down time

Because of this,

we have stopped doing this.

yep , I knew it was coming. I have been thankful for the lack of snow up until now. Honestly if it was not for that little layer of ice that is now under several inches of snow I most likely would still be managing some light works for the dogs....but that ice keeps me from taking the risk.
So we have some forced down time.

That is not to say we have not been active. Still getting our walks in. I think they have been giving me more of a workout that the dogs with that layer of ice.They can most times walk on top of it in the few inches of snow, me well I am half on top, half crashing through . The high stepping is giving my legs a good go for sure.

So what do you do other than embrace what is in front of you?
Enjoy it to the fullest. The dogs certainly do!

I too am enjoying the beauty of what winter can offer.

Getting ready for lambing 2011!

Our hair sheep are due to lamb out in about a month. I'll vaccinate the bred ewes this week to get ready for the little ones.
Our Wool sheep were staggered and they will lamb in late May.We took Prince out from the ewes we selected for breeding this Sunday. I put what I plan to breed in with the horses since I don't have a breeding paddock. I really think Diamond missed the sheep on Monday.

 Last year I used most of my chain link panels that were my dog runs when I lived on Long Island for lambing jugs. This year we have the runs set up for the dogs so we needed some panels for jugs. So we set out to make some a few weeks back.
They are done but for maybe some wood preserver or stain. They came out great and did not beat up the wallet too bad.
We made six, four foot and six, six foot panels.

There are holes drilled into the corners at top and bottom so they can be tied together with bale twine.
There is a bunch of two foot pieces of framing lumber left over that I think I'll try to make a few hay racks with. If I have several ewes in jugs, they can share a hay rack and keep the waste down and make the jugs easier to keep tidy.

Not much else going on . Have been getting a bit of work in on the dogs here and there. It has been pretty darn cold, maybe averaging 10 or more degrees below our average highs . The winds have been around and on days that it is not cutting through your clothes, 18 degrees Fahrenheit almost feels balmy!

Yesterday Paul and I took the dogs and snow saucers to a hill on the hayfield. LOT'S of fun , but after several walks BACK up the hill, not so much. I must be getting old! Dogs did not know what to make of the crazy humans. 

climbing the steps

 Flint

Training a young dog can be thrilling at times as well as frustrating. If you have one ( or two or...) that shows talent you may be tempted to move forward at a brisk pace. Not spending enough time on the basic foundation that needs to be in place so that when things may not go as planned the dog will be able to listen to you for direction and not fall back on a " bad " habit.
Often the time needed to lay a proper foundation on a dog can be tedious and somewhat boring to both dog and trainer.

 I have been getting on quite well with my two young dogs in training. I think the time off was good for all. We have been working in that back pasture some and am getting good distance on both dogs with consistent reliability on whistles.  We have climbed to the next step, or so it seems.

Rush

Yesterday I took both back into the hay field and was happy with the work they gave me.

Rush is as close to 100 % on whistles and Flint is right behind her. Both are getting better with short flanks too.  At just under 20 months of age I am really happy with how they are training up .

Genetics are always an interest to me. Looking at a pup and seeing what traits they have picked up from their pedigree. Some not always working traits . This picture is of Bracken last year . She is a small dog but LOVES to run around with tree limbs over a small branch if she can manage to drag one out of the woods.

It looks as though Flint has inherited this passion for hauling around large limbs . Much to the glee of his mother, Bracken!

On the equine front, Scottie has won Diamond over with his charming ways.  They are most often seen together one mirroring the other. Pals and partners in crime.

Scottie still loves to show off for her whenever the moment calls for it!



so here it is, 2011

So here it is 2011. Hard to believe.
Yesterday my friend Maggie Chambers came up with her pup Strike, a litter mate to my two youngsters. She needed some hay and what better excuse to get together and work dogs!
I'll admit I have been in a slump lately due to some things going on as well as it being really cold with relentless winds.
It was a pretty nice day yesterday. Sunny, light winds and in the mid 30's F.
I got to see Strike work and it was a treat for me.
These three pictures I got of her yesterday, the last one looks so much like Bracken , her mom in style.
I think she and Maggie are a good match and a great team .

Working the dogs yesterday gave me a jump start and I was back out today .

I was very pleased with both young dogs yesterday. Even after some time off they picked straight up where we left and did not need too much in the way of reminding them on keeping a flank clean or stopping or treating the sheep with correct pressure and pace. I had been struggling with Flints flank whistles and go figure yesterday he took each one for the most part correctly!

Today, well not so much. I have found with him he struggles with new situations but once he gets it , he gets it. Often just when I utter in frustration he's never going to get this...he does!

I brought the sheep to a back pasture with Bracken today, worked her some back there. I then worked the pups in this field. One they have not worked in as of yet. It has some pitch and roll to it and a stone wall that is partially broken down in some spots. While not a big field it holds challenge in many ways.

I worked Rush first and she was great. Took all her whistles, and voice commands. She tends to over flank on a turn but I was able to swing her back to where she needed to be on a cross drive. Part of this is she is VERY fast and sometimes will run through a stop for a few steps. Part because she is going too fast and part because she is cheating me a bit. We will work on this some more to steady that bursting exuberance and tone it down some. I only took a few pictures of her because she worked so well and we were not out there too long. She had no issues with the wall in running out to get the sheep or pushing them over it on her drive outs. So we ended the work.

Flint was a different story! Not really bad mind you but he did have confusion with the stone wall. So we were out there for a while. He needed some help getting out and around it to gather the sheep , but he did figure it out. He had some confusion about pushing them over the wall but with several goes in different spots he started to understand. He was driving well though on his cross drives. To end the session I flipped the sheep around and left them where I had been standing while working and had him gather them and bring them down over the wall to me.  I did put a bit of pressure on him today and he handled it well enough.

I really hope I can have a go at Nursery class this year. Although they are at a bit of a disadvantage , having a birthday late May. They will be the younger of the dogs who only have this year to give it a go. Last year they were only a year old, and just a few months past that by end of July the cut off to qualify. It just seems so unfair a dog maybe six weeks younger gets to give it a go again next year. But you have to draw the line somewhere I guess .

Lastly , I think I had mentioned I had put a tarp up over the sheep's door back either late November or early December (Can't remember) because we had been having relentless steady winds averaging 20-30 mph with stronger gusts. The door faces due west and the wind was just blowing in that door so hard it was making the whole barn cold, not to mention it blew in a few of the old dairy style windows . Thankfully it did not break any of them.

Our house was not so lucky as we have these same crappy windows in our basement. One of the west facing windows just could not take the winds and the latch gave way, the window collapsed into the house and smashed against the cinder block wall. I am not kidding you that it was really blowing up here on the hill!