Tell Me Thursday #3

Wow everyone should be impressed, I've managed it 3 weeks in a row!!

OK so this week Laura (and friends) want to know this....

1. What movie do you love but are too embarrassed to admit you love it?

Ummm embarrased no....a silly chick flick YES.  Sweet Home Alabama.  And yes it is on every weekend over and over again and yes I watch it at least once every weekend, though usually in parts :)

2. Ann wants to know: How far do you drive/travel to attend trials, clinics, lessons? How far is too far?
Well hmmmm I haven't trialed much, but I did back in spring drive 8 hrs to a clinic for the weekend, it was great fun and I planned to do it again but alas I will not be able to through not fault of my own.

3. What is your theme song (circa Ally McBeal)?

I'm supposed to have a theme song?  Sorry this I do not have

4. Laura S wants to know: If you had to choose a new dog activity, one that you had never done before, what would you choose?
Well hmmmm maybe agility or search and rescue....

5. What would your dog choose (or scribe, if you're Pippin)?

Spottie would choose barking and she says don't argue with her that it's not a sport

Jen says is cat herding a different sport than sheep herding?  Ok how about cat biting?

Duke says he would like to take up sheep herding (and will need to find a new handler to do so!!)

Dutch would like anything that involved jumping on top of crates, etc...so maybe agility would be the sport for him!

Tell Me Thursday

Today Laura wants to know

Going forward over the next six months, what are your goals?

Hmmmm......that's a hard one since right now I am just trying to survive!

Lets see

1. Continue to improve my property (add fence along property line, add flowers/shrubs, etc...) and improve the pasture fencing as I can (horses are behind 3 strand hotwire)

2. Finish indoor home improvements (painting, putting floors down, more painting, putting up doors, etc...)

3.  Get my dogs out to work more places and try to have them both ready to trial in PN by spring - I'm down to only 4 dogs, 2 of which work so it really shouldn't be too hard, just need to find the time!

4. Become more organized - this may be scary for those who know the OCD me, but maybe being more organized will help curb the OCD?? :)

5. To continue to grow in my career and not get stuck in a rut - I like change and get more fairly easily at work, if it doesn't challenge me or soemone doesn't keep me super busy I find things to amuse myself like blogging....

Tell Me Thursday

So after my trauma of losing Oliver to hermangiosarcoma, having 1/2 of my lambs stolen and then the super traumatic experience of walking outside to Rottweilers killing my flock of sheep I'm back, maybe I'll keep up with my blog this time.

Here's what Laura wants to know for this week:

1. If you're not at the 2011 Sheepdog finals this weekend what are you planning to do?
2. One item you NEVER walk onto the trial field (any trial field, or training class will suffice) without?
3. Katy wants to know if you have a pre-run ritual that you observe?
4. How old were you when you had your first real kiss?
5. Bonnie wants to know what you do for yard mud control during the winter?

1.If you're not at the 2011 Sheepdog finals this weekend what are you planning to do?
Well Saturday is my birthday so mom and I are coming up to the Raleigh area for a huge tour of farms in that area.  I'm planning to look at some BFLx lambs while I am there and hopefully pick up some great naturally raised food as well.  I might even get to deliver Julie's puppy so that will make me extra happy to have puppy time :)  Sunday if I can borrow a computer I hope to watch some of the finals (we dont' get internet access at my house unless you want to pay like $125/month...i'm just can't justify that)

2. One item you NEVER walk onto the trial field (any trial field, or training class will suffice) without?Well usually its the nice yellow stick I work dogs with.  I don't know why but I feel a need to have it, I rarely use it, but one well know handler with the initals P.S. has used it to anchor me in one place since I tend to want to move with my dog!

3.  Katy wants to know if you have a pre-run ritual that you observe?
Well considering I haven't trialed much no.  I do tend to be very stressed that I am going to miss my run so therefore get my dogs out probably way too early.  But thats just me and my OCD.  Though I think that will come in handy with Jen since she needs to have that tendon warmed up before doing any work.


4. How old were you when you had your first real kiss?
I think 14.  A boy I met at the beach and I remember nothing of it other than it being dark, it was super hot and he wasn't a very good kisser though who can blame him I'm sure it was his first kiss too!

5. Bonnie wants to know what you do for yard mud control during the winter?
Your supposed to control the mud?  Ummm yeah I just don't.  I have a "mud room" which is where dog crates, etc are so I just let the dogs in there, I try to wipe feet and I do a lot of mopping of that floor! 





 

Revelations

I know...I've been AWOL again.  Winter just isn't my thing and the start of spring has proven to be busy with a new job, baseball, clinics, and GRADUATION!  That's one thing I can't wait for, yet I am considering going right back to get a Masters in Human Behavior Analysis....

But on to the dogs...

Jen is back to work, I even ran her in a trial.  It wasn't stellar, it probably wasn't even acceptable.  But she did it, the start of a P/N course.  You can't imagine the joy (and fear) of watching that dog leave my feet and do a beautiful outrun, lift and fetch after all she has been through.  There were times in her rehab that I never thought she would go back to work and there were times that I thought about giving up.  But we forged on and look where it go us.  Now if I can just get her back to taking inside flanks while driving we will be ready for so much more.  She is my inspiration, no matter what she never stopped trying.

Dutch is coming along nicely.  I attended another Patrick Shannahan clinic with him and we made great progress.  He is an interesting dog, not soft but very sensitive.   He is a true reflection of me, he wants to be right all the time no matter what.  He needs confidence and starting to drive gave him a lot of confidence.  He loves to drive.  Right now I am walking along with him, he is "brave" enough to push them maybe 20 ft or so ahead of me and he is starting to take inside flanks with just a "here" and then the flank.  He may be slow to mature but I think he will be a nice trustworthy dog when its all said and done. I've been thinking a lot about techniques and training methods since the clinic.  I really like Patrick and his methods make sense to me.  The make sense to my dog as well, obviously.  Dutch even came around and started to work for him!

Emma passed away on March 17, 2011 at 13 yrs old.  Bone cancer brought her down and  I wanted to let her go with dignity.  My house is awfully quiet without my personal doggie alarm clock, but I know that she is pain free now.  Its hard having old dogs...there are 2 more in my house Oliver, 11, and Spottie, 13, they are both doing great for now so I am hopeful for more time with both of them!

Patrick Shannahan Clinic Review

Wow! What a fun time we had yesterday and to think Julie P and I almost thought about not going. Patrick is a great clinician and trainer and helped me get some amazing work out of Dutch. What a drastic change in such a short time with just a few little changes!

Patrick had me work Dutch just a little myself just so he could see him work first. Then he came and talked to me, he says Dutch isn't soft just super sensitive and that he doesn't like to be wrong at all. With some very light corrections and taking the pressue off of him when he is right and putting it on him when he is wrong, very lightly I might add, we had Dutch doing 100-150 yd outruns.

We also worked on his pace, at the top he now slows himself down, lifts them nicely and marches them down the field at a nice reasonable pace instead of blowing into them and tearing them down the field or quitting if you got after him for doing so.

All of this outrun work translated right over into his driving and he is driving much better now, I still walk along with him but he is pushing them along at a nice pace and controlling them.

I'm excited, can't wait to get him out and work on this with them. I plan to go to another clinic in the spring with Patrick if I can get into one. He works well with Dutch and I think he can help me along with him. And the fact that my dog doesn't like to be wrong thrills me....NO he's nothing like his owner :)

I'm just here...

I've kind of been in a funk lately, stuck between a rock and a hard place...so i'm here, but just here

Jen is still doing rehab, not going to the rehab vet on a regular basis, everything we do is at home now. She's bored, I'm bored, but we plug away at her exercises every day. She goes back end of December/first of January for another recheck. Then if all looks well she can start to slowly go back so sheep work, meaning 2 minutes at a time.....

Dutch is growing up...

he's 15 months old now and looking pretty nice on sheep. I'm starting to do little outruns, give him flanks commands and keep reinforcing his "stand". Starting him I never thought I would say that since he started off sticky. I try to use him for the chores that I can, though when I have to move sheep outside of the fence I do use someone else! Thank you Julie for working him while I was out of town, that week of work did wonders for him. I'm hoping to get Dutch out to some new places, anyone who wants to volunteer their fields/sheep would be welcome, I have a few opportunites just need to work out the logistics....and maybe run him in NN as I can find the trials, time and money.

Spottie is still here, seems she has mostly gone deaf to my tone....but she can hear Tucker. Tucker likes to go out in the sheep field and play with the sheep, he pretends he is the dog and his favorite activity is shedding the sheep. I like to sit out and laugh at him and he always wants me to pick the hardest sheep to shed off as single so that he can attempt it. I have to admit that he is pretty darn good at it and holds his sheds well. So the other night I told him to go get Spottie and he could try to work her. I'll be darned if she just didn't work for him! She didn't want to take his lie downs but for the most part was good. She CAN hear him, so he now has a dog to work around the farm and learn how to be a handler. I imagine that I will be giving up one of my dogs for him to work in short order......CRAP that means I'm going to need more dogs since I only have 1 that is work now and 1 that may be able to work again sometime in the next year LOL.

The rest of the old dogs are doing well for now. Duke isn't old but he goes into that category. If anyone wants an agility or trick dog he is their man and I would consider loaning him to someone for that purpose, kind of like a free lease on a horse....but only to the perfect home!

My job front sucks, I mean it really does. I've worked for the same facility for 9 years.....and they cut my hours to part time. So now i'm working 3 part time jobs. Talk about tired, some mornings I can barely get up! I'm hoping to find a single full time position soon. I have an interview this Wednesday that could potentially be the job of my dreams (pending the hours are good and the pay is decent). Lets all cross our fingers for that.

I need to get out and mow the pasture so that some friends could come down and work dogs/sheep with me.....as soon as the fuel pump on the lawnmower gets fixed


Maybe that will get me out of my funk.......

Better get my jogging shoes in gear!

Jen is officially close to the end of her weekly rehab! The vet told me today that we are to keep walking 2 hrs a day, broken up into 4 sessions but we are now to add 15 min a day of jogging! What a big step for a dog who ~4 months ago wouldn't even put weight on the leg......

But now I have to figure out how I am going to keep up for 15 min....I don't think I'm that fit. Though Dutch has been getting me prepped for this! Time to slow him down and speed Jen up!