Obedience

I  took the boys for a practice today which I never seem to do.  Dare did some really nice heeling and sits and a very good figure 8. His stand was not good. We did the high jump and the broad for fun and worked on the dumbell which he pretends not to see. If it's at his feet , he will pick it up but if I throw it 3 ft, it's on another planet. He loves to fetch stuff too. so.....

Dually was his usually goofy self.  I did get some okay heeling and some better sits. Not so crooked. I didn't work on the stand but I should have.   I did some recalls with him and sorta got some fronts.  Also threw food over the high jump for him to go over and when he came back he fronted automatically. Not well mind you but he has the right idea.

So far, Dare is much much better at heeling , but Dually will get better(Ihope)

Eastern STates Expo

So Today we are off to the fair.  Betty and I are going to watch the Stock trial in the arena. It's almost always just BC's but it's a fun course to watch in a small arena and the sheep are usually nuts so it's a great deal of control on the dog's part.  I watched it years ago with another BC person and asked her if she thought I could do it with my then dog Piper. She kinda hedged but bascially said no.  I think I could do it now with Dare but I am going to watch it again before I put my neck on the line.

But then again Dare was an absolute idiot when it came to loading the sheep on the trailer yesterday. He was as high as he is when there is a trial. No idea why. He had sheep all over the place .

Traveling Sheep

Today the sheep are going to another farm to see if they will be suitable to use at the upcoming AKC  trial there. I  am bringing12 sheep-2 groups of trial  sheep and 2 groups of HT/PT. They are going in a  trailer for their first time ever. I'm sure Dare will convince them it't the place to be. The other supplier had a fox kill this weekend. Stuff happens.  Hopefully this will all be beneficial to my students who will be trialing.

Ok we decided to use my group of trial sheep--I had only brought one group because I thought they were using 3 but they are using 5.  Mine were light enough but not crazy.  The test sheep will be fine.  My students did well using my sheep and the farm owners too.  I think everybody was pretty happy.

Dare could not get them thru the cross drive panels again. I used the farms sheep and the draw was along the back fence and he either pushed them to the end or if I sent him the other way he turned them all the way back to me. I finally just gave up.   Try again another day and on other sheep.

Picked up Ice cream on the way home.  big dish of pistachio , my favorite.

New Trailer here and old trailer has been sold

   I picked up the new trailer last night in Hudson. Laura drove it down from Maine for me which was a big deal for me.   She towed it behind her truck which already had a truck camper on it so it was a heavy load for her truck. And of course it was raining to beat the band yesterday.  It was  easy to hook up and it pulled very well. By the time I got home it was dusk and raining and I backed it into the driveway but that is as far as I got. I really couldn't see well enough to back it up.

This morning I got up and pulled it out of the driveway so that I could pull it it back in and into the pasture to turn it around and park it where I had the other trailer parked. The pasture was a bit muddy and I got sorta stuck a few times and the pasture is all rutted up now.  Oh well.  It will flatten out in time.  I was able to back it up right against the fence where the other one was and I am quite proud of myself for that.  It is about 6 ft longer than the other trailer.

So I went in and tried to get the bump out to push out and it wouldn't . Hmmm not sure why.   Will play more with it but I am also going to start putting stuff from the other trailer into it.  Well I figured out how to get it pushed out.  I had to go outside and pull on the sticky side.  I have it all the way out now. I wonder if there is someplace I can put WD40?

Lucky for me I had a family look at the old trailer last Sunday and they made me an offer and picked it up on Monday night. Gone , yay good by. Have a great time with it. I think they got a good deal, but at least I sold it and didn't take too big a loss.

Greg fixed the new trailer since it was all rotted underneath.  I haven't been able to take a close look ,but I glanced underneath last night and it looks really really good.  Hopefully all the other stuff in the trailer actually works. Never tried any of it before I bought it. duh

kelpie exercise

I'm not sure if we were doing it right but they did pretty well.
Put 2 sheep in the corner and then flank to the fence. If they dont' flank to the fence then walk over and put them on the fence. Then walk them up until the sheep just move and then OUT the dog again on the fence line.  Stop the dog and reflank the other way .  We are looking for square flanks right to the fence and then a walk up on the fence line and an out on the fence line.

Dare did pretty good. They both started out off the fence line about a foot but I moved them in and they kept the distance pretty well. Dually started out much stronger and less square but he got better too. It's a mechanical exercise but they do get to move the sheep a bit.

working 3 goats and one lamb

    Somehow the dogs thought this was inherently wrong.  Dare worked them all , but kept both eyes on the lamb and made the lamb run so he could chase it down. I don't condone this behaviour and he was soundly chastised. He didn't  care.  He did bite the goat when I asked him to.  The goat was standing at the gate saying make me and so we did.

   We fetched them across the field with Dare overflanking the whole way. He seems to think that is how he has to move them. It worked but it's not pretty. Then we worked on the hold pen out and the drive to #4. I think he was getting it.  More days of that and a much better out is needed.

Dually did the same exercise .  He had to be told a few times to get back and pick up goats. He thought still goats were invisible goats.  LOL.  He had his eye on the lamb too.  We did the same exercise to the hold pen and the out and then the drive to #4.  He had a much harder time of it than Dare.  I was working on his "There" this is where i want you to walk . He didn't want to walk there but we kept at it.

 BTW   Sheep love caramel corn.  I thought the goats would get it, but I'm not sure they got any. I had an old bag of it and I threw it in there and they cleaned  it up. Not a kernel  left.

I'm Human again

I had 2 really bad days.  No sleep from Cluster headaches followed by no sleep from reflux followed by 24 hrs of sleep off and on and I feel normal again.

Boy oh boy has the rain been coming down hard. I ran out this am in the downpour and opened the barn door and the sheep RAN in. I guess they were tired of the  rain too.

 I expect no  lessons today.  Supposed to rain off an on all day and clear up tomorrow and be nice all weekend.

The Farm trial is not going to fill I guess. Hmmm surprised actually.