Jackson's out run

[Dixie_Girl]

Well, yesterday we had another great day training. Usually, Carol Anne will work him first, then I will copy what she did. This day, I think Jackson finally said, "enough, I will have only one master!"! He worked for her, but not well. She said we have got to the point in his training that I need to take the reins, so to speak. I got in with him and it went great. His walk ups were more confident. We did a lot of work on him "knowing" what come by and away actually mean. In other words, I gave the command WITHOUT body language or help from stick. Then, if he didn't move, gave him a cue. He was getting it by the end of lesson. Not 100% yet, but not bad. I asked about teaching out runs. She said we had to go slow on that. But she said, he is ready if I can stand with him and have the sheep off aways and send him and he "arcs" to get behind them. I inadvertantly did it! In other words, I was going to send him to the other side of sheep that WERE by me to practice his driving. HA! The damn sheep had left me and went about 25yrds away! But when I sent him he was great! I will post some pics in gallery. Carol Anne said that is great and we should be moving from the large pen to the pasture very soon! I am so very proud of my boy!

 

In the few weeks we have been doing the private once a week lessons, he has gone from a crazed BC chasing sheep in circles and paying more attention to guard dogs than sheep to actually being anxious to get in and work sheep. Pays attention to other dogs working. Listening and learning while in pen with sheep. He has a lot of natural ability shining through, and as long as I don't screw him up (LOL) he looks like he is going to do very well. So now we will work on him learning what come by and away means without using body language or physical cues. And practice more on outruns. So far, so good!

 

Did I mention how proud of that boy I am!?

[Little Bo Boop]

Well good for you Sounds like you're both working hard and making progress. Pretty fun huh? Keep up the good work. Sounds like you have a good trainer. As a novice myself, I'm finding that you can't be in a hurry, and 'slow and steady wins the race'.

[Sue R]

Jackson's progress sounds wonderful! You are fortunate to have a very qualified instructor close enough that you can have regular lessons.

 

Best wishes!

[Dixie_Girl]

Bette, yeah, it is great fun! My trainer is excellent. One thing I like is that she isn't afraid to tell me when I screw up! She even wrote a "C" on my left hand and an "A" on my right cuz I kept messing up! Jeeze! She told me if I remember it like that it will be easier no matter which way the dog is cuz you just think of your fingers as arrows pointing the way. Anyway, made it easier when I am out there trying to remember everything else and my dog is flying by me in learning! Brat! LOL And yes, I am trying to keep it slow. The better he learns the steps, the better he will do when its the whole picture!

 

Thanks Sue. Yeah, I got very lucky getting Carol Anne. I thought an hour drive was bad till I found out how far some have to go!

[Sue R]

My friend and I drive almost three hours each way, which is one reason why we can only go about once a month. I envy you - an hour is nothing!

 

Best wishes!

[Dixie_Girl]

OMG gee whiz Sue! Talk about dedication! I have nothing but pity and admiration for you! At least you have a friend to go with! In the long run it will be worth it! Do you have sheep to practice what you learn? I gotta get my fence up and then wait for my sheep! Can't wait! Hope it is all going well with your training! Isn't it Celt you are training?

[Sue R]

Celt is my boy and my joy! I don't have sheep to work with except at the trainer's but we do have a small herd of cattle. We run about 20 to 30 cows/first calf heifers, plus a bull, and whatever calves are on the ground. Our calves leave in the fall (steers to the steer pool, and heifers to go and be grown out and bred, with half coming back a year later).

 

So, what we have to train on/work with varies throughout the year. In the winter, it's mainly the dry cows and heifers expecting their first calves in early spring.

 

In spring, I may have the first-timers in one pasture and cows in another, so I have two groups to work with. They will be anywhere from expecting to having an assortment of calves on the ground. They will be put together in later spring.

 

In the summer, it's the entire herd, complete with the calves. When it's hot, no one wants to move so anything we do has to happen early or late in the day.

 

In later summer, we wean the calves and I will have cows in one location and the weanlings in another. Then the young stock go and the bred first-timers come in and go with the cows until later winter, when we separate them out so we can keep a closer eye on them for calving.

 

The bull sometimes runs with the herd and is sometimes by himself or with a few other animals. Some years, I have a few heifers that didn't go out to grow and be bred as they were too small to go, and so they provide me with "training heifers" for the dogs.

 

Thoughout the year, this gives us different jobs to do with groups of animals that can be quite different from each other, which is nice. However, I sure wish I had some sheep to work with but the fencing right now is prohibitive. Maybe next year (I keep saying that). So, I envy you getting some sheep but I am very grateful to have stock that requires us to have a few good dogs and gives me opportunity to train and work.

 

Hope and I would love to go to lessons more frequently but it's a full-day trip and too costly to do it more than we do. Having a friend to travel with is marvelous - we do nothing but talk dogs both ways!

 

I still envy you having a great trainer so close to you. I'm very grateful for my trainer but it is a long haul. Actually, it's a long haul to any training or trial!

 

Best wishes!