Sheep Saturday
Had a herding lesson yesterday. We are trying to learn an outrun. I see Tristan making some progress in bending out to cover the sheep. I have to help him somewhat, but as soon as I do, he takes the guidance and moves out to cover. Small steps but definite progress. I have to let go of artifical deadlines (collie regional in August) and train my dog in the time it will take. It's a hard concept for somebody so innately goal driven. But another opportunity for me to grow as a trainer.
Scout is doing some very nice things. She has a really nice flank. She took all of my flanking directional commands yesterday. Once she moves the sheep in my direction, she will still sometimes go off contact, not really understanding that she is to bring them to me. Again, there is progress. I can detect it. Her interest is also getting stronger and stronger. She worked hard yesterday.
I'm really happy that my dogs feel engaged and involved in herding. They seem to feel that way about all of our activities. Herding is by far the hardest. It's a good thing that they do seem to enjoy it, because it's so hard for me to train. Not having sheep means giving up weekends to train, when I could be "playing" agility, or other activities.
Some people will tell me how neat it is to see my dogs do the job that they were bred to do. I take this as a compliment, although I know inside that it simply isn't true. My dogs weren't bred to herd. The instinct is there, vestigal from generations long ago past. It will take alot of training to get to a certain standard of performance. Much more so than a typical border collie. But through it all, we are deepening our partnership in a very meaningful way.
By the way, speaking of border collies... this entire experience has given me a deeper appreciation of the border collie wars, that started back in the mid 1990's when BC's were first accepted for full AKC recoginition. I may not have the dates correct. My own BC was just a bit too early for it. He had to be ILP'd. At the time, I thought I understood both sides of the spectrum. But I really didn't fully appreciate the anti-AKC recognition side, because I didn't understand what herding was all about. And, also having retrievers with similar issues (show vs. field), I thought perhaps much of this debate was overblown. Now, I feel more empathetic. The more subtle side of intincts, such as natural balance, are so easily lost if you don't breed for it. Agility and other dog sports are not a close facsimile. Just as in field trials, the subtle trait there is marking and memory. Not simply flushing out birds.
I still fall incredibly short as a handler, trainer, and mentor for my dogs. I am starting to observe their daily behaviors more. Understanding their signals and their ways of communicating, while still being a gentle leader - which I think dogs need. It's not enough just to be a pal.
Time for a Sunday morning walk.
Scout is doing some very nice things. She has a really nice flank. She took all of my flanking directional commands yesterday. Once she moves the sheep in my direction, she will still sometimes go off contact, not really understanding that she is to bring them to me. Again, there is progress. I can detect it. Her interest is also getting stronger and stronger. She worked hard yesterday.
I'm really happy that my dogs feel engaged and involved in herding. They seem to feel that way about all of our activities. Herding is by far the hardest. It's a good thing that they do seem to enjoy it, because it's so hard for me to train. Not having sheep means giving up weekends to train, when I could be "playing" agility, or other activities.
Some people will tell me how neat it is to see my dogs do the job that they were bred to do. I take this as a compliment, although I know inside that it simply isn't true. My dogs weren't bred to herd. The instinct is there, vestigal from generations long ago past. It will take alot of training to get to a certain standard of performance. Much more so than a typical border collie. But through it all, we are deepening our partnership in a very meaningful way.
By the way, speaking of border collies... this entire experience has given me a deeper appreciation of the border collie wars, that started back in the mid 1990's when BC's were first accepted for full AKC recoginition. I may not have the dates correct. My own BC was just a bit too early for it. He had to be ILP'd. At the time, I thought I understood both sides of the spectrum. But I really didn't fully appreciate the anti-AKC recognition side, because I didn't understand what herding was all about. And, also having retrievers with similar issues (show vs. field), I thought perhaps much of this debate was overblown. Now, I feel more empathetic. The more subtle side of intincts, such as natural balance, are so easily lost if you don't breed for it. Agility and other dog sports are not a close facsimile. Just as in field trials, the subtle trait there is marking and memory. Not simply flushing out birds.
I still fall incredibly short as a handler, trainer, and mentor for my dogs. I am starting to observe their daily behaviors more. Understanding their signals and their ways of communicating, while still being a gentle leader - which I think dogs need. It's not enough just to be a pal.
Time for a Sunday morning walk.