We've had two really great days on cattle, in my estimation.
My new thought on this is that taking a methodic approach and saying, "She's her own dog" is important. It was obvious today, too, because I took Fury along and worked her on goats and she works so much more like the Woods' border collies than Rippa - wide outruns, fast movements, super snappy. It's really fun and they obviously like her more than Rippa, but it's okay.
I did a lot of reading on my break, and things like me expecting Rippa to go out wide, and fast and then turn in and be snappy are just wrong. Fury's just way different in that way. I like it, it's fun, but Rippa has her own positives, too. She's more loose eyed and when she's in control, she goes SLOWER, and I am starting to use that to my advantage.
So we've been basically working on two things - getting her "there" and "walk up," back (now that I know she understands it on other stock) and controlled outruns and fetches.
Rippa's got a lot more confidence again and she's able to cleanly fetch the cattle from one end of the arena and get them to me, but when they start to go past me she'll lose her sense of control and it falls apart, so what I'm doing is using that to teach the drive.
We have to train some more clear commands for her: her "down" means both "down" and "stop" so I need to get her to just stand, too. All I need is a pause . . . so obedience there. And then I also need to get her to slow her pace down on command better than I have. Obedience there. How? Dustin told me to go SLOOOOOOOOOOOOOW down to let her get ready to lay down. Problem is, I've been crutching on the "down" to slow her down so I need to get more crisp. Shannon suggested working on this with sheep and I agree, that's a great place to do it.
Anyway, she's making good choices and fetching in a nice controlled manner to me now. She's starting to be willing to walk up and drive away from me again, but I have to stay parallel and stop the action when the cows start to pick up speed as she hasn't figured out how to get ahead of their eye without turning them back.
Dustin says I'm the brake and she's the gas, but the current set of cattle are really light to people and Rippa's not so "broke" yet that I can watch the cows and be that for her. It's cool.
Looks like Robbie's got a couple cattle trials on deck, one of them IN San Luis Obispo in October that I want to help out at, but I also think I might just enter it. I'm at a point where I know I won't win, but she's got enough confidence to give it a go maybe and I do need to get more trialing experience, especially on horseback.
So I'm gone for two weeks on a road trip, and then I'll be back with a vengeance to see if I can't get ready for that trial. BUT, important thing here is to make sure Rippa keeps her confidence up and I let her work her cows. I definitely messed things up at that last trial and put a lot of pressure on her and she's back and happy again - and so am I.
And Fury's ready to go back into started sheep to finish that one leg she needs, but . . . I'm definitely going to wait until Rippa's ready to drive without me breaking her in a trial first. The cattle trials are more about getting a solid fetch and then being there to help your dog do obstacles, so I don't think I'll break her. I think it will be good "real life" work for her. And everyone will sass me for having an Aussie anyway, so whatever.
But, I won't enter it if I think I'll do damage to her training or confidence, I promise. The nice thing is, if she gets western, it's not a big deal there so I don't think it will - I think all my ratcheting down on her at the ASCA trials was key to the confidence killing. I can get her to get under control and keep going without worrying about being thank you'd. Probably good for my confidence, too. But LORDY they're expensive, especially when you know you won't win. :)
Wednesday, August 19, 2015
Wednesday, August 12, 2015
A "using dog" or a "using person"?
I've learned a phrase from Shannon: "using dog." Like a "using horse," a using dog is a dog that gets it done on the ranch but maybe isn't so wonderful for exhibition because of whatever reason.
I'm starting to think I've got "using dogs."
Of course, I don't really know what that means, but hear me out a minute.
I've been using the dogs to work my chickens since I've had them. At first it was kind of hard, but the chickens have since figured out what's going on and so have the dogs. I use them regularly for a few things:
1. Getting them out of the coop, for moving or for cleaning the coop.
2. Getting them out of the yard and into the front for chicken grazing (it's a thing, handy for bugs and weeds, I tell you what - fun fact, they never want to leave my property, not to cross the street, not to go to the neighbors, I have no idea why)
3. Bringing them back out of the yard.
4. Moving them to a different part of the yard and holding them there.
5. Driving them back into the coop.
Both dogs do this pretty flawlessly. After my last post where I was thinking, "Man, for all this work I've put in, the dogs sure should be farther," I really noticed some things today when doing my chicken work, especially because my little Polish hen works differently than the others and the dogs have to do things.
1. Neither dog pushes the chickens too hard. They might push them "too much" and miss the mark, like letting the chickens see the fence hole first time, but most times they slam dunk it.
2. Both dogs know how to drive and take their "walk up and there" perfectly and confidently.
3. Neither dog chops off the top and messes their flock up.
4. Both dogs are totally trust worthy on their outruns.
So, like . . . why is it when I'm "training" them for this trial stuff I don't have that. It's not the chickens. I think it's that they're "my chickens."
Kind of like the ducks. They're pretty much all of those things on my ducks. And my ducks, in turn, act pretty predictably. They don't flip back like the trial ducks. And, that's why at trials if my dog happens to munch a duck with a foot or a mouth, I don't stress it. They don't actually hurt ducks.
And you're like, "Okay, Kristin, maybe it's just that they're used to your routine."
Is that it? Because at Stephanie's, we've got a routine and I work sheep more than I work my ducks, for sure. Yet still, there's something missing.
Is it the pressure I'm putting on them? The stress I put on it? The emphasis on the perfection I'm looking for? The lack of "point to it all?" After all, Rippa's quit me on ducks when I've practiced for trialing, she's never quit me on chickens.
Are they just "too much dog" for a trial in that I can get them to do chores they know and understand all day on stock they recognize?
I mean, after all, these trials are different things - the stock is unfamiliar with the dog, the dog unfamiliar with the stock. Both might be unfamiliar with the setup. Now the dog is asked to do a lot of finite things with flighty stock that he's never usually asked to do on the ranch (or, you know, suburban home) . . . are there just dogs out there that don't shine there? Well, yes.
But again, could it be something different with me, too, though? I have so many problems with the sheep and cattle and it's on other people's stock. Could it be me?
What if I never figure it out or get over it? Am I a "using person?" Might be.
Ya'll really need to pool your resources and get me a ranch on the coast (Yishai specifically said he vetoes anything over the grade in the heat) so we can find out.
I'm starting to think I've got "using dogs."
Of course, I don't really know what that means, but hear me out a minute.
I've been using the dogs to work my chickens since I've had them. At first it was kind of hard, but the chickens have since figured out what's going on and so have the dogs. I use them regularly for a few things:
1. Getting them out of the coop, for moving or for cleaning the coop.
2. Getting them out of the yard and into the front for chicken grazing (it's a thing, handy for bugs and weeds, I tell you what - fun fact, they never want to leave my property, not to cross the street, not to go to the neighbors, I have no idea why)
3. Bringing them back out of the yard.
4. Moving them to a different part of the yard and holding them there.
5. Driving them back into the coop.
Both dogs do this pretty flawlessly. After my last post where I was thinking, "Man, for all this work I've put in, the dogs sure should be farther," I really noticed some things today when doing my chicken work, especially because my little Polish hen works differently than the others and the dogs have to do things.
1. Neither dog pushes the chickens too hard. They might push them "too much" and miss the mark, like letting the chickens see the fence hole first time, but most times they slam dunk it.
2. Both dogs know how to drive and take their "walk up and there" perfectly and confidently.
3. Neither dog chops off the top and messes their flock up.
4. Both dogs are totally trust worthy on their outruns.
So, like . . . why is it when I'm "training" them for this trial stuff I don't have that. It's not the chickens. I think it's that they're "my chickens."
Kind of like the ducks. They're pretty much all of those things on my ducks. And my ducks, in turn, act pretty predictably. They don't flip back like the trial ducks. And, that's why at trials if my dog happens to munch a duck with a foot or a mouth, I don't stress it. They don't actually hurt ducks.
And you're like, "Okay, Kristin, maybe it's just that they're used to your routine."
Is that it? Because at Stephanie's, we've got a routine and I work sheep more than I work my ducks, for sure. Yet still, there's something missing.
Is it the pressure I'm putting on them? The stress I put on it? The emphasis on the perfection I'm looking for? The lack of "point to it all?" After all, Rippa's quit me on ducks when I've practiced for trialing, she's never quit me on chickens.
Are they just "too much dog" for a trial in that I can get them to do chores they know and understand all day on stock they recognize?
I mean, after all, these trials are different things - the stock is unfamiliar with the dog, the dog unfamiliar with the stock. Both might be unfamiliar with the setup. Now the dog is asked to do a lot of finite things with flighty stock that he's never usually asked to do on the ranch (or, you know, suburban home) . . . are there just dogs out there that don't shine there? Well, yes.
But again, could it be something different with me, too, though? I have so many problems with the sheep and cattle and it's on other people's stock. Could it be me?
What if I never figure it out or get over it? Am I a "using person?" Might be.
Ya'll really need to pool your resources and get me a ranch on the coast (Yishai specifically said he vetoes anything over the grade in the heat) so we can find out.
Tuesday, August 11, 2015
Good work even when it doesn't feel like it.
Went out to sheep this week and Cindy was there. I asked her to sort off some heavy ones for me and we'd take them to the back field and she could work her dog in the close field. They weren't quite heavy enough, so I got really frustrated because it was a balance between trying to my dog work and not creating bad habits - the sheep just wouldn't settle for me to start it out clean.
Toward the end, I figured out it was one specific sheep that was the problem and asked Cindy if she'd take her and sorted her out of the gate. Things should have gone better for us, but I guess the horse run wasn't secured well enough and they ended up with Stephanie's horse and goat. I left the door open and both of those guys took one look of me and said, "See ya," leaving the sheep in the back pens.
So frustrated. So frustrated. But then . . .
I've been back here a bit but not really paid attention to it. Remember I said that Rippa needed work in closer places and with gates? This was perfect. There was a great gateway between two pens, so I got to work.
Rippa is surprisingly a very nice pen dog. I think she can dial it all back when there's fences holding the sheep (vs Fury who needs as much space as she can get to feel most comfortable). We did some round pen work and then I had her hold sheep in the gate way, push them through, take them back, etc. It was great. A good way to get her to feel control as she has stock go through gateways. I think we're going to spend a lot more time back there now.
I took the Fury in back and put her on a line and did the Ben Means stuff again and it did settle her. She really has a hard time on the go-by side and being able to correct before helped so much that when I took her out to the arena to finish up our session, guys . . . SHE BALANCED TO THE SHEEP. And she kicked out on go-bys! This is really big for her, because she usually cuts her top on the go-by and I have to be REALLY on it to keep her from getting in contact with the sheep (this is usually just barrelling into them like a jerk).
I let that happen for a couple minutes before putting them away but YES!!
Remember I said we were missing that good pen work that Kathy worked into the whole thing? I might have figured it out. If the dogs start to feel more in control and relaxed up close to the stock, it seems to show out in the arena when they have less control.
I drove away, though, feeling a little down, to be honest. I feel like at this point, Rippa should be a lot more finished than she is, but we're SO started still. I got her to take a couple steps in a drive in the pens, stopped her and made sure the picked them up nicely in there, but as Shannon said last session - if a dog can't be trusted on an outrun, how you going to get them to control themselves on a drive? And she can't be, really - the minute she starts to feel like she's losing them, she doesn't take control on the outrun, she drives harder.
And since they're such different dogs and they both do that. Whose fault do you think that is?
Two thumbs, right here: me.
Been training for almost a decade on and off and have I really learned nothing in all that time? Ugh.
So that's how I feel right now, but both dogs did some really great work if I calmed myself down and took care of my end.
Mantra: 1% improvement every day = 100% at the end of 100 days . . .
I think I have two jobs right now:
Woof
Toward the end, I figured out it was one specific sheep that was the problem and asked Cindy if she'd take her and sorted her out of the gate. Things should have gone better for us, but I guess the horse run wasn't secured well enough and they ended up with Stephanie's horse and goat. I left the door open and both of those guys took one look of me and said, "See ya," leaving the sheep in the back pens.
So frustrated. So frustrated. But then . . .
I've been back here a bit but not really paid attention to it. Remember I said that Rippa needed work in closer places and with gates? This was perfect. There was a great gateway between two pens, so I got to work.
Rippa is surprisingly a very nice pen dog. I think she can dial it all back when there's fences holding the sheep (vs Fury who needs as much space as she can get to feel most comfortable). We did some round pen work and then I had her hold sheep in the gate way, push them through, take them back, etc. It was great. A good way to get her to feel control as she has stock go through gateways. I think we're going to spend a lot more time back there now.
I took the Fury in back and put her on a line and did the Ben Means stuff again and it did settle her. She really has a hard time on the go-by side and being able to correct before helped so much that when I took her out to the arena to finish up our session, guys . . . SHE BALANCED TO THE SHEEP. And she kicked out on go-bys! This is really big for her, because she usually cuts her top on the go-by and I have to be REALLY on it to keep her from getting in contact with the sheep (this is usually just barrelling into them like a jerk).
I let that happen for a couple minutes before putting them away but YES!!
Remember I said we were missing that good pen work that Kathy worked into the whole thing? I might have figured it out. If the dogs start to feel more in control and relaxed up close to the stock, it seems to show out in the arena when they have less control.
I drove away, though, feeling a little down, to be honest. I feel like at this point, Rippa should be a lot more finished than she is, but we're SO started still. I got her to take a couple steps in a drive in the pens, stopped her and made sure the picked them up nicely in there, but as Shannon said last session - if a dog can't be trusted on an outrun, how you going to get them to control themselves on a drive? And she can't be, really - the minute she starts to feel like she's losing them, she doesn't take control on the outrun, she drives harder.
And since they're such different dogs and they both do that. Whose fault do you think that is?
Two thumbs, right here: me.
Been training for almost a decade on and off and have I really learned nothing in all that time? Ugh.
So that's how I feel right now, but both dogs did some really great work if I calmed myself down and took care of my end.
Mantra: 1% improvement every day = 100% at the end of 100 days . . .
I think I have two jobs right now:
- Go into each session with some objectives and if the situation doesn't work, okay. Change objectives.
- Look for good stuff you got out of the day and dwell on that. I need some reinforcement, and I need to give it to the dogs.
Woof
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)