Stuck at home

Well I was sure looking forward to returning to returning to Dawn's Lazy J February trial...but it just wasn't meant to be.

The week before the trial I sold all but 3 ewes because they were not up to my standards health or working wise.  I kept the 3 best ones to leave me with something to train on before the trial and to hold me over until my lambs could work or I could buy new sheep.  Two days after the culls left, I went to take the remaining ewes across the street to work.  As soon as they saw Gabe they ran like they were feral and took off down the road.  Gabe and I trailed them for a mile, but since the roads were so winding and narrow, I never could get to a place where I felt safe sending Gabe to head them.  Eventually we lost their trail and had to go home.  I searched all day on foot and in the car, even took the dogs with me to help look, and never saw them again.

The next morning a call came in to the clinic that some sheep were standing in someone's yard about 2 miles from my house.  The woman was angry because I couldn't come to get them until my lunch break and ended up hanging up on me!  Her attitude was surprising because it's the dead of winter, so no nice lawn or garden for them to destroy, and jeez, we live in the sticks!  Since I had many surgeries to get to, I had two girls from work go put them up in the neighboring field that had sheep, cos, and a goat.  At lunch time I took Gabe and a work friend to go catch them, and what a fun adventure that was!  First we had to put the undogged cows up in a shed, and that was a chore because some were spoiled pets who had no manners or sense.  The three of us finally got them up and then had to deal with the menagerie of sheep.  My feral three were amongst about a dozen others that included aggressive suffolks, rams, a mom with her newborns, and even a neurological goat.  There were no chutes, pens, or gates, so Gabe and I had to sort them in the open and then after much work, the three of us got mine loaded on my trailer and ready to go home.  We were muddy, bloody, and sore, but we got it done!

The next couple days the dogs and I tried to settle the feral sheep at home in a small field, but they were just crazy.  Even so, it was good preparation for the trial at Dawn's which can have some very light sheep.  I was really looking forward to the trial and spending a weekend away from home in the camper, but it wasn't meant to be.  On the way to the trial Friday night I was run off the interstate by a tractor trailer and the camper and Suburban slid jack-knifed down the grassy median.  Long-story short, it was ridiculously scary but me and all 6 dogs were not injured.  The camper ended up being a total loss and the Suburban has been undergoing repairs for what seems like forever, which means that we truly have been stuck at home since I don't have another vehicle that can transport all the dogs.

I've found another camper that I think I will like even better than the last one.  I've put a deposit on it, have the insurance money from the old camper, so am just waiting for the Suburban to be fixed so I can pick it up!  In the meantime I've worked a million hours at the day (and night and weekend) job and have just been lounging around at home doing minimal work with the dogs.  It's nice to have some time off but I'm getting a little stir-crazy here, and I'm thinking they are, too.

Lazy J January SDT

Always a good opportunity to spruce up our hair sheep handling at Dawn's winter trials.  The dogs have been doing lambing work at home and none of us were very prepared for slipping into trial mode.  The Open course this time was the front field run from the top of the hill (where the set out usually is) down over a ridge and crossing into the lower field.  It really made for a difficult outrun. At the top of the ridge there had been cross fencing that separated the two fields.  On the right the perimeter fence jutted in and the t posts from the cross fence were still in place along the top of the ridge the whole way across to the fetch panels. On the left side the cross fence was still in place from about 15ft away from the fetch panel to the perimeter fence, where there was an open gate for the dog to go through.  On both outruns you couldn't see your dog to prevent a cross-over; on the away outrun the dogs also saw the set out pens across the field which was yet another thing to draw them in. When deciding which way to send, each side provided unique drawbacks.  Saturday I chose to send both dogs right.

We were so far behind schedule due to bad weather that you got DQ'ed if you crossed.  Gabe crossed below the ridge when he looked in and spotted the set out across the narrow field.  Livy as I was told, tried to find her way thru the perimeter fence that stuck out but ended up crossing below the ridge as well.  Luckily we were allowed to bring the sheep; Gabe started well but then singled one off with his eye near the post and wouldn't let go of it as it turned on him.  I was not happy about that.  Liv worked well but they drifted to my left after the fetch panel and when she flanked to cover she ended up on the far side of the cross fencing and the sheep on the near side!!  So she had to run the length of the cross fence to the gate to get back to her sheep.  In the meantime, our one black sheep left the white ones and got in the woods.  I couldn't see to help her as that one completely blended in with the background. The helpful judge had walked out to tell me to just bring the two when suddenly Livy had the black one back with the others.  She brought them nicely and did the first leg of the drive before we exhausted them. Really happy with her effort!

Sunday I sent both dogs left and they both made it out through the gate on their own.  Gabe didn't work well and after fighting to keep them together on the first half of the fetch, he decided to just brought me a single and wouldn't let go of it.  We have been doing that sort of work at home.  I was very disappointed because he knows better, but I can give him a break because he's been working lots of troublesome singles at home.  Livy had sheep that went 2 and 1 around the course.  We worked our butts off to get things under control for the first part of the fetch, she was listening well but I ended up letting her do it herself for the second half because I had trouble seeing.  Sometimes she took the single to the others, sometimes she took the two to the single.  I figured she knew better than me, anyway.  Good first leg and decent cross drive but missed panels because of my poor judgement.  Quick shed and pen...we had almost 4 minutes left!  The run wasn't "trial pretty" but I was happy again.  Found out later that we placed 10th of 51 dogs!!  Yay Livy!!!!  Our first Open placement :D

Lena got her first turn in the PN on a very tiny field.  She didn't work nearly up to her potential, but I'm sure she'll get the hang of it soon.  I don't want to crank on her too much because she is so young at 18 months.  At home she can outrun 500 yards, drive, and shed a single.  She wasn't quite ready to do that at the trial, but we did finish the course both days and she had nice pens, especially for a dog who has never seen a pen before!

 

Lena starts the drive

 

 

Gabe and Lena may not have had a great trial, but Livy made me so happy!  She was using her brain instead of just going through the motions at warp speed.  As she matures she is becoming quite fun to work, it's just taken us awhile to get on the same page.

 

Bon Voyage, Spain!

Yes, it was hard.  I've never parted with a dog, but it was time for Spain to move on.

She was progressively showing me that she didn't want to trial in Open any longer. In fact, the last several trials she had to be on leash before our turn or she'd run off and not come to me. I have *never* treated her harshly in the least bit and really, didn't put much training pressure on her at all.

We had a long year of hitting a lot of trials.  I gave her a couple months off. I checked her for tick diseases and have her on thyroid meds, but she just lost her spark when working.  She was perfectly happy to be a pet and loved to race around with the other dogs, but I was worried she'd get lost in my pack and not get the attention she deserved.  Whatever was going on, she wasn't happy working for me anymore, and she is still so young and talented that I thought if a suitable novice home presented itself, I'd place her.  Several people were interested in her, but for various reasons I didn't find them to be the perfect match, and I wasn't going to settle for anything but the best for everyone involved.

It just sort of worked out that a friend who wasn't even looking for a dog was tempted enough to convince her husband to add a 3rd dog.  Lynn has Gabe's younger brother and a puppy.  She is thoughtful and compassionate, and understands Spain's needs as a working dog and pet. We talked a lot and decided it could be a good fit, so I decided this might be 'the one.'

The closer the time came to give her Spain, the more I felt sad about placing her.  But it wasn't fair for her to stay with me and not get what she deserves, she is a special girl!  My bitches were never mean to her, but she was low in status, didn't like all the activity in the house, and preferred to keep to herself. I could tell that she wanted to be a bigger part of my life, but was too intimidated by the rest of the pack.

Spain has now been in her new home for almost 2 weeks.  She has opened up and sounds to be doing great, friendly with the other dogs, cat, and family members.  Her new household is much quieter than mine and with 2 younger males as her housemates, she is experimenting with being the Top Dog!  She even went to work for Lynn her first time out, which was something I worried (too much) about.  Yay!!

All in all, I am happy, but it's still weird to see pictures of her on someone else's FB page!  Lynn takes far better photos than I do, anyway.

 

At Rural Hill, our last trial

 

 

 

 

2013 USBCHA Finals

 

 

Thanks for the fun, Spainie!  Love you!

Rural Hill SDT

This year was another fun Rural Hill trial and festival.  Chilly mornings but unseasonally warm temperatures during the day.  I ran all 3 Open dogs in a field of about 80 dogs and again can't remember the details of most of their runs this far out.  The first round had the standard split, pen, single.  Even though it didn't feel like one of our better runs, Spain ran well enough to place 12th in the first round!  Gabe didn't listen very well in either run and I wasn't very happy about that, though this field does have some very notorious dead spots and tends to bring out lots of hearing issues in the dogs. 

 

Gabe rounds the post

 

 

Gabe's first run; got it together after a bad fetch

 

Gabe's second fetch was better than the first, still not great,

and left a lot to be desired around the course

 

 

Even though Spain was the one in the money, Livy was really my star of the weekend.  It was the first time she's run close to what she's capable of.  First run she pulled a goof-ball moment and stopped on her outrun to look back at me. One redirect got her going and another got her bent out nicely. Excellent lift, not upset by the horses at all (which was a relief because she's never picked up off of horses before), and listened very well on the fetch, making the panels and taking her time. Good drive all the way around and made all the panels. She was just smooth as can be, flanking nicely, calm, pacing. Into the ring quietly and in control, but she wouldn't come in on the split, which was disappointing because that was about all I had practiced with her that week in preparation for this trial. She came in on the second attempt, easy pen, and only 1 point off the single. She was jusr 5 points out of placing!!!!  I thought her fetch and drive lines were a little better than her score, but no matter, she worked so well and I was so happy with her :D

Second turn we had to go first in the class. She gave a beautiful outrun all on her own!!! We had a little trouble holding the fetch line on her bad side, got her back after missing the panels and had a heck of a first drive leg til the one really bad dead spot where she couldn't hear me and started bringing them back. Got her righted and we made the panels, a bit wobblier on the cross drive but I've always had trouble picking that line out on the second day, made the panels but couldn't prevent a pull through (again a tough spot hearing and pressure wise). Nice into the ring but again didn't take the split right away. Got her in, penned, and then we had to single a collared sheep. Yes, only one was wearing a collar. I've never done that. It was intense and I was scared of her but thanks to some awesome athleticism and keenness on her part we got it done on the first attempt!!!! Score was killed because of going the wrong way on the drive away and the pull through, and she wasn't as smooth as before where I had to help her with some verbal flanks, but she was very willing to be my partner and was mentally under control.

I got so many compliments on her! She is essentially an unknown based on her limited trial experience, and she really impressed a lot of people this weekend. I was so, so proud of her. Maybe we are starting to get there :)  I guess we'll see!

 

Livy fetching in the first round

 

 

Livy in the shedding ring

 

All photos courtesy of C. Koval

Quiet Acres and Edgeworth SDTs

I've been trying to write this entry for a very long time, but Blogger has been out to get me.  I thought it wasn't jiving with my iPad, but it hasn't been working on my laptop either.  How rude!

I feel like it always sinks in that fall is here when it's time for Quiet Acres and Edgeworth.  I hate fall, because it means that winter is on its way with its darkness and cold.  But these are always such nice trials!  QA was held mid-week on the days before Edgeworth.  A smaller entry at maybe 35-40 dogs, seems that many locals were either still recovering from the Finals or couldn't afford more time off from work.  Still an abundance of top competition made it out for the always challenging trial.

The first day we ran a new course which incorporated some of the most challenging parts of the trial field as far as the terrain goes.  The course also featured a 3 panel weave at the drive-away, something I've never seen before!  Always fun to try new things.  I ran all 3 dogs and really don't remember details (especially this far out)!  In short, Spain was just out of the placings, Gabe had a very competitive run going except that we couldn't get our shed, and Livy was her overly-excited self on her outrun and found some guard dogs on her way out to go investigate (apparently she did a big "OOPS, those aren't sheep!" when she got there).  After that nonsense she ran a nice course and even got her single.

 

Livy would've had a competitive run without the outrun disaster.

 

 

That evening we had the annually-fabulous handlers' dinner inside the warmth of Sylvia's house, great food and great company.  Dad came to the trial and we watched a good movie in the camper with a few of the dogs snuggled up.

Next day we did the usual course.  Gabe didn't listen, so I trained hard on him in preparation for the next day's run at Edgeworth.  Spain finished 9th, and Livy was again silly on her outrun, though I will take a lot of the blame for trying to give a safety redirect at a bad time.  In retrospect, I think she would've gotten out fine on her own.  After getting her back mentally, she had a nice rest-of-her-outrun (I think it's a little short of 450 yards?), then was rather keyed up on her fetch and first drive leg where she gripped off on her away flank as the sheep were running off.  I saw it coming and retired as she was getting DQ'ed.  I could've managed her better, so I was disappointed in myself.  Just getting experience, I keep telling myself.

At the end of the trial there was a double lift with the top 5 combined scores.  I'd already left for Edgeworth because I'd only wanted to give it a go with Gabe, but it turns out that Spain made the last spot (or was 1 point out, but I'll trust the trial secretary's word on it!).  Sorry, Spainey!

 

I think I was about to shield my face from the sun (photo by S. Payne)

 

 

 

Spain's run (S. Payne)

 

 

At Edgeworth, we can often expect that Tommy will throw us a curve ball, and he didn't disappoint. We were back on the big field this year (yay!), but he set sheep on the left side of the field with a fetch that ran diagonally across the field and incorporated a very long blind segment where dogs disappeared deeply down in a valley.  Outrun of 500ish yards I'd guess. The sheep were 4 wool lambs and provided their own challenges.  Gabe ran first for me and gave me a nice run.  Lovely outrun over the tough terrain, not such a good fetch but listened well around the rest of the course, good split, pen, and single.  Very proud of him and he earned a respectable score his first time on this field.  Spain ran next and also gave a great outrun, decent fetch, good around the course but slow, got our split and barely got the pen door shut as time ran out.  Spain scored respectably, too.  Livy ran early the next morning and did her "I'm going to run out to a point where I think they'll be, then come in and take your downs but ignore your redirects."  We were able to leave the post and help our dogs find sheep in this first go, which is what we had to do.  When I got her calmed down and sent her on the most difficult part of the outrun, she did it perfectly.  Nice to see that she could do it, but still frustrating that she couldn't get there the first time.  More experience.  I was tired and could feel a cold coming on, so I spent that Friday night in my camper watching movies in bed.  Gotta love having the new camper!!

 

Gabe pens the lambs (C. Koval)

 

 

I had to leave the trial on Saturday to return home for work on Sunday, and my first dog was up early enough in the second go that I got to get a second run in for Gabe.  This course was similar to the regular course with the 600 yard outrun, turn in front of the post and right hand drive, but the cross-drive was very far up the field a long distance from the handler.  We ran groups of 2 hair ewes and 2 wool ewes; the first shed was to split the hairs from the woolies, pen, and then take one of 2 collared ewes.  Gabe ran during a very strong headwind that made hearing really difficult for many dogs around that time.  He gave me a lovely outrun but the sheep left before he was even close to the top of the hill and hid behind a ridge so that neither my dog nor the set-out could see them.  Since they stayed put hidden there, I tried to help him find them, and he sure tried his hardest to figure out where they were.  At one point I was afraid he was going to jump the fence to the set out pens.  Eventually we got a re-run.  I was a little worried that he would be confused after his first weird trip up the hill, but he ran out beautifully and found them with no trouble.  Made the fetch panels, had some hearing issues but the sheep were forgiving and though we took the extremely scenic route, we made the turn and drive-away panels, recovered for a good cross-drive and third leg, but I really held him back speed-wise on that leg in an attempt to keep him listening to me.  Got a nice split and he worked well at the pen to get the notoriously difficult-to-pen sheep in.  We ran out of time just as we were entering the ring and I was getting ready to set up a hail mary shed.  The run wasn't pretty but again we had a pretty good score.  Happy with Gabe for his first time on the big field!

 

Gabe penning second go (S. Payne)

 

 

Got 'em (S. Payne)

My First Finals

Belle Grove 2013: My first Finals experience as a participant.

Spain was easily qualified with 42 points on the year.  Gabe started his first Open season a little rough but we were figuring things out by late fall.  Too bad the big chunk of time over winter and early spring where he was injured really squashed all trialling momentum we were gaining and set us back.  He didn't get in even though he has become my top Open dog, so that was a little disappointing.  

To prepare Spain, I mostly worked on confidence building and fitness.  She is a pretty sharp listener and knows what to do out there, so I didn't really feel like I had much I wanted to work on with her.  However, the week before the Finals Spain started acting very strangely while working.  She had no stamina and seemed to have lost her heart.  She would walk on her outrun, take wrong flanks, and refuse to come in on her shed.  Aside from working, she seemed 100% normal.  Tick Snap test was negative, but I started her on doxycycline just in case it was RMSF.  After 3 days on doxy (now it's just a few days before I have to leave for Belle Grove), still no improvement.  It then occurred to me to check her thyroid and it turned out to be low.  I finally had something to go on!  Took her off the doxy and started her on thyroxine.  After a few doses I took her out one more time before leaving to see how she worked...no change.  This is Sunday before the Finals and I was strongly considering scratching her.  But I really wanted to go to my first Finals, especially since it was so close to home!!!

Well, I ended up going.  I decided to have fun and just go experience the Finals, and if Spain felt like working, that would be a bonus.
 

The Minnie Winnie Compound

 

For months I had envisioned how the week would go.  And then, it pretty much didn't go anything like that!  Belle Grove 2013 will forever be known as the mud fest.  Aside from a brief period of sunshine during the handlers' meeting, it rained all.the.time.  Lots of mud, lots of wet dogs, lots of rain gear.

 

At the Handlers' Meeting; the weather seemed so promising!

 

I didn't run til the last dog on Thursday, so I had plenty of time to just hang out.  I did some exhausting with Gabe and that was really enjoyable.  Ella got to go shopping with me at the vendors, the other dogs got to take in the trial from the handlers tent (Ella can't keep her mouth shut when watching).  It was a great experience for Lena to learn about the business.

By the time I was set to run, I was thoroughly and ridiculously nervous.  It was raining hard.  I didn't even know if my dog would run out.  But she sure surprised me!  She spotted her sheep and ran out beautifully and enthusiastically.  Good lift (ie not too slow and careful like she can be), but then they pulled hard toward the exhaust on the first half of the fetch.  She was flanking but was not aggressive enough to fix the line.  And to my horror, she had a difficult ewe who wanted to fight her from the get-go.  It is no secret that Spain is not blessed with tons of power or confidence, so I have to be extra smart in handling her and keeping her out of bad situations.  But she hung in there and stood up to the ewe multiple times, and we had the line fixed by the second half of the fetch.  Right at the post I goofed and gave her a wrong flank and we nearly turned the post the wrong way.  There was a substantial standoff with that ewe and for possibly the first time in her life, she hit it on the nose!!!  I was so proud of her!!  I had her release the pressure then and we were able to continue on and made the drive away panels.  Just when I thought maybe we'd broken the sheep, we got to one of the troublesome spots on the field that I'd been afraid of: the turn to start the cross-drive.  The pressure was strong and she was directly behind the panel, so I couldn't see what was going on to be of much help to her.  We tried and tried but she eventually gave in to the pressure and circled the sheep.  I knew she was done then.  She took some wrong flanks and I retired feeling defeated.

 

 

Photo thanks to D. Mickey

 

After some time to myself, I was able to more clearly evaluate my run, and I've come away feeling very proud of what Spain and I accomplished.  Months ago she wouldn't have been able to fight that ewe for so long.  She was right in her face for much of the run and even cleanly gripped her.  I have put in so much work to ease her tension and to build her confidence, and I do think it showed during that run.  Her strength is light sheep and these were far from Spain-friendly sheep, but she still tried her best.  That is all I can ask of her and I'm proud we even got to the Finals in the first place. Not to mention the fact that she was feeling poorly and not even wanting to work sheep just a few days before her Finals run!  Good girl, Spain.  Thanks for the experience!

Movin' On Up

Ready or not, I moved Liv up to Open last weekend.  She was scheduled to debut a few weeks ago, but suffered an injury while working that required extensive dental surgery to remove two teeth and do a root canal on an upper canine.  After two weeks of rest, I was pretty sure we were not ready.  Livy is the kind of dog who needs regular work, and then some.  I could only attend one day of the GSDA trial at Patterson's Farm, so was feeling disappointed that I wouldn't even get a second chance to run her.  But I drove down to run her, Spain, and Gabe on a small but very challenging course that featured difficult terrain, pressure, and sheep. 

Spain was my first dog and we were incredibly rusty.  As in, there were times I couldn't remember my whistles rusty.  After a frustrating run, she gripped off in the shedding ring, something I knew she was very capable of, but I hadn't seen it in a long, long time.

There were almost 30 dogs in between her run and Livy's run, which provided me with plenty of time to get super duper nervous!  I was worried enough about running her when she was unprepared, plus I was scared she would grip and damage her recently-healed mouth.

Liv doesn't fully understand the concept of looking for sheep.  It's really hard with her because when we go to the post she stares at me just waiting permission to go.  We have really been working on it, and I think it will come with more experience, but for now she is still really excited to be at the post.  I had told her where the sheep were, but in her defense, it was difficult to see due to the harsh sun at the time.  She was starting to come in early when in a blind spot, so I had to give her a couple redirects to get her in a proper position, but when she found her sheep she cast thoughtfully and stopped for a nice, controlled lift.  She was listening really well for the first part of the fetch, made the panels, and then for the second part she was able to bring the sheep on her own without any input from me.  The pace was much slower than what SHE would have liked.  Dogs were really struggling to move sheep who were hot and tired, but she kept on and to my surprise, kept her head about her.  Nice turn and decent first leg until we missed the panel.  Cross-drive was offline but she was still working really well for me, missed the cross-drive panels, but a nice return leg.  As I went to the pen, I couldn't believe she hadn't yet gripped in frustration of the slow pace.  We had a nice pen and then I took my sweet time going to the shedding ring in hopes of keeping her calm.  I had planned to be very cautious in calling her in because that had recently been a common gripping trigger, and because I'd never singled with her!  She behaved herself and came in to the gap but turned on the wrong sheep!  I quickly got her on the single and she held it very nicely!  OMG!  We finished our first Open run!  The score wasn't pretty but she did end up finishing about middle of the pack of 40 some dogs, and most importantly, she was working very well for me.  I was handling her very cautiously because frankly, I was scared of her!  So I have plenty to improve upon on my end.

 

 

Turning the post.

 

 

 

 

Pen.

 

 

 

 

Liv's first single.

 

Gabe ran at the very end of the trial and laid down a very nice run...only problem was that he surprised the heck out of me and crossed on his outrun!  What?!  He was a handful and I really had to sit on him around the course, but he worked really well and handled the sheep well, too.  He would've placed without the cross-over :(  Even though my throat hurt after running him, I was very happy with him.  He hasn't had a ton of work lately due to the weather's effect on the hay season.  The other dogs have things to work on at-hand on my small farm, but for the most part, he needs course work.