Trials...: Bonny in the round pen

Saturday, November 12, 2011

Bonny in the round pen

Bonny is progressing. She heavily favors the away flank, in fact will hardly take a come by flank, so I spent some time trying to encourage her to go to the come by side. Mostly that involved trying to block her from going on the away flank and trying to follow her round the sheep moved in the come by direction.

As you can see from the video below, I had limited success, and I wound up sprawled against the fence at one point.

But Bonny seems to have a nice feel for her sheep and is thoughtful.

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Definitions

Gather: The dog goes out to the field and brings the sheep to the handler.

Outrun: The first part of the gather. The dog runs in a wide arc to the far side of the sheep.

Fetch: After the outrun, the dog brings the sheep to the handler, ideally in a straight line.

Drive: The dog pushes the sheep forward in a straight line, but not towards the handler.

Flank: Circling clockwise (come by) or counter-clockwise (away to me) around the sheep.

Balance Point: The point of maximum control over the sheep. Usually, the dog is on the opposite side of the sheep from the handler.

In-Balance Flank: A flank command that sends the dog towards the balance point, putting it in a better position to control the sheep.

Off-Balance Flank: A flank command that sends the dog away from the balance point. This is harder for the dog to accept because it must give up control.