KrisK Posted March 7, 2007 Report Share Posted March 7, 2007 Now that March is here....getting back to the trainer's place should happen in the next month or so. Last fall, Jazz surprised me by being the one who 'clued' into the sheep. He's my older (will be 8 this year) and more mellow BC. I thought Cricket would be the one to pick up on it more quickly. However, she is also the one with the most 'issues' (very fearful, but getting better) It's a 1 1/2 hr drive one way to get to the trainer's farm. Since I'm putting in this time, would it make more sense to continue to bring both dogs for lessons or should I concentrate on Jazz? We don't have sheep (YET) so I can't 'practice' much in between lessons. I'm not expecting a lot from either of the dogs in terms of being trial dogs or anything like that. I am just enjoying the experience of working with them and seeing how far they can progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iLLt3cK Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Now that March is here....getting back to the trainer's place should happen in the next month or so. Last fall, Jazz surprised me by being the one who 'clued' into the sheep. He's my older (will be 8 this year) and more mellow BC. I thought Cricket would be the one to pick up on it more quickly. However, she is also the one with the most 'issues' (very fearful, but getting better) It's a 1 1/2 hr drive one way to get to the trainer's farm. Since I'm putting in this time, would it make more sense to continue to bring both dogs for lessons or should I concentrate on Jazz? We don't have sheep (YET) so I can't 'practice' much in between lessons. I'm not expecting a lot from either of the dogs in terms of being trial dogs or anything like that. I am just enjoying the experience of working with them and seeing how far they can progress. If you're not planning on taking either dog to a competitive level and it's just for the experience then I would continue to bring both dogs. Imagine being the only kid that doesn't get to go to Disneyland every weekend! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoe Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Krisk, no experience here ! But I am just curious and trying to learn. How many "lessons" have you actually had ? And when you say Cricket has issues and is "fearful", do you mean around sheep ? ( My gut feeling is that I would continue to take her - if I could afford to financially ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoe Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Krisk, no experience here ! But I am just curious and trying to learn. How many "lessons" have you actually had ? And when you say Cricket has issues and is "fearful", do you mean around sheep ? ( My gut feeling is that I would continue to take her - if I could afford to financially ). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carson Crazies Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 I guess it just depends! Isn't that always the answer? I take two dogs to lessons. My situation is that I have one dog that has (for the most part) likely reached her potential, but I feel like I'm still learning so much from her that I'm continuing lessons and working her (though she'll likely never see another clinic or trial field - her short lived trial career was pretty dismal). My young dog is getting some work, but not a lot, so it's no skin off of my back at this point to take two. I also think about the fact that I drive an hour to an hour and a half to take lessons, and often much more than that just to work my dogs - so I do try to make it worthwhile and work both dogs while at it. The deciding factor for me is two-fold. As long as June continues to enjoy herself and seems to get benefit from working, and as long as I continue to learn from her and neither of us get overly frustrated, I'll keep on with her. All of that being said, with your fearful dog I'd be inclined to continue - it's likely to increase her confidence just in general. I guess it also depends on what your goals are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Kris, If you can afford it, keep going with two. Even if you never trial, as others have said, the work will certainly help Crisket's confidence. And it never hurts to have *two* useful dogs whenever you do finally get sheep. J. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rebecca, Irena Farm Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 The more dogs you train and work, the more you learn. Every dog has something different to bring to the table. It's pretty cool, actually. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KrisK Posted March 8, 2007 Author Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 Thanks everyone. My gut feeling was to continue working with both dogs. Cricket is a very bright girl and I think she will 'get' it once she is used to all the 'new' things around her. She is not afraid of the sheep, but putting her into any new situation makes her very cautious. She has come a long, long way and even approaches people on her own, provided I've warned them to ignore her. That's a giant step for her. We've only had 3 or 4 lessons so far and I was very impressed with how quickly both dogs 'changed'. When we first arrived, it was a total 'bark' fest The following week...almost silence It was amazing, to say the least. The trainer is very patient and he doesn't seem to think we are wasting our time. I'm anxious to get back into it again. And hopefully by the end of the summer, have a few sheep of our own (DH is rolling his eyes about the sheep this year - must work on him!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurae Posted March 8, 2007 Report Share Posted March 8, 2007 This is a timely topic for me. After working for almost two years with my novice dog--who is great and would be much, much further along if he was working with an experienced handler and had his own sheep to work--I have finally come around to the idea that buying an open dog will help me learn faster. I've learned a ton while working with Taz, but there is just SO SO much yet to learn. I think after two years, I'm finally starting to understand some of the subtleties of this (what can I say? I'm clearly a slow learner ). Many people have told me that their own learning curves flattened dramatically once they got a trained dog to work with. I resisted the idea for a long time because, with limited sheep time in the first place, I didn't want to divide Taz's time with working another dog. But I think I've spent a lot of our time on sheep just foundering, and the lessons learned from one dog will transfer to the other. So even though I will be spending a little less time working Taz, that time will be of higher quality work in that I will be able to recognize what is happening faster and intervene more appropriately (or that is the hope, anyway ). So, now I'm in the process of finding an open-level dog to buy. It's really hard to decide! I keep wanting to buy each one I see, but fortunately my friends are also eyeing them and advising me so I find the dog who will be the best match for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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