Souls Old and New

I've often heard the term 'old soul,' without really knowing what it meant. But I think of Rodeo as an old soul. He has such a gentle demeanor and calmness about him (at least most of the time). And his piercing blue eyes make him seem far older than his years.

Bonny, on the other hand, is definitely a new soul. And I mean that in a positive way. She's full of boundless energy and enthusiasm, and everything in the world is new and exciting to her. For her, life seems all about possibilities.

Bonny's Big Adventure

The first lesson learned this week was: Never tie your 8 month old puppy to the fence with a leather leash.

Brian had me send Rodeo on an outrun and follow him down field so that I could correct him when he came in too tight at the top. I sent him and started jogging in that direction, but then I heard Brian shouting and I turned to see Bonny running straight towards me, dragging the foot or so that remained of her leash.

Where's Bonny?

If I needed a reminder of just how keen Bonny is, I had it. She chased and ran, and eventually got tired enough to let me grab her. I brought her back to Brian’s car, hunched over as I clutched the 1-foot length of leash while she pulled desperately to get back at the sheep. I put her in one of the empty crates and then returned to work Rodeo.

Brian decided to try something a bit different to correct Rodeo’s habit of slicing in at the top of the outrun. He had a similar problem with Belle and addressed it by running out and correcting her, pushing her off the sheep as she was in the process of completing the fetch.

This violates the usual rule of correcting a dog at the moment she makes a mistake, as most trainers will say that dogs don’t remember anything after the fact. But he said it worked with Belle and she improved. He suggested we try it and I agreed, feeling that there wasn’t anything to lose by it.

So Brian had me get Rodeo excited before the outrun, which I did with some words of encouragement and excited body language. Then Brian sent him on about a 150 yard outrun. As usual, Rodeo cut in at the top and buzzed the sheep, and Brian went to him, going through the sheep to correct him, probably 15 seconds or so after Rodeo had made the mistake of flashing in. Then he called Rodeo off, set the sheep back out and sent him on another outrun. Sure enough Rodeo improved significantly, kicking out more and not buzzing them at the top.

Then I sent Rodeo on an outrun, and it wasn’t as good as the one he had done for Brian, but still better than it had been. I ran out to correct him but Rodeo seemed to turn it into a game, trying to get around me as I ran at him. Afterward Brian said that it had the opposite effect of what I wanted: It jazzed him up. “He didn’t look sorry.” So the next time I need to take the flag or a jacket, since I know he’ll take that as a correction.

A little later, Brian had me set up on a much shorter outrun, perhaps 50 yards, but he had me lay Rodeo down in a little dip where he wouldn’t be able to see the sheep. Then I stood back about 20 yards and sent him on an away flank. Rodeo stood up and went come by, and only took the away after a couple of corrections.

“Call him off,” Brian said. “Now, put him back there and set him up to on the come by.” So I walked out and physically tilted his body so that he was pointed to the left. “Okay, come back here and give him an away flank.”

I walked back and gave the command. To my surprise, Rodeo hopped up, turned his body, and immediately went right and completed a nice outrun.

“I really think he’s fighting you,” said Brian.

When I physically set him in position, it seems that it registered with him and got him to pay more attention to what I wanted. It was striking how quickly he leapt up and set out in the direction I wanted, with no hesitation or uncertainty. It may be that I need to be a bit more physical with him. The next time he refuses to take a flank, I might try physically putting him in the position I want him in and see if that improves his obedience. It could be that his flashing in at the top is another symptom of this lack of respect.

That could explain why running out at him might improve matter, even if it’s well after he’s made the mistake. It’s not a correction, it’s letting him know in no uncertain terms that I’m in charge. That could make him more thoughtful on the next outrun.

After working with Rodeo, we put the sheep in the round pen and put Bonny in with them. Brian worked with her first and flapped a jacket to get her attention. For the first time, she actually did some herding. She didn’t go into chasing and gripping mode. Instead she circled the sheep properly as Brian followed her, circling the sheep with her.

Soon I went in with her. She stood looking at the sheep a little uncertainly. We had corrected her to prevent her from chasing the sheep, but now she didn’t seem to know quite what to do. Brian instructed me to stand near the sheep and move them around a bit. Soon she started to move away from me to go around the sheep. “Follow her!” Brian called out.

So as she started to go around the sheep, I trailed right behind, and the sheep in turn followed me. We all went around in a whirlwind until I started getting a little dizzy. “Good. Change directions!” I stopped and waited for Bonny to swing around to my side of the sheep, then stepped towards, her holding out an arm to block her from the direction she had been going in, trying to get her to turn. Next time I’ll remember my training wand.

After a couple of attempts, Bonny did turn and began to circle the other way, and I turned to follow her again. After a few dizzying cycles, Brian asked me to stop following her around the sheep and begin backing up so that she could get used to pushing the sheep forward. She did a pretty good job, and in fact started giving out a little bit as I moved backwards. Brian had me back up to the fence and when I did Bonny stopped. “Lie her down,” he called, and she took it. “That’s how you’ll get your lie down: When the sheep don’t have anywhere to go.”

Afterwards, Brian declared her ready for formal training. Up until now we'd just been putting her in the round pen from time to time and putting very little pressure on her. But she's taking corrections well and listening, and she doesn't lose her head. There's no telling how talented she might be, but she has the characteristics needed to train her. 

Different Dogs

I haven't written much lately because training has been frustrating of late and it felt as if we were doing the same thing over and over, and making little progress. Not much joy in writing about that.

Rodeo has become very hesitant, stopping on his outruns and looking back at me. Repeated commands get him going again, but he often walks right towards the sheep rather than completing an outrun. Voice encouragement helps but he loses his head, flashing in and busting up the sheep at the top.

This past weekend I house-sat for a friend with sheep, so I had a rare opportunity to work short sessions twice a day. This seemed like an ideal opportunity, but after the session Saturday morning I was beginning to despair: Nothing I did seemed to break him out of his funk.

I recalled the advice that Brian has given me a lot of late, to keep trying different things and "Let the dog tell you if you're right."

The person I was housesitting for happened to have a copy of Talking Sheepdogs by Derek Scrimgeour, so I decided to read it in hopes of gaining some ideas. A section early in the book caught my attention: He talked about providing encouragement and feedback to the dog when it's doing something correctly. You can't say, 'good boy,' because it will draw the dog's attention towards you and away from the sheep. But dogs don't really respond to words, anyway, they respond to tone. So Scrimgeour advises repeating the commands but in a praising tone, the same tone you would use to say 'good dog!'

Rodeo's hesitation seemed like lack of confidence, so I thought encouragement might work. Saturday evening, I took him out to try. The sheep were about 100 yards away. "Come by," I said, and he took off at his usual pace. I didn't wait for him to get uncomfortable. I repeated he command almost at once: "Come by! Come by!" in that "good boy!" tone.

He didn't hesitate. He kept going and completed the outrun. For the rest of the session, and the next session on Sunday morning, I kept up the encouragement, repeating commands in a praising tone, and he showed hesitation only once, and that was a more challenging situation when the sheep were near a fence.

On Tuesday, Brian could see the change in him. "He's a different dog. Whatever you're doing, it's working."

The beauty of this approach is that I'm convinced it will carry us forward. His hesitation has come and gone over the past year or so, and it's not always clear why it happens. But this method gives me a way to talk him through problems, so I'm convinced that this is a big breakthrough for us. As he becomes more confident, I expect I'll be able to gradually back off the encouragement, but then start it again when he runs into challenging situations.

After working with Rodeo for a bit, we put Bonny in the round pen, and she was her usual wild self, chasing the sheep and gripping stragglers. The sheep were stressed and one of them ran into the fence in response to her. After some chasing, I caught her leash and walked over to the gate.

Brian had had enough. "I can't have her doing that." He took her leash and walked into the round pen with her. When she lunged forward, he snapped the leash hard and gave her a harsh voice correction. She lunged a couple of more times, but quickly caught on to the change in regime and quieted down considerably. Brian handed the leash to me and I walked around the pen with her. She stared intently at the sheep and moved with me, but only lunged once when we came pretty close tom. I snapped the leash and said "that'll do" in a harsh voice, and she settled right back down again. In fact by the end of that short session, she learned the "that'll do" command, coming to me whenever I gave it.

When I walked over to the gate to join Brian again, she lay down and watched the sheep, with hardly any tension at all. "She's a different dog, too," I said.

I tied her up to the fence and set the sheep for Brian so he could work with his dog Belle, and after I came back I remarked on how quiet Bonny was. Normally when I work Rodeo and she's tied to the fence, she carries on barking and whining much of the time. Brian grinned and said, "That's because I told her off."

As we left the field, we talked about her change in attitude. Despite the harsh corrections Brian had given her, she continued to come up to him for attention. He scratched her ears and said, "You grew up a little bit today, didn't you, Bonny?"

Anyone can be an ethical breeder. It's so easy!

Hey, look! I'm an ethical breeder!

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Only, I don't breed dogs. All I had to do was go to this web site, put in a few details, and bing! I got this fancy html code to paste into my web site.

Just how awful and cynical do you have to be to put up something like this? I don't know. You'll just have to ask the people at TrainPetDog.com who created it.

Mt. Vernon Highland Games video

My friend Aaron took this video of our first run on Saturday afternoon. Thanks, Aaron!

In which Bonny inadvertently distinguishes herself

At the end of the lesson today, I prepared to move Bonny and Rodeo off the field and into the car, but she lunged at the sheep moving nearby and yanked the leash out of my hands.

Suddenly, it was no more round pen training for Bonny, it was the big field! Ten or so sheep bolted towards the far end of the field and she raced after them, dragging the leash behind her. I followed feebly, expecting that I’d have to wait until she tired herself out because she sure wasn’t responding to my repeated calls.

Then I thought to send Rodeo as well to bring the sheep back to me, thinking that she would follow and I'd have a chance to grab her when she came close. He made is way out there and the sheep came back to me on a pretty good line, and Bonny trotted along behind them along with Rodeo. The sheep moved past me and I prepared to leap at Bonny to grab her leash. But she stopped and allowed me to walk up and take it.

She’d just completed her first open field fetch.

Good girl, Bonny.

Mt. Vernon Highland Games trial

Day 1

Saturday was the big day. I’ve been anticipating for this trial since I first began driving to Dirk’s place for weekly training sessions three years ago. It’s the Mount Vernon Highland Games, and we’ve been going faithfully since we adopted Rodeo. The past three years he has been a spectator, staring raptly at the sheep from the sidelines.  

Many of our friends also come to the games, and I knew they’d enjoy seeing him compete, so this was a high-pressure environment for me, and I knew I had to find a way to relax.

Competition was set to begin at 2 pm on Saturday, and in an effort to calm my nerves a bit I drove with Ivy and the dogs to our training field in the morning to get some time in the round pen. Rodeo performed just as well as in our last practice session, taking his flanks and downs, and walking up confidently into the sheep

We only stayed 15 minutes or so and then got back into the car to drive to the games. On the road I said to Ivy, “The way he’s working, a top handler would win this trial with him. With me handling him, I have no idea.”

We drew a late run, 25^th out of 30, and as we stood in the on-deck circle, my friend Aaron, who was preparing to video tape our run (thanks, Aaron!), asked me what I thought about while preparing for a run. Aaron is a first-rate Frisbee handler. He and his wife Jennie have a new dog Jeannie that they’ve only had for a few months. She hadn’t done Frisbee before they got her, and he has already won competitions with her.

“I just remind myself that it doesn’t mean anything,” I said. “Any individual run, good or bad, is meaningless. It’s what we do over time that counts."

I can’t say it calmed my nerves much, because I still felt that I could have pitched over any second when I walked out onto the dusty infield of the baseball diamond where the handler’s post was situated. But as always, once the sheep were loose, my nervousness evaporated as I focused on the task at hand.

We stood at one end of a rectangle about a hundred yards deep and perhaps 50 yards wide. Four sheep were set out to our left, moving away from us towards the exhaust gate at the far left corner of the field. As they had in previous runs, they went straight to the exhaust and stood there for the dog to pick them up.

The first obstacle was between a panel and the far fence. It seemed like it would be simple enough to keep them moving in the same direction, along the fence clockwise, until they passed the line. The sheep were somewhat dog broke, and perhaps that’s why they tended to ricochet and move back towards the handler, on the inside of the panel. Handlers then had to regroup and move the sheep back into position to try the obstacle again.

The trick was for the dog not to put too much pressure on them when they huddled at the exhaust, so that they would leave calmly and not try to beat him to come back towards me. I gave Rodeo a lie down and walked him up gently when they started to move, and he kept contact with them and made the first obstacle.

The second obstacle was a wraparound in a clockwise direction and another turn, and was pretty easily accomplished since it was just broad, directional movement. Then came a turn around the post and another push between a panel and the fence to our right. The next step was a quick turn followed by a chute that simulated a bridge crossing a stream.

After the turn around the post, the handler could leave the post to help, so I moved to the entrance of the chute. After coming around the panel, the sheep were headed in the direction of the exhaust and it was pretty much impossible to stop them. I tried waving my crook at them but finally gave up and let them go. Rodeo gathered them up and brought them in on one side of the chute opening while I stood at the other, using my crook to cover that side. He gently pushed them in and through the chute without a lot of fuss.

The next was obstacle was an easy turn, and then came the pen. Rodeo brought them up perfectly and walked them in, with a lot of stamping and flailing about with the crook on my part. But the sheep stayed nicely in line and moved into the pen. We got all our points, with a time of 4:40 out of an allotted 5 minutes. As it turned out, we were one of 8 teams out of 30 that got a full score of 28 on the first day, and the time tie-breaker put us tied for 6^th place.

Day 2

In the second flight, we were up 13^th. The course was quite similar, but slightly shortened so that there was a maximum of only 24 points, but it ended with the pen like the previous day.

There was no drive, instead we began with a gather and then straight into the turn around the post.

We immediately had a problem. Rodeo cast out quite wide on his outrun, but for some reason he busted the sheep a little bit and caused a split. 3 of the sheep headed to the exhaust while the other remained near us. I gave Rodeo a down and waited patiently, hoping that the lone sheep would join its buddies.

It soon did and I sent Rodeo back to the exhaust, where we began again. We made the turn and then headed to the chute, and with some challenges we got the sheep through and made it to the pen, where we timed out, for 20 points out of 24.

After our run I spent some time watching other runs, and a bit of time wandering around the rest of the games. I wasn’t sure if we’d make it to the final round or not, but had I re-checked the scores from Saturday I would have known I was safe. Only 3 other teams were within 4 points of us, so even if all 3 got full points on their second run and beat us with a tiebreaker, the worst we could have finished was tenth. As it happened, we came in 7^th in the combined totals.

The final round began at 2, and we were up first. Well, no time to get nervous.

The course was a bit different this time. Back to the left hand drive through to the gap between the top panel and fence, but this time it continued around the fence line, down the right hand side of the field until the sheep went through the gap between the pen and the fence, about halfway down the field to our right hand side. Then the sheep were to cross to the left in front of the handler, loop back behind the handler’s post to the right, and back through the chute, one more turn, and the pen.

Rodeo did a great job lifting them off the exhaust. I laid him down when they moved away from the exhaust gate and then walked him up to push them parallel to the fence line and through the first obstacle at the top. I was ready with an ‘away’ flank if they started back towards me, there were no problems. The sheep turned at the far right corner and began moving at a nice trot down the field towards me, in just the trajectory I wanted, so I downed him and let them move themselves though the second obstacle between the gate and the fence. We completed the rest of the course without too much trouble, but were foiled once again at the pen and timed out.

24 points out of 28, which turned out to be good for 7^th place overall and our first time in the money.

I was very pleased with the weekend, not just how we placed, but particularly how consistently we performed.