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Snowbirds On the Border - Overview Recap

2012-01-03T10:40:00.000-08:00

Putting on a sheepdog trial is a major undertaking. When it is a five day trial with a total of nearly 250 runs over the five days it is even more daunting. Jennifer and Ron pull it off extremely well each year. This year was no exception.

Like a Broadway show to the audience it all appears seemless from the front of the curtain. Behind the scenes, however, it is a different story. Production meetings and discussions precede the trial by several months. In fact the trial has now been over for only two days and I am sure that preliminary planning for next year is already underway. Serious preparations are well under way by mid summer.

Great thought and planning goes into each aspect and it shows in the end result. The last month or so is sheer madness. Coordinating travel schedules with a judge, arranging to bring in nearly 500 range lamb ewes, setting the course, bringing in 500 sheep, pasturing and feeding 500 sheep for over a week, lining up set out crews, lining up kitchen assistants, lining up scribes, etc. And all of this is done during the hectic holiday season.

Then on opening day there are always glitches. Sometimes minor - sometimes major. The thing is - unless you are part of the work crew - you would have no idea there were any glitches at all. That is because Jennifer and her crew do such a great job of making sure the glitches all get taken care of behind the curtain so to speak.

So - as usual - the Snowbirds trial came off seemingly without a hitch. At least any glitches that did occur were kept safely behind the curtain. Thank Yous go to many people but especially to Jennifer and Ron Ewers for hosting and organizing the whole thing, to Dianne Deal for judging (and also for her encouraging comments - more later), Jennifer's family for keeping things going behind the scenes, the set out crew, the volunteers for exhaust, the volunteer scribes, Tricia Guidry for keeping things running and many more.

As for my own trial experience I was generally pleased with how my dogs performed given how little I have been able to work them the last few months. More on that in a separate post.

Back In The Saddle

2011-11-21T19:47:00.000-08:00

After a layoff of nearly three months due to a variety of factors (including moving to a new house) I FINALLY got back on the training field with Piper and Rylee this past Saturday at Canines N Ewe.

I was not really sure what to expect from the dogs after such a long layoff but pretty much they both gave me about where we left off. True to their differences in personality, Piper would not take her eyes off the sheep from the moment we arrived and literally quivered with anticipation before being sent on her first outrun. Rylee was quite happy to be sent on an outrun but still did not want to come to my feet while working - at one point even deciding that the open back of the truck was a good place to go during a work session - at least until I dragged her out and back to work.

Sent on her first outrun Piper launched from my feet and went nice and wide. But when she started to come in a bit early I had to give her a bend out whistle. Since it was the first serious whistle she had been given in nearly three months I was a little apprehensive whether it would have any impact but she bent out nicely. Amazingly she even took my stop at the top and when the sheep came off line on the fetch she gave a nice wide covering flank when whistled on the fetch. But - just when I was about to comment that she was paying more attention than before the layoff - she decided to blow me off on some driving directions. A slight discussion and she was a little better the next time out.

Rylee started out a bit indifferently in close work but did some nice enthusiastic outruns. She even drove OK once we got the sheep around my feet,. She still does not like coming to my feet with the sheep though. She does not seem intimidated by any livestock but seems intimidated by coming to me on the field.

I could not have found two more opposite dogs in working personality. Piper does everything at 100 mph and Rylee always acts as if she simply does not want to make any mistakes. One needs constant tapping of the brakes and the other needs a foot on the accelerator.

But mainly it was just good to be back out with friends and working dogs,

The List

2011-09-09T14:42:00.000-07:00

I keep a mental list.

It is a list of the handler and dog teams I would like to beat.

The List is not formal and there are as many ways to make the lists as their are people on the list.

Some names on the List make it because they are a good measuring stick, some because they are friends and fun to compete against, and some because they have done something over the years to p*** me off for one reason or the other. So for the most part, I won't reveal who is on the list, But here are some of the ways you can make the List:

1. Be a good friend (the friendly competition angle);

2. Be a mentor (wouldn't we all really like to be able to beat our mentors at least on rare occasions - the measuring stick (high end) approach;

3. Be someone I train regularly with (really these people pretty much all fall into category 1 and/or 2 already);

4. Be someone I consider a peer level (again with the measuring stick);

5. Patti Sowell - ok this one falls into categories 1 and 4 also - but Patti gets special mention because we have a standing $1 bet whenever we run at the same trial - it adds a little spice and fun;

5. Be someone with an overly inflated opinion of their (and/or their dog's) ability (this is one of the bad ways to make the list and a reason not to give names);

6. Be a jerk (the a**hole reason - see reason not to give names);

7. Alasdair MacRae - I have only met him a couple times and he has always been very nice to me and a true gentleman but really who in sheepdog trialing would not love to beat Alasdair and one his dogs just once (kind of like the weekend golfer beating Tiger Woods in his prime - you know it is not going to happen but you can dream - right - and if it ever does happen what a story, "there was this one trial, Alasdair was running Spot and I was running . . .") (OK - Alasdair is mainly there for an attempt at humor but I really would like to beat him if we are ever running at the same trial - just not likely)

Hitting the Mute Button

2011-08-23T15:03:00.000-07:00

At our last lesson Jennifer hit the mute button and forbid me from yelling at Piper during our lower field driving drills.

It was for at least two reasons - one - we were trying to avoid upsetting Rylee who is sensitive to commotion in general and - two - it is important that I learn to rely on the whistles and get Piper to pay attention to them.

The result was probably the best extended driving session that Piper and I have experienced together. Last weekend - while Jennifer was out betting on the ponies at Del Mar - we continued with the mute button working at Anna Guthrie's. I worked Piper for an extended period in Anna's covered arena concentrating on solely using whistles and not using any voice commands whatsoever. If she did not take the whistle command the first time I simply took a step in her direction so she would know I was serious. Once again it was one of our best sessions for properly paced straight driving and Piper was definitely paying much more attention to my whistles.

As Candy Kennedy observed in a recent blog I think I had gotten into the habit of blowing the whistle and expecting to follow up with a shouted "Lie Down". Piper, in turn, had gotten into the habit of not believing the lie down whistle meant lie down until she heard the angry yell. So this is a habit I have to break and I think hitting the mute button on my shouts is a good start. Next I want to work on toning down the whistles so they don't sound as shrill.

With Rylee I worked on some confidence builders and simulating actual ranch type tasks. It seemed to help.

First, I sent Rylee to gather the approx 125 sheep spread out grazing in a mid size field so that we could sort out a working group. It was wonderful to watch her thinking as all I did was give a simple "away" command and watch her figure out what was needed to get the whole group together. Left to her own devices Rylee had the whole group trotting comfortably to me in a well grouped flock. Then we gate pushed them into a small catch pen and gate sorted about ten ewes off from the group to work with.

From there I had Rylee take the working group down the driveway from one pen to the covered arena where I worked Piper. I also gave Rylee a single session in the arena trying to get her to whistles and flanking without losing contact. We did a bit of driving, also, making sure Rylee would come by my feet. After working Piper I had Rylee finish with a few minutes working the small group back in the catch pen before turning them out to rejoin their friends in the grazing pasture.

A good day and I think valuable for our progress.

Outrun for show, Drill for Dough

2011-08-18T12:21:00.001-07:00

There is a saying among golfers "Drive for show, put for dough".

Roughly translated it means that the drive is for showing off and fun but it is the short game and putting that makes you a winner. In statistical terms to make par on a standard par 72 course there are 18 drives (or 25%) and 36 puts (50%). Yet if you go by any golf course you will see a crowd on the driving range and relatively few on the putting green. Why ? Well, it's much easier and more glamorous to brag about your 300 yard drives off the tee than to brag about consistently sinking 6 foot putts. It's more fun, too !

So what does any of this have to do with sheepdog trials ?

The outrun is only worth 20 points out of a typical 110 points (18%) in an Open run. Yes a bad outrun can set the tone for a bad run - but then so can a golf drive into the trees instead of down the fairway. Yet how many conversations do we have with other sheepdog trialers where we talk about how far our dog can go on an outrun. Our how often do we judge trials based on the length of the outrun.

To be honest it is fun to send your dog on a big outrun - I love watching Piper go off on a 6 or 7 hundred yard outrun - somehow it makes me happy to be able to say she can do a huge outrun. But the reality is that most trials are NOT 600 yard plus outruns. Two hundred to four hundred yards seems a much more common length. In the past year I have only had to send Piper 600 + yards at 2 trials.

There are 90 points remaining after the outrun. And while those elements may not be as glamorous as the outrun they are at least as - if not more - important. But the only way to get them done properly is to drill, drill, and then drill some more. It is not as glamorous or as much fun but it is definitely what we need to do more often. So we are going to try to concentrate more on the less glamorous aspects and put in the time necessary to get the other elements down. Especially the drive.

The Sheep Get A Plan

2011-08-14T09:27:00.000-07:00

Ever wonder what would happen if someone slipped the sheep an effective battle plan. Well we found out yesterday.

After doing drills in the lower field - look below for more - we moved to the upper field to do some outrun, lift, fetch and drive back work. Jennifer had Leon bring out four Rambouillets - the same ones that behaved so well at the Ewers Last Chance Trial. Well apparently they spent the last two weeks studying Sun Tzu's classic "The Art of War" or taking night school classes in effective battle tactics because these four sheep had a plan - and it worked.

The basic plan was to wait till the dog got past 9 o'clock and then break hard to the handlers left and the safety of the poolhouse. If they all made it then great. Subway sandwiches were definitely in play yesterday for pretty much all of the dogs.

If the sheep did not make the safety of the poolhouse as a group they activated Plan B. Plan B proved to be an ingenious sheep plan almost guaranteed to frustrate Border Collies. In Plan B the sheep sent an advance scout - who came to be known as Blue But - because of the blue chalk marking on her but - ahead to lure the Border Collie off the main group. Blue But would go forward and down the hill pulling off line forcing the Border Collies to cover while the rest of the group stayed behind in the safe Border Collie Free Zone of the hill. Once Blue But had pulled the Border Collies far enough away the rest of the group would make a break for it requiring the Border Collie to leave Blue But to stop the rest of the group from escaping. This, of course, meant Blue But could finish her escape. As sheep tactics go - it was brilliant - far more effective than the usual "let's flock together and stay in a tight little group where one dog can keep us together" strategy.

Although this strategy helped the sheep make it a true contest the Border Collies ultimately were up to the task and nobody had to buy Subway sandwiches.

Her first go Rylee figured the strategy out nicely and stopped way short of high noon to block the planned escape. Unfortunately as she was walking in the set out dog helped the sheep escape and it was off to the poolhouse. Given time to sort it out, however, Rylee soon had a very reluctant group of four sheep trotting back from the poolhouse to the practice field with Rylee providing incentive from behind. Given her recent lack of enthusiasm it was very nice work and I was very happy with her.

Piper started her top field work with a very difficult task. A couple dogs before Ron and Jessie had put Blue But in the isolation pen because she was getting difficult to handle and some of the less seasoned dogs were running. Before doing an outrun we tasked Piper with taking Blue But out of the pen and back up to join the sorority at the top. So - take an unruly single out - and push it 150 yards or so up a hill where it did not want to go. The task started ok and then Blue But made an escape in the general area of the poolhouse. I am not sure exactly what happened over there out of sight but apparently Piper gave Blue But an instruction in the ways of the world and dog sovereignty over sheep because pretty soon Blue But was coming back one step at a time with Piper calmly pushing Blue But where Piper wanted. It was very nice work on a tough single.

Piper's outrun was nice and her lift pretty good and then the sheep tried Plan A - all run like hell together. It did not work as Piper covered nicely. So the sheep tried Plan B - send the advance team to draw Piper off so the rest can escape. That did not work either as Piper was on it. I was very pleased with her work.

Now back to the beginning. We started with drills in the lower field. This was very good as we need more of this. Rylee went first so we could ramp up her enthusiasm. ANd it worked. Rylee was circling with the sheep against the fence and taking directions nicely all the while keeping up her speed and not disengaging.

Then Piper for driving drills in the lower field. Instructions - no voice - absolutely no yelling - and if she needs a correction take a step toward her. Two purposes - get Piper serious - and avoid upsetting Rylee. I believe it was the best flanking and driving drill we have ever had together. I know it was the longest we have gone without hearing Jennifer offer correction. And when we finished and I got back to the rest of the group Piper got a well deserved good job from Jennifer. This is a method that works and I need to stick to it to build trust with Piper.

Why Can't We Be Friends ?

2011-08-10T20:42:00.000-07:00

The title of this post is from a 1970's era song by a band called War.

Used here it is a question to Rylee.

Rylee is a talented dog who is simply overly cautious for her own good. When working away from me she works very well and has a number of good attributes. Evidence of this is she scored a 30 at the recent Nursery Trial timing out on the FETCH. So she was almost perfect at the top (Judge gave her 1 pity point on the fetch).

We have seen her work in difficult situations and she does not seem intimidated by the sheep. She is cautious but not generally intimidated (except apparently by me).

What she does not like to do is bring the feet completely to my feet. Instead of getting better the problem actually has gotten worse over the last two months or so.

I have wondered about the reasons - did it have anything to do with her being in heat - probably not ? Have I been too harsh ?

Well - last Saturday we tried working on it in the lower field against a fence. Rylee was still avoiding coming in by mine so Jennifer came out to work her. Instant change. Rylee was far from perfect but she was showing some more enthusiasm. Half - and only half - jokingly - Jennifer suggested Rylee just doesn't like me.

As a handler this is certainly possible even though she sure likes to follow me around and cuddle off the field. We think some of it is she does not react well when I am harsh with Piper so I deliberately tried to tone down my tone of voice with Piper for the rest of the day. Also we deliberately worked Rylee first in rotation so she would not hear me interact with Piper.

It seemed to work as Rylee's fetches were with much greater pace than they had been recently. She even busted in on the sheep and made a mess a couple times. Joy to my eyes with Rylee. And - wonder of wonders - she made the turn around me and came right by my feet to start a drive. Closer than she has ever been willing to come to start a drive before.

So the plan for now is to work Rylee in situations that can give her success and for me to be as upbeat as I can with her. She is also getting extra attention and play time at home.

Rylee is a sensitive soul who needs to be properly wooed apparently. We need to apply the velvet glove to get her confidence and enthusiasm back up. I am certainly willing to accept some Rylee created messes on the field through enthusiasm. It will be much easier to clean those up than to have her shut down.

Rylee, why can't we be friends ?

Ewers Last Chance

2011-08-09T10:12:00.001-07:00

We attended a sheepdog trial at Jennifer's July 30 and 31. Creatively billed as "Ewers Last Chance" it was a casual trial run with the precision of German engineering. If that oxymoron makes sense to you then you know Jennifer - anything she puts together - even a "casual" trial is going to be well thought out and well run.

Piper and I drew up first in the run order on Saturday. I think Jennifer was greatly amused. I saw it as an opportunity to get the dreaded "run first" experience under our belt.

And - just as I predicted - Piper was standing in first place after our run. In golf terms "the leader in the clubhouse" with the score to beat. It lasted for a brief glorious eight minutes or so - until the second dog (Jeff Blackstone and Dusk) ran. I could not get a picture of the leaderboard with Piper in first because they did not post scores after only 1 dog.

All seriousness - Piper ran well for me on Saturday. The course was pen and then shed. We were unable to get the pen and thus also lost the shed points. Inability to get the pen was fairly common on the first several runs so I am not terribly concerned about it. Piper's run until that point would actually have been competitive so I was very happy with her. Still work needed on the drive but it was much better than it has been.

Sunday was a different story. Sunday was an interesting lightning bolt shaped fetch with a double dogleg through two sets of panels. We made the first and barely missed the second. The outwork was actually pretty good. The drive started well but went into full disaster mode at the first panel. Unlike Saturday we got the pen with minimal problems and moved on to the single. Piper came through on the first opportunity but never turned and took control of the single. Then the sheep left the ring. A quick glance at my watch said we had less than 30 seconds but I decided we would keep working it and just try as quickly as we could. It paid off as we got the split and Piper came through. The sound of my watch going off and Judge Angela Akers (who did a great job BTW) calling "good" were almost simultaneous. In fact I was expecting to hear "time" instead. We only had 1 point left on the split but the much more valuable lesson was to keep working the sheep until the very end.

Rylee had a rough weekend. Her outruns and lift were both very nice but she was overly cautious and Saturday completely would not bring the sheep past me to complete the fetch. Sunday she reluctantly brought them around my feet and started the drive before I retired her with a torn paw pad. She would not have completed the drive due to time. This is an issue we need to work on and we are coming up with a plan. More in a later post.

On Saturday after Rylee's run Piper and I went up to work in the pens after relaying the sheep back up to the top. Piper did yeoman's work at the top and I was very pleased with her. Unfortunately I started feeling ill and had to spend a fair amount of time sitting in the shade. This was no problem as I was able to direct Piper on her relays from my chair and she did a great job at this.

My illness continued through the night and I unfortunately missed the fabulous pot luck dinner and party on Saturday night. Since this was the 4th trial this year where I have become ill I finally decided to go see a Doctor the following week. It was definitely a wise decision and I believe we have identified the cause and how to deal with it.

Grandma Piper

2011-07-14T12:01:00.000-07:00

I don't really have too much to say training wise at the moment. Some definite work needs to be done to progress forward but nothing terribly exciting for a blog.

Piper is due to come into season sometime in the next month. So - out of pure curiosity - I decided to check with Laura Hicks regarding the litter Piper had before Laura sold her to me. Laura got back to me with the news that Piper was bred to Laura's Jag dog and had a litter of two females and one male. They are all on working ranched and are just over three years old now.

One of the bitches - Fly - was sold to Caleb Parker in Massachusetts. This is how Caleb describes Fly: " Fly is an even tempered dog that loves to work and loves people. She turned 3 this March. Fly is a working dog and spends about 5 or more hours a day working and enjoys every minute of it."

Here is a picture of Fly

Fly was recently bred to Maria Amodei's dog Levi and had a litter of two males and three females in May. I have been in touch with Sharon Perkins in Maine who has one of the male puppies as well as Maria Amodei (also one of the males) and they are both very excited about the cross.

Here is a puppy picture
Piper is not yet 6 so she must have skipped her prom to have her puppies. She says she is a little young to be called granny but I told her now that she is a grandmother she needs to act more maturely. LOL.

Dry Lake - Open Education

2011-06-02T15:01:00.000-07:00

I ran Piper in Open at the Dry Lake Sheepdog Trial. It was quite an education for both of us.

The field is a 3500 acre pasture that appears essentially flat at first appearance. It is definitely not flat. The outrun was set at about 600 yards. After about 300 yards there were dips in the field deep enough so that the outrunning dogs lost sight of their sheep. Either they needed to be on an already good path at that point or trust their handlers. Many dogs got lost getting out to their sheep. They crossed over. They ran past. They circumnavigated. They stopped and looked back confused. I should have been forewarned. Should have !

I sent Piper to the left. She was on a beautiful route for about 350 yards. Unfortunately the sheep were at 600 yards. At about 400 yards she started to turn in and cut across. I tried to blow my redirect whistle but for some reason I could not get it to blow. I shouted LIE DOWN !!! She ignored it and continued across. I shouted "come bye" and she sped up on what was already a come bye route. (I needed to give her a "get out" but did not think to do it.) She continued on, gaining speed as she crossed over a good 150 yards in front of the sheep, never seeing them. She eventually made it to the group of pine trees a full 100 yards to the right of the set out. Finally she took a recall whistle and I waved thank you to our judge Patrick Shannahan and walked out to meet Piper on her return trip.

Afterwards a couple handlers tried to tell me I was wrong to walk. One said I should have stayed until the judge told me to leave. One suggested that by not taking the opportunity to walk her out to find sheep (it was an available option day one) that I was just punishing myself. My thoughts were that I was sure not going to reward her for not listening to my attempts to redirect her and also that Open is not the time to be training my dog. Talking it over with Jennifer later I think it was the right decision. I could not get her out to the sheep on the original trajectory and best not to teach her she can take a figure eight route, ignore me, and still get her sheep.

So we made a plan. Second run she was going to listen and get redirected. Otherwise it was going to be a very long drive never to find sheep.

Sunday I sent Piper left again. This time after about 30 yards I lied her down. Then told her to get out. She immediately went way wide. Then at about 400 yards she took one step in and I gave her an immediate lie down. This time she took it. Then she took the get out command and travelled the rest of the way on a good routing arriving well behind her sheep. Her fetch was off line at the top as the sheep wanted to pull toward the set out (which they did to a lot of dogs) but she got them on line near the fetch panels and finished the fetch well.

The drive was a bit wild and quick but we did make both panels. In all it was certainly not good but better than she has been doing on the drive.

The sheep - which had been getting difficult to shed late in day 2 of open - actually parted for me like the Red Sea and Piper came in on them and turned on a group of two as asked. It may have been a bit sloppy but it was a clean shed. We did have some difficulty at the pen sending the sheep around twice before getting them to stop in the mouth of the pen. Then Piper walked them in for a completed course.

Final score 63. Just out of the top half. Work to do but improved.

I learned that I need to be aggressive in handling Piper and get in her head early if necessary.

Dry Lake - Nursery Report

2011-06-02T12:16:00.001-07:00

Rylee ran in the Nursery at Dry Lake. There were two Nursery Runs - the first class had 15 entrants and the second had ten. Three dogs earned qualifying legs in the first go and two in the second go. We were not among them.

The Nursery course was a significantly shortened circuit from the Ope Course - the outrun was ONLY about 300 yards. More importantly though the topography for the first 300 yards let the young dogs see their sheep the whole route on the outrun so they did not have as much trouble as the Open dogs.

Rylee's first run she had gorgeous outwork. A nice wide and deep outrun to the right. Followed by a slow and steady lift. On the fetch the sheep tried to lean on her a bit but she steered them nicely. 0-1-2 off for a total of three points lost on the gather. When the drive got a little bit out of control though I decided to retire her rather than put too much pressure on.

The second run started much the same but the sheep leaned harder toward the exhaust on the fetch and Rylee was a bit behind on the steering so we were off line on the fetch. We got the drive underway and it was a bit wild at the turns but I decided to hang on and see if she would cover. By this point in the trial the sheep were getting a bit difficult and I wanted to see what she could do as long as it was not getting truly out of control.

I was a bit late giving her the flank to cover the exhaust draw on the cross drive. But despite the sheep wanting to make it to exhaust Rylee covered them. I actually could not see Rylee because she was behind a slight dip but I saw the sheep stop and turn their heads. So I presumed she had them and when they turned around and started walking my way I went to the pen. Rylee did a nice job putting them in the pen and we finished in 3d place.

She is coming along a little bit each time we go out.

Dry :Lake - The Travelogue

2011-06-02T11:32:00.001-07:00

Just got back from Dry Creek and there is so much to report that I will split it into multiple posts.

The first post is devoted to the journey. It was a long one. But fun !

I carpooled to the trial with Ron and Jennifer Ewers. I had decided to tent camp due to the trial field being twenty miles from the nearest hotel. Jennifer suggested I ride with them and I took her up on the generous offer. It was a fun ride both ways but LONG.

On the way up we stopped at a wonderful RV Resort called Boulder Creek in Lone Pine, California in the High Desert foothills of the Sierra. It was a nice campground and earned a 5 star rating from the Ron and Jennifer RV dog travel rating system. Here is a pic taken at the camp.

The second night we made it to Reno where we were guests at Marla Corey's house. Marla certainly made us feel welcome pulling out all the stops for a wonderful brisket dinner. Best of all she has a great backyard that the RV barely managed to fit in and the dogs all had a great time playing in the yard. Thanks mucho Marla.

But no trip to Reno would be complete for this crew without a trip to outfitters Mecca. Marla generously drove us over and Ron got some new rain pants at this place.

Day 3 we made it the rest of the scenic route up to Dry Lake. We arrived just in time to help Geri Byrne lay out the shedding ring and get a look at the outrun ahead. The field was a several thousand acre grass pasture with trees at one end for camping. Except for the weather it was ideal and the dogs had a fabulous time running themselves crazy.

The tent managed to stay dry and reasonably warm despite the best efforts of mother nature.

On the way home our trip was interrupted by high winds closing US 395 just north of Mono Lake. After searching around we finally found a nearby RV park that would take 10 dogs. It was on an alpine lake setting and was lovely. Once again the dogs enjoyed themselves greatly.

Piper is a fan of Magellan

2011-05-22T19:18:00.000-07:00

Ferdinand Magellan is famous for being the first explorer to circumnavigate the world (actually he was killed on the voyage and did not make it all the way). The voyage was from 1519 - 1522.

Apparently Piper was reading up on her Spanish explorers and is a fan. Or maybe she just read on Facebook that Geri Byrne is famous for setting long outruns and was threatening an 800 yard outrun for Dry Lake. Either way Piper was ready for a long outrun yesterday at Jennifer's. Only problem - the sheep were not that far away.

First run of the day I sent Piper away. The sheep were actually a little forward of where they are usually set - but not by much and we were sending from further back. Piper went out and looked good and then she just disappeared. I waited, blew a come in whistle, waited some more, blew another come in, waited, blew a recall, waited, blew another recall and finally Piper was sited completing a circumnavigation of the entire field without ever finding sheep.

It took Magellan 3 years to circumnavigate the globe. It took Piper a lot less time. If she runs that wide next week at Dry Lake we may be looking for her in Oregon.

It was the start of a rough day for Piper. To be fair she did some things well and it was a level of work that I would have been happy with a year ago, but it was below her capabilities and not what I was hoping for a final tuneup for Dry Lake. Oh well, bad rehearsal, good show. And we may get a slight tuneup in as we travel North - either right before leaving or when we arrive.

Rylee was a different story. SHe had a better day yesterday and was starting to show some pace at least on her fetch. She did have a little trouble on one or two outruns but she took the redirects (an encouraging thing) and generally came up well. She is still extremely cautious but she was showing a little more pace yesterday. This was particularly true in the afternoon when we were working on drive aways and straight fetches in the lower field. She still needs encouragement to come near my feet to get the drive started but she is doing better on that and once she gets past my feet we were able to jazz her up a bit. Just need patience.

Fast Sheep, Failure to Shed and Torn Pads

2011-05-15T11:07:00.001-07:00

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.

Rectangles in the Pasture

2011-05-09T10:02:00.000-07:00

We went to Anna Guthrie's on Saturday to get in some sheep time at a different location since Canines n Ewe was spending the day at the Campo Rodeo. Unfortunately we could not make it down to the rodeo but I heard it was fun.

Anyway the plan was to work on flanks and flank drills. And so we did.

Working in a relatively small field with a group of runners that wanted to stay way off Piper we spent almost our entire first period with the sheep doing flanks. Half flanks, full flanks, quarter flanks - just trying to randomly place Piper in different spots in relation to the sheep without moving the sheep or getting into the comfort zone. Generally Piper did pretty well at this although she was slightly better going to the come bye side and tightened the circle a bit on the away side. So she got some corrections there and seemed to be doing better.

Our second (fairly lengthy) work session I worked on driving a specific pattern. We did at least ten minutes of me standing in the center of the field and driving rectangles around the perimeter of the field. We alternate drawing our rectangles clockwise and counter-clockwise. The point was to get straight lines and controlled flow. She did very well at this but as is her pattern she did better as she got tired. Piper still wants to get up to fast but an immediate sharp whistle slowed her to appropriate pace and I could keep her back with there whistles. After doing rectangles for some time we did what would essentially be a search pattern going up and down the field one lane at a time.

With Rylee I also did some flank drills - which she seemed to do well at for the most part. She still sometimes gets up to head in the wrong direction but she definitely takes her there and lie down better than Piper. I also put her in a fairly small "catch pen" - maybe 12 feet square with the sheep - where she definitely had enough room to flank around - and made her do flanks in the confined area to hopefully help with confidence a bit. Also had her lie down and just watch the sheep to hold them in place for short stretches.

Finally we did some open field driving and I tried to keep her moving to get a flow going for her confidence level. She is coming along nicely. Her natural tendency is to be very cautious and she does not like a mess. We also need to work on steering. I can put her on a line and she will drive that line but if the sheep pull hard to one side it can be difficult to get her to put them back on line. This is true both fetching and driving and we need to work on it.

I also started her with lie down and walk up whistles. They need to be much calmer than with Piper but she seems to be getting them both.

In many ways Piper and Rylee are opposites. I will spend my entire partnership with Piper trying to apply the brakes and slow her down. With Rylee it is just the opposite - the biggest thing is trying to just push on the accelerator just a bit. Sometimes she needs a firm "Get Up" after a lied own to get moving again. I don't think it is lack of power because once she gets up she will move most anything. It may be lack of confidence because she is very cautious about it. From talking to Elizabeth Baker it seems to be something that runs in the line a bit and they tend to grow into their confidence. So I hope she is right.

Anyway it is always good to get to different fields and different sheep and I enjoyed visiting with Anna.

When is the last time ???

2011-04-14T15:08:00.000-07:00

When is the last time you went to a clinic and the clinician said bad things about your dog ??

It just does not seem to happen and for a very practical reason - the clinician is there to sell you on going to clinics and make you feel god about your dog and training. If you don't have a "feel good" experience you either won't return or won't recommend the clinician.

The last clinic I went to tested this theory. Norm Close was the clinician and he is a very nice guy and a very good trainer. I took my Maggie - who I love dearly - but she just does not have it as a sheep dog. I tried for a long time to get her to drive and at times it seemed we would have breakthroughs only to regress. By the time of the clinic she had just about decided to shut down. I tried to send her on an outrun (usually something she enjoyed) and she simply did not want to go.

I could see it in Norm's face but still he did not say anything bad or discouraging. But I knew. And I knew I had a different dog along that showed the difference.

When I brought Piper out and told Norm this would be a different experience I could see the doubt in his face. But he was too polite and too good a salesman to say anything.

When I gave her an away command she took off like a rocket and Norm turned to me. I could see it in his face. You were right - this is a different dog. Now she still has problems but the difference was obvious.

I bring this up now as I have a number of friends coming back from clinics both near and far over the last few months. Invariably they have similar things to say. Mr. (insert famous name) loved my dogs and we learned a lot. Some of them have even come back from clinics with new dogs they purchased from the clinician he loved the dog they brought so well. And when I ask what they learned at the clinic it is usually something Jennifer has been trying to beat into my thick skull (sometimes successfully - sometimes not) for months.

My own view has evolved. I think clinics can be helpful. But I think investment of time and money in regular sessions with a qualified trainer is much more valuable and will lead to more permanent progress. Unfortunately, there are no quick fixes in this sheepdog training effort.

Looking Ahead to Dry Lake

2011-04-11T17:36:00.000-07:00

I mailed my entry to the Dry Lake Sheepdog Trial today to be held Memorial Day Weekend in Northern California. I am hoping through hard work over the next 6 weeks or so to make it our first open trial where just surviving will not be enough to satisfy me. I am hoping to get our drive points off down to single digits and see if we can approach the outside range of becoming competitive. My objective for this Open trialing season was to gain mileage for both of us. This is the next step.

Recalibrating

2011-03-27T08:10:00.001-07:00

For over a year our goal has been to make it to Open and survive. We made it and survived our way around the course.

Now it is time to reset the goal. Now it is time to get to where we have a chance to be competitive. We need to do more than just "get around" an Open Course. And it is clear that our major emphasis has to be in cleaning up the drive and getting our communication together in that area.

I need to step up as a handler and Piper needs to listen to me on the drive. She has shown enough glimpses that I know she is capable but they have not transferred well to the trial field (for the most part). Our danger area seems to be making the turn and getting going on the cross drive.

We don't plan on trialing for another two months and our work requirement is clear. Maybe soon we will become an Open dog/handler team instead of just a dog that is running in the Open Class and surviving.

We started that process in earnest yesterday. It is clear we still have a long way to go.

Good Outrunners

2011-03-23T09:27:00.000-07:00

It seems I am blessed to have two good outrunners.

In four judged outruns over the weekend in Soggy Sonoma we lost a total of 4 points. Three of those came on one whistle to Piper her first time on the tricky hill field.

In two rounds of Nursery there were a total of two runs scored zero off the outrun. They both belonged to Rylee - one to each side.

So my dogs can outrun - it's what happens after and once I get involved that gets us in trouble.

Storms in Sonoma

2011-03-21T14:46:00.000-07:00

This was the 17th year for the Sonoma Wine Country Sheepdog Trial. It was my third year - first with a dog in Open. By all reports it was the worst weather in the history of the trial. Cold and torrential downpours on the field Friday and Saturday. Poor Bonnie Richardson got to run her Pro Novice dog in a hailstorm for almost her entire 7 minute run - and had a very nice run. There was a tornado in Santa Rosa - first one in about ten years. Trees (BIG TREES) were blown down overnight Saturday blocking major roads and the trial entrance for Sunday morning.

Yet - in the face of it all Sandy Milberg and crew (special note to computer guru Jack Mathieson, The Healdsburg FFA, the set out crews - Amy Coapman, Bill Swan, Derek Fisher and Sandi Anderson) for persevering in the face of some of the most adverse weather conditions in a long time. For a while we thought we were at Zamora.

Amanda Milliken was sending her friends links to the song "It Never Rains in California" as a joke. It was probably the best comment of the weekend.

I ran Rylee in both rounds of Nursery on Friday. I really did not expect her to be competitive yet as we had never completed a drive in the three trials we had run before. For us this was about getting trial mileage together and I also wanted to see how she would do with a second run on the same field - hoping to see a learning curve kick in.

I am very fortunate that both of my dogs seem to have arrived with a good outrun built in. The first Nursery Run at Sonoma is combined with the Pro Novice. Their were 51 dogs in the run order. There were only a handful of full point outruns. I sent Rylee to the right and she had a gorgeous and deep outrun for one of those full pointers. Her lift was cautious but I thought pretty good (the judge thought it was worth 4 points off). From there the sheep pulled hard to my right (their preferred route of escape on the fetch Friday) and Rylee had trouble covering them. She did get them back and around the post so we could start the drive but we rightfully lost most of her fetch points. It was not as bad an escape as the prior week at Poway but she still needs to cover it better. We had trouble getting it together on the drive and timed out.

Second run Rylee showed herself to be an apt pupil. Hopefully it was a glimpse into the future.

For her second run I decided to send Rylee left for two reasons. First, viewing Nursery as a training ground my philosophy is to send opposite directions on a second run unless there is a strong reason not to (like there was at Poway last week when I blew it.) Second, by this point the sheep had already run the field once and the lifts were starting to lean to the left toward the exhaust so the pressure had shifted from the first run. Rylee did another full point outrun. Her lift was a little better.

Then came the learning part. This time she held the sheep pretty straight on the fetch line and even took some steering. Five points off the fetch for a 12 point improvement from the morning. We worked our way through the drive and it was cautious but she took most of my directions and we made it through the drive for the first time. Judge took 22 points but I thought that was a bit much - felt more like a 15 to me. But that's why it is a judgement call. Anyway the big news was that we completed the drive.

We got to the pen with under a minute left and range ewes that - while pennable - were not entirely thrilled with going into the pen. And Rylee and I had NEVER penned together before - we had only even practiced once. Knowing our time I did not think we had a chance but thought we should work it as well as we could. Working together we got the sheep into the mouth of the pen and I started to apply pressure by bringing the gate around (careful not to hit the sheep). Rylee went to the back of the pen and amazingly enough the sheep went in just as time expired. It did not count by half a second but I was very proud of her.

Piper ran on the "Flat" Field on Saturday. Her outrun was its usual gorgeous self losing 1 point. Her lift was better than normal as I was able to slow her down a bit - also losing only one point. The sheep pushed hard on her to my left - toward the exhaust side - and the fetch was off line the whole way. We got around the post and the drive away was going reasonably well until we tried to make the turn after narrowly missing the panels.

Try as I might I could not get Piper to take the inside flank and she brought the sheep down more than halfway to my feet before we got them started back where they belonged. It looked like she was trying to take the sheep on a wine tasting tour of all of Sonoma County and I should have retired. But stubbornly I did not and when Piper took her second ride the side of a sheep grip the Judge made the decision for me.

Sunday we got another chance on the Hill Field. The terrain is such that the sheep are set on top of a hill and if the dog is anywhere close to right the dog is hidden from the handler's sight for the last part of the outrun and the entire lift. Given my need to put control on Piper and slow her for the lift this was a recipe for potential disaster.

I sent Piper to the right - really the only way to send. When she started to cut in early I hit her with a big AWAY whistle and she took it well. When she disappeared behind the terrain Piper seemed to be on a good trajectory so all I could do was wait and watch the sheep for signs that Piper had arrived. For many dogs that sign was a calm and subtle lift of the head. Not Piper. She arrived with the subtlety of a hand grenade and suddenly the four sheep turned and started down the field - but pretty straight. Judge did not like the lift and hit us for 7 points.

On the fetch Piper stayed on the muscle and the sheep wanted to split a bit - but she kept them mostly together and on a fairly straight line. I think we got two through the fetch gates. Then we had a stall and continued down the rest of the fetch. The turn was a tad wide but not horrendous. Ten points lost on the fetch.

Then the drive. Again it started fairly well but ran into problems after sliding just to the outside of the drive away panels. An away over flank brought the sheep through the panels the wrong way. We did make it through the two trees marking the early part of the path before she went to the high side again and brought the sheep probably 30 yards off line toward me. Some forceful voice commands got Piper listening again and we made it to the general vicinity of the cross drive panels finally missing them high and turning them down to the shedding ring.

This was my first attempt at a shed pen single and we made it to the shedding ring with nearly five minutes left. She got the shed on the first split without too much back and forth and Judge called it OK. There must have been something he did not like though because he took 7 points. Then it was on to the pen with a reluctant group, We worked them into the mouth several times and one reluctant ewe broke away in an attempted escape. Ultimately we got the pen and moved back to the ring for the single with over two minutes still left. One ewe split off the front but the judge had said "any single" so I decided to call her in. Piper came in and turned on the single for a completed full open course.

From the "So and so always gets the good sheep" department: On Friday, one of the Pro-Novice Handlers posted on Facebook that the morning runs were lucky because even though the weather was better in the afternoon the sheep were "tougher" or "worse" and harder to handle. Well "magically" once we went back to the Nursery dogs the sheep suddenly got "better" and "easier" to handle. Perhaps the dogs handled them better (no coincidence that the top Nursery dogs also did very well in the combined PN standings.).

Rough Weekend in Poway

2011-03-14T09:41:00.000-07:00

We went to a (relatively) local trial in Poway over the weekend. Open and Nursery both Saturday and Sunday. Total of four runs. No numbers.

But before getting to the details congratulations to a friend who had a very productive weekend. Mike Burks and Sport won the Open on Saturday for 7.8 points giving him just under 30 points to qualify for the USBCHA Nationals. That point total should be safe for qualifying. Then, to complete a good weekend, Mike and Mia won the Nursery Class on Sunday to get Mia's second Nursery leg and qualify for the Nursery Nationals. Good Job, and good weekend Mike.

Also Thanks to Mike for running my video camera for Piper's two runs, and to Tierney Graham and Ron Ewers for taping Rylee. Thanks also to Jennifer Ewers for a more detailed post mortem than usual from the Judge.

Now, to our runs. Piper ran fairly early on Saturday. She went out slightly narrower than usual (but not too bad) and was a little flat at the top. Three points lost from the outrun. Her lift was not the explosion it sometimes can be but was probably just slightly on an angle to my left, which Piper quickly fixed it and actually a better than usual lift for Piper.

Piper's fetch was pretty straight but brisk (not out of control fast - but definitely moving at a good pace.) We got three of four sheep through the fetch gates and got things calmed down for a pretty nice turn around the post. This was a major accomplishment as the sheep definitely wanted to run to exhaust on most people near the post. Six points lost on the fetch (there was one 3 point fetch and one 5 point so our 6 point fetch was one of the better ones for the day.)

We got the drive away started toward one of the other draws and had it going on a pretty straight and fairly controlled line. It was looking much better than usual and then suddenly we went over the edge of a cliff. Near the panels I gave an away flank when I probably should have just tried to hold the line. Piper took my away whistle as a come bye - which was even worse. Turned the sheep back and gripped. DQ.

So it was actually some of her better work, right up until it suddenly was not. And with Piper, when the run loses control it can go bad quickly, and did.

Rylee's Nursery run on Saturday was also abbreviated. She did a gorgeous full point away outrun. The lift was slow and cautious - but not as slow as at Zamora - and the sheep came off calmly but on a slight angle to the left. Unfortunately they stayed on that angle and I could not get Rylee to take my away flank and put them back on line. When she came around in front and crossed the course I retired so as not to put too much pressure on her. We need to work on that steering on the fetch line. Anyway as soon as I walked from the post Rylee regained control and exhausted the sheep rather nicely.

Piper ran late in the run order on Sunday. The run was almost a repeat of Saturday's although there were subtle differences. First, her outrun - she started to bend in early and I caught her with a redirect which she took nicely going deeper at the top. Interestingly, although we got there by different methods we lost the same three points. Her lift was very similar to Saturday's and sh again lost two points.

By this point in the trial, the sheep (which had been rerun) were pulling more strongly toward the draw than they were on our Saturday run. But Piper took my come bye flanks and though we were slightly off line due to the pull she put them back on a pretty good line fairly quickly and I was actually very happy with the level of steering she gave me. As we approached the post I over corrected the line a bit to get on the right side of the post and our turn was not as clean as Saturday. We lost nine points on the fetch but I actually thought she did better work on Sunday due to a more difficult group of sheep. Nine points was a fair deduction.

The drive was a little bit more difficult to set up but again we had it started and largely on line. Then when the sheep leaned inside Piper took the inside come bye flank and zoomed the sheep a bit much. From there it fell apart quickly. When the sheep made it back to some cattle holding pens it was another DQ. Then she calmly brought them off the cattle pens to exhaust.

Rylee on Sunday fell victim to my bad decision. Because of the fetch problem we had on Saturday I sent her left. Big Mistake. Her sheep, which were never really fully at the set out to start with, took the opportunity of no pressure coming from the draw side to take off well before she even reached 9 o'clock. From that point the chase was on. Unfortunately Rylee did not give a full speed chase and we never really got them back from their planned escape to the cattle pen draw. We did find a surprise group of ducks that wandered across the path between Rylee and the sheep though. Rylee politely decided to lie down and allow the ducks to pass losing her last chance to gain control of her sheep.

Next week, Sonoma - hoping for better finishes.

Cow Doggin'

2011-03-07T12:43:00.000-08:00

I went to my first USBCHA Sanctioned Cow Dog Trial on Sunday. It was a small trial held at Stockdog Ranch - Anna Guthrie's place in Pala just across Hwy 76 from the Pala Casino. I had never been to a Cow Dog Trial and thought it might be fun to go.

On Saturday I got drafted to be "scorekeeper" because Anna needed help and asked. Once I figured out what the job entailed I agreed to pitch in and it was a lot of fun.

Actually there were two trials - a morning trial and an afternoon trial. Fittingly the morning trial (across the street from the casino) was a "Gamblers Choice." Dogs could earn points by going through designated obstacles of their choice but had to do at least one other obstacle before returning to the prior obstacle. There was also an option to assist your dog by walking the course with the dog but exercising this option would mean all obstacles were worth only half points.

It was a lot of fun and my role as scorekeeper was limited to keeping time and counting heads of cattle that went through the obstacles. Ten points for each head through an obstacle or 5 points per head if the handler walked with the dog. There were no elements of the trial that were judged so it was purely practical get the job done as quickly as you can and then move on to the next obstacle of your choice. This looked like a really fun format and would translate well to a fun trial on sheep as well - maybe a fun thing to do in conjunction with a more traditional trial or just a stand alone fun day.

The afternoon trial was a mounted trial where the handlers were on horseback - just one more reason I can't do cow trials since I can't ride a horse. The course was laid out in three adjoining fenced arenas. The outrun, lift and fetch were in the first arena. Then the next task was to move the cattle through an open gate into the second arena where they were to be driven through two barrels and then into a catch pen at the far end of the second arena. From there they needed to be let out and walked across a narrow road into a catch pen in the third arena. In the third arena there was a chute with a side escape hole that the cattle needed to go all the way through for full credit (half credit if they popped out the side escape hole). Finally they needed to be pushed to a sort of holding pen are where the three arenas all came together (this would make a lot more sense with a diagram). Anyway - it is basically what I would think of as a ranch course with practical skill sets on display. Again, no judging - only time and points for each head of cattle going through an obstacle.

The whole thing was very different than what I am used to at a dog trial - not necessarily either better or worse - but different. Some of the differences are due to the time and points scoring system and some are due to the difference of working cattle. Talking with Anna at dinner afterwards she said the trial was fairly typical though small. The Gamblers portion was not as common but the overall work was.

It was strange to watch a dog trial where lines simply are not judged. I was going to say they do not matter - and to an extent that is true - but since the shortest path - both distance and time - is still a straight line, good lines are still somewhat rewarded. But if the dog crossed the course in front of its stock, no problem, whereas at a sheep trial it would be major deduction. If you serpentined all the way down the fetch but happened to hit your panels that's ok because you get full credit. Stalls and grips were fairly common and, except for the loss of time, no penalty.

I don't mean this to sound as critical because it is really meant as an observation but generally the work was somewhat wilder than I am used to seeing at a sheepdog trial. The precision that I have come to expect of top handler/dog teams at a sheepdog trial was not there. By that I mean that there was not the same concern for constant pace and precise lines. Much more of a get the job done - style points do not matter.

The dogs were able to get away with a lot more than I have come to expect at a sheepdog trial. Certainly this was not true of all of the dogs and the top teams worked pretty calmly and had reasonably straight lines (just not the precise lines I have seen at Sheepdog trials). Some of it was probably due to differences in the handler/dog teams but generally to me the work did not seem as controlled as what I am used to.

In some ways it seemed to me the handlers do not have as many choices or decisions to make as at a judged sheepdog trial. For example, if the dog starts the outrun poorly there was no decision to make whether to start blowing a whistle to correct or hope the dog is going to figure it out. Go ahead and blow the whistle because there are no points lost for blowing. Or if your lines have been straight to a panel but the livestock is going to slide by start b;lowing because your straight lines to the mouth of the panel mean nothing for points.

The other thing that was odd to me was starting with zero points and adding points based on making obstacles. This was a change after sheep trials where you start with a set number of points and then lose points for flaws.

In all it was very interesting and a fun day.

More Training

2011-03-05T20:39:00.000-08:00

Today was our first day back to training after Zamora. Last week we were snowed out (in San Diego believe it or not) so this was our first week back - and only week before Sonoma.

Piper was good Piper today. I think in part it was because I was a better handler today also. I did not let her get away with getting out of control in the first instance. We found that as long as I micromanage her on the fetch and drive she can actually be pretty good and have pretty straight lines and controlled pace. After finally making the goal of moving up to Open without embarrassing ourselves at Zamora I think I may have relaxed a bit and handled better. We still need to step up the game but today was a good day. Pretty straight lines, controlled pace, good shedding, actually worked on cutting a smallish group down in multiple passes as a precursor to an international shed. Piper walked the one group well off and took her look back nicely.

It seems Piper is pretty good on her outrun and shedding. It's those pesky parts of the course in between that seem to bother us.

Rylee continued her pattern of being just a bit better for me each time out. Jennifer said we were going to train on Rylee today instead of just running her and we did. After the first mostly silent gather to our feet - we made Rylee take some directional commands on the next fetch. Halfway down we made her turn the sheep to the left and cross drive. The beginnings of steering. She is still being extremely cautious and is hesitant about flanking off pressure but we are getting it together a little more each time.

Next two weeks are trial time. First Poway and then Sonoma.

Zamora - Odds and Ends

2011-02-22T09:14:00.000-08:00

My dog trialing adventures are already covered separately but there was so much to report from this trial that I decided to post some Odds and Ends (in random order):

First, Congratulations to Jennifer Ewers and Soot for winning the High Combined Overall Open Trophy/Award. It was well deserved.

Second, Congratulations to all my friends and acquaintances for their runs. Even going to the post at Zamora is an accomplishment and many of you did very well on top.

Third, food news. Bummer that Bill and Kathy's is now closed. Was looking forward to the fried chicken with country gravy. Enjoyed Granzella's two nights in a row in Williams - just wish it was not 20 miles north.

Fourth, probably should have been first but oh well, Big Thank You to the Slaven Family for hosting us, Terri Pelkey for all the work in organizing from nearly 500 miles away and at the trial site, Roy Pelkey and Katy Deardorff for setting, the sheep for cooperating and God for giving us such a fabulous place to run a sheep dog trial.

Fifth, Thank You Laura Hicks for pre-installing an outrun on Piper. We sure used it at Zamora.

Sixth, Thank You Jennifer for all the support and training that made it possible for us to even attempt this trial. When we first came for training about 2 1/2 years ago I was struggling with my dog to get a 100 yard outrun and we could not drive.

Seventh, Thank You Elizabeth Baker and Stephanie Goracke for my newest sweetheart, Rylee. We are coming together and I think - from Casablanca - this is the start of a beautiful friendship.

Eighth, Thank You Amy Coapman for a very pleasurable conversation while watching the trial on Saturday as we both waited till for our attempts. Also, for the beautiful Corian whistle. I tried it in the hotel and I think I am going to like the sound. I was not brave enough to switch whistles for the trial though.

Finally, thank you to everyone who passed on words of encouragement and nice thoughts on completion of our first ever Open Run.

Zamora - Nursery Report

2011-02-21T19:45:00.001-08:00

The Final Day at Zamora was for Nursery followed by Pro-Novice. Rylee ran Nursery and we stayed through the first seven Pro-Novice dogs to watch a few friends before hitting the road back to So Cal.

The course was very similar to the Second Open Course except that the sheep were set further down in the hill. Estimates on the distance ranged upwards of 400 yards but the most reliable estimate seemed to be 350 yards. The set out was definitely further up the hill than it was last year for Pro-Novice. Whatever the actual distance it was a long way for the young and less experienced dogs and there was still danger that the hills would kick them down and either narrow or crossing over. The drives were both shortened and we had 8 minutes.

Before getting to Rylee a word of congratulations to Dr. Bob Schooley, DVM, and his dog Spike. They ran Pro-Novice and made it all the way around the course timing out at the pen. They have been working extremely hard and it is paying off. I think it was probably the farthest Bob has ever sent Spike on an outrun and I am pretty sure it is their first time completing the PN course (only the 2d or 3d try I believe). The outrun was beautiful, the run controlled and I am pretty sure Bob's heart rate may be back to normal by Sonoma.

Rylee ran eight of twelve Nursery Dogs. My plan was to attempt the drive this time - as opposed to our first trial where we did a planned retire. Based on the current state of our partnership I did not really expect her to do particularly well on the drive but I wanted to give it a try as long as I did not think I was putting to much pressure or stress on her. If I saw signs of stress I intended to retire. But I thought it would be good to get her some experience with me on a different field with different sheep.

I sent her "come bye" and her first few steps were pretty straight up the middle so I gave a more stern "COME BYE". That seemed to do the trick as she bent out and up the face of the hill to the left. As she went up the face she bent out further - which was good since the tendency and fear was that the hill would kick the dog back toward the center. When she got deep enough so she was fairly well behind the set out she kind of turned and came in on sort of a flat trajectory and stopped and lied down on her own at about 10:30 on the clock face. A big difference from Piper.

It took some encouraging to get Rylee up and walking in on the sheep. To those who have not seen her it undoubtedly looked like she was being stared down by the sheep and losing the stare down. Knowing her careful approach and that I could see her slowly inching forward I was not really worried that she would be unable to lift. Sure enough she eventually lifted them - much more calmly than a Piper explosion lift.

The sheep leaned on her to my right all the way down the fetch line. Rylee did take my come bye flanks and we had a bit of steering on the fetch but we certainly need to work on getting more, As seems to be common for me we had a bit of a problem at the post getting the sheep lined up to go around the proper side. After coming down the right side most of the way down the fetch line I over corrected and put the sheep on the wrong side of the post. We had to unwind them to get around and start the drive.

On the drive the sheep were a little to the right and then a little to the left. Rylee took my flanks without being too harsh on the sheep. (That's my memory - I have to check the tape.) We narrowly missed the drive away panels to the left (memory again) and made the turn for the drive away. The sheep were coming down low back toward me and I knew we were running short on time (I was late starting my watch) so I just tried to get them headed in the right direction and make as much progress as I could.

Then I heard a beep from the judges area. About ten seconds later my own timer went off but the Judge still had not called "time". When I saw the exhaust dog coming for my sheep a few seconds later I asked the Judge "That's time, right ?" He confirmed time was indeed up.

I was very pleased with Rylee because I thought she was listening to me and trying hard to do as I asked. The partnership seems to get just a little more well founded every time we go out. Give us time and I think we will make a good team.

Zamora - Open Report

2011-02-20T18:25:00.000-08:00

They say the definition of insanity is to repeatedly do the same thing and expect a different result. I came up with a new definition over the weekend. At least as applied to sheepdogging.

Insanity is moving up to Open at Zamora. By this definition I am insane. Piper and I just moved up to Open together this weekend and we did it at Zamora.

Zamora is one of the most difficult dog trials on the West Coast. The outrun is nearly 700 yards and the field is bounded by large hills. The sheep - always range ewes - are set in the saddle between two hills. There is a creek- about ten feet wide - about 75 yards in front of the normal handlers post. The turn to start the drive is about 150 yards in front of the handlers post and on the opposite side of the creek.

Throw in nearly a week of rain and the creek becomes an obstacle that sheep do not willingly cross without strong encouragement. Add fog on the morning of the first Open Trial leading to a 2 1/2 hour delay getting started. Reduce time to 9 minutes due to late start.

Result is a very tough dog trial. And because of that some of the very top dog/handler teams make sure to make it to the trial.

Open started on Friday but we did not run until Saturday so used Friday as a travel day. When we arrived at about 4 pm it was in time to learn that the trial had been even tougher than usual. No one had made it into the pen and only a small handful had even made it across the creek that marked the end of the drive. Scores were very low with only three scores to that point in the 60's and four in the 50's.

Piper ran third from last in Round One and about one third of the way through the Saturday order.

I sent her away into the hills to the right. The left hills almost guaranteed a bad approach. At least on the right there is a chance. Piper was not as wide as she usually is and I had to give her an away whistle on the slope of each of the three peaks on the right side. She took all three and bent out but not as much as they would like and she was to my mind still a little tight at the top. Her outrun was scored six off.

The lift was a bit like a bowling ball and the sheep were startled. Scored three points off but I think I might have hit it even harder. On the fetch Piper kept coming on two strong and splitting off one sheep. Then she would regain her senses enough to put the group back together. A year ago I would have blamed luck at getting bad sheep. Reality is Piper was causing it with her pressure. But she did keep putting it back together. On the bottom third of the fetch we let the sheep get too far to the wrong side of the post for the turn. I was too late giving the cover whistle and by the time Piper had them headed they were on the edge of the creek. Trying to get them out one ewe went into the creek - out of bounds - and we were DQ'd. I was still proud of her.

For Round 2 of the Open the course was changed in an effort to accommodate the time constraints. The handlers post was moved forward about 125 yards and across the creek. The handlers post was also now the turn to start the drive. The pen was eliminated and a single was substituted (we were only using three sheep). The drive was deemed to be completed as soon as you made or missed the cross drive panel. The result was that scores were much better and many more handlers finished.

Again Piper was near the end of the run order so we did not run until about 3 p.m. Sunday. Again I sent right for the same reasons. This time Piper went out on a good wide trajectory up the face of the first of (now) three hills. She disappeared over the ridge with 8:30 approx to go. But Piper appeared to be eyeing the sheep as she disappeared over the first peak into the valley between the first two hills. Thirty seconds of visual stealth and there was a Piper spotting on the top of the ridge line. Then she disappeared over the ridge behind the second peak. After more no sight outrunning she appeared on the ridge line of the final peak and came around deep and on balance. Zero points off the outrun and it was well deserved as the outrun was truly breathtaking - for me at least.

When Piper got to balance I bellowed a lie down and she at least slowed. The lift was better and I lost 1 point. The top end of the fetch was fast but reasonably on line. The bottom half the sheep escaped to my right after I put Piper on the ground. The sheep went way off line to the right and we had to bring them in basically sideways to round the post. Fifteen points lost.

The drive was a bit wild but we were generally on line except blowing the panels themselves due to a case of handler panel panic induced over flanking. Seventeen points lost.

However, where many dogs had made it through the panels with thirty seconds or less to accomplish the single, Piper and I had over 2 minutes left for the task. After checking my timer and seeing this I took a deep breath and tried to set up my first ever competition single as calmly as I could. We had an opportunity after about thirty seconds and a split. Piper came into the hole and turned on the single but apparently did not take enough control to satisfy our judge (Patrick Shanahan). So we put them back together - tried to get everything settled - and soon got another split. This time Piper came through, turned on the single and took enough control to satisfy the judge. Course finished and still a minute on the clock.

It was an incredibly exhilarating eight minutes and it took a good half hour for my heart to stop racing.

I am extremely happy and proud of my little girl but at the same time we clearly have a lot of work to do.

Piper's score of 52 placed her somewhere around 50th out of 84 dogs.

Whistles as Language

2011-02-15T16:39:00.000-08:00

I had an epiphany the other day while watching my Nationals Finals Sheepdog DVD. Diana, called out from the bedroom, asking if those damn whistle noises drove me crazy. Without thinking I replied no because they were like a language to me instead of just noises. Then it dawned - they are becoming like a language and even other people's whistles make more sense to me than just random noises. Now if I could just speak the language more consistently.

Bad Dress Rehearsal Good Show

2011-02-13T18:56:00.000-08:00

There is an old theater superstition that says a Bad Dress Rehearsal Leads to a Good Show on Opening Night.

I hope it holds true for dog trialing.

Our "Open"ing night will be in less than a week at Zamora when I run Piper in the Open for the first time. It will be the first time in Open for both Piper and for me. And we could not have picked a more difficult test for our first attempt.

Yesterday at Jennifer's was our final tune up session before the big jump. Jennifer has been devising some tough exercises for us the last few weeks to help us all get ready for Zamora. From our Saturday group there will be four (Jennifer, Jeff, Tricia and me)of us running six dogs in Open. There will be at least three (Sara, Nina, and Sharon) from Jennifer's Wednesday class also running four dogs in Open. There will be two (Ron and Dr. Bob) of us running two dogs in Pro Novice. Two of us (Jennifer and me) will be running a total of three dogs in Nursery.

Of the group I am the only one using Zamora to make the transition to move up a level.
I am the least ready for the challenge of next weekend but possibly looking forward to it the most. To be clear I have been told I am jumping the gun but we will see how Piper does. My impatience got to me and I did not want to wait another year to have a go at that fabulous field.

Yesterday we started working on a very difficult outrun with the sheep placed up on a bluff in some scrub. Virtually every dog had trouble with it at firsts and many dogs crossed the face of the hill at the bottom below the sheep. Multiple redirects and restarts were required. Piper struggled with this portion of the day's drills but - with a multitude of redirects - we got her out there. Her fetches were somewhat offline and this was the bad dress rehearsal part.

Later we did a driving drill on some lighter sheep where Jennifer put traffic cones out extending back from the inside opening of the drive panels about fifty yards to mark the drive lines. She did the same for the cross drive. In theory this should have simply made it easier to see the drive lines. In theory, that is. In practice it created a psychological barrier and many of the dogs struggled with getting the sheep in the lane, Piper included. Eventually we started to get it together and Piper did some good driving.

Our initial attempts at a shed were total failures as we could not get the sheep to settle well enough to get a split. We asked for and received another try at the end when the sheep were a little tired and less likely to run. We ended the session on a high note getting three in the ring sheds on our last go. So we are as ready as we are going to get.

Rylee was - for the most part - pretty good yesterday. Her come bye outrun (the sheep were set in the flat for the younger dogs) was very nice and she did a nice fetch. For some reason she simply would not go all the way out on her away outrun and required major schooling to eventually get around.

Her driving was good although I am often still having to use "here, here" to get her started on an inside flank. She is very cautious and stylish walking in on her sheep although if she gets to the side a bit much she does want to go their heads. She is paying better attention to me each time we go out and I am hopeful we will be able to complete the full Nursery course at Zamora.

Two things from Saturdays lessonwith Rylee - Jennifer suggested I stop drawing out my "Theeerrre" command and it seemed to work getting Rylee to turn in more sharply if I shortened the command to a quick "there". Second the "shh shh" sound will get Rylee to pick up her speed when needed. Both of these are good to know.

Anyway I hope the theater superstition holds true.

Training Time and Happy Adoption Day

2011-01-23T11:25:00.001-08:00

Today marks two years since Piper became a California girl. Thank you Laura. Happy Adoption Day Piper.

This time last year we were starting to get it together and have had a reasonably successful year trialing in Pro Novice. Now - against trainer advice - I am moving her up to Open at Zamora. A big challenge and so we need to get a lot accomplished. On her good days she will be OK. It's mainly getting consistency out of both of us.

Also - I now have a young dog we are semi-campaigning in Nursery. At this point with Rylee though it is mainly for training and while she has a great deal of promise we are not really ready to be competitive. At our first trial we did a planned retire after the outwork - although she was very good on that portion. At Zamora I am hoping we are ready to at least attempt the drive.

Anyway yesterday was a very good and fun training session. Rylee is getting a little more used to me each time we go out and if I can stay out of her way and let the drive get started she is actually pretty good. She is a very thoughtful dog and cautious not wanting to make a mistake. Unlike Piper where I have to keep tapping on the brakes with Rylee right now it is largely a matter of pushing on the gas. When she starts to feel comfortable she actually has a very nice pace but still requires a bit of encouragement. I am seeing improvement each time out and she is going to be a lot of fun to work. VERY DIFFERENT from Piper though.

With Piper we still need to keep applying the brakes. When I get on her from the beginning of the run it is much better than if she gets up a head of steam first. Yesterday we did a couple very interesting and challenging exercises and she did better than I had anticipated.

First, Jennifer set up a horseshoe cone pattern around the post to practice controlled turn of the post and good start of the drive. It was pretty narrow and somewhat difficult to get the sheep inside and complete the turn. Piper actually made slight adjustments and did a good turn leading to a nice start to the drive. And if the drive starts nice I can do a much better job just keeping her going in the right direction. She did pretty well on this exercise.

Then we practiced a dogleg fetch to force the dogs to come off pressure on the fetch. First attempt Piper stopped at the right spot but slid over onto balance for the fetch and did a pretty straight fetch - which we did not want. Second attempt she started to slip over and I stopped her. She took the off pressure flank and then walked on from the right spot. We made the dogleg fetch panels. I was very proud of her for this as it was clearly a difficult task and showed her willing to listen to me even when it did not seem natural.

Snowbirds 2010 - 2011

2011-01-10T14:27:00.000-08:00

Okay so this post is somewhat delayed mainly because I came down with a case of the flu during the trial and was too under the weather to think about posting for a week.

The Snowbirds On the Border Trial at Jennifer's over New Years weekend was a great success.

I had a - for me - unique perspective from the position of course director. The course director position forces a unique viewpoint of always looking at the big picture of how the trial is going (is there going to be enough light to finish) and attention to all details (is that sheep setting right for a fair run). I learned the job entailed a bit of everything - from the basics of keeping an eye out for the next few handlers in the running order to keep things running smoothly - to runaway ewe rescue - to consulting on course changes - to fielding complaints. I got a small taste of the complaints received by every trial host ranging from - course 1 is too hard to course 2 is like a Pro Novice course (amazingly sometimes from the same people). But there were also the very gracious thank you's which were greatly appreciated even though most of the hard work was done by others - primarily Jennifer and Ron.

A big Thank You to our Judge Bob Washer from KY who was a real pleasure to work with. Bob will be judging Soldier Hollow later this year so I wish him well there. He also has a big hand in the annual Bluegrass trial.

The first round of Open was a right hand turn and cross drive toward the pool house on Jennifer's field. The pool house area proved to be a major draw for the sheep both on the fetch and on the cross drive. During Round 1 several handlers lost a stray single to this area and so we decided - after discussing among Jennifer, Bob and myself to change the course for Round 2 to minimize this draw. I was very happy that despite my obvious relative inexperience my input into this decision was accepted and considered. In fact, one of the changes was actually my somewhat unorthodox idea and it seemed to work out just fine.

The Mirk award - for top open dog over the two trials combined - went to Mike Meredith and his dog Gus and it was well deserved. Candy Kennedy won Round one of the Open with her dog Moss. Mike Meredith and Gus took Round 2. Special note to Amelia Smith and her nursery dog Star who qualified for the Nursery Nationals the hard way - finishing third in both Round One and Round Two of Open.

As for my own dogs - I ran Piper in Pro Novice and Rylee in Nursery. Rylee's Nursery Run was my first ever in an actual sanctioned trial and so now I am an official USBCHA Member.

Because Rylee and I have not "teamed up" on driving yet we went to the post with a definite plan of - get the sheep to my feet and make the turn then retire. I did a poor job setting her up and Rylee crossed over to start away before being called back to my feet and resent bye. Initial forfeiture of 19 points. But after the restart she was fabulous - would have been a 0 off outrun but for the start - walked in calmly on the tough range sheep and lifted them quietly for 1 off the lift. She then settled in on the pressure and brought the sheep calmly to my feet for only 2 off the the fetch. She even took my directional adjustments and made a nice turn at the post and the sheep were pointed on line and moving toward the drive away panel when I walked and gave her a come bye command to exhaust the sheep. I was approached by at least one person afterwards wondering why I retired. After explaining that was the plan all along this person said it would still have been hard to retire given how well the run was going. But we did not want Rylee in over her head and it would not have been worth it for one score. Her second run the outrun was a replay of the first and she gripped on the lift.

As for Piper - this proves the value of a training diary like this. Last year in two runs we had a wild bottom half of the fetch not controlling the turn on the bottom for an out of bound DQ on the first run. Our second run was a failure to launch - no lift. Comparatively speaking this year was a big improvement. Our first run was actually one of our best overall runs right up to the point where we gripped/DQd at the pen. Zero _Zero - 6 on the outwork and a nicely controlled turn at the bottom. Eight off the drive and pretty good lines. I was very happy with her and if we had simply timed out instead of gripping at the pen we would have taken 4th place. Second roun the outwork was very similar but I got stupid at the drive away panel and blew what started as a good drive with over flanking. 22 off the drive. Finished with a 52 - 15th out of 43. Overall happy with her.

Slalom Practice

2010-12-17T13:13:00.000-08:00

Piper has a naturally serpentine drive, so it was fun that we finally did a drill where the goal was to do a slalom drive through a straight line of orange cones. Not surprisingly our tendency to weave like a drunk driver finally came in handy. It was fun and actually a very tricky drill.

Also worked Rylee in an attempt to get ourselves partnered up before the New Years trial. She is getting more in tune with me each time but we will only get one more chance to work together before the trial. I will be surprised if we manage to get the driving together by then. Her outwork - where she can be on autopilot - looks really good though. She is completely different to handle than Piper. Thoughtful in her approach to sheep but not really hesitant. She needs me to check in with her occasionally but she does not need the hard intervention that I need with Piper.

Merry Christmas

2010-12-12T16:54:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas

from Ramsay, Maggie, Piper and Rylee.

We attended our first Christmas Party of the season yesterday at Canines - n - Ewe. It seems to have become a bit of a holiday tradition and after working dogs we enjoyed the wonderful Christmas spread put out by Ron and Jennifer. The party was fun, good friends, good cheer, and a fun gift exchange.

Not a lot to report on the dogs working. I worked Rylee for the second time and let's just say her outwork was wonderful while she could remain on autopilot. She was a little less sure once I entered the picture. The big thing seems to be right around the post she just is a little unsure who I am and why I need to be involved in this process. Once she gets the sheep off of me she actually was driving reasonably well. It's time to get a little extra work in to see how much we can partner up before the Snowbirds On the Border Trial New Years Weekend.

And today was our annual - Dog Pics with Santa Day. So Merry Christmas !

Coalinga - Excuse for Dinner @ Harris Ranch

2010-12-07T15:11:00.000-08:00

Piper and I travelled North to compete @ Coalinga for the first time last weekend. Rylee came along for socialization. We stayed at the Motel 6 across the street from Harris Ranch. So Saturday night was a planned dinner at Harris Ranch.

The field at Coalinga is big enough to have a big outrun and fetch but as set it was about 300 yards or so for Open and maybe about 250 or so for Pro Novice. The field slopes up gradually from the post to set out and most people sent to the left. On the left outrun the wider running dogs went out of sight for a while in the rolling hills. Danger to the right was that the slope would kick the dogs in or they might go back to the set out pens. The sheep - for the most part - worked reasonably well. They did seem at times a bit difficult to shed but otherwise generally OK with a few runners (more on the runners later).

Before getting to our own runs a special congrats to Carolyn Crocker and Lyn who won the Open on Sunday in only their second ever open run together (Saturday was the first). Also congrats to Mike Burks and Mia who had tow beautiful runs in Pro-Novice to take first both days. Congrats also to Sally Douglas and Babe (2 good open runs) and Merle (2d in PN on Sunday). Some of the best work I have seen from Babe and Merle on a big field.

Piper had a generally pretty good run on Saturday although the drive was still a bit out of control. Score of 66 - good for third place and a check that was $0.02 short of my dinner bill Saturday night at Harris Ranch. Thanks for dinner Piper.

Anyway Piper's outrun to the left was her normal good outrun with 0 points off and she only lost 2 on the lift. On the fetch I over adjusted on the bottom third and had some difficulty at the turn - going wide and having to rewind a bit. Still she only lost 5 so it was not too bad. The drive had more problems and she was over flanking and not listening as well as she needs to. The sheep came into the pen mouth a bit hot from being harassed on the drive but I blocked them with my crook and body and Piper did some very nice work at the pen making small adjustments and walking the sheep reluctantly into the pen.

Sunday was a different story. Piper went wider on her outrun but since the last thing I saw before she disappeared over the hill was Piper looking for sheep I swallowed the whistle and waited. She reappeared on the right path - just a bit wide - and we lost 1 point on the outrun. I banged her down hard at the top and walked her in losing 1 point from the lift. From there it went to heck.

At the top of the fetch the sheep were mildly off line to my left. I gave Piper an away to get them back on line and I think she must have come too far to the heads because the sheep decided to turn back and go past on line and make a break back for the set out pens. A big come bye managed to catch them before the escape was completed but the damage was done and by the time we got them down to the post almost all of the fetch points were gone. From that point I actually thought the drive was a bit better than Saturday but we lost a lot more points. I think maybe the drive score was influenced by the atrocious fetch and generally poor feel to the run. At the pen the sheep managed to get around one time so we lost four points before tucking them in nicely. Overall the run just had the feel of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride.

Oh well - still need to get some consistency. But we still had fun.

Catching Up - A Bit of This and That

2010-11-30T10:16:00.000-08:00

I have been a bit delinquent in getting these posts up so these will be fairly brief racaps of a number of items.

Starting with the Porterville Fall Trial at the beginning of November. Originally I was not going to run as I had a work committment for the Monday of Pro Novice. My work committment cancelled and I managed to beg my way into the trial. I would have been better off not getting in.

The sheep were very difficult, the field was muddy and the rains came heavy overnight forcing a nearly 4 hour delay in getting started. Piper ran out nicely and got behind her sheep. She even managed to move them about 20 feet the first run before they dropped anchor. The second run they would not budge. Two retires. We did work exhaust in between for several runs and she had no problems with them on exhaust.

The next week was Hopland. The only complaint I can have about this trial is that it is a LOOONG drive to get there. Beautiful field, beautiful weather, nice sheep, good wine tasting close by. Piper ran well although she had what seemed a mystery (to me anyway) 5 points off her outrun. She placed 13th in a pretty competitive group. More importantly - although the final leg of the drive suffered badly from a wide turn and the sheep escaping towards exhaust - her first two drive legs were some of the best she has given me at a trial. Since that has been our big trouble area I was very happy with her.

The big news is that I finally took possession (at least temporarily) of new dog Rylee last Saturday - one day before my birthday. That is Rylee in the picture below with Piper. I worked her for the first time on Saturday and while she was not real sure who I was she works nicely. There will be a get acquainted period and she will be a very different dog to work than Piper but I am excited about her and looking forward to it. Depending on how soon we team up we may make our trial debut in Nursery at the Snowbirds trial over New Years weekend at Jennifer's.

Poway Trial - Have A Plan and Enforce It

2010-11-03T10:19:00.000-07:00

I almost called this post "accept ownership" for your run and your "bad sheep" because you probably caused or at least contributed to their badness.

Anyway we ran at Terry Parish's Poway Trial at John Doyle's Farm on last Sunday (Halloween) after going to Jennifer's for training on Saturday.

Training Saturday was a small group because most of the regulars were either at the Poway trial or Pt. Pleasant. But we did receive early morning reports that several dogs were having outrun troubles in Poway because there were some sheep housed in pens on the right side part way out on the outrun. So to practice against this we put some sheep in the pen right in front of the dogs and made them outrun past the full pen to get to the sheep at setout. It was tricky because all of the dogs wanted to go to the pen (some more than others) but with well timed corrections we got them all out where they were supposed to be. Piper actually did fairly well at this as I hit her with a timely flank direction just as she was starting to curl in toward the sheep in the pen.

Before I get to Sunday's runs congratulations are in order for Mike Burks and Sport for capturing their first ever Open Class first place on Saturday. I did not get there till it was over but I understand it was a lovely run. Good job guys.

As for our runs Sunday we had two chances - first a non-compete Open Course run and a compete PN run. Watching the 40 or so Open runs which preceded us and the topography of the field I decided in advance to send on the "Bye" side and to give a kick out whistle just as the field widened out. It seemed to me that most every dog that went away was getting drawn in by the slope of a hill to that side resulting in many sideways lefts and even a few cross in fronts. On the left side it seemed that many dogs were hitting the spot where the field widened out but instead of bending out they were accelerating toward the sheep also resulting in problems at the top. The dogs that bent out were doing well, There were also a large number of crossovers including from some top dogs for whom the crossover was very out of character.

Anyway I gave Piper the kick out whistle just as planned and she took it bending out as I had hoped. Terry Folsom - who was helping with set out while Piper ran and for several other dogs - later told me that Piper had one of the best approaches to the sheep she saw while she was up top. Even with my whistle redirect we lost only 2 points on the outrun.

Unfortunately I trusted her too much after that and our run started to disintegrate on the fetch. The sheep wanted to pull to my right and I kept having her cover but never fully turned the sheep back on line. At the time I was thinking she had a rogue group of sheep but after speaking to Jennifer between runs realized she had caused quite a bit of it by not taking calm control. Jennifer suggested we needed to slow our approach to the sheep after getting to the top of the outrun and not start the sheep off at a run. So I had a plan for the second run.

The PN run the sheep were brought way down the hill and it was a relatively short outrun. But based on talking to Jennifer between runs I had a plan and this time the will power to stick to it. I sent Piper to the right and she started out like she was going to do the full Open Outrun. Just as I was about to give her blow in whistle Piper started to arc across the field toward her sheep. She was plenty deep - probably deeper than any other PN dog but she stopped short at about 1:30 or 2 on the clock face. I gave her a come bye whistle and she went right to 12 o'clock where I hit her with a hard lie down. I walked her up slowly with some there whistles and a lie down or two thrown in and continued the hard control throughout the fetch. It worked as we lost only 3 points on the fetch and 0 on the lift. I tried to keep the same level of control on her through the drive and mostly succeeded until the cross drive panels where we got most of them through but it turned a little wild. I thought I had the sheep settled on the return drive and turned my back to go to the pen after lying Piper down. Well she kept the lie down while the sheep made a mad dash for the exhaust about a 100 yards away. She got them back but they were pretty upset by then and while we got them in the pen we did lose most of the pen points.

The 2 runs with Piper showed the value and the need with Piper of having a plan and the will to enforce it. Piper is a dog that requires active handler involvement and when I gave it to her and insisted she follow instruction we did fairly well. When I relaxed the control it fell apart.

Sara Goodman - who has seen Piper a lot - told me that the 2d run was the best she has seen Piper right up until the sheep escaped. Sort of like the line from Top Gun "That was some of the best flying yet. Right up until you crashed and burned".

So we have a plan going forward. Make a plan, stick to it and have the will to enforce it.

Added note - I got to see Rylee on Saturday. She has been working with Jennifer for about a week and a half now. She looks like she is going to be a very nice dog and a very different dog style wise from Piper. I am really looking forward to working with her soon.

Willowside Fun Trial

2010-10-28T11:16:00.000-07:00

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.

Audition

2010-10-20T17:23:00.000-07:00

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.

Another Day @ Training

2010-10-17T15:47:00.000-07:00

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.

Getting Back In The Saddle

2010-10-15T10:01:00.000-07:00

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.

Teaming Up and Making Corrections

2010-09-13T12:03:00.000-07:00

We made it down to Jennifer's Saturday for what is likely to be our only lesson during the month of September due to Jennifer's judging schedule.

Anyway it was our first time back after our frustratingly bad performance at the Wed - Saturday Class Challenge Fun Trial. I was hoping we would get some of the same bad manoeuvres so we would get a chance to work on the mistakes. My fear was that it would turn out like when you take your car to the mechanic but it performs perfectly so you can't diagnose and repair. As it turned out I did get some of the same extra wide running on the outrun so we did get a chance to work on our call in.

We started out in the lower field with at hand flanking/driving drills. For the most part - after some early pace problems - Piper settled in and did a pretty nice job on keeping a straighter line and staying off. The sheep were the kind that sometimes give her trouble resulting in overflanking and a zig - zag drive. As long as I engaged in active dog control with a Flank/Time whistle almost combined into one she managed to stay in the right spot. If I was a bit slow on the time whistle Piper would go a bit too far to the head and we would have our familiar serpentine thread. I commented afterwards that I needed to give her the immediate there whistle and Jennifer and Jeff both told me "DUH!" - "How long have we been telling you that !!!???" Anyway it was good to know that if I stay active that Piper will pay attention. I also need to remember that Piper will always require active handling on her drives - at least until proven otherwise over a long time.

Outrun practice I was hoping she would go extra wide so I could work on Piper's call in whistle. She did not disappoint. Because of the trees the away outrun was blind and I was unable to see Piper her first Outrun but she did take my first call in and then went wide again. So we did a recall and sent again. This time she started to go wide - ""tweet-tweet-tweet" - She came in and off again, She took multiple call ins which were partially because she was actually wide and partially because I wanted her to pay attention to me on the outrun. I was very happy with her paying attention.

Then Jennifer asked for volunteers wanting to work on shedding. Tricia, Jeff and I were the only volunteers. We brought out some Rambouillets and they were actually fairly cooperative in creating gaps. Piper and I went second and it was probably our best shedding session as a team. We managed to keep things fairly settled and opened gaps reasonably well. Except for one or two times when I blocked the hole and once when things were too on the move Piper came in very well and took control of the sheep I asked her to. She even came back into the gap to stop a couple attempted regroupings. We must have been doing something better because Jennifer jokingly asked if I had been watching a shedding video as my body language was much improved.

Overall it was a very good working session because I managed to get in Piper's head without upsetting her and we worked pretty well together.

The test will come at the end of October when we head into 4 weeks straight of trialing starting October 23.

Smacked Down at the Throwdown

2010-08-29T09:01:00.000-07:00

Jennifer's Wednesday training class issued a throwdown challenge to the Saturday class for a dog trial. High combined score wins. Winners get bragging rights. Losers buy lunch.

The trial was run as an Open trial on a tricky layout at Canines-N-Ewe, with a combination setting of two ewes and two lambs. The stock trailer substituted for the pen and the lambs especially were reluctant to go in. It was difficult but doable.

Oh and we brought in the same judge who will be judging the Soldier Hollow and the USBCHA Nationals all the way from her house on the edge of the trial field.

In a close competition - the Wednesday's - after adding an extra dog to make their total number of dogs 9 to Saturday's 6, managed to eke out a combined 6 point win So congrats and we Saturday people will have to eat crow and serve lunch.

It was a great deal of fun even though our runs were somewhat disappointing. Both the one that counted and the afternoon extra runs.

On Piper's morning run I sent her right and she took the wide road which I was trying to get her to take the week before. Problem was that for the fun trial this road dumped her off a hill right at the set out pens which were conveniently filled with very distracting sheep. As our judge reminded me I should have blown her in as soon as I saw where she was heading but she has spoiled me on her outruns and I fell victim to overconfidence. Lost nearly 4 minutes before blowing a recall to get her off the set out pens and bringing her part way back. Then sent her off on her way and she found the right sheep. Fetch was off line at least for the top half as the lambs wanted to pull the group to the handler's right. We had a pretty nice driveaway and some back and forth on the cross-drive. Overall we were set to lose 14 points on the drive except we timed out about five feet from the shedding ring due to time wasted at the set out pen. These points were critical as Saturday could have won if we had just made it into the ring. Despite the low score and outrun adventure I was actually fairly pleased that Piper did call off the set out pens and then listened to me fairly well afterwards. The drive - while not great - was actually an improvement given the difficult ewe/lamb combination.

After a wonderful pot-luck lunch some of us (mostly the defeated Saturday crew plus Lasoya) headed back out to do it again. This time I sent left but Piper came up a bit short at about 11 o'clock and we had a bit of an off line lift. Problems at the top end of the fetch again but got it together at the bottom. Our drive was slightly worse than the morning drive but I made a point of looking at my watch as time was running down and just encouraged Piper to "walk up. walk up" to make sure we got into the shedding ring and saved our drive points. We had less than 30 seconds left for the shed and with these sheep that simply was not happening.

Then we did a third run where we reversed the course since so few had managed to actually get to the finish work. The third run was Shed - Trailer - Single - Drive - Push sheep back to set out cone - recall dog most of the way - turn back - and fetch. Only one dog managed to do the course and that was Jennifer with Soot who got her fetch back into the shedding ring with about 1 second to spare. Sharon Roman and Nick went second and after working hard Sharon managed to get a shed with some very good body positioning, got her trailer and single, and got started on the first leg of the drive before timing out.

Piper was the only other dog to get out of the single ring and started on the drive. We managed to get a gap for the shed fairly early and Piper came in through the gap and turned the right direction. I did not think she really took control but Jennifer called it a shed and we gratefully moved on to the trailer. We got three in fairly easily (at least for sheep that did not want to go in) and the fourth tried to escape. Piper was having none of that and retrieved our escapee and we got the trailer fairly quickly. Then to send Piper into a small crowded trailer - something I have never asked her to do. But she went in with just a little encouragement took a quick nose bite and convinced those sheep to just explode out of the trailer. We worked hard on the single and I managed to get a gap three or four times but could not get Piper to come through. Finally I got another gap with her in good position and she came through and took control of the single. We did not have much time left so we tried to hustle through the drive and timed out on a poor effort at the cross drive. For practice, Jennifer let me do the partial recall and look back since we needed the sheep back in the ring. She took it like a champ even though we had never practiced this.

Overall - a really fun day.

A debt that cannot be repaid

2010-08-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

I have three border collies. In order of when I got them, Ramsay, Maggie and Piper. Not coincidentally that is also in ascending order of their herding skills. That is why this blog - which is devoted to our herding adventures - is mostly about my training and trialing with Piper.

But I owe a debt to all three dogs - and especially Ramsay and Maggie that can never be repaid. I purchased Ramsay out of an ad in the Orange County Register just before my birthday 6 years ago. At the time I knew almost nothing about Border Collies except I had seen them on TV in agility trials and they looked to be a fun breed. Little did I know at the time how that would change my life. By sheer coincidence Ramsay came into my life about 3 - 4 months before the beginning of some difficult times. Sometimes I wonder if I would have made it through emotionally without Ramsay. He may never have amounted to much as a herder but he got me into it, got me through some tough times, and is a total sweetheart around the house. But I can never repay Ramsay for the help getting through some very tough times.

Maggie joined us a little less than a year later. She had a very rough start to life being sold out of a pet shop and going through four or five homes in her first thirteen months. We were probably her last chance. Although she can still embody the definition of bitch she has come a long way and is now a sweet little girl. She got me further in herding and is probably the reason I am now addicted. But she never seemed to be able to master the concept of driving sheep away. She is mostly retired from herding now and while she enjoys an occasional outing she is perfectly happy being Princess Margaret. But, as with Ramsay, she got me through some tough times emotionally.

I can never fully repay either of them but I can give them a loving and caring home.

Back in the Saddle

2010-08-15T11:08:00.000-07:00

Well two weeks off and back to work.

The two weeks does not seem to have radically impacted our herding ability or willingness to listen to commands - either adversely or positively. Pretty much picked up where we left off.

There were some good moments and there were some bad moments. There were moments when I felt the need to simply leave and ignore the sheep and re-introduce Piper to that old time religion. She did not like those but she did pay more attention afterwards.

There were some moments when she did me proud. Like when the sheep were first brought onto the field and I sent Piper on a completely blind (both to me and her) outrun sweep of the field in search of sheep. She never saw them the first time but kept casting in the given direction as I walked forward trying to find them myself. By the time I learned where they were and Piper appeared she had WAY overrun. But she took the reverse direction, came around and found them, and pretty soon I had sheep at my feet.

Then at the end of the day we were practicing shedding (I think Jennifer is trying to get me ready to move up despite our inconsistent and often DUI like driving). I was having trouble getting the sheep to make any hole. On the first of our three sheds I got a decent size hole and brought Piper in but she turned briefly on the wrong group and the shed group tried to rejoin. Piper turned on them and took them off but Jennifer told me she would not have called the shed. The second one took a while to set up but when Piper came through she took the proper group off. Finally on our third shed I was getting very frustrated because while I could get a single I was having big trouble getting a gap to take the rear two off at the head. Finally while everything was still in motion, sheep, Piper and me I saw a small gap and called Piper in. She came in and took the rear two on the head beautifully in the smallest gap I have ever asked her to come in on. It was too small for my confidence level but I realized it was all I was going to get when I asked her in. Piper handled it much better than I did.

Driving - now that is another story. Our drive aways seem to be much better and fairly consistent but we are still slaughtering the cross drives. Not sure if it is because of her feeling pressure she needs to guard against on the field or what because she actually seems to do better away from her home field. But anyway it remains our biggest bugaboo and we are working hard on it. I started walking out to be closer to her so I could instill discipline as needed and she got a little better.

The Sweep - Jesse puppies were about 8 days old and MY GOD ARE THEY CUTE !

Suffering Withdrawal Symptoms

2010-08-13T10:31:00.000-07:00

I don't know how I got this addicted but due to a combination of circumstances I have not been able to get Piper out on livestock for two weeks. I am really looking forward to getting back to work with her on Saturday at Jennifer's. Amazing how much we miss it.

But the circumstances keeping us away were well worth it. First, I missed two Saturdays ago (July 31) due to my son's wedding. Although it was ane evening wedding and I theoretically could have done morning training I think my wife would have castrated me if I tried. Anyway it was well worth it and everyone had a lovely time. See Picture. (Now if I Diana sees the pics of Sweep - Jesse pups she may start pushing the new daughter in law for some human pups. Over/Under on the mothers wanting grandbaby probably at about 12 months.) BTW - we both absolutely love our new Daughter- In - Law (or "Dilly" as Diana now calls her.)

The following week there was no training because Jennifer was judging at Amanda Milliken's Kingston trial. This is really Jennifer's year to judge at some big trials (Kingston, Soldier Hollow, and USBCHA Nationals) and it is going to seriously mess with our training schedule in August and September. But- well worth it and well deserved. I'm sure she will do a great job.

San Diego Vista Highland Games

2010-06-27T16:29:00.001-07:00

Against all advice and common wisdom I ran Piper at the San Diego Highland Games at Brengle Terrace Park in Vista, California this weekend. The trial is infamously difficult for a small trial due to the unique layout of the field and the local knowledge that the sheep possess of the field. It is - as some say - a trial set up for the sheep to win.

Knowing this we have not entered in the past. This year, however, Jennifer Clark Ewers was holding a 50th birthday party for hubby Ron and our regular Saturday training was not available. (We went to the party Saturday night between trial runs). So reasoning that even tricky sheep work was better than no sheep work I decided to enter Piper.

General consensus of opinion going in was that this would not be Piper's type of trial - tight field and sheep that want to escape. A bad combination which has defeated many dogs and even caused injury to at least one of Jennifer's dogs a few years ago when the sheep decided to escape through the woods.

Saturday ran pretty much true to form. Piper did a nice outrun but in my view came in a little tight (although in fairness there really isn't much room at the top) and lifted nicely. The sheep wanted to break for the escape slightly on the fetch but she held the line reasonably well. The drive away was going well until we over adjusted at the first panel and missed.

Then on to a Maltese Cross in the middle of the cross drive. Piper's sheep simply did not want to go in and it took a great deal of persuasion to convince them. Then they exited from the Maltese Cross and made a break for the exhaust behind the cross drive panel. Initially we got them back and then they broke again and this time they were making the right hand turn intent on escaping up the hill. This was a favorite sheep tactic over the weekend and once they made the turn to go up the hill they were pretty much history. Only a handful of dogs managed to retrieve them from this point.

Piper was one (actually two) of the handful. She was off like a shot with announcer Joe Williams ready to proclaim the run over but asking the crowd "can she get them ! Can she get them !". Sure enough - after only a few out of sight seconds three sheep heads came back around the corner their escape plans obviously thwarted and Piper in pursuit.

Then it was on to the pen and these three ewes simply did not want to go in. Finally one ewe gave Piper two foot stomps and tried a feint to escape. Piper had had enough and she gave it a well deserved grip for a DQ.

Sunday, the sheep were, if anything, even more difficult. Piper gave me what a I thought was a nicer outrun and took the lie down whistle right at 11:30 at the top. Exactly where I wanted her given the heavy draw to that side. She lifted well but one black sheep decided to break off on its own away from the normal draw side. Piper went to regroup them and it gave them a chance to make a mad dash for the escape to my left and attempt to round the hill. An away flank and some Piper speed and that attempt was successfully thwarted.

Then they fought Piper all the way down the fetch line but she was very responsive to my commands and we got them down. More points off than Saturday but better work

The drive away just missed the panel to the right and then the sheep tried another mad dash. Piper was equal to the task turning them before the reached true sheep freedom and brought them down to the Maltese Cross. Although she had to stay way off we learned our lessons from Saturday and navigated the cross.

Then the great escape was on again and the sheep were truly determined to make it to freedom this time. Again - as few other dogs were able to do over the weekend - Piper managed to cut off the escape attempt and bring them back but in the effort we missed the cross drive panels.

So it was onto penning and although they gave one or two objections Piper moved herself perfectly and we penned with a loss of only 1 point.

Sunday's run had a whole different feel to it as Piper seemed very responsive. Although she does little to calm sheep I don't think she created the problems Sunday - at least not mostly. Sometimes you just get tough sheep and they are a true test. Piper passed the test on Sunday.

Meanwhile Piper was a true crowd favorite as the crowd watched multiple groups of sheep beat dogs to the escape around the corner and up the hill. Possibly the largest cheer form the crowd on both days occurred when Piper brought the sheep back down from around the corner after they had reached apparent escape velocity. The crowd loved it. And while I did not love that they escaped I was very proud that I had one of the only dogs that was able to handle it when it happened.

The picture is of Piper in front of a Piper at the Highland Games. Just seemed appropriate somehow.

Sometimes the Grass is Greener in Your Own Backyard

2010-06-14T10:32:00.000-07:00

You know who they are. The handlers that you stop whatever you are doing to watch their runs. The handlers that other top handlers stop whatever they are doing to watch their runs.

It does not seem to matter what dog they are running. They seem to always get the best out of their dog on that day. As they used to say of Bear Bryant "He could take his and beat you with yours, and then trade and take yours and beat you with his". Or they are always the ones accused of "getting the good sheep."

At a trial I like to watch my friends runs for support. I like to watch the top handlers to learn - about the draws and sheep behavior for that day and about general handling for instruction.

I am fortunate that one of those handlers is my trainer, Jennifer Clark Ewers. She may not win every trial that she enters but she is sure to be one of the "dangerous" handler/dog teams. And you can do a lot worse than watch how Jennifer handles a dog. You can learn a lot just by watching. Having the benefit of working with Jennifer and discussing runs with her you can learn even more.

Sometimes we less gifted or experienced handlers have a tendency to chase clinics with the famous clinicians - Bobby Dalziel, Jack Knox, Derek Scrimgeour - just to name a few who have recently offered clinics in California. The tendency is to think the famous clinician will have some "magic" piece of advice that can fix our dogs over a weekend. A friend of mine compares it to the golfer who goes out to buy a new driver to fix his slice instead of putting the time in to work on fundamentals. I also think part of the motivation is to hear a famous clinician say good things about your dog. How many times have you heard a friend come back from a clinic and say (or post on a message board) "[insert famous name] really liked my dog".

I have been guilty of this at times and I confess it is nice to hear someone well known say nice things about your dog. But a few things I have noticed recently have made me realize that we are often guilty of not appreciating what we have.

Recently there was a thread on one of the boards asking about lessons being offered by a "big hat" in a different state. Multiple people were expressing how lucky the handler was to get a chance to work with a well known handler. It made me realize how lucky I am because I get to work with Jennifer almost every week - and I think most people would consider Jennifer a better handler than the person people were so "lucky" to get a chance to work with one time if they were being objective.

I also had some friends attend a clinic with a very famous handler from Britain recently held in Southern California. I have previously audited a clinic with this gentleman so I had an expectation of what they would come back with. No surprises. Most importantly - exactly the same advice I am getting on a weekly basis at Canines n Ewe. I guess sometimes people just need to hear it from a different source.

Following another clinic recently in Northern California with another famous British handler a friend posted that she had received an amazing simple tip for bringing in her wide running dog. In an email I asked about the tip. When it came back it was exactly what Jennifer already had me doing with Piper except that we were taking it a step or two farther and getting even better results. Again we were getting the same quality advice at home so to speak.

Finally I have a friend in Northern California who is a fairly new but talented handler. Her young dog - her first BC - is qualified for the nursery nationals. A few weeks ago she decided to come to Jennifer's to work on our regular Saturday group training session. After the day she commented that her dog had never worked so hard or been required to perform so well in her life.

So - since we often take what is nearby or available - it is time to say "Thank You Jennifer for all your help."

My Life As A Dog

2010-06-13T17:02:00.000-07:00

Yesterday at Canines & Ewe I became a dog for a short while. We were working on shedding with a medium sized group and Jennifer was trying to demonstrate positioning to Nina Fox who was having a bit of trouble getting the shed easily with her Open Dog Jed. So I was enlisted to play the role of the dog and instructed to follow instructions precisely. The idea was to help both of us get a bit more of a read on how the sheep react and learn to set up the shed. I am glad Nina did not send me on any long outruns. And frankly the sheep did not respect me as much as an actual dog. But it was a very helpful exercise.

As is apparent from the above - one of the things we were working on yesterday was the shed. Initially Piper and I were having some trouble as I could not seem to get the sheep to settle. Then Jennifer demonstrated and instructed me to be a bit more aggressive with my step in - really more of a feint. The move is similar to the first false step in one direction in a football counter play where the back takes one false step to the left (or right) to freeze the defenders before going to the right (or left). The idea is to take a half step into the sheep's faces - right at the point of the ones you want to separate - just enough to make them hesitate and create a hole. Then get the dog into the hole and turn on the group you want. Once I got this idea Piper actually did very well and we had several successful sheds. The mixed group included some agile young lambs so they were a little tricky to hold off from the main group. Piper did a very nice job of understanding the job once I created the hole and called her through.

We also worked on a couple tricky outruns by placing the sheep in a corner of the field to the handler's right and sending on an angle. There was not a lot of room on the right and all of the dogs were a little tight on the top. Piper's first outrun to the left was way wide and deep but she came up on the sheep in proper position and the lift and fetch were good. Then we started to work on managing her outrun and bringing her in. First I did it with a stop - walk up - and come bye series of whistles. Then Jennifer suggested we needed a "come in" whistle because then we would not have to lose points for multiple whistles at a trial if we need the come in. We settled on a rapid trio "tweet-tweet-tweet" and I sent Piper again and waited for her to turn out wide and "tweet-tweet-tweet". Wonder of wonders, miracle of miracles - she took the whistle for its proper meaning the first time and narrowed her outrun but was still properly wide and deep. I let her bring me sheep on a mostly silent fetch and she was even rating herself.

We also worked on driving and while it was mostly good Piper is still giving me a flank and bounce back if she has sheep she needs to be close to. This is mostly on the cross drive and it is very frustrating as it is hard to get out to her to give a correction since this is so quick. Basically if she is feeling pressure to one side and I flank her to that side she will take the flank but then immediately bounce back to where she wants to be. A couple "HEY WHAT ARE YOU DOING"s and it got a little better but this is still a definite tendency and it is holding back her progress. She is not as bad with it as she has been in the past but we still need to get it cured.

Old Friends in New Places

2010-06-07T12:46:00.001-07:00

This weekend we managed to get a double dip of herding work.

Saturday Piper and I went to Canines N Ewe for our regular Saturday lesson. Sunday we went to Stockdog Ranch to visit Anna Guthrie at her new place almost across the street from the Pala Casino.

There was a lot going on at Canines N Ewe as there was a movie crew filming a biblical themed short subject at Jennifer’s last week and making use of her sheep and field. The film crew was working on Saturday and we had to stop a couple times to wait while they were filming a scene so they would not have whistles or shouts of “lie down. LIE DOWN!” captured on film for eternity. Also they were driving in and out in vehicles and it was necessary to keep an eye open for trucks and other moving vehicles when sending on outruns or driving sheep. At least one dog wisely altered its outrun to avoid being run over by the film crew.

There was most of the usual crew with Jennifer, Gayle, and Tricia along with special guest appearances by Sally Douglas and her FOUR dogs and new participant Dr. Bob (Schooley) and his dog Spike purchased at the November Norm Close Clinic. Tierney Graham also stopped by on her way back from Mexico to retrieve Briscoe from boarding. Tricia’s Tipper and Piper were the long outrunners for the day and everyone else was working a little shorter. Piper’s outruns were – as usual – good – although one of her aways was way away and around the film crew but she eventually came up behind the sheep. The steering on the fetches was not the best and she was banging her sheep down the fetchline a little harder than Tipper but not a wild chase. Main problem was the fetchline steering was not working.

We did a driving exercise driving in a rectangle and also a quarter flank drill. The flanks were a little sloppy at first but got better and she did a pretty good job on the rectangular drive. She still has a tendency to either drop her shoulder in at the beginning of the flank or to give an outrun size flank requiring a call in. When I insist on it and we drill she does a nice flank. I just need to insist on it every time.

Valuable insight from the day from Jennifer – we have a tendency to give a correction and not stick with it long enough. Example, “Get Out” and then resuming the flank as soon as we get the first give on the get out instead of either giving the correction again or waiting until we have a real get out.

Sunday we went to Anna Guthrie’s new place near the Pala Casino. My very first herding experience and start was with Anna about five years ago and while I do not train with her regularly at this point I still enjoy going by occasionally, visiting and working dogs. Plus she has a new place and I wanted to see it.

The new place is a nice upgrade with about ten different training areas ranging from small arena to big hill field. We worked mainly in a medium size field and then did some work on shedding in the cutting horse arena under roof cover and shade. Sally Douglas also went and we held sheep for her to work on outruns with her dogs. On our own outruns we ended up needing to fetch over the top of Sally’s dog as it wanted to try to head the sheep at set out. We were really working quarter flank drills and shedding in the covered arena today so it did not really matter. Piper was doing a nice job on the shed and coming in nicely and turning on the sheep that wanted badly to get back to their friends. We will work Anna’s new place into a rotation of different places to work.

The Cutting Horse Arena. Nice to get in under the shade and work.

Competitive Outrunning

2010-05-29T19:26:00.001-07:00

It was a very fun group for lessons today and slightly smaller than expected. Piper and I were joined by Jeff Blackstone & Dusk, Tricia Guidry with Tipper & Tara, Gayle Cory with Milo and a special guest appearance by Tierney Graham with Brisco.

Tierney is trying to tune up Brisco for the Nursery National Finals and Jeff and Tricia are both running very successfully in Open so it could have been expected to be a competitive day of lessons. And it was ! But not necessarily how one would have expected.

Near the end of the day - just for the fun of it - we decided to send the dogs on a blind outrun to pick up the sheep from the other side of the canines n ewe field. That's right dogS. As in plural. As in four of them at once. Brisco and Tara went away and Piper and Dusk went come bye. Soon we had a very confused group of sheep who are used to outnumbering the dog coming over the hill in a controlled fetch with four dogs on their rears. It was actually quite amusing and fun.

We also worked early in the day on driving some runners and Piper struggled mightily at this although it got better as the day went on. Basically she was over flanking from what was necessary and sending the sheep on a serpentine pattern. She did get better as we worked on getting her to just walk in at a controlled pace and eliminate much of the flanking.

We also did some shedding practice and I had serious trouble getting the home flock sheep to stay still. We eventually got it ad managed a couple sheds.

Then we did outruns and partial fetches before turning the sheep around. Unlike the last two weeks we largely left the dogs alone. Piper did well at this and then we moved the sheep to the other side of the hill where they were not visible. Piper's come bye outrun then was way wide (almost to the junkyard) and deep. But soon enough sheep heads popped up over the hill and headed only somewhat off line. On the away side Piper (and the others) needed to go behind one set of boulders and then bend out along the side of a hill. I used a redirect whistle on the fly to help with this and she took it very well. Although I obviously could not see either lift on the other side of the hill Leon (set out person) told me that Piper was appropriately deep and hit the right spot for controlled and proper lifts.

It really was a fun lesson today and a very good group.

Back to Work - Managing the Outrun

2010-05-16T09:58:00.000-07:00

It was back to work at Canines N Ewe yesterday.

We had a pretty good group of dogs working yesterday and Jennifer even worked two of her Open Dogs with us. Our Saturday class is very supportive of each other and very competitive at the same time. Just trying to catch up to the handlers and dogs in our regular Saturday class can be very challenging. Piper and I are not at the level of the top dogs in the class but we are trying hard to get there. If we can do that we can go to most any trial and expect to be competitive.

Yesterday's class included Jeff Blackstone and his Open dog Dusk, Tricia Guidry and Open Dogs Tara and Tipper, Jennifer and her Open Dogs Sly and Soot (known in Ione as "Scott" due to mispronunciation"), Gayle Cory and Milo (my buddy), and Hiroko Komori and Dusty along with Piper and me. All of these Open Dogs are either already qualified for this year's Nationals or have qualified in the past.

We started in the lower field with some driving drills. Piper was cutting her flanks a bit looking in on the sheep and dropping her shoulder. So we went back to drilling. If she cut the flank at all or started to drop the shoulder or look in, I stepped toward her with the training whip until she reacted appropriately. It did not take much pressure. We also worked on getting quarter flanks instead of always getting big flanks.

This was all part of our goal of hopefully moving her up to Open sometime in the next trialing season. Based on her results running Non-Compete at Dunnigan she could probably move up soon and occasionally be competitive but Jennifer has high standards (and we have adopted them as well) for dogs running Open and consistency. As Jennifer said we can not have days like last Saturday at Ione when Piper basically blew me off and expect to run in Open. Piper has the ability and she demonstrates it on occasion but we need to get the consistency out of her.

When we moved to the upper field we first ran from the lower end up the hill. Piper's outruns in this direction were there usual good outruns and she was bringing the sheep nicely on the fetch line and through the panels. Then we changed it up trying to get a dogleg fetch and we failed miserably. I simply could not get her to come in at what she considered to be off balance and fetch on a diagonal. (We were not the only one to struggle with this as at least one of the Open dogs also did not want to fetch off line although another did quite well. Identification omitted to protect the other dog that struggled.)

Then we switched directions and ran from the top of the hill down toward where the handler's post is normally set for the Snowbirds Trial. This always seems to be a trickier outrun and creates more difficulties for us as the line of trees tends to kick Piper in on the right side and the rocky hill kicks her in on the left side. The sheep were set way back and in some shade so they were difficult to see.

Jennifer wanted all of the Open dogs to run left and go up on the rocky hill - there is actually a golf cart wide path which the dogs can follow. Piper was included with the Open dogs for this exercise. And IT WAS DIFFICULT. None of the dogs (including Jennifer's) managed to get it the first time. There was a LOT of handler-to-dog communication and direction going on.

Our first outrun Piper stayed below the hill and we let her have her sheep. Her fetch was good and we did a right hand turn around the post and drove the panel before pushing the sheep back to Leon for set out. It was a nice long drive and we received kudos for that. But we were working on getting the outrun where we wanted and it was back to work.

So it was "Come Bye". Whistle redirect "Come Bye" - still not going around. "GET OUT." Lie down whistle. Recall part way and try again. Repeat. Then Repeat. Then Repeat Again. Several times it seemed Piper was out wide enough and was going to go around but she simply would not go up the rocky outcropping. Finally after about eight unsuccessful attempts it was rest time and watch the others.

All of the Open Dogs struggled with the task but they eventually got it. A few started to sulk and not want to start out their outrun enthusiastically.

Then we had another chance. Jennifer told me I needed a big "GET OUT" timed correctly and after a couple more failed attempts Piper got it and cut up the rocky terrain reaching the path. She came around and gave me a pretty nice fetch (something some of the others were struggling with yesterday.) We tried it one more time and Piper did the slowest outrun I think I remember her having but she went plenty wide and found the path along the ridge from the start this time. Good work !! Unfortunately she was favoring her right front paw on the fetch and although she was probably done anyway - examination showed a torn paw pad - the second dog of the day to suffer one - and we finished for the day.

A final note - while we were struggling to get the managed outrun, Piper NEVER QUIT ON ME. She kept recalling and trying to figure out what I wanted, She never sulked or copped an attitude. I actually overheard Jennifer saying to Tricia that Jennifer preferred working with a dog with Piper's attitude because she never sulked and kept trying.

Well, it looks like we still have a lot of work to do if we are going to successfully navigate our way to Open Class. But if the journey was easy it would not be nearly as much fun. I am confident we will make it and happy that we have such quality handler/dog teams to gauge our progress at our weekly training session. Truly, if we can get to where we would be competitive with our training class we can compete anywhere.

Oh and if it sounds like I am being overly hard on Piper it is simply that she has come so far (6 months ago her work yesterday would have amazed me) that I have full confidence in her abilities. I have seen her on occasion do everything we are asking of her and know she has the ability to do these things. We just need to refine the skills (hers and mine) and get consistency from her.

Perils of Point Pleasant and Field Observations

2010-05-12T16:45:00.001-07:00

We have now run two trials on the field at Point Pleasant with two different groups of sheep - range ewes in October and home farm flock this past weekend (Mothers Day). Theoretically the home flock should have behaved differently (in some ways they did - they were much easier to move and turn) but the draws and features of the field combined to make for the same danger points.

Please understand this is NOT to make excuses because there were some danger spots that we simply did not handle as well as we should. But the spots were consistent enough that - watching all the runs before us we should have been better prepared to deal with them. Some we were, and some we were not.

First, the trial field is a big flat rectangle which should NOT be complicated. The field is probably a little over 300 yards to set out (from in front of the fence - open outrun in the fall has to go through the fence which is an added complication.)

The outrun should not be difficult but for a relatively large number of dogs it was both in October and Mothers Day. Piper had no trouble with the outrun at either trial but several dogs did. The only thing I can think of is that because the field is sooo flat and the grass is fairly high, that the dogs have trouble seeing the sheep at the end of the field. Anyway, several dogs at both trials went out about 1/3 to 1/2 way and either crossed over or wanted to come back. Some eventually found their sheep and some never did.

The sheep are set out from a pen near the top of the field and to the handler's right of the set out post. The pen is pretty close to the set out and there is a hard draw back to the set out pen. Therefore it is an almost must send right field when the sheep are set out for the open. Otherwise if the dog comes in at all flat on the bye side the sheep are on a fast escape back to the set out pen, usually with the set out dog trying to help and it quickly becomes a mess. Proper outrun is away and ends at about 1 o'clock to hold against the draw.

For Nursery and Pro Novice, the sheep are brought far enough forward that there is room for the dog to go deep behind set out and control the sheep. Thus, both outrun sides are opened as possibilities. But if you go bye, your dog had better go deep and get behind the sheep or else they are going to go hard to your right and maybe back to set out. Piper went bye and deep and did not have this problem. In fact, she was one of the few dogs who was bringing her sheep along the fetch to the handler's left (and then I messed her up - see below). For most dogs it was necessary to guard the right hand pull on the fetch (this was definitely true for us in October).

The other danger on the fetch is that if the dog comes too far forward on the left of the sheep (away flank) they will take the opportunity to turn back and escape towards set out. This is what happened to Piper on the fetch. We were about to miss the fetch panel to my left and so I flanked her away - but too far. Instead of simply turning toward the panel opening, the sheep took advantage of the opportunity to turn back toward set out and attempt to escape that direction. Piper came around and caught them but crossed the course in doing so and we lost major points. But it was OUR MISTAKE which opened up the escape route. And we should have known that was the danger point. I should have been more subtle with the adjustment or simply let them miss the fetch panel.

The next danger point is at the post. If the sheep come around too quickly or the dog does not come around to tuck them in they want to run for the House which is to the handler's left. This can lead to wide turns and starting the drive off line. On the other hand if the dog comes around too far they will start back off line to the right and headed toward set out at the top of the field. (This happened to a couple top open handler and dog teams).

On the drive away, most of the groups wanted to lean slightly to the right (leaning toward an escape to exhaust) and needed to be held from that tendency. A small minority of sheep wanted to lean the other way just to keep handlers honest. But the biggest problem with the drive away was keeping the pace controlled. If the sheep managed to accelerate as they approached the panel they would just go on through, make a slight angle turn, and high tail it for the exhaust. This either resulted in a very wide turn with a cross drive starting way off line or a complete escape of sheep. It is absolutely critical on this field to keep the drive away at a controlled pace and too time the come bye flank correctly for a tight turn. If this was good the rest of the cross drive was good. Fortunately we managed this part of the course well.

Final danger point was at the cross drive panels. If given a chance to turn up field towards exhaust the sheep will take it. A tight turn is essential here. And this is another spot where we blew it this weekend throwing away a beautiful cross drive with a total mess at the cross drive panels.

Mothers Day Weekend Trials

2010-05-09T22:29:00.000-07:00

We went North (again) for a pair of Sheepdog Trials over the weekend.

It was interesting to get the perspective of a couple folks just moving up from Novice who were a bit overwhelmed by the size of the fields (esp Sunday)considering we found both (esp Saturday) to be small. Small, however, brings its own challenges.

Piper ran Pro Novice both days and although the scores were similar Sunday at Pt Pleasant just had a much better feel to it.

Saturday the field was tight, the sheep were runners and Piper had no brakes. We finished the course with over 3 minutes left. The run was not one that made me happy although I realized this was a gauge of how far she has come. Six months ago I would have been thrilled with the Saturday run.

Sunday the field was a bit bigger, the sheep slightly heavier and Piper listened to me. My best shorthand description is that it was a very good run punctuated by two moments of absolute disaster. Possibly the best most controlled drive Piper has ever given me completely blown at the cross drive panel.

Maggie Day

2010-05-02T16:37:00.001-07:00

Today was Maggie Day.

It does not come often enough.

Maggie has not been on sheep since the Norm Close Clinic last November - slightly over 5 months. And she did not seem terribly interested on the clinic - that's why she hasn't been out in a while.

Well today we went to a ranch trial at our friend Ted Ondrak's place (Rancho Vistoso) out in Antelope Valley. I thought it would be a good opportunity to get Maggie back on sheep in a relatively controlled environment. And it was.

I can't say we did well but Maggie showed interest again and seemed to thoroughly enjoy being back working. We need to get out more often.

Running with the Big Dogs in Dunnigan Hills

2010-04-27T09:53:00.000-07:00

This weekend Piper and I travelled north (again) to run at Bill Berhow’s Dunnigan Hills Sheep Dog Trial. Somewhat unusually the trial accepted Open “Non – Comp” runs to run after the competitive Open runs on Saturday and again on Sunday. We stayed Monday for competitive Pro-Novice Runs. Bill Orr from Oregon was the judge.

THE OPEN FIELD AND RUNS

There were 50 – 51 competitive Open Runs each day and 12 non-comp runs each day for a total of about 60 dogs each day.

The Dunnigan Hills field is literally just down the road from the Zamora trial field and is a fabulous rolling hills trial field. The distance from handler’s post to set out was 385 yards (Bill measured it by Radar). The Handler’s post was at the top of a hill and there were hills to either side on the outrun. Sheep were set at the top of a rise but with plenty of space behind them. Whichever outrun direction chosen was likely to result in a wide running dog going blind behind a ridge for a while. To the left the dog could have stayed below the ridge and visible but this tended to kick the dogs in and resulted in some flat top ends and off line lifts.

The draw on the fetch was to the handler’s right. If the sheep were lifted reasonably straight they were not terribly hard to keep on line but if the lift was off line – especially pushing sheep to the right – there were plenty of trouble spots. Some groups decided to go over the ridge to the right and disappeared resulting in a number of retires. At the post the sheep wanted to turn in front of the post and you had to wait until they had crossed the plane of the post before sending the dog around. Either they wanted to run you over at the turn or they wanted to escape way down the field to the exhaust pasture (not a pen just an extra pasture – in fact one dog that lost its sheep on the fetch ended up bringing the prior group back from the exhaust pasture.)
The drive away was almost 200 yards down into a valley and slightly back up on the end. For the most part the sheep were cooperative on the drive away although they had a tendency to speed up as they went through the panels leading to some wide turns.

The cross drive was another 250 yards and the line was more difficult on the side of the hill and then down through a swale. The sheep wanted to start out high and then when they got to the swale the tendency was to drop low off line. As they approached the panels they wanted to escape over the ridge and go graze so there were a few escapes and a lot of wide turns.
The last leg of the drive was down into the valley so you needed to stay by the handlers post to see what was going on. The sheep were very pennable with many (including my first set) just walking straight in.

I had several good friends running at the trial and before I get to Piper I promised to mention some. Unfortunately self focus being what it is I only remember some of their scores. Plus I slept in Sunday so I missed several of their runs. But based on reports and some eyewitness here goes.

Mike Burks and Sport had a very nice run on Sunday and ended up with a 73 good for seventh place. The turns were a bit wide and some very minor bobbles but in all a very nice run. Sport followed up with another nice run on Sunday with a little bit of trouble on the fetch (a stall and missed panels). I thought his Saturday run was better but the Judge liked the Sunday run better and Sport ended up 6th on Sunday with a 77.

Sally Douglas ran two dogs – Babe compete and Merle non-compete and I think she had a good experience. She was very happy with getting numbers with Babe in only her second open trial. Merle actually scored higher than Babe both days – including a very good 70 on Sunday (good for 2d among the non-compete dogs). Merle was very nice on his drive and seemed to deal better with the presence of a set out person than he sometimes does. I think Sally probably came away with a good feeling about, and more confidence in, both her dogs. Plus she got a chance to run them both on a big field under competitive conditions.

Jean Singer and Tug also ran both days and got around the course nicely on Saturday after a bit of adventure starting the outrun. I did not see their run Sunday but heard it was nice.
Erin Swanson had a good weekend with Lark (although she lost her drive pts Saturday due to time on what was going to be a nice run). She also took delivery of a new dog – 20 month old Cooper. Also she had a nice sampling of some crook handles for crooks her husband Brian is now making – and selling at a very reasonable price.

Piper’s Saturday run was our first time ever running with the big dogs. She did not disappoint and did better than I had expected and even than I had hoped.

I sent her come bye and she disappeared behind the ridge line for what seemed an eternity. Actually it was only 31 seconds before I panicked and whistled her on. Another 15 seconds and I whistled again. Immediately I then spotted her and she was in proper position and coming toward the sheep. Four points off the outrun due to my panic.

Lift was good and the fetch started on the muscle but straight. She started to slow the pace about 1/3 of the way down and we made the fetch panels cleanly. The remainder of the fetch was clean and we only lost 3 points on the long fetch.

Around the post and a very clean driveaway. At the turn she went through the panels on the flank for a reasonable turn where she has been going wide of the panels and losing sheep for a wide turn.

We struggled a bit with the line on the cross drive but were approaching the panel only a little high. This is where I blew the run, I should have just let the sheep slide by and take my deduction but I thought I could save it so sent her come bye --- TOO FAR. The sheep tipped sharply back down and Piper did not take my away flank to tuck them through the panel. It was a mess and we never got them back up to the panel. Finally as I decided to just bring the sheep down she crossed the course and got behind for the last leg. We lost 17 on the drive and most of it was right here.

At the pen I opened the gate and the sheep just walked in. For the rest of the trial Patti Sowell teased me whenever other sheep did the same calling them “Piper Sheep.”

Final score Saturday = 63 out of 90 (no shed). Good to win the non-compete side betting pool of $13 and would have placed 17th out of 52 (63 including non competes) if I ran her compete.

Sunday the question was whether I could repeat the performance or maybe even correct some of the flaws caught on tape Saturday. There were some good runs ahead of us among the non-compete including Tierney Graham and Brisco and Sally Douglas and Babe.

Well Piper gave me the run of our life so far. Not perfect by any means but the most complete run we have ever put together as a team.

Following my training philosophy I sent her the opposite direction (away) on her outrun. I thought she sighted her sheep before dropping over the ridge and out of sight. But I learned my lesson from the day before and kept hearing Jennifer’s voice tell me “She’s a good outrunner – don’t panic”. So I swallowed the whistle and watched a minute tick off the watch with no Piper in sight. Just as panic was about to take over and blow a flank whistle I saw sheep start to run straight at me with a small black and white blur in pursuit. Zero off the outrun and only 1 on the lift.

The fetch started on the muscle but calmed down and it was straight. Only slightly off for just a moment. Four points off the fetch.

The drive was an exercise in small movements. Slight positional adjustments and we avoided overflanking. Controlling the pace and walking up. No real serpentining but slight adjustments.

Made the first panels and a nice turn. Little bit on and offline on the cross drive but generally pretty good line. Slightly low at the swale and slightly over adjusted as they approached the panel. My adjustment was better timed and with more finesse. Then drive toward the pen holding the line well. Only 7 points off the drive – a big improvement for us.

Then the pen and a near disaster. I lifted the latch locking the pen shut and went to open the gate ahead of the sheep arriving. Everything seemed fine until the gate partially opened and the rope got caught in the pen preventing the gate from opening all the way and blocking the sheep from entering. As Tierney commented – my sheep patiently waited for me to get the rope unentangeled and then walked politely into the pen. We lost 2 points on the pen.

Final score = 76 making us the winners of the noncompetition competition. A that’s a “good dog” from the judge and you “had a competitive run” as we walked off. Overall we would have placed 7th if we had been running competitively – top 14%.

Pretty darn good for our first time “running with the big dogs”.

PRO NOVICE RUNS

The Pro Novice and Nursery runs were held Monday. Nursery was combined score or you could choose to have your score count for Nursery only with a young dog (Bill Berhow chose this option and it worked to my benefit).

The Course was about half the size of the Open Course and angled to a different part of the field. This actually created some issues for a couple dogs who had run non compete Open and were surprised to learn the sheep were not where they had been on previous days. It also brought the small pond at the bottom of the valley into play as the straight fetch would actually have been right through the middle of the pond. The line for the last leg of the drive was about five feet to the right of the pond.

Tierney Graham was up second with her dog Brisco. Tierney got her first qualifying leg back in October at Tom and LisAnn Spencer’s trial and has been tantalizingly close to the second leg several times since. Well she laid down possibly the best run I have seen from her so far with Brisco with a lovely outrun lift and fetch. But the real beauty was on her drive where I think she only lost 5 points. Total score was 11 points off for a 79. As I filmed for her I was thinking “that’s going to be hard to beat”. And it was, the score held up for first in both Nursery and Pro Novice so Tierney is qualified for the finals and off to Belle Grove.

Piper was up 10th and there were a couple quick retires right before us so I almost was surprised when it was our turn to run. On her first run I sent her bye and she was wider than most of the Pro Novice dogs – I think she was remembering the outrun from open – but she came up right, lifted well and exhibited more consistent control through the fetch than she had in Open. Outrun – 1, Lift - 2, and Fetch – 3. We completed a remarkable for Piper 3d good drive in row although we missed the cross drive panel just low. This time I realized we were going to miss the panel too late but unlike Open run 1 I accepted the point hit and let them slide by without making it worse. 9 points off the drive. The pen was lrgely uneventful although I did have to do a little jump move to prevent the sheep from going wide to the gate side before Piper calmly walked them in.

Total Score = 75. Three way tie with Bill Berhow and Karen Kollgard. We would have lost the tiebreaker with Bill (no shame in that !) but since he was running Nursery only we took second place – good for a Starbucks gift card.

Our second Pro Novice Run showed the dangers of hubris. It was a little too much to ask for four good runs in a row. Plus we had a group of wild sheep that broke for the exhaust while they were being set. So it was a tough combo.

I sent Piper away and she went way away. Judge Bill Orr standing behind me said “I think Piper says that’s where the sheep were for Open” and he was right. In this limited instance I think prior local knowledge was a disadvantage. But she went behind the ridge and kept going eventually coming up in proper position but WAY deep. Zero off the outrun and she walked up nicely for a reasonable lift – 2 points. From there the sheep wanted to escape home and Piper went too wide on her flanks. The sheep soon reached escaped velocity and we retired.

A good weekend and a wonderful trial.

Videos can be seen at www.youtube.com/magrammedia

Hold That Line !!!!

2010-04-18T11:49:00.000-07:00

We had a week in between trials to get some training in. If the early training runs were an indication we sure needed it.

After a relatively decent bit of training in the lower field on heavier sheep, Jennifer brought out the runners to test us. At first we failed miserably. I could not get Piper within twenty feet without the sheep taking off to escape. We almost had to buy Subway for class a couple times.

It seems Piper was getting up from her lie down straight into a flank instead of walking up. With these sheep as soon as she would catch their eye they were GONE. So we needed to get her to stay behind and in the pocket. She was doing this fine on the fetch but the drive was a mess.

So we tried driving toward the lower field and the fence which created a natural end to the runaway sheep. Also if she got up so much as a half step to the side instead of straight on I downed her immediately. If the sheep escaped well so be it but she was not going to turn it into a flank and retrieve game. It took some micro-managing and being on full alert but it actually worked. As long as I made her walk straight in and controlled the pace she actually managed to hold a line and looked pretty good doing it. So we know she CAN do it. I just need to stay on her and not let her get away with either flank or fast get ups.

Next week Bill Berhow's trial at Dunnigan Hills.

Deer Creek

2010-04-12T19:58:00.000-07:00

Piper Rounds The Post @ Deer Creek

We are back from Deer Creek which is the San Joaquin Valley Border Collie Spring Trial and one of the longest continuous annual sheep dog trials in California. Deer Creek has a reputation as one of the more difficult trials in California with cranky and difficult range ewes. Scores are historically low. This was our first time at Deer Creek and it was definitely mixed bag.

The Bad:

Piper came up a bit short on the first outrun and the lift was off line leading to . . .

The sheep pushed over Piper on the fetch on her first run and she would not come bye and walk into the pressure;

The first drive was still a serpentine route;

On the second fetch Piper ringed the sheep about halfway down;

She also crossed the course once on the drive;

We managed to basically throw away a decent drive on the 2d run at the cross drive panel missing high and then turning right back through the panel the wrong way.

The Bizarre:

Turning the drive away panel on our first run one sheep decided to lay down and play possum resulting in a re-run starting at the mid point of the cross drive.

The Good:

Piper's second outrun was wide and proper leading to a good lift;

The second fetch Piper held the pressure better although we missed the panels and she crossed the course once so the score was not good;

Our turn at the post was much improved on the second run;

Piper worked very well at the pen with a group of ewes that simply did NOT WANT TO GO INTO THE PEN including running down a breakaway ewe that wanted to escape on its own at least three times;

After our first run was called and we started to exhaust the sheep turned to face her down and Piper took the "hit it" command to get them moving again;

Piper refused to take any crap from some very difficult ewes when working exhaust.

Results:

9th out of 22 in Round 1.

4th out of 17 in Round 2 for a Ribbon and check.

Back to Work

2010-03-27T18:57:00.000-07:00

Well the celebration from a good job at Sonoma is over.

It is back to work cleaning up those things that still need cleaning and polishing those that need polishing. Plus learning a new thing or two.

The wind was howling in Campo today making it hard to be heard at a distance. Perfect for practicing at a distance.

We started with outruns and fetch on a tricky group of rambouillet's that wanted to pull heavy to one side trading with Sally Douglas and Trapper. Piper took her first couple outruns nice and wide and deep and her fetches were generally pretty good even though the sheep kept trying to push over her and off line. After a few outruns she got a bit lazy and started to flatten out so I set her up and got the timing right on a good "get out" on the away side and this was better.

Driving was generally OK today but not great. She did some good stuff and some not so good stuff. The cross driving was generally better and the driving generally got better during the day. On our last cross drive the sheep wanted to drop anchor. This was the same group that made her turn tail a few weeks ago and she was not walking on. She wasn't turning like before but still not walking on. I gave her a "hit it. hit it. hit it." and she did. YEAH !! Moving sheep again.

We also snuck in a bit of shedding practice today. Piper is getting the concept pretty well. It's me that has the problem of getting in her way and not leading the drive off. I think by the time we need a shed we should have one.

Anyway only 2 weeks til Deer Creek and I want to have her ready.

Apres Sonoma - the Wine Tasting

2010-03-22T10:40:00.000-07:00

Well the best part of the Sonoma Trial is the "Apres Sheepdog Trial" wine tasting.

As I did last year, after our runs were over I snuck away with Piper for a bit of wine tasting. You can get a list of wineries that permit you to bring your dog but I have pretty much found that by keeping to the smaller wineries (and a few of the big ones - but check first), Piper has been welcome at almost every winery we stop at. The only exception was one winery that had their own two Great Danes wandering around and I left her in the truck to avoid dog on dog issues. All I do is bring her to the door and ask first and the answer is almost always that she is welcome.

The picture above is Piper outside the Madrigal Vineyards where we picked up a nice bottle of Sauvignon Blanc. This was a small estate bottling with only 200 cases made so it is only available at the winery. It is somewhat richer in taste than the average Sauvignon Blanc and a very nice wine. It was purchased as a gift.

The funny thing - to me anyway - is how easily impressed everyone at the wineries is by a well behaved dog. The Wine Country Sheepdog Trials get a fair amount of local publicity so most everyone seems familiar with the concept of a Border Collie. But they are always amazed that I can just walk in - either off leash or just drop the leash - and tell Piper to "lie down" and she just stays there. For those of us in dog trialing she better darn well lie down at 3 feet because otherwise we will never get it at 300 yards - but for most people they seem way impressed. Guess they just are not use to dogs that do as they are told.

Well we hit a few wineries and picked up some nice bottles of wine.

Our first stop was at Ballentine Vineyards - a small well respected boutique winery - where we arrived just as a tour bus group of mostly young 20 something women was finishing their tasting. So it was a bit crowded and I hesitated before bringing Piper but I was assured she was welcome. She was a huge hit with the girls. Wow!

Here is a picture of Piper posing outside Ballentine. We bought a nice Merlot here.

My favorite winery this visit - and something of a surprise - was the Vermeil Winery tasting room right in Calistoga. I had kind of expected it was another celebrity slapping his name on a winery for publicity but apparently Coach Vermeil is a Napa born native and the roots and connections go way back. The winemaker (Paul Smith) was formerly at Mondavi and is partly responsible for one of the truly fabulous wines of the world - Opus One. Mary Sue Frediani (Paul's wife) literally grew up with Coach Vermeil and (wo)mans the tasting bar. She is a real joy and while I was there took time out to help a couple young girls find lodgings for the night.

Well I tasted a vertical flight of Zins from 2000, 2001, 2002, and 2003 from the same vineyard. The difference was remarkable. While they were all great my favorite was the 2001 with an intense peppery taste and very full bodied. My next favorite was the 2003 which to me had a bit of a chocolaty taste. I bought a 2001 and 2003 in a gift box as a special gift for my sons future in laws.

Mary Sue was great in welcoming Piper and Miss Piper managed to behave herself for the entire 45 minutes or so that I enjoyed the tasting. (I kind of broke tasting protocol and drank the wine as it was my last stop before dinner across the street). She even moved along with me a few feet at a time as we heard the Vermeil/Frediani combined family history (told with obvious and well deserved pride and love).

The picture above is Piper chilling at the Vermeil/Frediani tasting bar.

On our way out of town we stopped at V. Sattui for some wine, salami and cheese. This is a larger operation but is always one of my favorite stops due to the wide selection, dog friendly atmosphere (except for the deli section we learned) and wonderful deli selection. They were even doing barbecue in the picnic area. If you are looking for a place to stop and lunch V. Sattui is hard to beat on a nice day. Just remember if you are using their picnic area it is supposed to be with their products.

Sonoma - What a Difference a Year Makes

2010-03-22T09:04:00.000-07:00

Well I guess the picture gives away the ending so I will end the suspense immediately. Piper ran well, scored a 63, lost all tiebreakers from a 3 way tie for 5th and ended up 7th winning a Ribbon, dog bone and bottle of wine (I love the loot at this trial). I was very proud of her.

What a difference a year makes. Last year it was Outrun, Grip, "Thank You".

The Pro Novice at the Sonoma Trial was a combined run with Nursery and there were so many entries (52) that they cancelled the second Nursery Run. This is absolutely one of the best trials of the year and it is pretty much unbeatable for hospitality and atmosphere. If you do well you can go wine tasting (separate entry coming) to celebrate, If you do poorly well there is plenty of wine to help you forget.

Because the trial is so popular the PN/Nursery attracts a higher number and more experienced handlers than you might otherwise get in a PN trial. We were running competitively against nationally known trainers like Derek Fisher, Bill Berhow, Don Helsley, and Geri Byrne. Add in Suzy Applegate with a Nursery only run and we were running in some pretty good company.

Our judge was Dennis Birchill from Ireland -the current international brace champion and he was a charming man even if a bit difficult to understand due to the heavy accent. I love that accent though.

We were given 9 minutes to complete the course and it frankly was too much time. Unfortunately many PN handlers will not walk away from a wreck when they should and a lot of runs ended with calls of "time". The result was that by about 3 p.m. we started running to a standard - something almost unheard of in PN. Piper and I ran at 4 pm under the standard.

Suzy Applegate and her Nursery Dog Dot set the early standard with a lovely controlled walking pace run losing only 11 points for a 79. (This was a Nursery Only run so it did not count against us for placement in PN) If you are running the same course later in the day from Suzy I HIGHLY SUGGEST you watch her runs closely because you will learn a lot about the course draws and how the sheep are behaving that day.

Geri Byrne and Danny were the only other run even in the same neighborhood in the morning posting a 68 after having a bit of trouble with the line and some reluctant ewes at the pen (although she did get them in). Geri was very happy with her young dog and rightfully so.

In the mid afternoon Candy Kennedy with Bond and Patti Sowell with Del posted tied scores of 63. They got there differently but they were both nice runs.

Derek Fisher and his new dog Mirk had a bit of trouble on the outrun. Derek had to blow Mirk down and redirect twice (4 pts off) but Mirk eventually bent out and the rest of the run was a thing of beauty. Derek's timing on his flanks is impeccable and the fetch and drive were both things of beauty. He posted a 77 (I think) which had him in first place until the very last dog.

Piper and I ran 40th and did not go to the post until almost 4 p.m. As I approached the post Dennis Birchill told me we were now running "to a standard" and the magic words would be "thank you."

I sent Piper to the left and she went out a little slower than usual (about 3/4 pace) like she was feeling her way along. But she was wide and deep and came up about 11:30 on the clock face before turning in. Since the sheep were generally lifting to the handlers left this was the right spot for the pressure. Zero points off the outrun (but she has me spoiled on the outrun)

She took my down whistle and walked in on the sheep nicely. The sheep lifted calmly but slightly off line to my left. Five points off the lift.

On the fetch the sheep wanted to go to my left but Piper mostly held them pretty close to the line. As we approached the post they came further left and would have set up nicely for a right hand drive. Unfortunately it was a left hand drive and we had to head them to wind the sheep around the post properly. They took this as an opportunity for escape and Piper gave me an outrun sized come bye flank catching and turning them for a very wide turn around the post. This was definitely the worst part of our run and we rightly lost major points.

On the driveaway the sheep wanted to lean to the right but Piper held the pressure and we made the inside edge of the gate. I was slightly late on the flank and she went wide around the opposite panel so the turn was a bit wide and we had to bring the sheep back down to hit the cross drive line.

The danger point of the run came here as Piper wanted to stay on top and ignored two verbal away flanks. Just as the sheep were about to tip back towards my feet she took the away whistle and got in the pocket to hold the line. As we approached the panel we needed a slight adjustment to get them back from the outside of the panel and through.

Then I failed Piper on the turn. I gave her the come bye to make the turn but because I was afraid the sheep would come back through I blew her down and short flanked her. This one was on me as I should have let her come around instead of breaking the flank into two parts. Result was a wide turn and our line to the pen was not the best.

At the pen the sheep were generally pennable but not anxious to go in so it needed proper teamwork. Our sheep gave us a couple attempts at rebellion upon nearing the mouth but in the working pen area. Piper held her side and did not overreact and the sheep soon gave up and went into the pen. Run completed with 3 and a half minutes left.

As I was leaving we were in a 3 way tie for 3rd place (losing all tiebreakers due to the points off the lift) with only about 6 dogs to go. Unfortunately for us 2 of those dog/handler teams laid down excellent runs and bumped us back two spots. Don Helsely jumped in front f Gerri Byrne and behind Derek Fisher ending up 3rd. Erin Swanson and Lark nailed the last run of the day to take home first place honors.

For a video of our run follow this link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-dcxXTyeeY

Getting Back on the Bicycle

2010-02-28T13:47:00.000-08:00

I remember when I was a kid being told that if I fell off my bicycle the best thing to do was to get right back on. The idea was that any lingering fear from falling off was best met by immediately facing it and conquering it.

In a mixed training session yesterday Piper had a "get back on the bicycle" moment near the end of a long (4+ hrs) day in the rain working sheep and watching other dogs work sheep. She had a hungry and reluctant ewe turn on her, lower its head and charge. Piper turned tail and then refused to walk back on. I trtied to get her to hit the offending ewe with a good bite to the nose but she was clearly spooked and was having none of it.

But I was not leaving the field until she reengaged as I did not want her thinking she could give in to fear. Jeff Blackstone and Dusk came out to help with the drive and provide some muscle while Piper semi-reengaged and provided some assistance. Shortly Piper took back over and continued the drive away on her own.

Then we finished the session by sending her out on a final outrun to bring in the sheep and she had no problem moving them. Hopefully she is back on the bicycle.

Before that end of the day event Piper was doing well on a day of challenges.

We started with dificult and tricky outruns with the sheep set at the top of a ridge so that the dogs had to go on the other side of the slope where they were hidden from the handler's sight. This was my first time with a totally blind approach to the lift and it was a little nerve wracking. The "away" outrun also required some traffic direction to get Piper between two rock outcroppings instead of either too wide or too narrow. Our first attempt resulted in a confused Piper and ended in a recall whistle. The second time she took the direction and went blind for what seemed an eternity. I kept asking "Do you see her ?". The answer was no until suddenly the sheep turned and started down the fetch line followed by a small black blur. Piper had come up in the proper position although maybe a bit fast but she took my down and we re3ceived the ultimate "nice fetch" compliment from Jennifer.

The "come bye" outrun was so deep I could not see it but again she came up in the proper position. Our later outruns were in such severe weather and fog that I literally could not see the sheep but Piper generally did well on her outruns. She really is a pretty smart little outrunner.

For the most part our drives were not as good as our prior session last week but better than they have been. We were having a bit of trouble turning the post too tight and a slight overflank leading to the sheep crossing the line at the start. Jennifer advised making a wider turn and not crossing the line. Eventually we managed this and finally got a "nice drive" but with the modifier "for Piper".

Overall it was still a good day but decidedly mixed due to the lost face off with the one ewe at the end of the day.

Prior to that

The Sound Of Silence

2010-02-20T16:40:00.000-08:00

We were working today mainly in the rain and mainly on driving but we did try something new on our last outrun of the day.

As Piper went out come bye Jennifer said to "let her have her sheep" and "see what she does." So I let her finish the outrun with no whistle or shouted command. She came up behind in the proper position for a calm controlled lift. Followed by a clam controlled fetch where Piper was adjusting herself properly to hold the pressure, adjusting her own pace and WALKING.

Nary a word or whistle until the sheep were about 10 yards from my feet and then I flanked Piper to get the sheep around the post the right way and started on the drive. Then it was minimal handling - mostly a little "take time" and very slight flank to hold the pressure resulting in one of Piper's best drive aways ever. Followed by a nice cross drive and Jennifer suggesting we "quit on that one."

Actually Piper's drives were generally better today than usual. This was true all day and not just on the last drive. Maybe she s starting to get this driving thing down. If so YIPPEE !!

Also the silent gather suggested I need to trust her more and let her work - only interposing whistles or spoken commands when needed. She responded well to the minimalist handling on our final run. Again, hopefuly not a one time thing.

Zamora !!!

2010-02-15T20:28:00.000-08:00

Tricia Guidry on Sunday in Open. Look at the top in the picture to the right and you ca barely see the biplane.

Well that was a lot of fun !!

We just got back from our first trip to Zamora where Piper ran in Pro Novice.

The Zamora Hills course is somewhat legendary in California and now that we have been there I understand why.

This is the view from the post for the open. Send across the small ditch along the ridge line some 600- yards or so to the saddle between the two hills where the sheep are set out. Then the fetch is down the valley between the hills on either side with various blind spots along the way. To make it more fun use range ewes who are difficult to steer. THIS IS WHAT A SHEEPDOG TRIAL IS SUPPOSED TO BE !

For the Pro - Novice the sheep were brought down into the valley between the two hills but still 250 - 300 yards out. The particular spot where they were set was kind of tucked in so it would be very easy to run wide behind a hill and get lost on the outrun.

We were up 2nd in Pro Novice and followed nursery (about 10 dogs). Because the Open dogs had difficulties with the drive away panel all weekend the course was changed to a "push bye - then pull through" on the drive away. Push the sheep by the panels to the left and then pull back through. Everything else was normal.

I decided to send Piper "come bye". Suicide in the open it was a viable option for PN because the sheep were set lower. She took off beautifully and was making her way up the hill on the left when she started to kick in and slow down. She was obviously wondering where the sheep were and coming in to investigate. I was a fraction of a second from blowing a redirect whistle when I noticed Piper seemed to catch sigh of the sheep, turned her head "bye" and redirected herself out and well behind the sheep. Outrun loss of 1 point.

Piper came up on the sheep well but in my view a little hard and lifted straight. Zero points deducted.

The fetch seemed a trouble spot for many of the dogs we had watched but - except for being a little hard headed and fast for the top quarter or so - Piper handled it well. The sheep wanted to pull to my right and a little come bye flank and lie down got them back on direction before they got too far. We must have stayed pretty well om line because we only lost 5 points for the fetch. Most that I saw were losing many more on the fetch. Anyway this was very encouraging because this is the second trial in a row where Piper has been very good on her outwork (5 points lost at Hoof and Paw and 6 points lost at Zamora).

On to the drive. It has been our bugaboo and it was again but for different reasons. Our tendency has been to over flank and cause a serpentine drunk driving pattern with Piper acting like a windshield wiper going from side to side behind the sheep. Here the sheep wanted to lean to the left and so I had Piper come bye and stop. Then a little walk up and the sheep would push back to the right. Stop and let them come a bit left and another come bye. Here is the good thing. Piper was taking the flanks and the stops and we were progressing in a more or less stacked banana motion toward the panel. Mostly straight but always tending in the right direction. But we were not doing the windshield wiper serpentine approach. The other good thing is that Piper was taking my "lie down" commands where they were given and not moving off pressure then lying down as she did last week in practice.

When we got to the drive away panel I had trouble telling when we had passed the plane to the left and walked Piper in too much. The sheep made an escape high because I waited to flank too long. Anyway they were up on a plateau where I had no sight of my dog and could barely see the tops of the sheep heads. This is where I think we lost most of our points but I also think it is somewhat course and run specific.

We finally got the sheep turned back and by this time I abandoned trying to get the pull through. Piper brought the sheep down to the cross drive line - probably a bit low but it looked good to me at the time. Then from there the cross drive was actually pretty good. The sheep wanted to go low beneath the panel so I flanked Piper to cover and they tipped back towards the panel opening. Unfortunately I released the pressure a little early and they tipped back low again and almost broke the plane. Another flank away and we covered that before they broke the plane. A short walk up and the sheep were nicely positioned in the middle of the panel opening but with their sides to the opening facing uphill. A quick come bye and stop aligned with the middle of the opening and the sheep went through.

On to the pen. Almost nobody was getting the pen and we were no different. Piper did work calmly and we managed to get the sheep almost into the mouth. One ewe tried to stamp Piper down but she held her ground and was calm about the whole thing.

Final score 53 with a high degree of difficulty. Overall I was very happy with Piper.

EDIT TO ADD. Piper's score held up for 8th place out of 32 actual runs. So top 25%. And she beat some dogs that have been regularly beating us. So improvement is showing.

Spectators on the Hill across the road.

Hit it

2010-01-30T19:28:00.000-08:00

Just back from a day of training at K9Z&Ewe.

Piper had a difficult day. She probably needs to be reintroduced to Jesus.

Her driving on the driving drill portion of the day was actually reasonably good as we went back and forth on the cross drives. Not as serpentine as usual and kept sheep moving at a reasonable pace.

Outruns - usually her strong suit - but she was having some trouble flattening out at the top. So we set her up to do an extra deep outrun trying to get her up a road. It did not make sense to her as the sheep were more forward and she fought me all the way round. Finally got her to go where we wanted and she went on a tour of the neighboring ranch as if to say - you want wide - I'll show you wide. Eventually we got to a semblance of what we wanted but it was working.

Near the end we did some beginning shedding work. It is getting better - we have not done this in a couple months. She will come into the hole but getting her to turn on the sheep we want to take away without overrunning the hole was a bit tricky. Eventually she seemed to get it a little better and we got her coming through AND turning properly. The last two times - 1 shed and 1 single - she seemed to understand the job and moved on her own to prevent 1 sheep from regrouping. On the single she finally came in on the head and backed the single off facing the head down challenge. A big step for her.

Also while we were working on shedding and getting sheep back into the ring we had opportunity to work on our new "Hit it" command from 2 weeks ago. Sure could have used it at the trial last week. Anyway - several times she had sheep refusing to move and I gave her a "hit it" which resulted in her promptly and appropriately hitting the sheep. We even got some proper face hits and the sheep moved off her. Hopefully this will help with her confidence when we need to move some sheep that have dropped anchor.

We used the hit it again when putting the rambouilett's away. They had moved over near a trailer and appeared they would refuse to budge and were facing her down. I gave her a "walk up" and "hit it" and lo and behold Piper went for the nose and a very surprised rambouillet popped its head and front up, turned and went where Piper wanted her to go.

So a rough day but a good finish.

Happy Adoption Day !!!

2010-01-24T09:45:00.000-08:00

Pictures are Piper waiting her turn and The Trial Field at Suzy's.

Not really sure what this should be called but today is my one year anniversary with Piper.

Exactly one year ago today I picked her up at the cargo depot at LAX.

I was told to expect a year to partner up with her and I have to say that 1 year later we are a much better partnership and seem to be continuing to make progress.

To celebrate 1 year together we went to Suzy Applegate's Pro Novice Trial in Plymouth, California yesterday. The trial had a few things going in advance to recommend it - (1) different field that neither Piper nor I had ever been on; (2) relatively long - for PN - outrun of 250 + yards; and (3) range ewes. The setup was for a challenging trial but if we want to move along we need to keep testing ourselves.

Well the trial was a lot of fun. There were 25 Pro Novice dogs with 2 runs each. The weather semi-broke - compared to the biblical storms all week - and we were only cold and wet till about noon.

Suzy reported that the Range Ewes were being cantankerous and she had experienced trouble working them with her open dogs so good luck to we Pro Novice folks. The field was a wide open rectangular grass field with a slight rise at the handlers post. The sheep were set about 250 yards out and slightly left of center but easy to see from the handlers post (which was a large tree), Generally not a complicated outrun - at least so it seemed.

Suzy and Buzz did a non-comp run to lead off to sort of show the way. Suzy sent Buzz to the come bye side (which was slightly more narrow) and Buzz did fine.

I think most of the PN handlers were influenced by Suzy's choice of side (well it is her field and Buzz was the National Nursery Champion so she clearly knows what she is doing on that field - on any field really) and most people sent to the Come Bye side. Several dogs seemed to start out and then hesitate about 30 yards or so from the post like they were having trouble finding the sheep. I think there were a couple slight elevation changes en route. Also the exhaust was way to the right of the field and -- if the sheep wanted to pull at all they pulled to the right.

I was running next to last and watching all of this thought the better outrun was actually to the Away side. So I set Piper up - pointed her straight at the sheep on my right side (someone asked me at Jennifer's trial if I set Piper up for the outrun by angling her out in the direction of the outrun. I said only if I want to retrieve her from the next county. She is usually PLENTY WIDE.). And I sent her. She was off like a shot for easily the widest outrun of the first go round and came up properly on balance. (Several people sent this way on their second run and I think watching Piper's outrun may have contributed to the decision.) The lift was nice and I thought the fetch was generally good although I think I may have been seeing the line a bit wrong and they were likely off line a bit (no fetch panels to judge by). The drive started well but -- as with MANY OTHER DOGS the sheep were very difficult to control on the drive. We managed to miss both panels but broke the plane and headed for the pen.

There were only a handful of successful pens all day and we did not join that club. Her sheep wanted to escape to exhaust but she kept that route blocked and we managed to slowly work the sheep into the mouth of the pen despite their desire to keep trying breakouts. Piper successfully blocked all breakouts but the closest we could get was three ewes partially in the pen when one decided to make a break for freedom. Piper worked well for me at the pen but the sheep just would not go in.

Final score 49 out of 90 but good for 6th best score out of 25. (The sheep were tough on everybody - well with a couple exceptions).

Second run I decided I would follow my practice of sending to the opposite side whenever I have two runs. This is part of my philosophy that - yes we want to win whenever we go to the post - but the more important part of PN is experience and training. Jack Mathieson (nice man) warned me I might regret it since we were in contention for the overall win and already knew Piper could nail the away. But I thought training on a strange field was more important so stuck with my decision.

I set Piper up on my left, sent her come bye, and held my breath as she approached the area where several other dogs had slowed and needed either redirect or encouragement. Not Piper. She ran through the swales like it was her home field and went nice and deep and came up on balance. The lift was nice and the sheep wanted to go right towards the exhaust. A slight come by whistle and Piper got in the pocket and pretty much stayed there. Sheep came straight and to my feet at a nice controlled pace. It is SO nice to have fetch stearing (on both runs actually).

Sara Goodman told me afterwards that the OR/Lift/Fetch on the second run was the best she has ever seen Piper work. Since Sara also trains at Jennifer's she has seen Piper a lot and so this has some meaning. And these were some tough sheep that thought nothing of just running over several other dogs as they wanted to go way right on the fetch.

Anyway we got past the post and I swung Piper around to start the drive. That's when the sheep dropped anchor and simply refused to move. Piper walked in when I asked. Took small flanks as asked and basically did everything except grip to get them to move (we'll work some more on that in the coming weeks). They simply would not move and we timed out right there.

But after basically forfeiting 40 out of 90 possible points (30 drive points and 10 pen points) Piper had a possible score of 50 remaining if the judge thought she was PERFECT on her outwork. Well - she scored 45 out of those 50 points so she was pretty darn good. Her score was good enough for 6th place in the second run - even without getting the drive started. Fifth place overall combined.

BTW - Piper was not the only dog that the sheep dropped anchor on. There were several packets of sheep that dropped anchor and refused to move for (including Carolyn Crocker's Lyn that Suzy ran at the USBCHA Open nationals) so while I was not happy that she was stared down I am not going to get too upset at this point. But we know what we need to work on.

On the drive back I stopped at Harris Ranch to break up the drive and to enjoy a nice steak. I cut the last bit of my ribeye up into small pieces and mixed it with some kibble. Wow did Piper like that doggie bag.

Overall a good 1 year milestone and adoption day.

Snowbirds On the Border

2010-01-04T14:43:00.000-08:00

Subtitle - "A View from the Top"

It sounds so much better than the "Walk of Shame"

Both apply to the weekend. First the "View from the Top".

Piper and I spent the two days of the Open Trial at the top end assisting with the set out relay from the set out pens to the set out dog (Leon and Blade). It is an entirely different perspective on a dog trial.

From the top it is easy to see which outruns are tight and which are wide and deep. It is easy to see which lifts are smooth and which came at the urging of a grip (sometimes well deserved).

It is also obvious from the top that a good outrun sets up a good lift. And a good lift sets up a good start to the fetch and so on.

Having seen what happens from the top I will never complain about drilling a correct top end to the outrun again.

Also from the viewpoint of set out there are different concerns. Good set out is like a referee or offensive lineman - it is best not to be noticed. If there are disasters at the set out pens it is best they remain hidden. Set out -like sausage -is best enjoyed when complete - the ingredients and process are not important - just the end result.

And the end result is supposed to be the right number of sheep arriving at the set out spot without being unduly disturbed. The concern from set out is (1) getting the right number of sheep (2) making sure no lame sheep are set out (3) clearing any emergencies or wrecks which may come back our way and (4) making sure no one has to wait for their sheep to be set - except following a corrected emergency. Hopefully #4 is the only one that is visible to the handlers.

For the most part I think we got the job done this weekend for Open. It was a good group with people Gayle, Nicko, Zack, and myself at the pens and Leon at the set out. Canine help was provided by Piper at the pen on standby for emergencies and Blade at set out doing yeoman's work at set out.

After two days of set out we got our shot at competing in Pro-Novice.

Out of 34 dogs in the first go round 33 sent on the come bye side and only 1 on the away side. We ran 22nd and I sent Piper away - the only dog sent that direction all day. I think most people avoided the away because to be right the dog has to go behind a rock outcropping near the top and give up sight of the sheep temporarily. If the dog cuts in front of the rock it will be either VERY tight or cross over. Piper took the away exactly as I expected - kicking wide and deep behind the rock and coming up pretty much spot on. She did not give me the lie down but she did give me a stand and then came on nicely for a lovely smooth lift. 0 points off the outrun and 0 point off the lift.

The last time she was on range ewes was Pt. Pleasant and the fetch was more of a wild uncontrolled chase. (See earlier Blog Post about Pt. Pleasant). Anyway the lift was slightly off line to the panels but relatively controlled. Piper took my directions and lie downs on the bottom part of the fetch and we actually had a pretty nice pace coming down. I thought the sheep were drifting to the wrong side of the post and gave Piper an away command which she took giving the sheep the opportunity they were looking for and they escaped wide to the right of the post. Piper's come bye was too wide and by the time she got around in their faces they had meandered out of bounds for a DQ. Even so I was generally happy with how she worked.

On the second run we apparently had angered the sheep gods. I deliberately sent Piper the opposite way so as not to let her pattern. She did a beautiful come bye outrun stopping on balance. This time she gave me the lie down and started to walk up on command. She walked up and . . . NOTHING. The sheep would not budge. We tried everything - slight flanks - both sides - walk ups and NOTHING. Finally Piper got the sheep to turn and they got about 10 yards down the fetch before turning back and going to the hay. A few more tries and it was obvious they were not going to move so I turned, thanked the judge and took the Walk of Shame. I think it was the right time because I did not want to frustrate her anymore. We scored 0 points off the outrun and 7 off the lift (I guess we got a lift score because they left then came back.)

Speaking to Leon (set out) afterwards he told me it was only one sheep stomping and refusing to move. Piper initially held her ground but simply could not get that one sheep to move. It is the first time we have ever failed to lift so I am not going to worry about it unless it becomes a pattern. As Jennifer would say the "Sheep Gods were not kind to me".

We will get her back on range ewes at Suzy Applegate's trial in three weeks. Overall she did a good job handling the range ewes all weekend - up top helping with set out and disaster control - and her first run in Pro Novice.

Timing Is Everything

2009-12-27T08:17:00.000-08:00

It is true in many endeavors. Timing is everything. A joke with a poorly timed punch line or delivery will fall flat but get hysterical laughter if delivered with the right timing.

It is also true of corrections or commands to our dogs.

We were working yesterday on getting Piper to kick out and deep on her away outrun in one particular direction where she had been flattening out at the top. It is a semi tricky outrun where the dogs get kicked in by a fence line and then need to bend back out as soon as the fence ends. She was bending out a bit - but not enough - and coming in flat and a bit tight on the away side. Result - a rushed and slightly off line lift. (In fairness there was a time not long ago when I would have been happy with what she was doing and she was not the only dog having the problem. But if we are going to get to the next level it needed to be better.)

Solution - put on the running boots - and go down and convince her that I was serious about that redirect and get out command. After three or four of these run down the field and convince her I was a Psycho Killer on the loose, we tried it again with me staying at the post.

This time I got the timing right and just as she came off the fence - bent out a little bit - and then took a half step to cut back in - I hit her with a well timed "away" whistle. VOILA. I got in her head before she had committed to the new (wrong) path and she took the redirect on the fly bending wide and deep. The benefit was substantial and flowed through to the lift. Because she was deep enough I was able to bring her up properly behind the sheep without disturbing them and we had a nice, controlled, straight lift. It was a magical moment. We hope to have many more.

You were serious about that !?!?

2009-11-28T18:14:00.000-08:00

There is a great scene in the movie - "My Cousin Vinny" where the Judge holds Vinny in contempt for not wearing a suit jacket to court. Vinny (Joe Pesci) looks at the Judge and asks "You were serious about that?"

Well we had a couple "you were serious about that moments while training today at Canines & Ewe in Campo.

First, the weather. Beautiful sunny California, right ?? I know this because growing up in Ohio I watched the Rose Bowl every year and it was ALWAYS beautiful warm and sunny. At least so it looked on TV. Well, today, beautiful warm and sunny turned to cold, windy, raining with occasional hailstorms. At one point Piper's back was about half covered with hail stones. You were serious about that ?

Second, we were attempting a managed outrun to deal with the issue of Piper running too wide occasionally - like when she went horse hunting in Porterville. So the instructions were to send her come bye, stop her en route, counter flank her away, stop her, and then send her come bye to finish the outrun. Well, she took the first come bye and was off like a shot, she even took the lie down and stopped about a third of the way there. I gave the away counter flank and she took a half step and stopped and looked at me to say - this is wrong. "You were serious about that ?!?!" Assured by another away command I was indeed serious she took the counter flank to come in but she seemed happy when I quickly gave her another stop and sent her back on the original route to complete the outrun.

A strange seeming exercise to Piper but one with a purpose for those occasions when she takes off way wide and is running for the next county.

Norm and Vickie Close in Antelope Valley

2009-11-23T13:38:00.000-08:00

The Antelope Valley Stockdog Club hosted a training clinic with Norm Close - former Canadian BCHA National Champ, and photo opportunity with his wife Vickie Atkins Close this past weekend at the Lucky Ewe Ranch in Llano, California.

Well Norm and Vickie are both just incredibly nice people who worked tirelessly through the weekend to train dogs and take AMAZING pictures for all who attended. Norm's training and communication are just top notch and if its possible Vickie's photographic skills are even more phenomenal. As Norm told me Vickie is so good she even made me (the author) look good. Fortunately it was an easier job with the rest of my family and I am looking forward to delivery of a beautiful family portrait on canvas in about 6 weeks.

It was a full service clinic as attendees left with better trained dogs, great photos (or at least great photos on order), whistles, and even one new dog - Spike. Spike is a very nice 3 yr old off Diane Pagel's Roo that Norm had for sale and was purchased over the weekend by Robert Schooley, DVM ("Dr. Bob" to one and all). Dr. Bob was just as excited as can be - like a kid with a new dog should be. Congrats Bob !

And Thank You, Norm, Vickie, Sally Douglas for hosting, Terry Kinney for the Sheep, and Mike Burks for his usual stock handling extraordinaire.

Prison Break

2009-11-23T13:19:00.001-08:00

Well, Piper managed to get her way out of the "prison" of Sheep Camp by going on a total work strike. She just completely refused to work or even to look at sheep. It was not so bad that she would not eat or accept petting and loving from Jennifer though. She just did everything she could to get sprung on early release. Little b***h.

Picked her up after one week instead of two.

We are working on new nicknames - "Sheepdog of Alcatraz", "Prisoner of Azkaban", "Campo Convict" or "DIVA".

Sheep Camp

2009-11-18T15:34:00.000-08:00

Piper is at sheep camp.

She stayed at Canines & Ewe for two weeks of in house training as we try to tune her up and change her lie down whistle.

Early report is that she does not like sheep camp as she refused to even look at sheep the first day. The second day she looked at the sheep and barked.

I am hoping her desire to work sheep rises above her desire to be stubborn and she gets some benefit from the "sheep camp" experience.

Porterville Report

2009-11-08T12:50:00.000-08:00

We just got back from the 29th Annual Porterville Fall Driving Trial which is actually held in Lindsay, California. We were there for Pro Novice and Nursery on Friday and stayed for one day (of two) of Open on Saturday.

The field is a big plowed field in a large flat rectangle. There were some large dirt clods and the footing was very uneven for the dogs in places so some of the dogs were a little slow in spots on their outruns till they found better footing. The weather was absolutely gorgeous - mid 70's, calm, and maybe a single cloud in the sky both days.

The sheep were a mixed farm flock of Spencer and Oxford farm flock. They were largely uniform, responded well to the dogs, and, if anything, possibly a little too forgiving. If your dog was right -- the sheep were right and it is hard to ask for anything more. They were also possibly the easiest trial flock to pen I have witnessed. If you got to the pen with 30 seconds or so left you got your pen.

There were two rounds of Pro-Novice on Friday and I ran Piper in both. We had fairly consistent scores - although not particularly good - of 57 and 59 which I believe was good for 15th in a 30 dog field both runs. So pretty much dead middle in terms of scoring. But far from middle in terms of what she accomplished over the weekend.

Our first run was pretty similar to what we have been experiencing although possibly a slight improvement. The outrun - lift - fetch was pretty good losing a total of only 8 points (1-2-5). The drive-away was going pretty well until I managed to have an attack of panel phobia and gave a wrong and too much flank causing the drive to get seriously messed up. We did manage to recover enough to get through the cross drive panel where I flanked her come bye and pulled her up short on a quarter flank. The result was that our sheep came down way wide on the turn and we were off line on the final leg of the drive. (Jennifer told me afterwards that my timing was good but that I stopped her short and caused the problem - more later on the second run.) Our sheep slipped past the pen and we had to go get them back so we lost 4 points on the pen but overall a pretty good run except for the drive - which anyone who has been following this blog knows has been our nemesis.

On Piper's second run I sent her in the opposite direction (away) as I do not want to pattern her. This proved to be a mistake although only partially our fault. As Piper was running out - wide as usual - I watched her head and she was checking in on her sheep so I was not initially concerned. But as she continued out to the right somebody started riding a horse in the adjacent field way off to the right and Piper apparently got sucked in by the equestrian activity. Once I realized she was headed for the Trail of the Giants in the Sequoia National Forest I started frantically blowing my down and recall whistles alternately - initially to no effect as I had a view of a rapidly disappearing dog running away at full speed. Just as I was about to turn around and look for a 4-wheeler to go recover a wayward dog she took a stop and then a recall and started coming back as I was climbing down from the handler's tower. (Ron Ewers was watching and correctly guessed I was on the verge of retiring. He said he was going to run out and tie me to the tower to prevent retirement or shoot me.)

Anyway once Piper recalled and started to pay attention I decided to see how much we could get done. Strangely I relaxed knowing we had basically thrown away most of our outrun points. When she got back to about parallel with the set out I stopped her and gave her an away flank which she took. The fetch was a bit on the muscle and had some serpentine to it but we got control just after missing the panels.

From that point Piper was probably the best she has ever been for me. It was a right hand drive and we turned the post calmly and I lined her up for the drive-away. The sheep wanted to come back in front of the post (they had done this to a lot of dogs so I was ready) but I waggled my crook in their face and they gave up that idea. Then it was a series of "walk ups" and "lie downs" with virtually NO FLANKS (yes Jennifer I have been listening) and because she stayed far enough off and on the edge of the bubble the sheep walked straight on line to the panel. We needed one away flank just before the panel to turn them in the right direction and they walked right through. I gave her the flank whistle and let her make the full flank this time (thank you Jennifer for that observation from our first run). The turn was just a but wide as they probably went maybe 10 yards high of the panel on the turn before Piper brought them back down A nice quarter flank and they were pretty much on line for the cross drive. NO FLANKS the rest of the cross drive and she kept distance and Pace and lo and behold the sheep went right through the panels. A vocal flank and the sheep were coming right toward the pen where they went in easily.

THREE POINTS OFF THE DRIVE (yes I know I am shouting). By far our best drive performance and I think a lot of it was that I relaxed and trusted her.

Saturday I volunteered Piper and myself to work exhaust for the Open trial. Previously I had not felt that the trial organizers really thought we were up to tasks that required me to use a dog and I think there may still have been a slight hesitation. But our offer was accepted and we set to exhaust with run #2 of 55. We were there for the next 10 hours exhausting almost every single run (some never got to us and we had relief for about 5 or 6 runs late in the day). Piper was awesome. She only took maybe 2 or 3 wrong flanks in 10 hours - did not harass the sheep in the least - never broke early and interfered with an ongoing run and the couple times the Open dog was in thee wrong position and tried to push sheep back over top of Piper she would have none of it. Afterwards we received some since3re thanks and I think Piper gained some admirers with her solid work and stamina. I know she worked her little paws raw (actually her ankles right above the paw) on the uneven ground and was stepping gingerly but she did not show an ounce of quit. I was very proud of her.

In day 1 of Open there were a lot of good runs and it was very interesting to watch from the exhaust seat perspective. From my vantage point the difference between the good runs and the very good runs seemed to be on the turns at the drive panels. The handlers and dog teams that made the tightest turns set up the next leg of the drive best and had the best scores. Too late and the turn was wide and either started the next leg high or required an over correction. Not surprisingly some of the better handlers also had some of the better turns. Jennifer won with Soot, was fourth with Sly and 6th with Gunner. Wilda Bahr was second with Gracie, Tom Spencer 3rd with Floss and Suzy Applegate 5th with Buzz.

I also had the pleasure of meeting ABCA President Jim Swift at the trial and we chatted for quite a while. He was very familiar with Piper - knowing her as Laura Hicks "Uno" - her former name. We also had quite a chuckle regarding some of the internet message board criticisms from certain posters. I can report that Jim is very definitely accessible and quite willing to talk. A very nice man and I enjoyed chatting with him. And yes Jim we will work on getting a stop at distance.

Piper seems to be me introduction card as it turns out when we were chatting with the Judge - Roger Culbreath - during a break between the Open Runs that Jim Swift mentioned that Piper was formerly UNO and the Judge said he wished he had known the day before as he would be required to give a full report to Laura Hicks. Apparently he came VERY close to buying Uno from Laura before I did but said he did not have the money available at the time. I told him I was glad he did not buy her because I am very happy with her. He was very complimentary of her noting that she was "born with a bullet up her but" and has been a very fast dog since a little puppy.

Pt Pleasant Report

2009-10-20T11:07:00.000-07:00

To paraphrase Charles Dickens - It was the worst of runs, it was the best of runs. And that was all in one run - our second.

Just back from the Pt. Pleasant Sheepdog Trials hosted by Tom and LisAnn Spencer in Pt. Pleasant - about 20 miles South of Sacramento. The trial was open and Nursery on Saturday, Open and Open Double Lift on Sunday, and Pro-Novice (2 runs) and Nursery on Monday. We only made it for the Monday Pro Novice and Nursery so that is all I can report on - other than that Suzy Applegate and Lyn won the Open Double Lift on Sunday.

I am told the weather was beautiful Saturday and Sunday. Not so on Monday. When I walked Piper at 7 a.m. at the Holiday Inn (nice place BTW) the weather was lovely. After enjoying the included breakfast buffet it was starting to rain as we left for the trial field shortly after 8. It was rain off and on for the rest of the day only clearing up as the trial was finishing. Then rain - sometimes heavy - made the drive home extra fun.

In the Nursery Tierney Graham and her dog (Briscoe I think) had a very nice run and managed to take home first place in something of an upset over Suzy Applegate and her dog Dot who was 6th in the recent Nursery Nationals (I think I heard Dot won the first day of nursery). Good job Tierney !

The Pro-Novice had 17 dogs in the first run and 10 in the second. The field is very flat and a lot of the dogs seemed to have trouble locating the sheep. There were a lot of redirects - an unusually high number of crossovers - and a few outruns straight up the middle through the fetch panels. Some of the dogs never found the sheep at all and some found them after they had basically lost most or all of their outrun points.

The sheep were range ewes and I think they were probably a little difficult for some of the younger dogs but they were actually very fair and worked very nicely - as long as the dog was right. A great big thank you to Tom and LisAnn for bringing in range ewes and then letting we mere Pro-Novice handlers work them. Range ewes are hard to find at pro-novice trials so it was a real treat to get to work on them. It is especially good if you view Pro-Novice as training period trying to make it to Open.

I did not write down the results so this is a bit from memory but I think Carolyn Crocker won the first PN run with Lyn - the same dog that Suzy ran in open, Suzy Applegate also placed with one of her young dogs although I can't remember which one. The second go round of PN had Patti Sowells in first and third and Carolyn with Lyn in 2nd. Piper retired in the first go round and we were 4th out of 10 in the second go round.

Anyway - back to Dickens. Our first run was the worst of times. The lift was off line and Piper did not seem to wish to acknowledge my presence in the same state. The fetch was wild and at least 30 yards off line. We did manage to get around the post and get started on the driveaway when a train came by blowing its whistle about 200 yards from where I was standing -- one of only two trains all day. By that time it really did not matter. The sheep came around the post and wanted to make a run for it in the general direction of back toward set out. Piper managed to get them turned but a couple of overflanks later they were coming back to my feet and Piper was still not really listening to me. I left the post to retire and naturally she immediately decided to listen to my requests as we exhausted. In Dickensian terms it was the worst of runs.

The second run was showing signs of being a repeat of the first as the sheep lifted off line and the fetch was going for Mr. Toad's wild ride on another 30 yard off line fetch. She did start to take my come bye flank and when she got wide enough and in position to turn their heads she miraculously took a "lie down".

After that she was a completely different dog. She calmly walked up - took my "time" commands and we got the sheep around the post. As with the first run they wanted to run toward the set out. She took the proper away and we turned them back toward the panel - a bit too far at first - but a proper come bye got them lined up and trotting toward the panels. Three of the four trotted nicely through the panels and the other slid by on the left - all the while Piper was taking my commands - taking time and lying down when asked.

As they broke through the panel they wanted to keep going so I sent Piper "come bye" and she turned them about 10 yards past the panel and again took the "there" and started walking up taking "time". We got them back even with the drive away panels and with minimal flanking and much "time now" she WALKED in on them taking time and keeping her proper distance on the bubble. Once or twice she started to pick up the pace but took the "time now" commands and slowed down nicely. I thought we were a bit low but as the sheep approached the panels they were lined up perfectly and walked right through. "Come Bye" and again she stopped in the proper position to bring them to the pen. They slid by the pen high with only about 30 seconds left and by the time we got them back to the mouth we only had ten seconds so we did not get the pen. Only 8 points off the drive.

Back to Dickens - It was the worst of runs - then it was the best of runs.

Practice - Party - Practice More

2009-10-18T17:49:00.000-07:00

What a great way to get in some last minute pre-trial work for Piper before going to Pt. Pleasant.

I have a colleague with an office in Mission Valley and we have been looking at a potential case for months so we finally decided to just get together and consider whether to bring the case on Friday morning. Well he knows me and the dogs so he invited me to bring one to his office and we combined an a.m. business meeting with an afternoon trip to Campo for a rare Friday afternoon session on the field.

By the time we made it to Jennifer's Friday afternoon the dog training was mostly over for the day but we put Piper out in the lower field for a couple short working sessions. Her pace from the week before was still there and she had me feeling very good about her reteention of the prior week lesson. A little backsliding Saturday or I just have a bad case of panelhypophobia but overall a major improvement from just a few weeks ago.

Friday evening was fun barbecue with Jennifer and Ron and their friends Mike and Diane (forgot the last name - Sorry !) from Arizona. Dinner was great and the company and conversation were fabulous. I think at least four bottles of Riesling were fuly draained before we all crawled off to sleep.

Saturday Jennifer was expecting a crowd so it was going to be tigght working. Piper and I were up and out early so at about 7:30 Jennifer said to go get some sheep and we got almost 1 1/2 hours work in trading off with Jennifer and Sly before any other studentts arrived. Piper's pace in the lower field was very good and we started working on shedding lessons. The shedding lessons are more for me than Piper. If we needed inspiration we watched Jennifer and Sly repeatedly winnow a small group down to a small group. Sly was like a hot knife coming through butter. Just beautiful.

Then Jennifer and I traded a couple outruns with Sly and Piper. Piper was being her normal outrunning fool self until she was sent away and did not go as deep as normal because as she started to hit the lower field there was a white SUV driving across her path - another student arriving and not realizing we were doing an oiutrun in the same field. Well I guess I can forgive Piper for yielding a bit to the pressure of an oncoming SUV. Her outrun was still good though- just not as deep as usual. She did give me a very rare circle to the head on one fetch though - not sure what happened but we need to watch for it.

Piper's driving was not up to her earlier standards during the group session. I think it was a bit of the sheep being heavy and I was a bit slow with my "time" and doing too much steering.

At the end we did a drill I had only heard about before. Penning with another dog tethered on the inside of the pen to discourage sheep from wanting to enter the pen. I was expecting a lot of problems but Piper managed to get the sheep almost all the way in before we called her off and let the sheep out. She took all of my directions - covered on her own - stayed calm - and would not take any bullsh** from the ewes who tried to run her over getting away from the other dog (now that was a righteous grip). She was so excited by the drill that I had to chain her up to keep her from going out to "help" Tricia and Tipper.

I really think that once she understands the job and the objective Piper is pretty good about doing what is necessary.

Well on to Pt. Pleasant. Let's see what holds up in a trial setting.

Breakthrough - or Mirage

2009-10-12T13:43:00.002-07:00

Only time will tell if Piper had a true breakthrough this weekend or we just got a tease.

Taking advantage of a fairly rare two days in a row to work with Jennifer and not many other people around we got in two very good days at K9z&Ewe this past weekend. If I had checked Facebook before leaving to drive down to Campo I might have had an idea of what was coming. Apparently Jennifer posted on her Facebook page that "today patrick and piper are going to learn PACE". And learn PACE we did.

It required a religious revival meeting on Saturday where Piper was reintroduced to her lord and master in the form of me, but start to listen carefully she did. Saturday in the lower field her pace and lines were better than they have been and she was starting to take the "Time" command. I tried to be zealous in imposing "Time" whenever she either got up too fast or started to speed up and what a difference it made. When we moved to the upper field and ran a simulated course she was better on the drive away than she had been but still not great and the cross drive was still a mess as she wanted to go high to hold against the pressure and routinely got too far to the head on the sheep. Still it seemed progress was being made and I would have already been happy with the work on Saturday (which also included our beginning formal instruction on shedding).

Jennifer and Ron were off to a wedding Saturday so I had dinner at the Campo Diner with Leon (the new ranch hand and nice guy). Talking with Leon about what had happened with Piper at dinner helped crystallize some thoughts - she had actually slowed down a bit - not enough - and I was too late with my timing to keep her from going high to the head on the cross drive.

Sunday morning started with more lower field work on driving. And the Saturday lessons were still present in Piper's mind. We got the slowest walk up I think Piper has ever given. She even started showing a bit of Border Collie crouch. Such a fine sight to see (apologies to the Eagles). And as things were slow the sheep - who were light runners brought out specifically to make her exhibit pace - continued to slowly move and largely in a straight line. The distance was kept more and she stayed more "on the bubble" than usual. Plus as it progressed the harsh shouted "TIME" gave way to a more gentle "time now" with the desired result. The slower pace and greater distance off of the sheep also made the flanks nicer and steering easier.

Then as we switched sheep and moved to the top field to do some longer outwork and driving the first time or two it was a bit of relapse although still not as bad as before on the drive. Realizing from the discussions that it was largely my timing and perhaps not being as insistent on immediate compliance as at hand we tried again. The last tow outruns we picked up nicely, fetched nicely and then when we did the drive away everything was at a nice easy walking pace. Piper was so much easier to move into position at this pace and have her walk on than the faster pace. And there were no last minute wild 90 degree turns needed to make the panel. The sheep just lined up and she pushed them through at a nice walking pace. Then - bless her - swung around and was driving them away at the same pace and without going to the head. Our last drive she was even lining out and self regulating her pace.

So now we know she can do it. Hopefully it was a breakthrough and we won't have too much backsliding. If learning past tasks with her is any indication there may be slight slippage but once she gets the idea she pretty much gets it and may need refining but rarely goes all the way back to prior bad habits.

So breakthrough or mirage. Only time will tell but I'm betting breakthrough (and if not yet then soon).

2009-10-12T13:43:00.001-07:00

That's a shed

2009-10-06T15:14:00.000-07:00

It somewhat happened by accident and it may not happen again for a while but . . .

Piper and I were working on at hand work and calm sheep movement last Saturday at K9z&Ewe when our group of sheep very kindly spread out in a nice line. Thinking it was the perfect opportunity to try something for the first time I flanked Piper so she was on the opposite side of the sheep from me and lied her down. Relatively soon a gap appeared between two groups of sheep so I asked Piper "in here" and then "these". Even though we had never tried this before and had not intended to work on it Piper came right in and turned on the right group of sheep. We did not drive them off but she did have control of the gap.

That's a shed.

Now hopefully we can do it again.

The other nice thing she did last week was during the same bit of work when a renegade ewe decided she wanted to leave her sorority sisters and make a break for it. Instead of chasing she took the away flank (amazingly I actually gave her the right flank) and covered the escaping ewe without any chasing involved.

Now that driving thing still seems to be on an S course with too many reversals of direction. I realized that I was having trouble judging her position relative to the sheep so I walked out to be a bit closer and was able to see when she was getting to far to the head. This helped somewhat and I was able to get more progress on straight lines when I was able to time the "down" better.

She also did a pretty good job keeping the lighter sheep straight with a bump and drift technique.

The problem seems to be when she gets close to the sheep to move them and I have trouble judging when she is too far to the head.

Matchup Problems

2009-09-20T20:31:00.000-07:00

Sports coaches and commentators often speak of a team creating "matchup problems" for another team. This does not always mean that the team creating "matchup problems" is necessarily better or tougher than other teams on the schedule -- its just that certain of their characteristics create particular difficulties for certain specific characteristics of the other team.

I think there are "matchup problems" for border collies with certain sheep and fields as well. I know in talking to Jennifer and some other top handlers that certain of their dogs just do better on certain fields with certain types of sheep. Certain sheep seem to "like" certain dogs or type of dogs. And certain dogs or types of dogs seem to like certain fields or types of field.

Knowing this I am at the stage where I am trying to learn as much as I can about my dogs and their likes/dislikes and which sheep like/dislike them. Also I want to be able to run my dogs effectively even on those sheep/fields which do not fit to their strengths. I think it is important to our development that our ability to get around a trial field reasonably well does not require a "perfect storm" combination of just the right circumstances.

So with that lead in -- it was off to Porterville for the "Fun Trials" with Piper and Maggie this weekend. The "Fun Trials" are always fun and they are one of the few places where I can currently take Maggie and give her a good chance for success as she is still having trouble driving and I can leave the post to go help her and offer some schooling.

For Piper it is a good set up because the field and the sheep are basically the opposite of everything she likes. The sheep are farm flock who like to run and want to have as little to do with Piper as possible so they are wont to take off at a full gallop whenever she gets within the same time zone. They also like to overreact to flanking adjustments so the slightest overflanking can result in a serpentine pattern either down the fetch line or on the driveaway. Plus the field is fairly small and the handlers post is very close to the fence so it is very hard for Piper to get far enough off the sheep to let them settle a bit. A formula set up to frustrate her but also one that if we can master will give us some confidence to handle sheep and fields more to her liking.

Maggie did about as expected and got a little bit further on the drive each run before I retired her. I tried to time my retirements so we got the maximum work for her without letting her frustration level get too high. Actually her outwork was some of the best of all the pro novice dogs and her fetches were very clean and straighter than almost all the other pro-novice dogs. In all a good trial for her but she still will not drive away far enough.

Piper did better than she did on the same field and sheep in June. Her outwork was its usual fine self and she stayed a little further off on the fetch than she did in June so we were able to control the pace and turn the post well. There was far too much serpentining on her drives and that is clearly where we need to put in the most work. For the most part her pen work was calm and fairly effective. All of her groups of sheep managed to slip about half their bodies past the opening of the pen to the side away form the gate but she uniformly got "away" and stopped them - one group completed one full circle before being brought in line and her last group (of 4) simply had no intention of going into the pen under any circumstances. Even with the last group though Piper was fairly calm and let them settle - they simply would not go in.

But it is sometimes true that we find our greatest successes amidst our failures. My first run on Sunday with Piper after we turned the post we learned that one of our four sheep seemed to have a socialization problem and wanted nothing to do with her three sister ewes. Piper took my lookback and directional commands and was walking in step by step and even showing some eye to this social misfit. Ah to no avail as the social outcast lowered her head and stamped her hoove at Piper. Piper continued to creep in and then "BAM" a completely righteous grip on the nose -- just a bit and she did not hang on. Well I gave her a "get out" and expected to hear a retirement request from the judge - but there was none so I had Piper creep in again. Same result - objecting ewe and a righteous nip on the nose. Expecting to hear a retirement request from the judge at any time we kept repeating the processs with slow results three or four times and finally the judge gave us a rerun (totally undeserved IMO but welcome as the judge noted it was the same sheep which had played possum the day before). I have to say that I was happier with this little exchange than I think I would have been if she had nailed her run for a high score. She did not back down and her grips were totally appropriate - not out of frustration -- and she did not hang on.

Her final run Sunday we got another social misfit who kept breaking from her sorority sisters for -- as far as I could tell - no fault of the dogs. This one started separating herself less than half way down the fetch and I kept having to readjust Piper's position to put the group back together. This continued all the way around the drive triangle and absolutely destroyed our score but I was so happy with how she worked that I did not care about the score. It was easily the toughest grouping of sheep that I saw anyone have during the day and I thought she handled it very well.

I must admit to slight disappointment with our scores but I need to keep reminding myself that we are still less than a year into our partnership. We are ahead of schedule for where I thought we would be by now when I got Piper in January. Sometimes she just progresses so well that I find myself being impatient. But then she does something like her little backing down that one social misfit one step at a time and escalating the pressure appropriately that I am so proud of her.

Blind Trust

2009-09-16T17:38:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday at K9Z&Ewe I was sneaking in essentially my only assisted training session of the month as Jennifer was back in Campo from Soldier Hollow for a very brief stopove before heading off to Klamath for the Nationals.

Little Miss Piper was the first dog up for work duty to get sheep out of the pens and hold them for the other dogs doing outruns from the poolhouse back towards the handlers post area for the On the Border Trial. Basically the other dogs were doing the reverse of the open outrun from Jennifer's New Years Trial andPiper and I were doing retrievals which were essentially the same outrun that the Open dogs do at the On the Border Trial.

Well from my vantage point the terrain was such that the sheep were not visible to me - or I assume to Piper -- down by the poolhouse when the pick up hand signal was given. We were outrunning blind - a first for me with any dog. When I sent Piper to retrieve I could watch the start of her outrun and see how she was setting up until about 2:30 on the away sidfe and about 10 o'clock on the come bye. So I had some idea from watching how she was heading in whether she seemed to be on the right path and whether she seemed to be checking in on her sheep but the critical last 1/3 of the outrun and the sheep themselves were totally hidden from my view.

Talk about taking a bug gulp and trusting your dog. All I could do after Piper disappeared from view was take a deep breath and wait. Since Jennifer and a whole group were down at the other end I guess they would have somehow let me know if things were going horribly wrong but really it was an exercise in learning to trust my dog. So as Piper disappeared from my view I trusted that she would somehow end up behind the hidden sheep and waited (a bit nervously I might add). I waited and then ---- I saw sheep heads - followed by sheep bodies and - wonderfully they were coming straight at me in a nice group at a reasonable pace -- with Miss P bringing up the rear to prevent stragglers. And then we did it again. And again. And every time my wait was rewarded by the wonderful sight of sheep coming more or less straight toward me at a reasonable pace followed by Piper.

The reality is that this was a much bigger step for me than it was for Piper. I had learned that given a chance to think on her own Piper can be trusted to bring sheep in a workmanlike manner.

Then we flipped around and I was doing outruns and fetches the other directions. The lift was visible but if the sheep came down the proper fetch line they disappeared for about 20 seconds or so in a swale or more accurately behind a rise. Another moment we had never experienced before. But another lesson about trust. I know this is a routine circumstance at many open trials but it was not anything I had experienced before. So as the sheep entered the No Vision Zone I tried to remain calm - anticipate where and when they should reappear based on the last observed line -- and wait. Sure enough - in about the right time the sheep magically reappeared still on line and followed by Piper at an appropriate pace and distance.

Then we worked on some straight line driving. She is getting better at this all the time and if I can calm myself enough to trust her she will be dangerous soon enough.

Campo Rodeo

2009-09-01T20:59:00.000-07:00

It was blistering hot at Canines & Ewe last weekend. Temperature on Saturday was 106. So of course being the logical sane person I am I chose last Fri - Sat - Sun for an extremely rare three days in a row to work Piper on sheep. Reason was that Jennifer will be on the road much of September with trips to Soldier Hollow and then Klamath for Nationals after only a very brief stop in Campo. (Maggie also worked Friday - but not Saturday and Sunday).

On Saturday a minor Rodeo broke out but fortunately it was at the bar in town where they were having an amateur bull riding exhibition.

Saturday also brought that rare feeling of being right in the groove for at least a short while as we were practicing a right handed driveaway. For once Piper did not overflank and I did not oversteer. Amazingly enough when we both do it right the drive away line holds much better. So I now know we CAN do it. We just need to do it with more regularity.

It was a fun weekend and I had not planned to stay Saturday but the call of the BBQ (and the free pass from Diana) convinced me to stay over for Sunday and get a third straight day of work in. I think it was very good for Piper. I know I had a good time with good friends and good dogs.

Video Reference Points

2009-08-27T21:09:00.001-07:00

I was bored the other night and so I popped in video of Piper from three different trials this year - our first ever Pro Novice run at Sonoma in March - 2 runs from Pauma Valley in May - and our first of four runs in New Mexico at Free to Be Ranch in July.

It is really very interesting to go back and watch them in a row because it delineates the progress that has been made over the course of the seven months that I have had Piper. Sometimes it seems that progress is not coming quickly enough but when I can go back and see what we looked like in March - then in May - and finally in July it really brings the improvement into perspective. Unfortunately it also reveals that some of the things we needed to work on in March we still need to work on in September.

Subway !!!!!!

2009-08-22T19:02:00.001-07:00

Well - through a combination of my stupidity and an extremely WIDE flank Piper and I became the first dog/handler team to lose our sheep back to the sheep pen area since instituion of the Subway sandwich rule. We went and retrieved the sheep and brought them back through the gate of shame to the suddenly ravenous appetities of our group looking forward to their Subway sandwiches.

Actually apart from that we had a pretty good day although I still need to get Piper to stop overflanking and zig zagging the drive.

Maggie worked today and seemed to have benefited from a couple weeks off. Her first Outrun she went behind the ridge and did not see the sheep so she overran looking for them but took the stop and redirect nicely back to where they were set when she finally got to where I could see her.

Overall happy with the girls today.

Dog Days of Summer

2009-08-16T18:50:00.000-07:00

Well we are in the midst of the Dog Days of Summer. It is HOT !!!! and it is at least two months until the next real trial (although we will sneak in a Fun Trial at Porterville in mid-September). Also - we lose our trainer for most of the month of September as Jennifer is headed to Soldier Hollow and then the Nationals.

So we are trying to make the most of our training opportunities in August andI will try to sneak in an extra day whenever the real work schedule permits. Unfortunately (or fortunately for finances)this is a pretty busy month at real work.

Yesterday Piper worked on pace driving drills and some outruns. The driving drills were pretty good and after initial enthusiasm she is starting to slow down and give me a bit of pace. We also did some flanking drills in the lower field and worked on getting her to give way with her shoulder on the first step. Only one or two step in type corrections and she was doing much bette on this. I think I will need to be very conscious of this working her on our own in September. I want to make sure that first shoulder give step becomes the norm.

On the outruns we worked in the opposite direction from normal and used lighter sheep than normal. Our first couple outruns were fairly short - 100 yards or so -- and we were really more concerned about slowing Piper down for the lift and getting some pace. My inexperience showed on the away outrun when Piper turned in at about 1 o'clock and came straight on towards the sheep holding the 1 0'clock face position. I wanted to move her over to 12 o'clock but resisted the temptation and the sheep came to my feet on a nice straight controlled line the whole way. Young Miss Piper had correctly read the pressure and put herself in the right position. All I did was regulate pace with a couple "times" and a "lie down" or two. My nerves showed when I asked Jennifer if I was right to let her hold the 1 o'clock position. The answer was yes. Translated - it could have been - yes - haven't I been telling you that.

When we backed up and made the outrun more difficult because the sheep were down in a difficult spot to see, the first time I sent Piper away she kicked in off the fence corner - if you know the field it is easy to understand how - and appeared headed for a crossover well in front of the sheep. Very rare for Piper and something to be avoided if at all possible. I gave her a sharp Lie Down and while her belly did not hit the ground she did stop. As soon as she stopped I gave her an away and she took off on the proper course. Considering how committed she was to crossing in front I was very happy. The next time as she reached the same spot I blew her away whistle before she had a chance to cut in and she bent out beautifully.

See we both can learn. We just need to learn more.

Penning as a Partnership - Active Handler Role

2009-08-14T14:46:00.000-07:00

Alasdair MacRae Uses His Body and Stock Stick to get the attention of the sheep while 2006 & 2007 National Champ Star catches up to do his part in an ultimately successsful pen.

The sequence of photos shows how Alasdair MacRae and 2006 - 2007 2x National Champ Star worked together to prevent sheep intent on escaping from getting out of the mouth of the pen for a successful team penning effort. A poor imitation of this trechnique allowed Piper and me to get our pen on the next day. While it was amusing to watch it taught the lesson in visual terms about how penning is a team effort and the handler must hold down his end of the bargain and he;lp the dog if appropriate.

FTB Ranch - July 2009

2009-08-14T14:44:00.000-07:00

Well, we are just back from four days of trialing in New Mexico.

Unfortunately we could not stay for all 6 days as real job work requirements intervened.Before getting to our experiences first a hearty thanks to Gerri Abrams for hosting. Her fields are amazing and seem to go on forever - just ask Piper (more later).

Also it was a great trial for watching some REALLY TOP HANDLERS work their dogs. Handlers of five of the top 11 dogs from last year's nationals were there including Jennifer Ewers, Ron Burkey, Trica MacRae, Herbert Holmes and that does not even include Alasdair MacRae who was at the world championships last year, plus many other really top handlers. Plus several of them were running young dogs in Open Ranch (same as Pro-Novice) so I actually was competing with the likes of Alasdair, Burkey and Hub Holmes -- they beat us of course.

Anyway - in May Maggie was unable to lift the range ewes so my hopes were somewhat modest. Maggie performed pretty close to her current level of capabilities and I was very happy that she brought sheep to my feet all three days that we ran and her outruns were all good with only a slight reditrect needed on the first day.

I was especially happy to get sheep to my feet considering how hot it was and I did not want to have to run 300 yards up the field.

I had higher hopes for Piper and my goal was to get numbers instead of letters all 4 days (we only did that 1 out of 4 in May) and hopefully move in the direction of being competitve soon. Well we met that goal and on day 2 we were actually competitive and would have been very close to a check but for a minor grip.

The video below is from our first day att the trial. It was not our best run - by far -- but hopefully it shows some progress from our prior trip. The run on Day 2 was our best of the trip. At least I can't be accused of cherry picking.

Happy Birthday Maggie !!!

2009-08-14T14:42:00.000-07:00

Maggie's official Birthday was Sunday May 31. She is now 5 years old.

After a rough first year and a half where she bounced from home to home and name to name she has been with me for 3 1/2 years and is not going anywhere.

For her birthday weekend Maggie and I went to the Antelope Valley Stockdog Club Trial by ourselves (No Piper or Ramsay). It was Maggie's special weekend.

For her birthday Maggie earned a lovely emerald green qualifying score ribbon on a drive away course for the first time. Successful completion of a drive away course has been one of our goals for a long time and I have to admit there were times when I thought the goal might be out of reach. But she came through for her birthday and - although it was still sloppy and the score did not earn a placement - she completed the course with a successful drive-away.

I am so proud of her.

Happy Birthday, Maggie !!

It is Possible to Tire Piper

2009-08-14T14:41:00.000-07:00

Apparently it is actually possible to tire Piper. I know because we actually accomplished it during a rare Wednesday training session.After about 40 minutes of trading outruns - she went through three other dogs - she finally started to slow down. And when she did --voila ! Another amazing siting - pace ! She did her best driving she has done for me.

New Mexico Recap

2009-08-14T14:39:00.000-07:00

Saturday it seems was our competitive highlight as we were unable to replicate our success in completing the course on either Sunday or Monday. Still we met our pre-trip goal and overall the trip has to be considered a success.

Even though overall a success there is a lot of room for improvement. I need to get more control over my dogs (both of them) at the top.

We have never worked at quite the distance we were working at in New Mexico (300 yards from handlers post to set out) and it showed. Maggie went into default circling mode and Piper busted in too hard bringing the sheep too fast and off line. I believe these are fixable and we will be back to work on them soon.

Indelible image of the weekend -- Herbert Holmes taking off on the quad to rescue Allison the one and only time her nursery dog had issues at the top. Every woman there thought it was great.

We met some nice people, had a bit of success on the trial field, a bit of fun in the thriving metropolis of Mountainair (the population of the Free to Be Ranch was close until folks started pulling out for the Colorado trials), and made the round trip safely without major incident.

Like Gen MacArthur, we shall return !

New Mexico Part 1

2009-08-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

Well we made it to New Mexico after a long and uneventful drive.

Day 1 was very similar to Day 2 of Pauma. Day 2 was a major breakthrough. PIPER GOT #s instead of letters. It wasn't pretty but we made it around. I don't know what the # was as they were very slow posting and were not posted by the time I left.

Her outrun was very nice although she may have come up a bit short as the sheep lifted slightly to the side. The fetch was at a decent pace but offline most of the way so I am sure she lost major points.

The turn was the right way this time - I only make the same mistake once - and the drive away was pretty good until close to the panels when the sheep did not want to go through and there were some bobbles. We missed the drive away panels but were close enough for an attempt (at least I think we were - wait till scores) and the cross drive was pretty good with one attempted sheep escape low. She adjusted properly and we got the cross drive panels.

From there it was very smooth. She made the turn nicely and brought them to the pen under control and on line. One sheep wanted to slide by but she took my flank and kept it from getting more than its head past the gate. She had to stay tight and walk in slowly to convince them to go in and handled it very nicely.

So - it was not pretty but we made it around. Now we have to clean it up. Twq more runs here to improve on it.

Allison Holmes (she and Herb had Piper for about a month) told me she thought Piper was running very nicely for me. It was nice to hear from a top handler who has personal knowledge of Piper from before.

Weather today was brutal. Wind was constant at 25 mph with gusts. Brutally cold.

Slowing Down the Processor

2009-08-14T14:35:00.000-07:00

In football quarterbacks often talk about the magical time when everything seems to slow down on the field. Obviously everything happens at the same speed but the mind is processing information more rapidly and efficiently resulting in less panic and the sensation that eerything has slowed down. For some QBs it never happens and they are never able to transition.

I noticed after our runs in Pauma Valley that I was experiencing a bit of the same sensation. While there were still nerves I did not have the sense of sheer panic while standing at the post. In retrospect the entire runs seemed to have gone a bit slower than previously and I was able to react more calmly and according to a plan. Not just panic handling anymore.

One friend who I have not seen at a dog trial for quite some time told me afterwards that I seemed much calmer handling and that it was having a beneficial effect on my dogs' runs.

It still needs to slow down mentally quite a bit but it felt much better to come off the field - even with runs that did not finish as well as hoped - feeling like I had handled the dogs appropriately and - while making mistakes - not just reacting with panic. I think it is a trend that will continue.

Here's to being able to press the "slow motion" button during future runs.

Preparing for the Land of Enchantment

2009-08-14T14:33:00.000-07:00

Preparing for the Land of Enchantment
(May 08, 2009)

We only have one week of training between Pauma Valley and leaving for the Land of Enchantment.

As is evident from the entry recapping our travails at the Pauma Valley trial we have a lot of work still to do even though both Maggie and Piper (esp) showed progress from Sonoma. I am really looking forward to the New Mexico Free to Be Ranch Trial (all except the 12+ hour drive to NM) and would really like to show continued progress. It will be good to get 4 days in a row of trialing and see if we improve or regress over the course of the four days. Hopefully if I stick to the plan to not tolerate sloppiness just because it is a trial both girls will get the message and we should show improvement.

I am also looking forward to the trip because it will be the first time I have been to New Mexico in 25 years. I drove through in 1984 when I moved to California and it was beautiful so I am looking forward to going back.

But as for that preparation.

We are drilling Piper on driving today at K9znEwe and it seems to be having an effect. Jennifer explained to me that at Pauma Piper seemed to ignore my "there" and then by the time I gave her a "lie down" our timing was too late and she had come around too far on the flank. So we are reintroducing Piper to the Lord, her God - for her that's supposed to be me - by making her pay attention to "there". We are trying to control her pace and get a straighter line on the drive with fewer flanking adjustments and more "there". At least for today it seems to be working a bit although it needs constant enforcement.

After some driving practice in the lower field we went out to the upper field to do outwork on the hill where Jennifer normally sets up her trial course. She actually had a course set up today, including fetch panels and two drive panels. Piper's outwork today was outstanding. Her outruns were nice and wide and deep and she came up on the sheep for straight lifts. We made the fetch panels both times and she was taking her times and lie downs. The first couple times we just turned the sheep around the post and dorove them back to the set out and hay. While driving staright back Piper kept a nice pace and a pretty straight line proving she can do it. We had some trouble later trying to drive on the angle but even then our last time with a larger group of sheep we managed to make that before getting seriously off line on the cross drive.

Piper is getting closer each time and I think we have a reasonable chance to post a number sometime in NM. Keeping my fingers crossed but will be happy as long as she shows progress.

Maggie is doing nice outwork although I am having a bit of trouble steering her on the fetch and we missed the fetch panel. Driving for Maggie is still an exercise in gaining confidence. She will only go a few feet away from me before she wants to either come back to my feet or go to the head. I am trying to build her confidence by walking with her and it seems to work sometimes and sometimes not. We really need to get this down before she has any chance on a P/N course and it seems it is still going to take some time.

Let's Go to the Videotape

2009-08-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

Many athletes and sports teams use videotape to review as part of an effort to improve their performance in the future. Many little league parents use videotape so they can relive their son or daughter's moment of glory.

This points to differing but not necessarily contradictory reasons for using videotape. One is to preserve the moment of glory for future enjoyment. While this is certainly nice - or it would be if we ever get a worthwhile moment of glory to preserve - this is not my primary reason for videotape.

I like having the videotape because it lets me go back and see - without the rush of the moment - what is actually happening. What is good. What is bad. What is handler error. What is the dog not doing what it should. What is sheep being uncooperative.

I also like having video of some better handler's runs so I can see what they are doing differently. It is really amazing what can be learned by watching and comparing.

The videotape does not lie and it can shine a bright light on both flaws and also what is going right. It is especially interesting to go back to some old tapes to compare and see the progress that has been made.

Pauma Valley Operation Recovery SDT

2009-08-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

We made our second and third attempts at a Pro-Novice Trial over the weekend of May 1 - 2, 2009 at the Pauma Valley SDT to benefit Operation Recovery (a returning veterans organization).

The field was a flat rectangle with fairly high grass. Unfortunately because of the topography of the field and the height of the grass a number of the dogs had some difficulty spotting the sheep at set out. Honestly, from the spectators viewpoint it was almost impossible to see the dog after about halfway out on the outrun. The view from atop the bale of hay at the handler's post was better though.

Maggie was my first dog in the run order on Saturday and as we walked to the post she never really saw where the sheep were and clearly was confused as to why I was dragging her out into a large field with seemingly no sheep. I tried to send her "come bye" and she was having none of it. I was almost ready to retire her without her even leaving my feet when she flopped over to the away side so I sent her that way. She then did a nice outrun but only about halfway to the sheep where she cut in almost to the centerline where she looked back at me as if to say - "See, I told you - no sheep !!". She did take an away redirect and went and got her sheep. By this time she was discombobulated and wanted to circle on the fetch so we retired.

Piper did not have the same trouble on her outrun. I'm not sure if she saw her sheep but she trusted me enough anyway to take a "come bye" and ran nice and deep behind the sheep. She took my whistle to turn in but came in a little fast and busted the sheep up a little. Still the lift was an improvement over Sonoma but not what we have been getting in practice. The fetch was a bit of a breakneck speed and somewhat offline but she did take a couple downs and we made it around the post but not much further before retiring.

Overall I was very happy with Piper and I was particularly pleased whn Jennifer commented after the run that I looked like I knew what I was doing instead of being in panic and react mode.

Sunday the dogs ran in reverse order. This time I set Maggie up to go away and I still don't think she saw the sheep but she trusted me enough to go anyway. At least she went off more at her usual speed and started wide. After a slight turn in about halfway she took my "away, get out" (not sure why I did not lose points for that but I didn't) and bent out nicely and came up behind the sheep. She lifted them a bit fast and to the left, though. She was still clearly a bit out of her comfort zone as she had trouble putting them on - line and did one circle on the fetch (I said out loud that if she did one more we were retiring). We got the sheep around the post - despite their desire to snack on the handlers post hay bale - and she actually started to drive them away. She did not get far and started to stress out so I decided to retire her before her mind was completely blown. Big improvement from Saturday and -- according to at least one observer who has not seen us for a while - big improvement over where we used to be.

Piper's run on Sunday falls more into the realm of steady improvement and getting a bit farther around the course. The outrun was again lovely and deep. She did not take a full lie down but she did give me some hesitation and pace. The lift was much better and she lifted the sheep straight and - while at a brisk pace - it was not a race. She brought them pretty straight down the fetch line - or at least it seemed that way to me until I check the videotape. When we made some directional adjustments to maneuver around the post the sheep escaped on her by about twenty yards and while she covered nicely I think this is where we lost our 4 points on the fetch.

We managed to get about two thirds of the way to the drive away panel mostly on line before the sheep made a left turn for the road and an open spot in the fence. When the sheep got too close to the fence, the Judge called our run about 1 second before I was going to retire her anyway. We then successfully retrieved while guarding against the escape.

For the weekend 3 RT's and 1 DQ but I am still very happy with the progress. We are making it a bit further around each time (except for Maggie on Sat).

Training April 4, 2009 - K9Z&EWE

2009-08-14T14:19:00.000-07:00

This is a regular training Saturday but with the benefit of an informative trial test from Sonoma and with a targeted next trial in Pauma Valley in about a month. Our Sonoma experience has identified that we have a number of things to work on and we are trying to target those in training this weekend.

I have worn my running shoes because one of the big things we will need work on is getting Piper to pay attention to me from a distance. I am expecting that I may be running down the field a few times to enforce the messages being delivered to Piper.

I am also working on trying to get my whistle blowing consistent enough so I can start using whistles to communicate with Piper and also with Maggie. So far I seem to have a "Come Bye" and a "Walk Up". I am still working on the "Away" and "Lie Down" as well as "There".

If we are to have any success in Pauma Valley I need to be able to get Piper to take my commands from a distance. Jennifer tells me I need to project power from the post. It's a good phrase so I ask "How do I do that ?" Pretty much as expected I need to be ready to go out and let Piper know that "down" means "down" - every time. Thus, the running shoes.

On her first outrun Piper comes into the sheep too strong and we have a near repeat of Sonoma. I have planned for it and am already partway down the field."DOWN !!!" followed by a run the rest of the way to Piper who reacts as if I have finally and truly lost it. Just the reaction we are looking for.

The next lift is a better and we have a controlled fetch but it is a little jerky as Piper likes to get up with a quick first step and I am trying to make sure to down her whenever she gets up too quick.

Our third effort is back to a chase lift and another crazed run up the middle. Piper reacts as before but she does not run off the field and we take the long walk of shame back to the post to resend.

This time it works much better and the lift and fetch are both nicely controlled. Everything is going so well that I take her around the makeshift post and start the drive toward the drive away panels on a little practice course. With adjustments we are only somewhat zig zagging our way toward the first panel and so Jennifer lets me keep going. Amazingly we made the panel and then she took the flank to start the cross drive. It certainly was not a thing of beauty but there was only some zig zagging and we made the cross drive panels. We even did some of it with whistles.

We did learn a new command though - the "AwayDOWN" or "Come ByeDOWN" with essentially no pause because Piper is so quick I need to put her down almost immediately on a minor adjustment flank. This is the first time I have ever made a full drive away and cross drive from the post !!! Yea !!

For the rest of the afternoon we play set out dog for some of the other students. Piper is on her best behavior and is taking all (well - almost) of her lie downs (verbal and whistle) and her flanks. It seems that her early in the day experience with berserk trainer sunk in. This also happened when we first got her and the second time we worked I had to really get in her face close at hand. Fortunately she learns quickly and it does not appear I will need to go into psycho mode very often. After only a couple firm corrections running up the field she was like a different dog by the end of the day.

I need to remember that Piper has only been with me for a little over two months. The partnership is definitely developing and getting better each time. She already has taken me farther than I have made it before and we are just beggining to partner up.I am looking forward to the day when she is truly working "for" me and not just "with" me on the field. Each time out there is a little bit more working "for". When she does this she clearly has the ability and if we can get it together it will be a fun journey.

Sonoma Dog Friendky Wine Tasting

2009-08-14T14:14:00.000-07:00

One of the big bnefits of making our Pro Novice debut at Sonoma was the ability to go wine tasting afterwards. Starting with a toast of Piper Sonoma Blanc de Blanc methode champenoise to celebrate our debut we toured several of the local dog friendly wineries for tasting. There is actually a list of dog friendly wineries and most were very happy to invite Maggie and Piper in although none of the wineries was willing to serve based on "dog years" so the girls were not able to taste.

Sonoma Wine Country SDT

2009-08-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

This was our first move up to Pro-Novice and it was quite a jump. In reality we probably were not ready but did not want to remain a perpetual novice.

And as I told anyone within ear shot if we did well we would celebrate by going wine tasting and if we did poorly we would commiserate by going wine tasting. So there was really no way to lose.

Well - by most standards we probably would not be considered to have done well - but I was very happy with both dogs. Piper was up first (18th overall) and she was only the second dog all day to "Go Bye". Her outrun was gorgeous - wide, deep and a lie down at the top. Unfortunately she came on a bit too strong on the lift and I was too inexperienced to tap on the brakes before things got a bit out of control and she gripped out on the lift.

Maggie was up about an hour and a half later. Her sheep broke toward her on the outrun but she continued wide (not quite as wide as Piper) and came up on balance for a nice lift. Maggie was one of only three out of sixty dogs to score a zero/zero on her outrun and lift. Unfortunately as she was coming down the fetch line the sheep wanted to escape to a corner where they had escaped on many dogs. I made a misstep by trying to get Maggie around to the other side and when she hesitated and released the pressure her sheep got away from her.

I am told that at least one person who has seen Maggie since we started going to Novice trials commented that it was the best he has ever seen Maggie. So progress.

As planned we celebrated with a toast of Piper Sonoma Blanc de Blanc methode champenoise.