And now, back to the studio

My dad is feeling a bit better, so I didn't feel *too* guilty about going out to work Moss on sheep yesterday. He was pretty much awesome, as usual. :)

For our first work, we practiced driving. He listened well (mostly) and we drove the sheep all around Dianne's field, practicing straight lines, square flanks, pace, and (for me) whistles. I was having a hard time with my "lie down" whistle for some reason. I just couldn't get the really high tone I needed. Irritating. So, Moss was a bit confused at times, but that's okay. It's all part of the process of learning to work together.

After a break, Moss and I had the opportunity to practice again. This time, we "played catch" with my friend Jody and her boy, Reggie, who happens to be a full brother to Moss. You may remember him from a few months ago when I was working with him. Now Jody has him, and he's really blossomed with all that individual care and attention. He's almost like a new dog. I'm so happy for Reggie! Anyways.... "playing catch" is an exercise to help dogs (and handlers, haha) learn how to lift sheep off of a set-out person in preparation for trialing. In sheepdog trials, the set-out person and their dog "hold" the sheep for the dog and handler whose turn it is to run the course. This is so the sheep stay in the same place for the dog to execute their outrun to go get 'em. This is important, because most of the time, the sheep are set really far away!

Lifting sheep off the set-out person is often hard for young dogs as they're not sure if they are supposed to hold the sheep to that person, or bring them to their handler. Also, having a person and a strange dog up there puts a lot more pressure on the dog. So... it's a good thing to practice and get comfortable with before trialing :) Playing catch also has the double benefit of teaching dogs (and handlers) how to actually BE set-out people. All around, it's pretty dang fun.

It was really nice to do something different. Overall, Moss was really good. He was thinking, trying to figure out what I wanted, and learned from his mistakes and my corrections. At first, he wasn't sure how to deal with the pressure of another dog and handler being up with the sheep. So, I walked up closer to the sheep to help him. On subsequent outruns, I stayed closer to the sheep and corrected him for coming in too tight. Dianne had me watch him closely the whole way around, and correct for every time he looked in... because every time he'd look in, he'd drop his shoulder and mess up the top of his outrun, which would then mess up the lift and cause the sheep to go off line on the fetch. By the end, he was a lot looser and more comfortable with the pressures of lifting off the set-out crew.

Although we had some difficulty with the outrun part of the exercise, Moss was GREAT at being a set-out dog and holding the sheep for Reggie. He never misbehaved, got up, or tried to steal the sheep back from Reggie. He held his lie down with only a few "are you kidding me?" looks in my direction. He may not have understand what we were doing, but he was a good boy nonetheless. I'm so proud of my boy. I really feel like we're becoming a team, and that feels very good. :)

For those of y'all that don't do herding and are really confused about some of the terms I'm using, click HERE for a glossary.