Snowbirds On the Border - Overview Recap

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

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

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

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

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

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 ?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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 ???

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

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

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

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

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.).