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!



the last day of 2010

It's hard to believe Christmas has come and gone and today is the last day of 2010 .

My Brother Michael and his wife Linda had sent two snow saucers to us for Christmas. I was hard pressed to convince Rush that they were not custom made dog beds for her.She would hear nothing of it . Each time I would tell her they were not dog beds she would shoot me "the look" so I finally gave up explaining to her that they were to be used to slide down a snowy hill .

This last morning of the year was nothing less than spectacular in it's beauty . A pleasant break from weeks of below normal temperatures and relentless blowing ice cold wind. Wonderful mild 40 F , calmness to the air.

The year had many ups and downs for us. Starting with last year on this day we lost our old time equine companion Badger. He had been part of my life for over thirty years. Through good times and bad.

He took a bad turn on a patch of ice under snow and went down, never to get up. While it was heartbreaking and traumatic it also showed me the wonderful network of people I am surrounded by and feel lucky to call my neighbors and friends. Many of them spending several hours on New Years Eve hoping to get Badger back on his feet. I know they had better things to do , but came to my aid when I needed them. I would and will do the same for any of them if the call comes . In the end when it was growing dark and the temperatures were dropping they helped us with letting Badger go .

We also said good bye to our oldest sheepdog Deigh. Just 11 and seeming too young , but Cancer has other idea's .

We also said good bye to one of our cats, Splotchity, only nine years old. A sweet loving cat who also lost the battle with Cancer.

It was also filled with good. We had a great crop of lambs. Both hair and wool. We also gained a new addition to the equine herd. A sweet little six year old mare going by the name of Diamond. She fit in as if she has been here her whole life and has taken over the leader role that Badger had  over his lifetime.  We have done many little improvements to the farm and are hoping to host our first sheepdog trial in the fall.



Today Paul and I are making lambing jug panels for the upcoming lambing season.

Spending a quiet night with a top shelf surf and turf meal and saying "so long" to this year .

So here's to 2010 . 

Hoping for a better year to come with more good than bad for us and all the people and animals I hold close and dear to my heart.

Happy New Year !

Christmas Song

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas . Peace / Love.

young dogs training blues

A Facebook Friend has turned me on to this website . I fiddled around a bit and made my first "film".
It is my young dog Rush coming to me to tell me her and her brother Flint are not happy with the lack of sheepdog work as of late.

The Twelve Days of Christmas - Frank Kelly - With Lyrics

"The One"

"There are some who bring a light so great to the world that even after they are gone the light remains."

Today I am going to write about "the one". The dog who was and always will be the dog I will compare every dog before her or after.

I called her Swift .  She was so very fast and agile even as a baby she reminded me of the little quick birds I admired.
I named our farm after her and in tribute to her.

She was a good dog. She taught me things I was unable to absorb before she came into my life .

Was she a "great" dog ? Well maybe not by some standards.

Was she a great dog to me and for me, YES.
Without a moment of hesitation I say this.

She was born in December and sadly six years later in December she would leave me forever.

She was the most precocious little pup anyone could want. A sweet and kind personality. Willing to please , a loyal and devoted partner. Quick to learn with just a little willfulness to her nature.

I had one other dog at the time , my first Border Collie "Kilt".
From day one they became fast friends.
Kilt showed her all the important things a young dog needed to know. How to properly chew a stick. play tug of war. What chairs were the most comfortable to sit in and offered the best views. Which dog beds were the most plush.
Swift fit in as if she had been born here.
She loved cats and they her.
She was always well behaved and never did one destructive thing.
Housebroke as easy as any pup I have had.

 Her eyes were deep and full of expression and when our gaze met we had a connection unlike any dog I have ever had.
We could talk to each other through our eyes. Our souls spoke to each other .

Her start as a sheepdog was a slow one.
As time went on though she became a very dependable , natural dog. Just the right amount of stock sense yet giving enough to do as I asked.  I was still raw in my handling skills but she made up for my mistakes.

As we moved up through the classes at the trials , she always managed a placement and even several wins. Something I had not ever accomplished before her.
She was a comfortable dog to run. I never felt any pain of anxiousness or worry about "what she would do" . I never seemed to get that shrill in my voice or whistle that I can and have fallen victim to more times than I would like to admit. When things did not go as well as I had hoped  I never seemed to feel disappointed in her work or sad .
Swift ALWAYS gave me 110 percent each and every time she was on sheep. She never once let me down. I wish I could say the same for me to her.

                

A few memories I have running her was once at a trial in Pro Novice I stopped her too short at the top. The sheep then bolted for a cluster of trees just off the side of the fetch. I flanked her into the trees but had great trouble putting her in the right spot I would flank left  the sheep would go right I flanked right the sheep would go left. Not coming out of the trees. I finally said " Swift get 'em up, bring 'em "  With in seconds she got them out of the trees and back onto the fetch even to making the panels. The rest of the run was clean and we managed to finish with a solid pen , ended up placing even though I had eaten up much of our time and caused a huge point loss on our lift and fetch.
Another trial in the Ranch class on a fairly difficult course we had a killer run going. As we were about three quarter way through the cross drive the sheep started to drift a bit low. I whistled for an inside flank to keep them on line , Swift took an outside flank and pushed them lower. I whistled again and she took an outside flank. I then growled the flank and she took the outside flank. I was thinking to myself  "what is wrong with her?!" Again I growled the flank and she stopped and turned to look at me. Disgust in her eyes.
I know if she could have yelled back down the hill at me she would have said  " Michele , you have asked for the WRONG flank more times that I can remember!"
 Ding, I finally realized what I had done and blurted out "oops sorry Swift"
I think a few people laughed behind me. I gave her the CORRECT flank and managed to salvage the panels but lost a good chunk of points for my mix up.
We managed a placement , maybe ninth or tenth place.
Our Judge at the time was Scott Glen.
While out walking dogs after the trial Scott was walking ahead of us. Swift picked up pace and fell in along side of him. I called and called her but she pretended not to hear me. Just kept up with Scott's long stride and never looked back. Finally Scott with his good natured quick wit turned to me and said " Well, looks like she has not forgiven you for blowing that class for her today. You would have won it had you not kept up with that wrong flank".
Swift at that moment looked over her shoulder at me with just I hint of "Yeah, jerk!".
The last memory I'll bore you with was our last run together.
Swift drew a group of sheep with one splitter. She was awesome at keeping it together and while in the shedding ring this sheep was impossible. I was green as grass in spring and was trying for the textbook shed. This sheep was taking advantage of my inexperience and bolting out of the shedding ring hot for the exhaust each time I moved Swift into the wrong spot. Each time Swift would faithfully head her off and push her back to the shedding ring . The sheep backing up stomping  or bolting left only to swing to the right to beat Swift. She got her each time but we never did get the shed.
 As we walked off to the water tub my lanyard broke from around my neck.
I still remember saying to a friend " Uh Oh, hope that's not a bad omen "
Later the scribe came over to me to tell me the Judge Eve Marshark had commented to her that  she thought Swift  was one good dog with a ton of heart.
She was at that.
Little did I know she was actually very sick. With in a week of that trial I noticed something wrong.

I will not bore you with the grim details.

Swift had a rare and terminal , Cancer Peritoneal Carcinoma .
I would only have a few months left with her .
In fact I had three months left to come to terms with my Heart dogs illness and passing.
I did not handle it very well and a huge part of me died that day I had to let her go.
I don't think I will ever really get over her untimely passing .

I wear a necklace around my neck that is a large silver heart. Inside is a bit of her ashes.
She was close to me always and still is .

My bright shining star . One who streaked so fast across my heart, my life . One who I could never look away from in her beauty. A rare one, that I feel blessed and lucky to have been witness to her gift of faithful love and compassion.
But like all  bright Swift Stars, they burn hard and fast and then are gone .
Only are we left with the memory of what they had given us.


Thank you Swift. I love now and forever.
 You were the "One " for me.