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.
Monday, September 13, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
Smacked Down at the Throwdown
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.
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.
Sunday, August 15, 2010
A debt that cannot be repaid
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.
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
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 !
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 !
Friday, August 13, 2010
Suffering Withdrawal Symptoms
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.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
San Diego Vista Highland Games
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.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Sometimes the Grass is Greener in Your Own Backyard
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."
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."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
