Lambs, lambs, lambs!

It's that time of the year again, lambs are everywhere!

Jessie and Suki helped me to catch ewe mothers with lambs that had to be dosed, and then put on a trailer to go outside. It was Suki's first time on lambs and she did great! She kept distance, worked really cool and was standing her ground, the lambs would not escape!

Very pleased with Suki, I am, as she takes a lot after her mum Jessie and has lots of power.

When your dogs make you happy

There are days when you have a breakthrough, and suddenly your dog starts to work as a real team member and understands perfectly what you want him to do. I had a few training sessions like that with Jai, and it made me go home with a big smile on my face. Suddenly his outrun goes perfect, he gets his sides right, and he stops on the spot when told... that are the moments when you know it was worth it all. Of course there are also times when he behaves a bit naughty, or when he doesn't get it or doesn't want to get it what I'm trying to tell him, but he is no robot after all! I love this boy!

And I do love his mum, Jessie! No sheep will pass her, and she is always ready to help out. She can shed now, and she does it very determined. And of course we bring those sheep somewhere, ie. to a corner so I can inspect them closely, and to have a purpose for shedding sheep off makes a huge difference for a dog. When it makes sense what they have to do, they accept the command really more easily! Good girl, Jessie!

Garden Ballet

They never got lessons for it, but my dogs can really do some awesome Garden Ballet!

Beautifully, they move synchronously around in pairs, the girls and the boys.
Floyd always in the lead with Jai following him, and Yoshi and Suki turn and twist alternately.
They also mix up and separate again, it's really wonderful so have a look!

Of course it's just my sheep dogs herding each other, but it makes a nice story, doesn't it? :D


Have a nice week!

How nice to have keen dogs!

So went went training this afternoon: Jessie, Jai and Suki were eager to come along when they saw me in my "sheepworking"outfit. The others had to stay home, I can't work 5 dogs in a row.Yep, I'm getting old, I know...

Jessie and Suki trying to figure out where we were going:

Oops, a whole head through the window!

First Jessie, she had to separate a group of about 8 sheep from the others and drive them away. Then I made her look back to the other 20-something, go gather them and drive them to the shed to lock them away whilst we were training. The smart sheep didn't like to be separated, I had to work hard to create a gap. Fortunately, Jessie comes into smaller and smaller gaps these days and I think we finally mastered the shedding part of sheepwork, after more than 7 years...

Anyway, after putting the remaining sheep in the right spot, I called Jessie back and started with Suki. Boy, did I had to work hard again... In the latest sessions I really am putting a lot of pressure on her to take her lie down better, with the result she tries (and sometimes succeeds) to have a go at the sheep and pull some wool. I know it's stressing for her, but I scold her anyway and immediately when she made a good flank I also praised her. It seemed to work, she did her best and flanked nicer for me and so I praised her again and the she got more relaxed. When I saw she got mentally tired after a while and started to dive in again, I stopped our session on a good note when she fetched the sheep to me nicely. She came off the field with me without protesting, so that was a good recall too, great!

Suki, still wanting to keep an eye on the sheep:

Then I got Jai out of the car, who was ready to work some sheep! I really love that little guy, he is such a delight to train. He seems to know what I'm going to ask before I ask it. I started him on whistles today, he picked them up as if he already knew them, really weird is that. But hey, I'm happy with it! Next time I'll be testing if he still knows them :)

And Jai seems to learn fast now, and wants to please and work with me most of all the dogs now. Yes, I am very happy with him.

Floyd 3 years old today!

Happy Birthday, Mr. Blue Eye!