Fun in the sun
I'm sporting a few extra dogs this weekend (Raven and Willow) so yesterday I added a few crates into the CrazyMobile and off we went for an afternoon at Chuck's. I worked Nick, Linc, June, and Raven yesterday afternoon, and we also took some lovely walks. It was quite brisque outside, but the sun was nice and warm.
It's off to the Races! This also happens to be the creek we've fetched across a couple of times...
I chasies you
Toldya... it was a beautiful day.
See how green it is up front?
And what do the new calves think about it?
What's almost as cute as lambie races? Calf Zoomies I say.
It just occurred to me that I said nothing about the dog working! Well, Raven worked really nicely for me. Raven is a littermate of Nick's, staying with Julie for a few months getting some training on her. I've tried to work her a few times in the past and she's been hesitant, but yesterday she was very fast, and very keen - perhaps more confident than she's been with me. She was slicing in around 10:00 and 2:00 so I opened that up just a tad (don't want to PUSH her out so to speak, not with the tendency for wideness in these dogs) and she started flanking just beautifully. We did some driving (mostly I walked with her) and when I first asked her up she was hesitant to leave me, but in very short order she was pushing the sheep along nicely.
June was pretty good. She started out hesitant - and I wasn't sure why. Turned out that the heiffer calves I'd had Nick push off into the woods had comingled with the sheep I'd seperated out for June while I was off getting June and Raven. Once we managed to extricate her sheep from the calves we were A-OK. She was stopping decent, and had some gorgeous outruns. Driving we drove in ovals basically - and she was feeling rather confident driving yesterday.
Linc was better yesterday. It was revenge of the Mad Spaghetti Noodle, and with smaller turns and pushing him out just a little at 10 and 2 (recurring theme??) he was coming on nicely. He was really VERY keen yesterday (Katie bar the door!), but I was actually able to get him to stop and come to me (as opposed to stepping on his line and turning him a flip). There were some really nice moments yesterday, and by not allowing him so far up the sides and by taking smaller turns there wasn't much grabbing going on. I've got to get on more level terrain next time though - the bumps and hills were tough on me. I really enjoyed him yesterday.
It's interesting to me just how much I've come to depend on Nick. Yesterday when I was trying to get the sheep away from the calves (and June was hiding behind my leg) what I was really thinking was that I wished I had Nick down there. Just the other day I was working Zeke around a little and the sheep wound up in the woods. Chuck had Nick with him, and I hollared out "Will you let Nick go, please?" and he came in to undo the mess we'd made. Some days I feel that partnership more than others, but it's very real and very there. He worked nicely yesterday - sorted off three different groups so I could work the other dogs, moved the heiffer calves, and then I did a little whistle work with him.
Ok, now I'm done for today. What have I done today? Almost nothing. I watched football in my PJ's, and thought about vacuuming my floors. But, I sort of tweaked my back yesterday, and that vacuum cleaner weighs almost as much as I do. Well, it feels like it anyway.
It's off to the Races! This also happens to be the creek we've fetched across a couple of times...
I chasies you
Toldya... it was a beautiful day.
See how green it is up front?
And what do the new calves think about it?
What's almost as cute as lambie races? Calf Zoomies I say.
Click to viewIt just occurred to me that I said nothing about the dog working! Well, Raven worked really nicely for me. Raven is a littermate of Nick's, staying with Julie for a few months getting some training on her. I've tried to work her a few times in the past and she's been hesitant, but yesterday she was very fast, and very keen - perhaps more confident than she's been with me. She was slicing in around 10:00 and 2:00 so I opened that up just a tad (don't want to PUSH her out so to speak, not with the tendency for wideness in these dogs) and she started flanking just beautifully. We did some driving (mostly I walked with her) and when I first asked her up she was hesitant to leave me, but in very short order she was pushing the sheep along nicely.
June was pretty good. She started out hesitant - and I wasn't sure why. Turned out that the heiffer calves I'd had Nick push off into the woods had comingled with the sheep I'd seperated out for June while I was off getting June and Raven. Once we managed to extricate her sheep from the calves we were A-OK. She was stopping decent, and had some gorgeous outruns. Driving we drove in ovals basically - and she was feeling rather confident driving yesterday.
Linc was better yesterday. It was revenge of the Mad Spaghetti Noodle, and with smaller turns and pushing him out just a little at 10 and 2 (recurring theme??) he was coming on nicely. He was really VERY keen yesterday (Katie bar the door!), but I was actually able to get him to stop and come to me (as opposed to stepping on his line and turning him a flip). There were some really nice moments yesterday, and by not allowing him so far up the sides and by taking smaller turns there wasn't much grabbing going on. I've got to get on more level terrain next time though - the bumps and hills were tough on me. I really enjoyed him yesterday.
It's interesting to me just how much I've come to depend on Nick. Yesterday when I was trying to get the sheep away from the calves (and June was hiding behind my leg) what I was really thinking was that I wished I had Nick down there. Just the other day I was working Zeke around a little and the sheep wound up in the woods. Chuck had Nick with him, and I hollared out "Will you let Nick go, please?" and he came in to undo the mess we'd made. Some days I feel that partnership more than others, but it's very real and very there. He worked nicely yesterday - sorted off three different groups so I could work the other dogs, moved the heiffer calves, and then I did a little whistle work with him.
Ok, now I'm done for today. What have I done today? Almost nothing. I watched football in my PJ's, and thought about vacuuming my floors. But, I sort of tweaked my back yesterday, and that vacuum cleaner weighs almost as much as I do. Well, it feels like it anyway.