Wed

     I worked Dare this am.  He was a jerk.  He is getting worse and worse about his down and staying off the stock.  So I put the pinch, a long line, and we went into the small pen. We worked downs and square flanks and outs.  He did get better. I think I worked him about an hr.  I think I will do that again this afternoon and see if it holds up in the big field tomorrow.    I also did a couple of sheds because the sheep and the goats split so naturally. 

Tuesday

     I worked both dogs this am.  Dually got worked on a pinch and a long line.  He kept running into the end of the line, but by the time I worked him tonight he didn't think that was such a good idea anymore.  He did a couple of drop dean georgous outruns. He kept getting wider and wider on his own.  I like it a lot!!
     Dare was stupid this am but this afternoon he was a good boy. I got a wicked good outrun on him but not from my side... I had to walk a bit towards the sheep, but still I was happy with it.  Tomorrow we are going to fool around a bit with whistles and maybe I will do some shedding.  It's so easy to set up because the sheep and the goats separate naturally. 
    I took a trip into town today too and went to a used book store and picked up a couple of books.  I didn't bring any with me , and I have had a little time to read in the past couple of days. I have books on tape for the ride home.

Tuesday

     Apparently after blowing the breaker yesterday, I also blew a fuse which of course I cannot see.  I may have spare fuses under the trailer, I will check soon. So 2 outlets don't work and the microwave doesn't work.
     I was able to let the dogs right out the door this am because the whole yard is completely fenced. And then I brought them into the back pasture to run.  It's a nice big area, maybe 100 by 200.  It's also where the sheep and goats are, but my dogs are used to running where the livestock live and it's not a problem.
     I brought one bag of dog food with me but it looks like I will run out in a couple of days. I  have some errands to do anyway so I will see if I can find a place to buy it this am.  I am going to work both dogs before I go out into the town of Eustis today.  I'll let you know how that turns out.

Monday

Monday – I made the mistake of using the microwave and the electric heater at the same time this morning and I tripped the breaker which wouldn’t be so bad, if I knew where the breakers were.  I do now!   After I got on the road , I looked for  an RV place to stop at and they showed me where the electrical panel was and that a breaker was tripped.  He also told me that I should have the tires filled to 50lbs of air.  I happen to know that they are only at 30 uh oh—and that is probably not good for gas mileage.

     I got  to Amy Hills at 3pm and we set up the trailer and then worked dogs.   She worked Abbey, a  nice little bitch on driving and I worked Dare on his terrible cutting in on the outrun problem.  Amy has a few sheep , maybe 7  and a bunch of goats.   I worked Dare and Dually on the whole bunch.  Dare went to do his normal cutting in outrun but because they didn’t run, he ended up in the middle of them and he knew I wasn’t happy with that. The next outrun was better and more thoughtful and he got behind most of them.  5 or so didn’t want to  move and they stopped and waited for  him to make them.  He patiently stood there  until they moved and he brought them to the rest. 

     Dually fetched them nicely but when we tried to drive , he kept diving off the pressure and around them.  Tomorrow he goes on line and hopefully I won’t hurt him like I did the last time.

    No internet out here in the trailer, but I do have electicity !

Camping

    I stopped at Cecil Bay campground.  There are less than 10 RV's here. It's right on the highway, but I don't care about the noise, I have earplugs. The man and woman who run it are very nice, They even let me run the dogs sans leashes  and when I went to do laundry I didnt' know you had to bring your own soap so they gave me some.  Thank goodness, because the clothes were getting low.   Gotta love the red Georgia clay too.
    Now I have wifi here and cable tv but apparently you need to bring your own cable.  I wonder if I have one socked away someplace.  And yes Kathy, I do have a flat screen something, just not sure it's a tv or how it might work.

Trial Day Two

     I slept in till 7 today which by the way is still o pitch dark.  I think the trial started on time.  The judge today was Kathy  Walker.   She was very nice on ducks, sheep was another story. So Dare did an decent outrun lift and the fetch was off line, I had trouble getting them around the cone  because I had one duck that wanted to  be by himself and let and went back to the repen area.  I had to leave the ducks up the other end and go back and get him and he proved to be a problem later too.  And then when I should have skimmed the Y chute , I daylighted and put them thru it. I think I was still working on the cone and realized too late that I was on the Y chute.   I got them thru the z with independent duck trying to backtrack the whole way and finally I got 4 into the hold pen and mr I was still trying to back track so while Dare was working the one, the other 4 kept coming out of the hold pen.  Finally I get them all in and we Hold them .  I  take them out and they actually did a nice set up for the cross drive but then blew by it and I skimmed 5 and called it a day.
    I didn't think we could Q but we did with another 3rd place and his ADV duck title. 

Sheep on the other hand.    Since he went around behind me yesterday on the outrun, I decided to stand in front of him and send him. He tried it again, but I blocked him and he went but he started to go straight in so I tried to stop him and out him.  It got him all confused and he started circling. Finally I got to redirect him and he was doing a beautiful wide outrun, but he didn't get behind them and then he couldn't get them to me and the judge called our run.  She didn't give us much of a chance,but we were the 3rd dog in a row that I couldn't see a reason to call the run on.  The 2 before me were much furthur along and it was a puzzle.  To me and to them.
     So I waited till the end and I Thanked Doyle and Claire Ivey for their hospitality. Doyle invited me down again and said to come a few days early so we could work stock. He liked Dare.  Thanks I will come back.

Trial Day one

I had  a short day of driving on Friday.  I still didn’t get here until 5pm but that worked out fine.  They offered me electric  and water  and a Place right outside the arena to park.  SWEET!

I tried and tried and tried and finally got the hot water bypasses open.  So I should have hot water, but not much seems to be coming out of the tap. Sometimes nothing comes out in the kitchen sink.  I must think about this. No hot shower for me tonight….. ahhhh not good.

 I set the alarm for 6am.  It’s still pitch dark at 6am.  I was the only fool awake it seems.  I was out walking dogs in the frickin dark.  But at least I was prepared.

The trial started around 8:30 with adv ducks.  The ducks were not behaving v ery well.    I had a plan, but alas , the ducks were not buying into it.  We had a lousy lift and fetch, missed the cone , got all the  Y chute, z chute and hold pen.  Completely missed the crossdrive and still Q’d with 72 and 3^rd place.  Thank you judge Barbara!

Sheep were a bit light which shouldn’t be a problem, and then I remember which dog I have entered.  The outrun  should have been a go bye and  again he snuck behind be to go the opposite way.  And then the little bugger cut it short and had a lousy lift and actually left one sheep behind which I had to make him go back and get.  We made the cone and 2 thru the Y chute. 1 skimmed.  We made the Z chute but they were trying to break back so Dare did  what he does best-he held them.  I finally got him to release enough to get them into the hold pen.  We got them out and then he pushed them on top of me and was a holding maniac.  They wanted to break really bad and he wouldn’t hold the pressure and just let them walk.  He grabbed wool big time on one and we didn’t get excused so I sort let it go, but then he got into chase mode and I ran down the arena and downed him and excused us.  Tomorrow is another day and I think a much tougher judge.

The trial ended about 2pm and then it started to pour and it poured for hours. The dogs are wet , the trailer is wet , but I’m hoping the bed is dry.

But  I figured out the water filters on the faucets were clogged and once I got that done I took a shower and tried to take a nap before dinner.  Of course I was just drifting off to sleep and I smell this –well you know—Peaches had diarrhea in her vari  kennel(thnk goodness) So clean that up and her and walk every body again and it’s time for dinner.

I was invited to eat at the Roadhouse (you would assume restaurant right?)   No it was the renovated chicken house at the end of the road where we had a sumptuous homemade repast of ham, turkey, gravy, sweet potato casserole,green bean casserole, homemade cranberry chutney,hot biscuits  and then for dessert, ice cream and brownies and chocolate sauce or a pecan pie which was to die for good.   Claire Hamilton made the pie. MMMmmmmm good.  I met and talked to lots of very nice people and had a very good time.   Can I remember any names.  No but I will check the catalog and write them down tomorrow maybe.