Tuckahoe SDT

The VBCA had its Winter trial at a new location this year, the lovely Tuckahoe Plantation which was the childhood home of Thomas Jefferson.  The sheep were fresh-fresh-fresh cheviots trailered on-site and were absolutely awesome to work!  They were good to dogs who treated them right and made it very clear when they didn't care for a dog.  These girls had not been worked in small groups, had never been through the sort system, hadn't been penned or seen panels.  A nice treat for us!

Livy was my first to run and she had a decent PN run.  Her outrun was tighter than I like and I stopped her twice, but she didn't give me very good redirects.  The trip around the course wasn't great as far as lines go, but I REALLY liked how she handled her sheep.  Penning these sheep proved to be very hard all weekend with only a handful of successful pens, but the experience was great for Liv who doesn't yet understand how to pen (other than sheep that practically pen themselves).  We'd get them all pushed into the mouth but then when I moved myself to put pressure on them from behind, she'd scoot around behind the pen to balance them to me, so they'd run back out.  She was really thinking and even though she was excited and pushing hard, her flanks were appropriately square when needed.  We got 3/4 into the pen with the last one lagging in the mouth when she couldn't help herself and rushed at the lagger, which bumped all of them back out.  Oh well, it was a good try.  She ended up 4th.

Spain got to work the exhaust for the lower classes and it was actually quite a task.  She had to take sheep off the field, through the parking area, and put them into a barn.  Many times they'd split on the field, through the cars, or around the barn and she'd have to figure things out on her own since I couldn't see to help her.  It was good work for her.  She then went on to work pretty well for her run, but I misjudged the driveaway panel and caused her to miss those.  The rest of the run was very nice, she had a good shed but we couldn't get them in the pen.  I didn't think it was a great run by any means, but it turned out good enough for 3rd.

Gabe was on the disabled list and didn't get to participate.  I really missed running him.

Later that evening we had our annual awards dinner in a really cool historical building on the farm.  Rae received her Open Champion belt buckle and it reminded me how much fun I had running her.  She was such a perfect dog for me to start with and I'm forever grateful to her and to Renee for letting me have her!

 

Rae's belt buckle

 

 

Sunday morning the sheep started out winning.  Livy ran out a little better but I still fussed at her to stay out.  She had a really nice fetch going, and although it was very fast she was moreso trying to keep up with them rather than pushing on them.  The turn at the post proved to be the downfall for most of the NN and PN runs as the sheep bolted for the exhaust and many dogs lost their sheep.  Well, Livy was not about to lose her sheep, but she did lose her temper and grabbed ahold of one who tried to beat her.  That was a little too exciting for her, but I'd much rather have my dog do that than not care about sheep running away.

I decided to move her up to Open Ranch and so she got another turn at these tricky sheep.  As an experiment, I let her do what she wanted to for her outrun.  It was very nice until about 10:00, then she sliced the top and came in very shallow.  Grr.  The sheep were moving quickly but she managed to flank well on the fetch and had a good turn.  She was working very well for me even though we missed the fetch and driveaway panels and had a major banana to make the cross-drives.  She had a good return leg and this time I let her do everything herself at the pen, since anytime I moved she moved in response to me.  She really had to work, but in the end she got them penned and I was super happy with her!  She actually ended up 3rd, though later on I was informed that VBCA rules do not let you run a dog competitively in two classes on the same day, so technically her run was a N/C.  Doesn't matter to me, aside from her outrun I was thrilled with how she handled those sheep.

Spain was laying down a really good one for her run until we got to the shedding ring.  Due to the setbacks I'd seen at recent trials, I was very cautious about calling her in on risky attempts.  The sheep glommed on top of each other and we just couldn't get a hole, so I never did call her in.  It wasn't worth it to me to risk a failed attempt, so we eventually timed out with no shed or pen.  The rest of the run was good enough to put us in 5th place, and surprisingly to me she ended up Reserve Open Champion.

 

Robin and Zac

 

 

Open champs Barbara Ray and Stella, judge Tom Lacy, me and Spain

 

 

VBCA handling system with Jesse and Jim working hard

 

It was a fun weekend with a casual trial in a new location.  Everybody pitched in as needed and I enjoyed working the top of the field with some new friends.  And the dinner was excellent.  A nice little club trial.

Rural Hill SDT

Another Rural Hill is in the books.  Pretty much the same story as previous years: Dr. Ben's hair sheep set on horseback, good size course, questionable hearing for the dogs, and lots of spectators and their pet dogs running amok.  I couldn't get off work to run Livy on Thursday, and I was a little concerned about her picking up of a horse without ever meeting one before, so I wasn't overly bummed to miss a chance at running her.  As it turned out, the novice classes were pretty brutal and it was probably good I didn't run her.

 

Lots of extracurricular activities: dock diving

 

 

Flyball and frisbee

(So tempting not to take Ella over for a turn at flyball, she used to be super fast!)

 

I'd gotten up at 4am to arrive on time for the handler's meeting Friday.  Gabe was up pretty early so I had to be there, anyway.  It didn't look promising from the time I got him out of the car.  Livy's been in heat and he was absolutely beside himself.  Gabe has always been wound up at trials, but holy cow I've never seen him so stupid-excited.  He ran out nicely to the right and stopped when I told him, but it went downhill from there.  He lifted hard and missed some downs, then proceeded to take wrong flanks on the fetch.  I'd been working on getting him to flank into the pressure, and not only did he flank hard into the pressure, he kept going and pushed them a good way across the field.  When I tried to get him back on balance he continued to flank off balance and nearly headed them.  The second part of the fetch wasn't bad and I hit him with several hard downs at the post, trying to get him listening.  His drive started OK but then he hit one of the deadzones, I couldn't get a good flow going and he couldn't hear me, so we quit.  I wasn't too pleased with that performance.

Spain had a fair go.  She had a little bit of a wonky lift, and I'm wondering if she was concerned about the horses.  Spain came from a home where she saw lots of horses, but was discouraged from interacting with them (understandably).  We're not sure if she's picked up off of them prior to this run or not!  She was slow to lift, but otherwise she was fine around the course.  Had trouble hearing at the cross-drive panel and just missed it at the last second.  I can't remember much about the run, except she had trouble hearing at many times, one was right at the cross-drive panels which we just missed, but I think it was so-so and we ended up not good enough for a placement.

 

Flag presentation

 

I was at home working and taking call on Saturday since I didn't have any runs til Sunday.  Gabe was my first dog on Sunday and I arrived *just* in time for his turn.  I saw one completed run before his, and that run wasn't a good demonstration of where the cross-drive line was.  Since the second round of Open started Saturday, I'd missed the handlers' meeting and so missed picking out any markers.  A little flustered, I sent Gabe and he did a great outrun and lifted softly.  He was working with a great attitude and listened very well, and we ended up with a steady and very straight fetch.  Good turn and a nice first leg, through the panels and he was still listening really well all the way across the field.  Since I wasn't quite sure where the line was, we ended up a shade low at the panels, and this was one of the trouble spots on the field with regard to hearing.  We tried, but he just couldn't hear me to save that panel.  Back to the ring for a clean split, put them in the pen with no trouble, and then returned to the ring for a great single.  I couldn't believe it, that was one of our best runs EVER!  I wanted to turn around to the crowd and say "Oh my gosh, is anyone seeing this??!"  I was so unbelievably proud of our run!  He ended up just 5 points out of placing in a very big trial with lots of top competition.  There was lots of really nice work that he did during that run, and he really got stroking it on his drive.  It was the first run that really felt smooth the whole way around.  Too bad I boogered up the cross-drive line!  Still, I was immensely happy with him.

Spain was the last run of the trial.  She ran out fine but her sheep left before she got there.  She hesitated a step before covering them, so I think the horses did have her a little unsure.  We got them under control and she had a good fetch and good first leg, but she had trouble hearing at the first panel.  We saved it and made the panels at the last possible second.  By now I'd watched many runs and knew where the line was, and we hit it well.  To the ring, good split and pen, and back to the shedding ring for the single.  One walked off the front of the group and I thought twice about taking it.  I knew the judge had said to take *any* sheep, but I just had it in my mind that I needed to do it "right," and since I had plenty of time, I put her back.  We shifted them around a little and I went to call her in and the rascal didn't come in!  Oooh was I mad.  We tried to get it set up again and when one walked off the front, this time I took it.  Spain wasn't enthusiastic about it and I had to jazz her up to fully take charge of it.  Later, I realized I may have never taught her to take the first one on the butt.  So our run ended in a bummer.  We were 1 point out of placing, so that missed attempt really hurt us (plus the 2 and 2 off at the top of the field, though Spain maintains her innocence!). 

I need to revisit Spain's shedding, but was very happy with Gabe's turn-around after acting like a goof the first go.

Broken Back SDT

The first weekend in November was the Broken Back trial in Cowpens, SC.  This trial always provides tricky, trial-wise hair sheep with lots of field pressure, and I'd wanted to go to give Gabe some experience working on such sheep.  I'd decided not to run Livy and from what I heard of the novice classes, that was a smart move.

The course was different this year than in the past.  Since there is an incredibly strong draw to the left for the exhaust, we kept on the right side of the field and had some interesting course arrangements.  You had to be on your toes going around the course because many groups of sheep, who seemed to be settled and walking nicely, up and ran off with little warning.  I guess there were some dogs that the sheep felt they could get away from.  The shedding ring was expanded in order to give handlers a chance to keep them in the ring, and even so, most people lost their sheep out of the ring at least once.  The sheep were very hard to shed because they knew how to run and curl around the handler, and they were also very difficult to pen, too, sometimes choosing to do laps around it instead of going in it.

 

Saturday's course: fetch panels on far left, drive-away in middle,

cross-drive on the right (out of pic).

Tiny yellow dot is Jan in the shedding ring

 

Gabe was first up for me and his sheep left before he got there (even though I sent into the pressure, they ran back TOWARD him?!), so we were playing catch up right from the start.  We missed the fetch panels but he didn't yet have them under control, so I wasn't upset.  He finally was able to take hold of them on the first leg of the drive and we got that panel, but partway across the cross-drive we had the dreaded wrong flank and the sheep took off.  Neither of us panicked and we recovered control after missing the panel.  The sheep had a tendancy to run the third leg straight through the shedding ring en route to the exhuast, and we had a pretty good pace going but my timing to send him to their heads was just a little off.  They each put maybe 1 foot out of the ring.  After that he had a beautiful shed and pen to finish the course.  Our score was respectable and though it wasn't great, I was thrilled with his handling of the sheep.  He's never seen such twitchy, reactive sheep and he kept his head and neither of us got rattled.

Spain was very slow to lift and I was getting impatient with her.  Later, the spotter told me she was reading her sheep really well and knew they were wanting to bolt, but she's been slow to lift in the past so I'd not given her the benefit of the doubt.  Her sheep did take off as soon as she lifted them and she was a little excited in getting them under control.  The fetch was decent, lines around the course were good and her sheep were settled.  Into the ring and she had not 1, but 2 missed attempts.  She finally came through on a good shed and we timed out on the pen.  So I wasn't too happy with the outcome there because I thought she was a better shedder.

Sunday I again decided to run Gabe first.  I sent him right this time, as did most people, even though that totally doesn't make sense as far as the field pressure is laid out.  Anyway, it made no difference to him and he gave me a lovely outrun, but again his sheep left early.  He had to work way, way off of them the whole way down the fetch, but lucky for us it was right online.  This time the turn was around a round bale placed in between the post and the fetch panel, and when it came time to turn Gabe was finally able to work closer to the sheep.  He had a great first leg and was really driving smoothly with small flanks and good pace to help settle the sheep.  Through the panels and we had a good line going until the sheep started running (I think there was a wrong flank that caused it, so when he released the pressure they bolted).  They ran fairly straight and Gabe caught them without too much trouble, but we just missed the panel.  The return leg was good and this time I wasn't letting them out of the ring.  He had another great shed and put them neatly in the pen.  All in all, a really nice run for us under tough conditions.

 

Sunday's course: fetch panels on left, hay bale for the turn, drive-away in the middle,

cross-drive out of sight to the right

Cy at the post.

 

Rest of the field; cross-drive on far right, shed then pen.

Cy starts the drive.

 

Spain had a decent gather with running sheep, turned tightly around the hay bale, and for whatever reason I had trouble picking out the line from the bale to the panel.  It was a little wobbly but we made the panel and the cross-drive was dead on, good return leg and again we fell victim to 2 missed attempts in the ring.  She came in well the third time and we got the pen. 

As it turned out, Gabe's 83 held on to 7th place out of 47 dogs, our first Open placement!  I couldn't believe he was able to place at such a trial...there was a lot of tough competition and the sheep were light, which has been a weakness of ours.  He ran really well both days and adjusted himself to suit the sheep.  I was so happy with him the whole weekend and the placement made it extra special.

Spain was right there, too.  Her 79 was only one out of the placings, so those missed shed attempts really hurt us.  I was troubled by the fact that both days she didn't come in, and while there were many other teams who had missed attemps, Gabe and I didn't have any trouble.  Plus, considering Spain's history with shedding and how hard I've worked at it, I was extra disappointed in those misses.

But anyway, this was Gabe's weekend! 

 

First half of the score-board. Go Gabe!

Water Cress SDT (The Last Hurrah)

The end of October brought the end of a truly FABULOUS trial hosted by Jan Thompson in Limestone, TN.  It has been such a lovely trial in the past and this year was no exception.  Her hair sheep were fat and delightfully unlike the usual trial-wise hair sheep...these girls were slow  and heavy!

 

Field

With over 80 entries the Open class was big enough to run over 3 days.  The field is big with a few rolling hills and a couple trouble-spots as far as hearing goes.  Spain was my first up and she had a very tidy go around the course, but it was slow.  I was having trouble getting set up for the shed and waited just a split-second too long to go for the Hail Mary...while she was taking the single away I stood there waiting for the judge to call it, when instead he called time.  What a huge bummer, we'd have ended up 4th-ish with those shed points!!  That was a hard pill to swallow...I was aware of my time, but miscalculated how long it would take the Hail Mary to play out.  Shoot.

Friday a bunch of us got together for a fun dinner in Jan's house.  Great food and great company, it was hard to call it quits and head to bed, but we all had dogs to run the next morning and several of my friends were key players in keeping the trial running smoothly, so they had plenty on their plate that weekend.

Gabe had a pretty nice go.  He didn't quite flank as well as I'd like on the fetch, though I'm not sure if it was hearing-induced or pressure-induced.  Whatever was going on, there were many dogs who didn't take their flanks on the fetch.  His fetch wasn't bad, just that the first part was a little offline and he wasn't doing what was needed to correct it until halfway through.  His drive was one of his better ones to date.  I think he only took 2 wrong flanks, and I was even able to throw in a couple steady whistles on the crossdrive (usually we're too busy fixing the line).  He even made the cross-drive panel which was a tough one to hit in the first round.  Pen was fine and he finished up with a rather impressive shed and a respectable score!  I was really happy with him!

Spain ran at the very end of the day and again had great lines around the course, but still slow.  This time it was shed then pen, and we were already short on time when I got to the ring.  A quick not-full-point-but-need-to-take-what-I-can-immediately shed and then rushed to the pen, but needed another 10 seconds there to complete the run.  It wasn't that I didn't learn my lesson the first go, I tried everything I could think of to speed her up around the course, but she was just too slow.  Something that I know can be an issue sometimes, but I'll try to work on it, because that makes for disappointing finishes.

Saturday night was the spectacular handlers' dinner catered by Cy's brother Phillip.  He did a remarkable job preparing the meal and we all sat down together to enjoy it with each other.  A bunch of us lingered well into the night and again had to tear ourselves away from the fun.

Sunday Gabe ran pretty early in the day and it wasn't pretty.  He didn't flank well on the fetch and was missing (ignoring or not hearing?) my downs.  On the way to the post I downed him a bunch of times to try to correct him in, but the driveaway consisted of a couple missed downs and wrong flanks, so I just quit.  Whatever was going on, it wasn't meant to be that day.  But I had to laugh, apparently the run wasn't going nearly as badly as it was in my own mind, because the handler after me said at the exhaust "Why did you retire?"  To which I said "Because he didn't take a single correct whistle out there!"  Poor Gabe, I know not to get mad at him, but I was.  I need to do better.

I went home from the trial to celebrate Dad's birthday Sunday evening and then brought him back with me to watch LIVY run on Monday.  Yes, I actually ran Liv, just in the Pro-Novice since she's been a bit excited away from home.

Her outrun was a little more shallow than I'd have liked, but I knew I couldn't fix her at that point, so let her be.  Great lift and fetch, turn, and did a good job on the drive.  I am still trying to get with her as far as running a course goes, and so my timing was a little off, but she listened great and did just what I told her.  One wrong whistle on her end, but I'm fine with that.  For the pen I was REALLY holding her back.  She doesn't quite understand penning yet (hmm, maybe we should practice before a trial?), so I really had to keep the reins on her so she didn't head them.  But these sheep walked right in.  Livy ended up 2nd!

There was a second PN class that included a cross-drive.  I decided to send her the other way since I wanted to use it as a training experience, and again she was a little shallow.  I fussed at her but I don't think it really changed her trajectory (which is a problem I'm having at home, so no shocker to me, really).  But her lift and fetch were quite nice and her first drive leg was much smoother than the previous run.  Her turn was tight and we ever so neatly drove half-way across the drive too high.  I finally realized this and got her to correct the line and we made the drive panels, good return leg and again holding her back as they walked in the pen.  She got another 2nd place for that run and more importantly, I was really happy with what I saw.  Though she was incredibly wound up, she listened so well to me and tried really hard to do what I asked her to.  I just need to get her settled and thinking on her outruns away from home.  She's still so yeeeeahhhh here I go to get sheep!!!  She knows better, but you don't get a mulligan at a trial :)

Many thanks to Jan, Cy, Bob and Bobbie, and Sue for putting on such a wonderful trial.  It was the most fun trial weekend I've had in ages.  It is so sad to think that this was the last year for it, but I'm glad I was able to go enjoy myself one last time with so many friends who made the trip.

 

 Happy Birthday, Dad!

Quiet Acres SDT

I was lucky to be able to get away from work one morning to run Gabe and Spain at the Quiet Acres Open SDT hosted by Sylvia King.

Gabe had the privilege of being the first dog on the course.  And I mean that sincerely, because in light of the recent passing of our friend, fellow shepherd, trialer, and Quiet Acres owner Dan King, you come to realize that being able to run your dog at a dog trial is indeed a privilege and is something that we can easily take for granted when we get caught up in the competition.

The outrun is an undulating 425 yards and was directly into the morning glare.  I couldn't see Gabe's top end well because of the sun, but I think it was at least OK based on where I finally caught sight of the activity.  There is a long portion of the fetch that is out of sight; some dogs and sheep were gone for nearly 30 seconds.  It was quite a surprise where your sheep emerged and you had very little time to make the fetch panels.  Gabe's came up a little to the left, much better than I'd planned, and we just skimmed the outside of the left panel.  His group of 4 did not appear to be friends and split themselves into 2 groups of 2 right from the start, a formation that they maintained through the fetch and onto the first part of the drive.  The middle of the drive was in a low spot and again the dogs and sheep were out of sight for a long time.  The hearing appeared to be distorted as well, as I remembered from last year.  Gabe did a good job and we persevered to make the first panel, but had some trouble on the cross-drive after a wrong flank.  Poor cross-drive, missed the panel, and when we got to the ring, we couldn't regain that lovely 2-2 formation required for a split.  Instead, a lamb kept breaking off to create a 3-1 split, and I couldn't convince anyone to go with her.  We eventually timed out in the ring, the situation was one that we'd never encountered and a lot of the problem was that I just didn't know how to help him.

 

Gabe's sheep go 2-2 (photo by C. Koval)

 

 

In the shedding ring. No, we didn't get the split,

but there is so much I love about this photo! (C. Koval)

 

 

Spain also had a very nice outrun but was slow to lift; her sheep split right as she got there and I was trying to let her work it out on her own, but she eventually needed some help.  Our fetch was a little squirrelly and though I expected her to come out of the valley online, she didn't.  We struggled with the drive during the part where she couldn't hear me; she continually circled them and started bringing them.  Gabe is a good driving dog and when he encountered that spot, he just kept going, whereas Spain was looking for input from me and when she never received any, the best she knew was to bring them back.  After a few failed attempts to get going in the right direction, we eventually retired.  It just wasn't meant to be that run.

Edgeworth

You know it's Fall when it's time for Tommy and Florence Wilson's famed Edgeworth Open trial.  This year the traditional trial field was recently seeded, so Tommy devised an equally tricky course on another portion of his beautiful central VA farm.  The outrun, though short at only 350yds, was very tricky with it's rolling terrain, and as a result, a very high percentage of dogs crossed over or ran out poorly on the first go.

Gabe was my first to run, and as he crested the first hill I gave him a security redirect to keep him out.  He took it perfectly and continued on to have a lovely outrun.  The middle part of the fetch was in a big dip, so it was blind to the handler at the post.  Gabe went in online and to my surprise emerged online!  We made the fetch panels and continued on with a nice pace.  His first leg of the drive was fine, it was that darn cross-drive where he boogered up a flank.  It took some effort to get things back together, but he was working well til he took a wrong flank at the cross-drive panel and we just missed them.  Decent return leg and onto the pen, where many teams failed to get the wily sheep in.  He was controlled and working very well for me and we managed a nice pen.  Plenty of time in the shed ring and we got a shed that I was quite happy with.  It was a respectable run score-wise and more importantly, I was really happy with his work.

 

Gabe on the first leg, Sue's cell phone pic

 

When I sent Spain, I'd already decided to give her a security redirect as well, and apparently that really blew her mind.  She took it well, but after that she was wound as tightly as could be, overflanking, running through my stops, taking wrong flanks...pretty much just plain ugliness.  I know we missed the fetch panels and I don't remember about the rest of the way around the course other than we were fighting.  She and I got our act together enough for a good pen and a poor, but accepted shed.  I can only remember one other time when she worked like that and coincidentally or not, it was when I'd given her a redirect on her outrun.  Hmm.

The second go included a dog-leg fetch followed by an interesting drive, a maltese cross (must get them all through) and pen.  Gabe ran out beautifully without the need for any security or other redirects, so I was really happy to see that.  He had trouble on the dog-leg (homework for us), and we didn't get them online til the fetch panels.  He had a good driveaway going, and yet AGAIN, messed up a flank about halfway across the cross-drive.  We got things straightened out and made the next panel and had a good flow coming to the cross.  We got them in the first chute but I'm not sure what happened and next thing I knew they'd turned and were headed down one of the cross alleys.  I had him pick them up again and we put them back through correctly this time.  He brought them nicely to the second mouth of the cross and we sent them through without much fuss.  I sent him to gather as I went to the pen, and he brought them nicely and in they went.  Woohoo!  I was SO proud of him, his at hand work was especially nice and workmanlike, we really only goofed on the dog-leg and the cross-drive.  I was quite happy with our run and again our score was probably about mid-pack.

 

Not me, just a course picture; sheep set to left, fetch gates in the middle of the picture,

drive away on the left, cross-drive out of sight to the right. Much of the fetch is actually out of sight of this pic, the terrain dips just beyond the fetch panels

 

Still not me, third drive leg to the cross, pen on the right

 

Spain ran near the end of the round at a time when the winds were coming up, which had me worried.  I sent her and kept my mouth shut as she ran out, trusting that she'd learned her lesson on the first outrun.  She did, and was nice and pliable at the top for the dog-leg.  She had her listening ears on, for sure, and did a lovely fetch straight to the fetch panels, turned, then straight to my feet.  Her sheep were a little heavy but she worked hard to push them around the course with precision.  I really didn't know where the cross-drive line was, I'd had no markers picked out since I missed the walk-through, so we just went for it and marched across the field.  Made the panels, good line to the cross.  We worked calmly and patiently to get them through, she had a nice tight turn to bring them back to the second entrance and through again.  I could feel the momentum of a good run, so I left her in a down to hold the sheep as I walked over to the pen.  She gathered them and we went on to have a slow and careful pen.  What a feeling closing that pen gate, I knew we'd had a smoking run and I was so proud of her!  Turned out that we tied for 3rd with Beverly on a 91, and though I didn't see the breakdown, we ended up 4th after the tie was broken.  What a thrilling experience!!

 

Edgeworth 2012

Virginia State Fair

Since I was unable to get off of work to go to the VBCA's major public outreach-type trial, at the last minute I decided to go up to the State Fair and run the dogs in their fun trial.  I'd never been to an arena trial and they were looking for entries, so why not?!  It was super fun!  Spain and Gabe got 2 runs in Open and Livy got 1 PN run and 2 Ranch runs.  This was a judged arena trial, not a time/points one, so that added an interesting twist to the course.  Spain ran very well for me, and I was very happy with Gabe even though our lines weren't great.  There's not much room to make adjustments after a wrong (and big, fast) flank, but he made the obstacles and was trying very hard.  He had a couple opportunities to lose his temper, and in the past he would've been quick to use his teeth, but he kept a cool head and I was very happy.  Liv came out like she was shot from a cannon, but she got better with each run.  Though she was fast, she listened great except for a couple wrong flanks and she was trying so hard to be my teammate.  Being in an arena, it was hard to get a good flow and just let her settle in, but there were a couple moments where she was able to fall in behind and relax. 

So the arena trial was very fun, and it was a good opportunity to work my dogs in a new place.  I was really happy to see Livy improve with each run, and her last run was a smoker.  Reinforced my belief that she just needs to burn off some excitement.  I saw some areas that need improvement on all of my dogs, so it was nice to come away feeling like we did well, but also found some homework.

 

Livy was watching the sheep in the arena