Fast Sheep, Failure to Shed and Torn Pads

We had a training session yesterday and Jennifer brought out some runners to help us get ready for the Crazy Coops at Dry Lake. Just the type of sheep that give Piper trouble - but just what she needed to work on.

Well, Piper's fetches were generally fairly well paced without wild run aways. And the first leg of her drives was not too bad but when we turned to make a cross drive in the direction the sheep wanted to run it was outrun size overflank to the heads. I could not see Piper because of the trees and I thought the sheep were headed in the right direction. By the time I could see Piper it was too late. In her defense the sheep were doing this to most of the dogs so it was a tough exercise -- but it is one we need to get down if we have any hope of doing well. Yesterday we did not pass the test. With these type of sheep the difference between a just right flank and overflank is a fine line. We are not walking the line tight enough yet but I think her pace is getting better even if it is through a lot of tapping on the brakes.

Later we attempted to do some shedding on some flighty Cheviots. We worked at it for quite a while and never could get them settled enough. Piper was dragging her tongue and eventually tore a paw pad. I noticed her start favoring one front paw and thought she had stepped on a sticker. When I checked she had a torn paw pad. At least we have a while for it to heal before the trial.

Rylee OTOH worked the same sheep as Piper and managed to keep them relatively slow. When she switched to the heavier sheep she managed to keep them barely ahead of glacial pace. My favorite moment from Rylee yesterday came from a rare outrun mistake. She started to cut in narrow on the away side and she took a lie down and then a redirect. I actually should have given her a "get out" instead of another "away" but the important thing was she stopped and took a redirect from me on the outrun. I was happy to see this as I have not had to redirect her on an outrun like this before. She is still very cautious and I need to keep her jazzed up but there are moments when she hits a nice flow. The sheep seem to like her and I think it is a matter of her confidence continuing to grow. She will never be a hard charger though which is OK as long as she keeps coming forward.