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.