Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 It is nearly seventy degrees today and lambing is pretty much over for me. Most of the lambs are almost a month old (some are more than that) so I decided to start Ted on seriously training for future lambing duties. We started out as we usually do, with me and Ted rather tense. We've been in a rut lately - I haven't been able to get to any training and we've been working the same old set of yearling replacement ewes, except for a little bit of work with the big flock. The only thing that's inspired me lately has been a few times I've worked him on these ewes and the little ones - so that was what I decided to work on today. After a couple of really lousy gathers, and more Not Listening from Ted, I sort of looked around at the sunshine, the cute wee lambs, and the green grass, and said, "Why is this not fun? One of us needs to have fun! I think I'll be the one!" So, I started chasing sheep around. I dared Ted to get silly. Instead, he looked at me like I'd grown two heads and started fixing the chaos I was causing. Then, if I backed up out of the way and gave very quiet commands, he'd take them instantly and readily. I did stuff that was so ridiculous that I don't think I'll even share - but by the end Ted was confidently heading escaping single ewes (with lambs) and doing longer gathers than he's done for me yet - with no "making" or fighting me for control. Today I think I finally internalized what everyone tries to tell me, that I'm too uptight, too scared of what might happen. I've known before of course, that this was a problem - I've said it here many times. But I couldn't figure out how to let go of that part. I think maybe I've got it now, probably (I hope) just in time for Ted. I need to remember to smile when I work dogs! Have fun! Screw up and learn from it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurae Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Wow--maybe this is what I need to do with Taz! Glad to hear you and Ted had such a good day! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenajo Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 Must be epidemic. We've got about a hundred lambs still to come and I'm simultaneously educating lambing with my older young dogs, and breaking my younger young dogs on the dry yearlings. And I'm still working 60 hours a week at the non farm job. All work and no play.... Hence when I was working Claire and Rose (the 2 youngers) yesterday, I hit the same flaw with both of them. (hmmm, 2 unrelated dogs with the same problem.. who would be the source of the problem then? ) The problem was if they didn't think the could handle the distance being sent perfectly, they didn't want to try at all. I had to do some hsssing and whoooshing to get them moving, and close my eyes to some rather er, exciting top ends, but within a few minutes of their sessions both were back in good spirits. And guess what, they *learned* just as much by being allowed to make mistakes as they were being held to perfection standards. I forgot the first law of sheepdog is "let the dog control the stock, then you control the dog". Once the girls were covering and controlling their stock again, I could get more control than before when I attempted it alone. Hmmmm....it's amazing what happens when you let them do their job. Both are exciting young dogs. When did I forget how lucky I was... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted March 3, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 I can't wait to see Rose. I've lost track of where Claire came from (lol). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenajo Posted March 3, 2008 Report Share Posted March 3, 2008 I can't wait to see Rose. I've lost track of where Claire came from (lol). Our breeding. She's a Katch and Aggie granddaughter on her momma's side, and her Daddy is a combination of the same lines as Laura Hick's Zac and and some midwestern imported dogs with Templeton and Redpath lines. She's different than Rose, but equally good at keeping me and the sheep on our toes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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