It's the Weekend; Find Awe

It's the weekend; that means it is time to find awe. I hope everyone finds their own version of awe. I will be looking at the small things as well as the bigger picture!

We had the biggest rain/wind storm of the season so far, this past week, on Wednesday and Thursday. That has left everything very muddy and wet, and standing water in the fields where the sheep are.

We did get out to work a little one evening. Ryme can do a little bit of work again now, so I used him to sort down the sheep group a bit. He isn't physically up for a full session yet, can help me if I am smart about it. I need to get smarter! LOL!

Then I got Cap. The remaining sheep (about 20) were spread way out, grazing on the wet grass. I sent Cap for them and he got about half. Then I was able to send him back for the rest. No look back yet, just me walking forward and focusing on the remaining sheep and turning his attention back to them. He is so eager and he is a joy to work with. That new shiny penny, that is all fun and opening up new things. The forecast was not for rain but it did start to shower when I was out with Cap. Of course I had decided that I would not need my rain pants. Dumb! But luckily it did not rain hard on us. Cap did not care. He was enjoying the work too much.

I then traded Cap for Spot. We did some of the same things; some small gathers, driving, and penning. Spot was working well. I really have to watch my attitude with Spot. We have more baggage, due to past failures and frustrations...and I know darn well that if I lose my confidence in him or my patience with him, he will lose his. Friday means "dream big"; part of my dream is to find joy in working Spot again. I am the one who needs to change. Spot and I will be going to some of the smaller events where we can gain some confidence and when I work him I will be focusing on trying to stay in the moment with him. If Ryme can do some of the prep work then there is less pressure on Spot, and we can just go out and work.

 

Tuesday Is...

It's Tuesday, and that means being in the moment. This is a hard one for me. The dogs find it easy but my brain is always whirling around ahead, behind or anywhere but focuses on what is in front of me. I am trying to train it to be otherwise. I tried today to just notice the small things, like textures of wet pavement (it's raining).

No sheepdog work today, but last night we had a pretty good session. I was pushing it trying to get the chores done, work the dogs, and get on the way home before darkness and rain came in.  Right now I have about an hour or just a little more to work dogs on week days, with sunset approximately 5:15 PM this week, plus or minus.

Without a stock handler, I first tried to put some sheep out on hay for Spot, to try out my system.
Then I would hurry off with Spot to a point where I could send him on an outrun before the sheep ran home. This worked ok, not as great as with a stock handler and dog but it was better than nothing. When I switched to Cap (after getting more hay!), I was able to send Cap on some of the longest gathers that I have done at that particular field. I was pretty stoked, and didn't care that it had started to rain! Cap was pretty stoked, too. I could send him around some of the vernal pools which made him kick out naturally and get wider and deeper without me having to do anything...which is a huge bonus. Doing our lesson homework, as best we can!

We won't be able to work for a few days due to a big storm coming through. I'm glad to have a little success though and something to look forward to.

Ryme got to play cleanup and put all the sheep away. He was super happy! You can see it on his face!

Two happy older dogs;  Ryme (10) in the front and Coal (12) in the back.

A Couple of Small Achievements

It's Monday. Today's theme is Be Positive.

With that in mind, I'll report that the dogs and I have achieved a couple of good things.

First, I worked Ryme last night for a little while, just easy stuff on a large group of sheep in the arena field, and he was 98% sound on that left shoulder, both before and after.  We just walked the sheep around, turning them this way and that and walking some more. No sharp turns or much running yet for Ryme. Things are looking up. He was very happy!

Second, it is always concerning, when we get a young dog far enough along in their training, to begin picking up their sheep off of a stock handler and setout dog. A few dogs take this really personally and react negatively. Most dogs, however, take it pretty much in stride but need a few exposures to feel comfortable with it. I'm pleased to report that Cap had his first real formal training session, taking sheep off of a stock handler and her dog, yesterday. And, the sheep were held on hay, as well. A few weeks ago, we tried (successfully) to have a handler and his dog just standing there in the field with us while I worked the sheep around them, with Cap, but they were not holding the sheep. Cap did not seem to notice them there. Now yesterday, he did notice the handler and her dog, but bent out around them correctly and picked up his sheep, bringing them to me. This was super helpful for me with the outrun practice that we are supposed to be doing, via our lessons. Now the sheep set on hay was a bit more of a challenge, as the sheep did not want to move; we will have to work more on Cap being able to just walk in and make them move when they do not want to. But that is a topic for another day.  For the most part he was able to bring them and in one case I walked toward him to provide more of a helping presence, and then he walked right in.

Sorry, no photos this time! :-)

Kicking Off A New Year...

I was kind of searching around for something mentally positive to kick off the new year...and happened to watch a "Facebook Live"event with Diana Nyad. She listed the six daily themes she is going to focus on, weekly...and I thought to myself, "there is no reason why I can't do this!"

Monday: Be Positive
Tuesday: Be in The Moment (eyes wide open)
Wednesday: Be Happy (have fun)
Thursday: Be Kind
Friday: Dream Big (No limitations!)
The weekend: Find Awe

"Don't waste a moment!", she says...

This past week I started off, posting each theme daily on my Facebook. Folks seemed to get into it! By Friday, people were asking me, "what is today?":-) it is fun..I will try to keep it up. One can train their thought processes... Some of these were easier for me than others. Some were very hard. It will take a lot of work. It is also, if you will, a lesson in staying focused.

If you haven't read Diana Nyad's book, "Find A Way", I highly recommend it.

The hardest two for me this week were, Being in the Moment, and Be Happy.  Be Positive was surprisingly easier than I first anticipated.

Saturday finding awe was pretty easy as we had beautiful skies on our trip over to Zamora and back for lessons, and all day while we were outside. It is nice to have rain but it is also lovely to have a break here and there with some sun, to dry things out.

Cap's lesson was again all about the gather. There is a lot of progress, I am told, but it is hard for me to see because I am seeing him every day. Overall though there is improvement and maturity from our last lesson. He is super willing to try for me and does a lot of nice things. I need to get him more on the whistles. He drives beautifully for short distances. I am not emphasizing the driving but we do it now and then.  We also put sheep through the race, as a confidence-building exercise. I will do this a little more at home, and select the sheep carefully for it so that none turn on him. He got head butted by a lamb recently which has set us back a little bit. We will work through it and get our confidence back. Yesterday's lesson was a big confidence builder for me and he seemed unaffected by any issues. It was very muddy! In that situation it is so nice to have a smooth coat...

One night this past week, I let Ryme have a teensy short turn on the sheep, just to check in with him and see how he is doing. He appeared sound afterwards, so maybe we have turned the corner on his shoulder injury. I will let him have a short sheep work session today. I know he will be happy about that!

Find Awe! 

Cap

Spot in action

Cap

Rainy Sunday

It's been pouring rain, now, for over 24 hours. This is a good thing in the big picture. We need the rain. I don't like when it all comes at once, however, and causes flooding. I'm not working the dogs today and they are stir crazy... but it's just too muddy.

Spot is back to work after his neuter. There was a huge glitch though, about five days into his recovery. His surgery was on a Friday and all seemed well. By Wednesday, he was acting a little weird. But by Thursday, he was obviously in discomfort. When I checked him out, up close and personal, I found that his scrotum was all inflamed, swollen and the skin on the outside was in terrible shape as if it had been burned.  There were infected scabs coming off and it was awful looking. I put in a call to the vet and we did get in to see the vet almost at the end of the day. They cleaned it up, prescribed antibiotics, topical ointment and advised me to put him back on the pain meds that had been sent home with us from the surgery. What an ordeal! The poor dog. The incision looked just fine, but the scrotum, was a completely different story.  I have never had this happen with a dog and in all my time working for a vet for a few years, never saw anything like this. No explanation was given for this but my own interpretation is that they were a little bit too overzealous in prepping him for surgery. I felt so bad for him but it is all healed up now. He is working fine and I am getting him back in shape. Whew.


Ryme has been lame since he hurt himself playing with the other dogs, on October 22.  The injury is up in the left shoulder. Slowly, he is returning to soundness. I am hoping by January 22 or so, that he will be able to work. He wants to work...but I am being super careful as I don't want a setback.

Cap is working well. We've had a couple of lessons. He is so much fun to work with. When weather and daylight allow, I am working the dogs as much as I can. I am also trying very hard to get them out on different sheep and different places. This is a huge battle to try to overcome. Cap needs to get on different sheep but not feel overfaced...I want him to retain his confidence. We're mainly working on his gathers, as he wants to drive...driving will not be a problem. The gathers need to be encouraged and built up...and the rest will fall into place. He is so much fun. :-)

Coal is Coal...12 years old and looney as ever. He is the only dog I have allowed to sleep on my bed, for some time now.  The other three dogs sleep (and eat) in crates. Coal has been barely able to jump up there for a while and I knew the day was coming when he would not make it up there. I moved a big round Costco bed into my room for him, right next to the bed so that he could start to transition to a bed on the floor.  Sometime between Christmas and New Year's, Coal decided that he could sleep on the big Costco bed on the floor. It is bittersweet for me but he seems happy enough.

I read the new Jack Knox book. It is charming. The first half is a memoir or autobiography and is quite interesting about his young years in Scotland. The second half is (roughly) more his thoughts on various training and sheepdog topics. For those who know or have worked with Jack, it will make a lot of sense. I am not sure how much sense it will make to those who do not know him, but the book is him. It's definitely quite a legacy.

I'm looking at the schedule of sheepdog events in our area for the spring. There are some small local trials, weather permitting, in January and February...and a work day for the revitalized NCWSA club at the end of January. I am excited about that club getting something going again! Then there are all the biggie hill/range ewe trials, which I do not plan to enter Spot in, this year. We entered them all, last year, and pretty much failed at all. I do not want to do that again. We will enter here and there where it seems feasible, and explore some other options, like AHBA. I want to actually run some courses and not just write a big check to retire (RT) and feel frustrated. It is not good for Spot's confidence, nor mine. My other choice, is just to not trial. There will be some of that, too.  I still want to learn, run my dogs the best I can, and be the best shepherd and handler that I can be. But there is a huge gap. I will enjoy it where and how I can.
 

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.