When I started herding training with Jai, something strange happened to me. I couldn't communicate with this dog: from the moment I opened my mouth he was running away. He would go and lie down at a relative distance and watch the sheep, and he wouldn't come back. Well, not very easy or very soon anyway. I suppose he had a combination of a lot of "eye" and being very easily "impressed".
So for months I just walked around with very quiet sheep without speaking, and Jai started to lose his aloofness, though he is often still cautious in what he does around the sheep. But he is keen, and that pulled him through. He just can't resist herding sheep, and while it's been a challenge at the start when I somethimes despared if he ever was going to be any good, I now enjoy training with him very much!
Jai stays a lot more on his feet now, and I know we have a long way to go still. But now I have hope we will get there!
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