Fury begins training again!

Today I picked up CA Sharp and Kira and we rode up to Creston. Rippa usually needs a lot of help on these days because we are stuck with lambs instead of heavier sheep, and I went into it thinking that way. Thinking that way mean I didn’t ask for too much out of Rippa and it had a surprise result – I got a lot more! Why? Less pressure  on Rippa = more ability for her to get things done.

I’d been doing stick work at home and man, that’s really fun. Once the dogs got it, I’d direct them through the house and it worked on sheep, too. I used the stick really clearly and Rippa took it – really clearly. We also working on our responsiveness – her downs got faster, she started facing out from the sheep and giving them her shoulder. I even got to call a flank or two from behind her. So much improvement from each lesson – it’s awesome. She gets me, I get her.

I was thinking I keep saying I’m lazy, but I should really cut myself slack. When I wasn’t lazy, I was INTENSE and it made training hard for both of us and Fury before her. By not being 100% on every thing perfectly, I was able to scale back my emotions about performance, and I think the result is “lazy” handling. That’s a fine problem for someone that’s been training too intensely for ten years.

It sounded like Kira’s lesson with Stephanie was going really well, too, and so it was. Apparently this was the best work yet. Kira finally gets that she has to listen to Stephanie or not work and she’s chosen to work. She only comes out once a month, so I was happy for CA because I can imagine being frustrated that each lesson isn’t ideal and then waiting a month, but she’s patient and kind of left me with the impression that she was expecting this, so yays.

And then, I showed Stephanie what the Fury had going on. When I asked her, Stephanie was like, “You really want to overwork an old dog like this?”

“Fury isn’t an old dog, she is every bit as fit and active as she was five years ago. Trust me. I’ll watch her.”

We went through the gate, I sent her to get the sheep, and she did it. Coming in wide and kind of intensely once they got into contact with them, but all I need to do was side step and walk into her and she was out again. Her go-by side is really an issue, and I remember me training that into her from terrible handling. She lays down when you tell her and she takes her flanks honestly.

Stephanie seemed pretty surprised, “She doesn’t work like I thought she would. She is definitely under control, and she doesn’t look like she wants to kill the sheep.” I told her that I’d retired Fury because she was too hard to control for me, but I never said “kill sheep.” The Fury’s never come close to that. I have to shake my head because I know someone’s been talking about me behind my back to her. I don’t know what disparaging my dog did for that person, but we’re back and we’re going to prove quite otherwise I think.

Stephanie asked me if she always worked that wide and I said, that yes, that was one of her things. “I like an Aussie that works wide.” Yup.

So, by not getting obsessed with results and knowing that I just have to watch my timing and show the Fury that I’m not going to fight her, I think we’ll have some real progress quickly if I work her every time I take Rippa out. I should keep improving on my handling now that I have two dogs with two different issues to work on. But I am very grateful to Stephanie for giving me the sheep to rent to put mileage on Rippa and to Rippa for being less intense than the Fury (which is what I wanted out of the litter anyway) which allowed me to get more relaxed in handling, because now I have none of the fight and aggression I used to feel when I started the Furball in lessons.

I know the Woods are open to me putting her on cattle, too, but I think at his age we’ll stick to ducks and sheep (not even goats). She may not be less healthy that she was a few years ago, but she’s not going to heal well if she gets stomped – that’s natural. She poked her eye on a plant a few months back and she’s got a little cataract in the spot because it didn’t heal that cleanly. (BTW, yes, the vet confirmed that’s what the cause was, not genetics).  So Fury probably won’t ever get her WTCh and I’m not putting any titling expectations on her, but it will be interesting to see how far I can get with her now, now that I have the opportunity to put real mileage on her with my new headspace.

I was supposed to go try to finish her elite gambler agility title and CD this weekend, but I just wasn’t feeling it. I think where I used to have goals of versatility championships, I’m just so much more interested in getting good at the stockdog thing, especially since I have every opportunity I had wished for (and didn’t think would come a year ago). So, you know, I know Fury can get her GS-E and her CD, and most people who have seen me trial know that, and what do I have to prove? Let’s do stock. All of us like that more anyway.

After the lesson, I took CA to the Best Family Farm to check on the ducks and give them some exercise. They are SO funny looking right now. They are feathered out on the stomach and sides, but they have fuzzy little mohawks down their backs and up their heads. They’re starting to quack more, too. I think they’re a mix of chocolate, blue, and black. Nothing super fancy looking.  I still don’t know the sex ration, but Trish tells me there’s a runner breeder up by her if I need some more girls to even things out. They are TERRIFIED of people and dogs right now, which is good, and QUITE gregarious. There’s a weaker one in the batch of 11 (they sent me a baker’s dozen, if you will, when I ordered 10) that gets a bit trampled so I’ll have to remember to sort it out when working. I’m hoping maybe legging it up will help it, but it’s seemed sort of weak from the beginning, not quite as upright.

I think in a couple weeks we’ll be ready to work them. As it was, Stephanie’s lab/BC Obi got to show what he had (run wide, go to head, lay down) and it helped moving them around the field, with Kira pushing really hard to get in there. I left my dogs in the car, but in hindsight my dogs would have probably done a better job moving them controlled than two PSYCHED dogs with no training on them. As it was, it seemed pretty low stress for the ducks, but they were TIRED.

Fun times ahead, I think. I took home my bean-pole bottle stick. Stephanie had hid it during her Jack Knox clinic this weekend and between my better handling and Rippa taking the stick pressure and me seeing that Fury does NOT need stick pressure right now but freedom, we’ve graduated off of it. I have never been able to do that in ten years of stock training.

I’d say that is a red-letter day.

Oh, and PS, the vet called and told my huz that Rippa scored in the high-eightieth percentile for Australian Shepherd hips – meaning that she’s got excellent little hips and likely won’t have any issues in the future. I’m really glad I went with my gut on that testing stuff. Time to do the rest of it now that the main concern is out of the way.