Back to the Drawing Board

Not gonna lie here, I think I broke my dog.

I've been going to cattle every week and just doing chores with her and getting her to take them off the fence and fetch them, but she really doesn't want to. She'll fetch  once and then lose her confidence and stop trying.

I take her to sheep, and if it involves any distance at all, you're really iffy. I sent her out and the sheep pointed toward me and everything looked good, but then they drifted a bit left and I tried to correct it with a "Way to" because she wasn't and she just kept coming at me like the sheep were ahead of her.

Ducks? Yeah, I don't have much dog on ducks.

And I think it all comes down to something I saw on Doug Manley's Facebook feed about how Kathy had reminded him that sometimes an advanced dog needs a little "yahoo" now and again.

I don't think Rippa needs a "Yahoo" per se, but my expectations of her fluctuated so much in the last year and I probably started trialing her before I should have because I had to keep her ratcheted down so much that I wouldn't let her work and now she doesn't want to do basic stuff like gather and fetch cattle when before I thought we were some of the best at that.

And Rippa is a pretty soft dog. People were always telling me she was stubborn, but almost six years into working with her, she's worried and soft. Especially compared to balls-out Fury dog. All that yelling and ratcheting down has taken its toll.

Not to say there aren't good things going on, too . . . she's working more methodically now, she's got plenty of confidence to walk up on stock, she hits heels and heads appropriately most of the time. (She still gets a body shot on cattle, but that's more to do with her issues right now).

Today we went to the arena and I sorted out some heavier sheep that wouldn't run too much (we don't have heavy sheep) and I just walked straight up the middle of that two acre field. Rippa had an amazing time figuring out how to keep them with me, and I think I might crutch a little too much on the fence when this keeps her really working.

I also went home and set the chickens out and worked her with them. She's balancing up really well, learning that staying out and off the stock helps control them . . . I feel like this is just something I skipped in favor of . . . trialing.

So, back to the drawing board. We have to work on short works, confidence builders, and eventually start asking for distance again, because I definitely broke it. Good news is, she's starting to learn to drive again . . . but I'm not going to ask for much because I need that fetch back. She seems to be more comfortable behind the stock now than an in front of it . . .

Bad bad bad Kristin, I knew better, and this is my just desserts for not believing in myself.

Oh well  . . . we'll keep plugging along.

That said, MY GOD THE FURY! She has been a bit slow on stock lately, so I took her in for an acupuncture appointment. At nearly 13 years of age, that little sucker bounced back with all the power, and, dare I say it, fury, that she had when she was six. Distance fetches, no problem. She was so damn eager to work that we had to have some serious words about her stays . . . I ended up letting her learn how to control the sheep without a lot of input from me by standing in different places and letting her figure out how to get them there.

It was a workout for both dog and sheep, lots of breaks to catch ovine breaths, but by the time she got it out of her system, I had a dog picking sheep up off the fence and balancing to me and cruising around a bit, something I haven't had for SO LONG. She's currently begging for a Frisbee session. That little thing does NOT quit.