JaderBug Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 Jade and I attended our first herding clinic this weekend, put on by Bruce Nelson from Nebraska. What an experience! Going into it, I had no idea what to expect, no idea what I might learn from it- I assumed the clinician would work with me but mostly work with/on Jade. Turns out Jade wasn't the problem... I learned a lot more about myself as a handler than I did about training or about Jade. Bruce helped me with the problems I was making, things I didn't know I was doing, and almost instantly Jade started working better. Just goes to show that the dog's only problems are really that of the handler's. There was quite an assortment of dogs there too, and it was fun to watch them all work- mostly Aussies (it was hosted by our Aussie club), two Border Collies, a Terv, an English Shepherd, one cattle dog (with ice-blue eyes and mostly white with a lot of red ticking- beautiful dog!), and the two stars of the weekend, two little Shelties. I've never seen a Sheltie work before, and largely assumed they couldn't anymore. These two little black and white Shelties were incredible! Very quiet, moved around nicely, listened to their handler very well. Quite a pleasure to watch, and a nice surprise too. Another thing I thought was way cool... I'm about as green as a blade of grass to all this. I don't know a lot, and I'll be the first to admit it. I don't generally know how well Jade is doing as I've only ever had two perspectives on her, mine and our trainer's. What was really cool is that the clinician said he thought Jade had a lot of talent and a lot of potential. I was pretty excited to hear that, a new opinion from a stranger, someone who's been doing this for 20+ years. Needless to say, I'm proud of my little red dog, and my smile is touching both my ears now. Just wanted to share, thanks for listening Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bcnewe2 Posted October 26, 2009 Report Share Posted October 26, 2009 THe vision of your smile touching both ears is wonderful So gald you had such a good time and came away feeling good. Keep up the good work! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRipley Posted October 27, 2009 Report Share Posted October 27, 2009 Sounds like a great experience! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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