OK, so I'm the woman on the field with a dog (LOL) but it does seem to fit:

It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.

February Pics and Valentines Pt. Pleasant

These were my pics from February. It was still very dry and we were worried about another drought. Sunny and warm, a lot of the time. Pleasant, and good for dog work, but worrisome..
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A beautiful evening at 7 Oaks, and my new pickup :-)

Beautiful Santa Rosa evening skies

One of the seven

Ryme pursues his new hobby - hunting gophers

Big bro and little bro

Cap and Jerry the llama, in the background

Little Bro is catching up to Big Bro

Mr. Technicolor

Cap and his real brother, Leo

Cap got to see his litter brother Leo, again, for the first time since they were eight weeks old. They disliked each other right away. LOL. Typical teenagers, but both good looking boys. Leo is a lot bigger than Cap and is a rough coat; he is one handsome dude.

A gift of love from friends in memory of a lost friend and her dog

We went to the February Valentines Pt. Pleasant sheepdog trials. Spot and I got a score, both days. It was another round of confidence-building.  Saturday's run was our best. I sent Spot to the right, and for the first time in forever, I did not need to give any additional whistle support to get him out to the sheep. It was pretty exciting for me. We finished the course - which included one pass through a Maltese cross -- with 80 points out of 100.

 

Sunday's run was not quite as good but we did OK and  Spot worked hard for me. An added second pass through the Maltese made things much more complicated and difficult and it was the deal-breaker for many teams. We managed to finish the Maltese but did not have time to finish the single, before time ran out. We got 74 points out of 110. Still, I was very happy.

The Spencers' winter trial series was super helpful in allowing us to work out our trial routine and just get more comfortable with going to the post again and again. I am super grateful for this opportunity although I know putting on these trials is a ton of work.

Between going to the winter trial series, and in between, fitting in lessons approximately twice a month, I felt like I was doing what I could to prepare for the bigger trials coming in March and April. It seemed like we were getting our routine down, Spot and I were both more relaxed, and his outruns were certainly improving.