It was a beautiful sunny day! Each morning at Raise Lodge, we were treated to a sheepdog training session with Derek and Ludi. Derek and Ludi would each take out a succession of dogs to work, and then they talked to us about each one. The training set of sheep were mostly the little black horned Hebrides, with a few Shetlands mixed in; they never seemed to tire or get overly dog broke.
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| Training fields and sheep at Raise Lodge |
It was very educational and like auditing a top level sheepdog training clinic every morning. Wow! I picked up a few pointers this first day, that would apply to my dogs.
(1) Bring the sheep all the way straight to you on a fetch. Have the dog practice pushing the sheep practically onto you and don't stop them part way out. Have the dog push the sheep all the way up to you at least most of the time. Other variations are ok but this should be the default.
(2) A young or green dog starts out noticing only A, and then B, but we must teach him or her to respond to C.
A - sheep's movement
B - handler's body movement
C- your voice
After cramming so much activity and sightseeing into our days in Wales, it felt funny to slow down and savor the moments, at Raise Lodge. But it was good (especially for me, being sick) to take a slower day.
Since were back on WiFi and had cell reception (of which there is little to none in Wales), I received this funny photo from my house/dog sitter in the States:
I missed my boys, but I knew they were in great hands!
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