Less than Successful Sheepdogs

Asher and I had our first herding trial attempt (USBCHA) since almost a year ago. It was not a resounding success, but there was improvement from his last (disastrous) attempt at this same location. It was after that we went back to basics and started retraining EVERYTHING, as Asher likes to do. We have fixed a lot of things, but not his panic on the lift at a distance. So all I really wanted was for him not to implode at the top and to get the sheep to me. He was successful at that, so I will take it. Was it pretty? Uh, no.

We have some excuse though, these sheep were tough, and not just for Asher. They were in full wool and muddy and did like dogs to get up into them, they’d turn. Still, I can’t say that different sheep would have made any difference, Asher’s issues were pretty predictable.

He had a fairly nice outrun (I whistled him out twice to help stay connected) and not a bad lift (only 1 point off!), he didn’t just bust them up at the top, but he also did not respond to any whistles until he was well down the field (as predicted). He pushed too hard, they squirted back and forth, he brought them back online too hard, they squirted the other way, it was pretty ridiculous. But he got the sheep down the field to me zig zagging the whole way – and started taking direction once he felt more comfortable with the distance so we finally got going in a straight line. Got him slowed down and more thoughtful … and then the sheep got squirrely around the post and after he turned them a couple times they got into a standoff and I retired to help him when he couldn’t move them. I was disappointed at the time that he couldn’t handle the sheep, but felt a bit better after plenty of Open teams had similar struggles – they were tough sheep.

My expectations were low, I was just hoping I didn’t have to do the walk of shame all the way up to set out to rescue the sheep from a disastrous lift. I already knew he still struggles with distance, I know he struggles with new sheep and feeling confident he has control without getting all up in their business too fast. I know he won’t respond to commands when he’s far out, he is too concerned with keeping control of the sheep. I also know he struggles going into pressure and especially lacks confidence when sheep turn on him. He’s a big softy at heart, he hates confrontation and pressure. So nothing was a big surprise, I was happy he at least got them to me, even if it was a ridiculous fetch.

Was it a good experience for him? Probably not. I did not attempt to work him on these sheep again, we could have done a Ranch non-compete run, but I didn’t want him to fail twice at moving them. I already knew he would struggle with what I was asking, so I should not have entered him. Do I think he will be able to do this someday? Yes I do. Well, maybe not moving sheep that turn on him, but the trick is getting him to feel more confident so he WON’T piss off the sheep so the situation is less likely to happen. He needs all the pieces that he’s missing before that can happen, so entering another trial at this level is unlikely to help him. I did not have fun either (though it’s debatable if Asher enjoyed himself!). Part of that is knowing that I was putting Asher in a situation that he doesn’t have the skills to handle.

So, yeah, it was not a hugely inspiring weekend. I will get back to practicing herding with him at some point, but this did not make me want to get right on that. Asher is SUCH a good boy, and he loves it, so we will continue even if we don’t make a lot of progress. But I actually think he’ll be a perfectly fine stockdog with more training and miles. I don’t think he’ll be winning nationals, I don’t think he’ll be a dog you call when you really need to get the job done – but I never needed him to do either one, he’s perfect just for who he is. I think he will run Open with some consistency … someday. We will keep working on it.

In the meantime, the boys are ready for AKC herding with Carol, three whole days! Hopefully they behave themselves. Navarre has been a bit of a dork with sheep lately. He likes to occasionally dazzle you with what he CAN do … and then just not do it, apparently for spite. So far Asher is ahead on points for their championships – we’ll see how they fare after this weekend.

Was fun to see Bonnie and her crew, so funny to be around Rooster and see such similarities between him and Asher. Rooster is definitely more confident, with everything he does, but they are very similar. The Dove x Rooster puppies have a ridiculous goober side that must come from Dove.

Back in agility I remain thrilled with the progress of the dogs in practice. Bryn is just such a little superstar, and such a linear learner – I’ve been using her more and more as a demo dog for classes. She, uh, may retain and show behaviors much better than the boys. Her weavepoles and contacts are looking great, and while she is still flanky, we can get through more and more sequences successfully. She’s growing up and so much fun.

I signed her up for the very basic Justine online handling class, I obviously need some accountability when it comes to training this princess. It was funny, just on lesson one how many HUGE GAPING HOLES she has in her foundation. So we’ve already started filling them in, and it’s so nice that now she’s older she’s so much more confident in training fiddly behaviors. She really wasn’t ready for these kinds of things when she was younger, but she’s having a great time now. So, yeah, working on doing things like teaching left and right (and other verbal discrimination!), circle work, heeling, toy control, stays and just way more understanding of her job. And she’s so HAPPY about it!

Need to catch up on jumping homework with Asher, but hoping to work that this weekend. I remain pretty cynical that it’s actually doing anything about what I consider his main issues, but it still seems like a good thing to do anyway. Right now I don’t have any of the dogs entered in anything, summer is coming and I’m bracing myself for my least favorite time of the year. To be fair, it remains lovely and mild, but we’ve finally started to see some warmer temps and humidity and both me and the dogs are not happy about it. Alas, there is no location I know that is 45-60 degrees year round. Oregon is pretty close though.

The boys had their big three day AKC herding trial with Carol, results were mixed. Asher was SO CLOSE to finishing his championship, but chose to refuse Carol’s flank cue four times instead, so lost just enough points that he only needs like one more. I think he just wants Carol to take him again. Overall, Asher ‘won’ the weekend, where it sounded like he had some very nice stuff with the occasional complete brain fart where he was determined to flank the wrong direction. I know that move well, it’s kind of his signature. So he did have one reserve high in trial, and lots of qualifying, but sounded like he was self sabotaging.

Navarre, on the other hand, was apparently being quite the dick. I think all the extra practice he did with Carol just made him complacent and cocky, as he wasn’t listening at all. Which is not a shock at all to me, but has not been what he’s been doing with Carol. He even got retired from the course by the end of the weekend. Tsk tsk. He is, uh, definitely not one point away from his championship. He has not been fired … yet.

So both boys have a couple more AKC trials coming up, I think their next one is the new ‘D’ course, which sounds like more practical ranch work. No idea how that will go, if there is one thing the boys lack, it’s practical work. Then I think going to try to enter them in a local trial as well, then after that Labor Day. We’ll see where they’re at after all that. But their AKC days are numbered, either from getting their championships, or getting fired for being a dork. Time will tell.

Carol does want to run them both in the upcoming USBCHA arena trial at the the state fair next month. It’s a timed trial, so that could be fun? I don’t expect them to actually be successful, but I think they’ll have fun, and they get three runs in a day, which is much nicer than just one. And there will be funnel cake!

So herding will continue, and I’ve been contemplating where I want to go with them. Or, at least Asher and Bryn – Navarre is on his own, he is a TOUGH nut when it comes to sheep. I do want to continue working with both of the young dogs, but I think I’m just going to start making it up on my own. I feel like I’ve given it a fair attempt to work with them more traditionally, but, hey, if it’s not fun, I’m not doing it. So I’m going to sit down and really consider what I’ve learned about herding and how I could approach it training it in a way that is more my style. I don’t expect it to be hugely successful, but I think we can have fun.

As for Bryn, I may have been able to cajole Bonnie to take her for a bit of training this summer. This just seemed like the perfect opportunity for Bryn to get a really good solid start – she’s got so much potential! Bonnie is on summer break, she’s coming back out here in July, she’s Bryn’s godmother and Bryn is at such a fun stage of training. I really do think Bonnie will enjoy her, she’s past all the super baby dog stages and she’s so ready to start progressing and really is so much fun to work with – she wants to team up and is so natural. Hopefully Bryn won’t make a liar out of me though. Bryn is also such an easy traveler, she loves Bonnie’s dogs and gets along with them really well. She’s super easy to live with and doesn’t have any bad habits. Knock on wood, hopefully I’m sending Bonnie a fun project and not a headache. And, of course, I wouldn’t send my itty bitty Brynny to just anyone, I think Bonnie understands how to be firm without putting too much pressure on the dog. Bryn is still my little princess. She, uh, could use some boundaries though.

With Bryn heading off to Idaho, and finishing up classes before Summer, I haven’t entered the dogs in any agility trials. I remain really busy, which is a good thing, but I’m looking forward to some time off in July before starting my Summer classes. I think dogs are getting a bit bored with my new schedule, there is a lot more hanging out while I’m teaching and I think they’re getting impatient with it. And soon it will be hot, which is always tough on me. I’m loving the nice cool Spring we’ve had though, it’s going to be a shock when it ends.

Knock on wood, Haku and the cats continue to do well – I’m just terrified of having a serious medical issue with any of my pets with the state of veterinary medicine right now. That’s really my biggest fear about having animals right now. I don’t see it getting any better, unfortunately. It’s been nice being able to take the dogs to regular massage and chiropractic visits though, I think it’s really helped make sure little issues didn’t turn into bigger ones. Knock on wood, everyone is sound and healthy at the moment – and Bryn is even eating! Wonders of wonders …