Getting Back on the Bicycle

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