We travelled to Willowside Ranch in Pescadero, California - just south of Half Moon Bay - for a fun trial this past weekend. It was indeed fun although it would have been more fun if the rain had held off as Sunday was run under very wet and windy conditions. Actually the weather was even more troublesome on the drive along the coast highway home.
The trial was a two day affair and we ran in Open Ranch - which was basically a short - 220 yard set out - ISDS course with pen and then shed. The sheep were set out in a "setting vee" - basically a pen at set out with an opening on one side - a contraption which I dislike because I believe it allows sloppy outruns and makes it very difficult for a dog to get a good lift as they tend to go on one side or the other of the fence.
Anyway Piper had a rough Saturday essentially where we have been struggling on the drive. She also had one ewe who simply refused to pen - not uncommon on Saturday so we never got to the shed. Disappointing as that was one of the main reasons we made the trek North.
After our run Saturday we did exhaust for about 10 of the Pro-Novice runs. Piper was a champ at this task and I literally never had to move from the post I was leaning against as she went out and retrieved and put away sheep in a very workmanlike manner.
Sunday we ran better although I betrayed her with some over handling at the panels on the drive. I especially blew the cross drive panels as I thought the sheep were already through and gave the flank whistle only to see Piper execute a lovely flank and turn the sheep right in front of the panels. Oh well. Piper got her pen and we had about 2 1/2 minutes left to try our first ever shed in competition. One failed call through lost us 5 points but she came through nicely on the second attempt and our judge called the shed. Yay. She finished in 3d place in a small Open Ranch Class on the day.
On the drive home we stopped for an hour in Los Olivos for a little lunch and wine tasting. It was a very cute town and the highlight of the stop was Carhartt Vineyards (yes a relative of that family) where owners Mike and Brooke were very gracious, We left with a couple bottles of wine and a souvenir hat.
Thursday, October 28, 2010
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
Audition
I have a new (almost) 2 year old that I picked up at the airport yesterday that is on audition. Her name is Rylee and she is half sister on the father's side to Tricia Guidry's Tipper (E. Baker's Rye) and half sister on the other side to Nina Fox's Jed (E. Baker's Mist).
She is a fairly small mostly black - white on the tip of nose and under the chin and chest. One white foot. She arrived at Orange County last night very in doubt about the whole travel experience but quickly warmed up to me and later to Diana. I think Diana fell in love with her within about 30 minutes. She really is a sweetheart.
Well we took her down for a test drive today at Jennifer's and the early returns are very promising. She looked good enough in the small arena that Jennifer decided to venture out onto the field. Quickly Jennifer had her doing outruns of about 100 yards with some nice controlled fetches. She actually has a lie down which can be applied without slamming hard on the brake pedal. Her flanks looked nice and kept a constant distance from the sheep without spiralling inwards.
On her second outrun she went to where the sheep had been and upon discovering the sheep had exited before she even started onthe outrun but she looked around on her own and cast out after them.
She will be a very different dog to handle than Piper. Just a way different style.
Waiting for the official test drive decision but right now it is looking very promising.
She is a fairly small mostly black - white on the tip of nose and under the chin and chest. One white foot. She arrived at Orange County last night very in doubt about the whole travel experience but quickly warmed up to me and later to Diana. I think Diana fell in love with her within about 30 minutes. She really is a sweetheart.
Well we took her down for a test drive today at Jennifer's and the early returns are very promising. She looked good enough in the small arena that Jennifer decided to venture out onto the field. Quickly Jennifer had her doing outruns of about 100 yards with some nice controlled fetches. She actually has a lie down which can be applied without slamming hard on the brake pedal. Her flanks looked nice and kept a constant distance from the sheep without spiralling inwards.
On her second outrun she went to where the sheep had been and upon discovering the sheep had exited before she even started onthe outrun but she looked around on her own and cast out after them.
She will be a very different dog to handle than Piper. Just a way different style.
Waiting for the official test drive decision but right now it is looking very promising.
Sunday, October 17, 2010
Another Day @ Training
Yesterday was a crowded day at Canines - n - Ewe. Handlers included Ron, Jeff, Tricia, Hiroko, Mike Burks, Sally Douglas and me. Allowing for multiple handlers with multiple dogs and also Jennifer getting some work in with Callie it was a crowded day. But a good one and I think everyone seemed to enjoy it.
Mike Burks young 13 month Mia is looking pretty nice. Haven't seen her in a while and she has progressed well. Sally had a bit of an up and down day but Trapper sure showed well on the difficult get the sheep in the pen while another dog is tied inside the pen drill. It was being done to simulate the anticipated difficult to pen ewes expected for the Porterville Fall Trial.
Jeff and Dusk were their usual impressive team having the best go in all three rounds we did, followed very closely by Tricia and Tipper, and Mike Burks and Sport.
Hiroko and Dusty did some nice tune up for Willowside PN Trial next weekend.
On our Outrun Practice Piper was flattening a bit on the top after going plenty wide. This resulted in slightly rough lifts. Then the rambouillets we used for this exercise wanted to pull hard to the handlers left and the first time or two we were slow to get them back on line (In fairness they did this to pretty much all of the dogs except I think Dusk). But we managed to get it straightened out and she did a fairly nice job her last go on this exercise.
We also worked on shedding and it was easier than last week but I am still standing too close to the sheep and not setting it up well. Piper would not come in the first couple times when I was in the wrong position but she did start coming through for me as we worked on it. She was also turning on the right group but not immediately taking control of them so Jennifer made us wall them off until Piper clearly took control.
Our final exercise was a driving triangle followed by a pen with a dog inside the pen to discourage easy penning. Apart from my own overflanking and being late on my turns Piper did fairly well on the drive. I noticed that the smoother the first leg the better the flowing leg was. Our first leg was a struggle as the sheep wanted to tip heavy to the left and we eventually pushed them back on, But then when we made the turn the wanted to escape toward the middle panel but not exactly on line. They did not require pushing. It was more of a controlled escape. But Piper took a nice flank - which for once I timed correctly - and hook turned them right trough the middle panel. I was late on my flank on the third panel and missed.
But the line to the pen was clean and controlled. I had one ewe that kept trying to escape the mouth but every time I asked her to, Piper covered it well. She actually seems to work nicely for me once we get to the mouth of the pen and seems to understand the job. It was nice to get this practice because it is something we rarely work on.
Mike Burks young 13 month Mia is looking pretty nice. Haven't seen her in a while and she has progressed well. Sally had a bit of an up and down day but Trapper sure showed well on the difficult get the sheep in the pen while another dog is tied inside the pen drill. It was being done to simulate the anticipated difficult to pen ewes expected for the Porterville Fall Trial.
Jeff and Dusk were their usual impressive team having the best go in all three rounds we did, followed very closely by Tricia and Tipper, and Mike Burks and Sport.
Hiroko and Dusty did some nice tune up for Willowside PN Trial next weekend.
On our Outrun Practice Piper was flattening a bit on the top after going plenty wide. This resulted in slightly rough lifts. Then the rambouillets we used for this exercise wanted to pull hard to the handlers left and the first time or two we were slow to get them back on line (In fairness they did this to pretty much all of the dogs except I think Dusk). But we managed to get it straightened out and she did a fairly nice job her last go on this exercise.
We also worked on shedding and it was easier than last week but I am still standing too close to the sheep and not setting it up well. Piper would not come in the first couple times when I was in the wrong position but she did start coming through for me as we worked on it. She was also turning on the right group but not immediately taking control of them so Jennifer made us wall them off until Piper clearly took control.
Our final exercise was a driving triangle followed by a pen with a dog inside the pen to discourage easy penning. Apart from my own overflanking and being late on my turns Piper did fairly well on the drive. I noticed that the smoother the first leg the better the flowing leg was. Our first leg was a struggle as the sheep wanted to tip heavy to the left and we eventually pushed them back on, But then when we made the turn the wanted to escape toward the middle panel but not exactly on line. They did not require pushing. It was more of a controlled escape. But Piper took a nice flank - which for once I timed correctly - and hook turned them right trough the middle panel. I was late on my flank on the third panel and missed.
But the line to the pen was clean and controlled. I had one ewe that kept trying to escape the mouth but every time I asked her to, Piper covered it well. She actually seems to work nicely for me once we get to the mouth of the pen and seems to understand the job. It was nice to get this practice because it is something we rarely work on.
Friday, October 15, 2010
Getting Back In The Saddle
Well I have been a little delinquent in keeping up this little training journal for the past few weeks.
Partially it was because our September training schedule has been somewhat sporadic due to Jennifer judging at Soldier Hollow and then the Nationals wiping out three weekends of training availability. But we have been back the last two weekends and will be back tomorrow for more.
So what did we learn. Piper did not magically correct all her faults by lying around for two weeks thinking about sheep. But she did not forget all her training from two weeks of inactivity either. And Diana seemed to like having us around a bit more.
One thing that did seem to be very nice is that when we got back on the field and Piper started to go way wide she took the call in whistle very nicely. I think my timing on t got a little better also.
Also If I stayed right on top of her with there and down whistles I was able to get a reasonably straight drive line in drills.
She still has trouble covering the draw with sheep that want to run on her although she will get over - she just takes an extra wide flank to get there sometimes letting it all go on for longer than it should.
Anyway we are training this weekend and then the following weekend we get back on the trial trail for the first time since Vista in June. Hoping the training put in during the hiatus in trials shows up on the trial field.
Partially it was because our September training schedule has been somewhat sporadic due to Jennifer judging at Soldier Hollow and then the Nationals wiping out three weekends of training availability. But we have been back the last two weekends and will be back tomorrow for more.
So what did we learn. Piper did not magically correct all her faults by lying around for two weeks thinking about sheep. But she did not forget all her training from two weeks of inactivity either. And Diana seemed to like having us around a bit more.
One thing that did seem to be very nice is that when we got back on the field and Piper started to go way wide she took the call in whistle very nicely. I think my timing on t got a little better also.
Also If I stayed right on top of her with there and down whistles I was able to get a reasonably straight drive line in drills.
She still has trouble covering the draw with sheep that want to run on her although she will get over - she just takes an extra wide flank to get there sometimes letting it all go on for longer than it should.
Anyway we are training this weekend and then the following weekend we get back on the trial trail for the first time since Vista in June. Hoping the training put in during the hiatus in trials shows up on the trial field.
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