Weekend Wrapup and Looking Ahead

Rime turned eleven months last Friday, November 6th! It is hard to believe he is getting so big so fast.

We spent the weekend doing lots of sheepdog training which involved putting a lot of miles on the car but it was worth it. Coal had a lesson and some practicing in Zamora. Rime and I worked Sunday afternoon on our own sheep, and while he was a bit fresh after not being worked in a week, we made some more progress.

Chiefie got to go to his doggie play group both Saturday and Sunday so he was a happy camper. So the leaves did not get raked nor the floors vacuumed.

We are looking forward to the Dunnigan Hills trial this Friday-Saturday and then the UC Hopland trial the following week.

Chiefie Park Photos, Nov. 1, 2009

Chiefie got a visit to our park down the street this afternoon, by himself and without the other dogs. I have been promising him this all day, and really all week. We have been too busy for one reason or another, to make it to his park doggie play group all week. While we were there I took a few photos of him in the fading sunlight. I particularly liked the way the sun is lighting him up in the photo above. More photos are in a Picasa album, here.

Yesterday we had a wonderful visit with old and dear friends. It has been a very happy weekend.

Great Ending to a Rough Week - Good Boy Rime

After we had kind of a rough week, Rime got to work sheep today and did really well, to end our weekend on a high note. He showed marked improvement over last weekend and more improvement from beginning to end of our sessions today. He's listening and much more thoughtful, starting to feel the sheep instead of just careening around. I'm really thrilled with the progress that he made just today!

Yes, there really are sheep in the pen...the photographer was concentrating on the dog! ;-)

The Rest, As They Say, is History

Bob Vest Tribute

Click on the above link and then follow to the "Bob Vest Tribute" that has been prepared on that web site.

I want to write more about this topic when I have more time, but did not want to forget to cross post this link with the tribute to Bob Vest by Judith Kelly (cross posted with permission).

Were it not for Bob's encouragement, it is doubtful that I (and most likely, many others) would have continued in this endeavor we call stock dog training.

As my friend Bob T. noted, "the rest is history".

Congratulations Flash and Art!

Congratulations to Art and Flash who earned a MACH (agility championship) this past weekend in Klamath Falls. Flash is a son of my late Bid, and Art has done a fabulous job with him. I am very proud of what they have accomplished. In six runs over the weekend, they managed to win first place in five of them! That is quite the lesson in consistency all by itself. When I met Flash in July on my trip to Oregon, he really impressed me with his presence that reminded me so much of Bid. But, Flash is his own dog in his own right and he and Art make a wonderful team! Well done!

RESDA Fall Trial 2009

Yesterday was Redwood Empire Sheepdog Association's final trial of the year, the traditional "Fall Trial" in Mendocino County. We had a good time running on the Johnson ranch commercial ewes who are workable but can be tricky. I'm pleased to report that Coal took first place in the Open! He was a very good boy; he did a pretty nice outrun which is kind of his weak point at the moment, and the rest was relatively good. We had one "friendly" sheep who didn't want to stay with her buddies but Coal kept her moving along most of the time. This was Coal's first Open RESDA win so I had to have a photo with his ribbon.



More photos here. Thanks to all who helped put on the trial.

Happy Birthday, Chief!

Portrait by Doghouse Arts

I can't let the day go by without wishing Chief a happy birthday. He is eight years young today.

Instead of a birthday party, in true "one for the book" fashion, the guys got an unplanned run at the sheep field tonight. A drunk driver drove through the fencing last night and the highway patrol notified us of the issue later today. So Coal had to pen up the sheep so they did not get out on the road tonight and all three of the boys and I went for a walk right before dark. With luck the fence will get patched up tomorrow.

It's been a long day, with many things seeming to go wrong. But I'm still counting my blessings and Chiefie is one of them!