A La Derecha

Translation for the title? On the right. I had an epiphany with Ms. Nell today. She's afraid of being on my right, and it was making it pretty hard to introduce driving.

I've started many dogs that had idiosyncrasies about left and right. Some preferred to flank one direction over the other. Mirk will only jump into the truck from one side. Price will only jump onto a 4-wheeler from the right, but fearing one side of my body was new to me, and it took me a couple weeks to catch on, unfortunately for Nell.

To confirm my suspicion, I put her on a line and walked her on my right. Sure enough, she tried determinedly to move to my left, and I had to hold her in place with the line. She demonstrated behaviour consistent with my hunch, flipping around on the end of the leash when on the right, and trying to beat me in front and get on the left.

In the case of Price and the 4-wheeler, and Mirk, and my truck, I've left it alone. It didn't effect them anywhere else, so, who cares? But introducing Nell to driving was proving impossible, because she would look and move towards me when on my right, turning off from her sheep completely. Sometimes she wouldn't take an away-to-me flank if I was standing too close on her left, and now I understand that was out of discomfort at least, and more probably, fear on her part.

Regardless of age, whenever I've started a dog that was determined to travel only in 1 direction, it's always been easy to remedy. I hoped it would be easy for Nell to overcome her odd phobia. I put her on a line and flanked her around her sheep. I would then lie her down, grab the line, and make her walk away with me on her left. I then turned a clockwise circle to set her up for the next gather, with her remaining on my right, and sent her away-to-me from my feet. Those were some of the best short gathers she's given me, and she seemed to be relaxing.

All this made me wonder what else I'm missing. What else am I asking for and not getting, because my dog needs help? What else am I correcting for that doesn't come from disobedience or the desire to please? Kind-a makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Spot and Nell

Something smells great!

While Tam is on hiatus, these are the dogs I'll be profiling. Nell, on the left is a 2 year old daughter of Macrae's imported Nap, out of a bitch belonging to Vergil Halland, named Dally. My friend, Nancy Penley, bred spot out of her Emma, and by Hobbs. He is a son of Howard's imported Spot, reserve Scottish nursery champion, and sire of many good dogs, including Tommy Wilson's Sly, and US nursery champion, Ross.

What a face!

 At 10 weeks, Spot is learning how to be well mannered, a good traveler and socialized. After a couple weeks, he's learned to keep his feet on the ground, and off me. If he puts a foot on me, I gently shove him aside and give him a bit of a growl. It doesn't take much when I'm 100% consistent, he's smart and caught on quickly.



Watch it!

 Nell hadn't been started at all when I got her. She's quick on her feet and wasn't afraid to take hold of a ewe. She's extremely sensitive to pressure, which makes her easy to train as long as I'm careful. A little goes a long way with Nell, but there's a lot to like about this little dog.

Coming...

Spot and I are spending lots of time together. I'm fortunate to be able to take him to work where he hangs out in his crate and goes for walks. He has slept outside in a kennel since his first night, but gets plenty of face time in the house every night. I believe the dogs have to have a strong bond with us to be at their best when we work them. We ask a lot, and it's so much easier on both of us when there is love and trust.

I love you Nell...

Same goes for Nell, even thought she belongs to a customer. She's with me for the duration as Caroline has no interest in trialing. Nell's a ruffian, a tom-boy like me, so I understand her. She's an easy dog to love, but very, very skittish. I'm patient, but firm with her, and we stop what we're doing often for a pat and a kind word. Nell came with a lot of tension, but it's subsiding the more I work her, and the longer she's with me.

Here's a video of her after a couple weeks' training.

Hiatus

In repose

I didn't like what I saw today, so I've made the executive decision to give Tam a month off. It's easiest to keep track if I start now. He'll go back to work March 1. I'm laying him off, because I saw a behavior that I attribute to training pressure, and if there's any dog who doesn't need to be pressured, it's a 10 month old pup.

What did I see? Tam turned away from me, and from his sheep when I walked towards him to call him off. It was an "uh oh" moment if I ever had one. Keen youngsters with lots of enthusiasm should never do that, no matter what, and I didn't like it.

When I started Tam, I had the happiest little worker you could ever imagine. He started happy, he stayed happy, and he was happy afterward. I even strive for this with the big dogs, but I definitely want to see it in the young ones. What's the hurry? He's a baby!

This is a good stopping place any way. Tam knows his flanks, both whistles and voice, he has a pretty good lie down on stock, and a fair recall, but that's where we got in to trouble. I would lie him down, then walk towards him saying "that'll do, here." But sometimes he would get up and beat me around the sheep, too quick for me to stop. I started voicing a correction for this, and it was too much for him. It chilled him. The last thing I want!

So, what will we do to fill the white space while Tammie gets a break? Well, I have another youngster named Nell in training, and I have Spot, an 8 week old puppy. I figure between those two, we can find something to write about.

Nell - 2 years old

Spot - 8 Weeks

Check back for more on these two...

Big Day in the Big Field

Boy, that was fun!

If you look closely at my right pant leg, you'll see a stain on my thigh. That's blood...Tam's blood from biting his tongue when he dove in and grabbed hold of a ewe. He has the exuberance of youth going for him, and I'm OK with that for now. Yes, he's disobedient on stock to an extent. Yes, he's messy. Yes, he's eratic, but that's all part of being a 9 months old. Be it far from me to take that out of him, but I always let him know with a growl that it's not my preference. I just don't put any teeth in it.

You know, this little dog is starting to internalize his whistles, and I'm glad to see it. Some hands don't put whistles on their dogs until they're solid on voice commands, but I am teaching them at the same time, and it's working well. I use my whistle and my voice intermittently so Tam learns both at the same time. I blow the whistle first, then give the same flank using my voice. This is the second dog I've done this with. Star was the first, and it worked so well on him, that I'm doing it again.

This was a day of small outruns, and fetching as quietly and as straight as possible. I don't expect much feel at Tam's age, and he's not showing me any at all. After he comes around at the top, he wants to run and flank around again, and he's not very willing to stop and steady on balance. I pressed him for it a bit today, but it's such a balancing act with a youngster. I want him to mind me when I ask him to steady up, but I don't want to diminish his cha-cha in any way.

It was when I made him apply pressure on his sheep without flanking off that he dashed in and took hold. I'll work on this more in the small field at home by flanking him around sheep on the fence, and making him stop on balance and walk up on the sheep that are now against the fence. That way the sheep can't escape, and I'm in position so he can't avoid the pressure by flanking.