The lack of posts are because of laziness more than anything, but the last few weeks have been traumatic. The hitch in MO’s leg turns out to be a result of patellar luxation – her kneecap shifts out of position – and requires surgery. She is scheduled to go in next Tuesday and will require two weeks of crate rest, two weeks of walking only and then some period of time to rebuild the lost muscle. We are extremely stressed about the situation, nightmares and lack of sleep are primarily the signs, and if that wasn’t enough the prospect of keeping her in a crate for two weeks is deadly.
Malibu
Sunny and Bob
MO stayed home
Stevie
The last few weeks in Malibu Stevie has shown more and more of a middle finger, once she even left the ring to get some water and then went around the outside and back under the fence to gather the sheep completely ignoring the handler.
Today she was almost perfect. Her lie downs are getting more consistent and somehow stand is sorting itself out too. She doesn’t always lie down on the first command, sometimes I have to lean into her or repeat the command a second or third time, but I was able to get her to stop on command even in a trot and lie down.
For the second run we practiced the beginning AHBA course of two cones at each end of the arena, take the dog off leash and show she can stay calm then send her. The dog fetches the sheep and then the handler walks the dog and the sheep up to the far cone and back and then back up all within 10 minutes. We did it very cleanly and with plenty of time, the biggest weakness being a bit of circling. Janna says a good handler will either stop the dog if they start circling or start to turn with it so to mask the mistake.
Santa Fe (clear and cold, grey and snowing)
[Our first road trip with Stevie, we stopped overnight in Flagstaff and got to Santa Fe Friday night. MO had a poo explosion in her crate about 20 minutes south of Santa Fe, but the rest of the driving part went fine. Both dogs handled the hotel room great and loved romping around the snow behind the hotel in Flagstaff.
The day before we left LA MO had a freak mis-step in the park and tweaked her back leg. She limped around on it for a few minutes and then recovered but had periodic cramp-like seizures where she'd pull her leg up and limp around or stop and stretch it out. There don't seem to be many traces of the injury left, the car rest probably helped, but it's something to keep our eyes on.]
We are getting lessons/renting sheep from the Charlton’s in Santa Fe. The sheep are bigger and faster than what we are used to and are split up between a small round ring and small square arena.
MO
In the small round ring with about six sheep and she does great. We can’t figure out if it’s the cold weather or the faster sheep but she stays on them pretty well – only take a couple of pee breaks and one poo stop – and does a good job of turning them while going round both directions. It’s actually remarkable how different she looks compared to Acton and Malibu. She doesn’t show much concern for Mary being in ring with her (she paused briefly, but nothing dramatic) or even when Mary moved her stick around or raised her hands.
Time-wise I don’t think she stayed in especially long, and by the third or fourth minute of each second run she was definitely out of gas, but all in all it was a great time out for her everytime.
Stevie
In the bigger ring which is maybe 1/3rd the size of the big arena at Acton and she does mediocre. I’m pretty sure she started off fine, maybe a little spastic since we missed the Wednesday class before we left making it more than a week since she had last worked. After some time Mary came in the ring and thinking I had been too soft correcting something she whacked her crop-stick thing close by Stevie and from that moment on Stevie didn’t want to have anything to do with that woman, to the point where she would freeze up within about 6ft. of her regardless of where the sheep were. Basically we worked on the same sort of stuff we usually do but with a different teacher and a different perspective which confused me a little and maybe Stevie too since she wasn’t totally on her game.
One thing we did learn was some corner work where you walk the sheep up into a corner of the arena and practice having the dog move clockwise or counter-clockwise with lots of stands or lie-downs to keep the sheep calm. Stevie shows a lot of eye in these situations and probably doesn’t feel all that confident she’ll be able to keep her sheep, but she did ok at it and we could do with some practice at it.
This fear/freeze thing was a much bigger deal the second day we went out. Mary wanted us to practice a “slingshot” move she had seen on a video and explained the day we went to their house for tea (Tuesday). Her technique in general is that you have the dog lie down before the gate opens. The handler walks through and then lets the dog in and the dog must immediately lie down inside the arena while the handler closes the gate. To teach the slingshot you bring the dog in on a long line and walk halfway up to the sheep. Lie the dog down and walk off to the side of the dog making somewhat of an equilateral triangle between dog, sheep and handler then call the dog to you and use the line to enforce a straight recall and lie down. Between me not really understanding the concept as it applies to Stevie and Stevie not really giving a shit if she’s on a leash or not this unsurprisingly didn’t go that well. At some point Mary came into the ring which successfully screwed with Stevie’s head and got me a little more frustrated at the whole situation than I care to admit. With her in the ring the sheep acted like small asteroids in a strong gravity field and no matter what we did they would inevitably end up clustered around her, Stevie would freeze 6ft out and I would be trying to get her to move with no result and not know why because I had my back to the sheep.
The second time out we were on our own and did ok. I don’t know if it’s the sheep, the new arena, the weather or something in the sky but she was definitely a little different. Maybe less confident, definitely eager to work but it just didn’t feel like we were communicating as well as usual. For the first few minutes Mary took us into her pen area and we practiced moving some lambs around a very small pen. Stevie was on a short string and I would take her around using directional commands and lie-downs to move the lambs around. She didn’t seem to really understand what we were trying to accomplish, this was a completely new thing, but she did pretty good. After a few turns we went into the middle pen which has yearling sheep and we practiced the same moves for a bit and then Mary opened the gate and we practiced bringing the sheep in and out of the pen a couple of times. After this we moved back into the arena and did a very long run practicing all the usual stuff with some corner work and fence work thrown in to emphasize the need to take time and stuff. Stevie did alright for the most part but definitely gets pent up and crashes into the sheep when she’s feeling out of control or frustrated or something along those lines.
—
And then the shit storm hit.
The whole time Stevie was working MO was going kind of bonkers and so once Stevie was done and Malcolm went into the ring we let MO off her leash to run a bit. We took both dogs back to the car (parked in the road because we were afraid of getting snowed in and stuck) and put Stevie in the back then walked back to the arenas with MO running ahead and said our good-byes. We started back to the car and MO ran way ahead seeming to look for Stevie and probably panicking at this point though I don’t think either of us realized it yet. At one point she could obviously hear Stevie yelping in the car, we all could hear it, and she went up to a large cattle-type pen hunting around but came when we called her and kept running up to the car. Still without a leash on, we opened the car and instead of her jumping in as usual she started playing keep-away, meaning you keep away from mo. We tried all our usual tricks but she was definitely freaking out by this time and so we both tried getting angry which didn’t work either. After giving her all kinds of time to figure it out on her own, and she didn’t, we both got in the car and started to drive away. She followed for a time but then gave that up so we stopped the car and tried again. We went on like this a few times, probably getting 1/2 mile or so down the road and were getting totally nowhere so we tried pulling Stevie out and walking her while the car went far ahead. MO trailed behind, kind of sticking near Stevie but definitely not getting anywhere near close enough to be caught and eventually pooed out a stress induced squirt which must have either hurt her back to normal or maybe settled her head a bit because we were finally able to get her to come and let us grab her collar about 10 minutes later.
The whole adventure seems to have taken it’s toll on MO’s little psyche and stomach. After resting through the afternoon she actually spent some time in her crate, something she hasn’t done in months, and then threw up a decent portion of her dinner. It would seem that a good part of her digestion trouble is stress related, but what to do with that information is another question.
Acton
MO
She went first and it worked out much better. As shown in the video . . . A lot of her particular style showed, picking out one sheep for special attention, chasing it down at all costs and chewing on its leg for a few minutes, then letting go and start the cycle over. All we ask of her is to stay somewhat focused on the sheep instead of getting distracted by everything going on around and today she did a better job than usual. She did take a poo break (one current theory is her diarrhea is exercise induced) but she ignored bleating lambs in the pen, people outside the fence with videophone cameras, Stevie barking and all the usual stuff. So we’re going to chalk today up as a win for the team.
Stevie
She got into something that took her out from Wednesday afternoon through Saturday, she’d been lethargic and somewhat diarrhea-ic on Thursday/Friday – this household seems to excel in loose stools 
- and then she pooped liquid and barfed while waiting for her turn at the ranch. Anyhow, we worked more on fixing her cross-overs on the outruns (didn’t go great) and because there was one sheep that consistently drifted off back to the pen we tried to get her doing look-backs (also didn’t go great).
What did go great is she took a stand as long as I put my body into the command, she stayed wide on the outruns as long as I put my body into it, she took three sheep through a chute without breaking them up completely, she did nice drives and walk-ups and came off the sheep well.
Malibu
MO
A regression day. We tried having Stevie go first and MO lost her marbles. Walking into the ring everything seemed normal, she was excited and paying attention to the sheep. I let her off the leash and she started to run up and chase them but quickly got distracted by the ground (hay, horse smells, longing whip, mud, poop), the sky (blue, some clouds, not much wind), the air (more or less still, the flies are back), the color of the dirt in the sun against the faded pink color of the wooden fence, Mike tied up by the gate, etc. I kind of lost my patience and stalked after her for a bit then we tried ignoring her and I would chase and tug on the sheep, then we tried letting Stevie back in and MO only wanted to play, then we put MO on a leash while I worked Stevie thinking it could make her jealous.
Nothing seemed to work super well but in the second and third runs she showed a little more interest, especially with me running after the sheep and tugging on their fur. By the end of the morning I was exhausted and she was just confused.
Stevie
A great day, almost polar opposite of the MOster. We continued to work on “stand” as something where she has to be on her feet and “walking up” as something slower than a run and faster than a stand. She’s a very quick learner. It seems pretty clear the whole trotting thing was something of a result from being in heat, though she won’t run unless the sheep are running. She also won’t slow down if the sheep slow down. If the sheep stand still, Stevie stands still. If the sheep move Stevie moves. If the sheep run and then slow down, Stevie runs until she can get to the head sheep and turn its head.
I’m pretty sure she didn’t cross over on a single outrun and for the first time I was able to walk away from the sheep and give her a “that’ll do” and she came with me without me having to walk up into her to block her off the sheep.
The new thing we need to look out for is her habit of always wanting to go to head which cause her to overflank and overrun the sheep and the handler.
Acton (slightly sunny, not freezing)
MO
Two runs; the first went in classic MO style, although she looked as if she had partied a little too hard yesterday (long hike in Canyon Back). She did minimal gripping (even thought the N lamb was in the ring) and even took them cleanly through two chutes. Bystanders and dogs on the side were getting to her today, but she’s getting really good at re-focusing back onto the “job at hand” when called.
The second run was a tired MO’s MO. She couldn’t break into a gallop after the initial outrun and we ended doing long “walk ups” by driving the sheep down the arena and then clockwise and counterclockwise around the cone. She definitely seemed ready for a second cup of coffee by the end. She sniffed at my hat where it was hanging on the side of the chute as if getting ready to call it a day.
Stevie
Two runs, all good. She got a little of her “stand” back, but it’s tenuous as she doesn’t exactly stand and stop moving, she just stays on her feet and doesn’t lay down. She was super excited for both runs, acting like what Janna calls a “My Way” kind of dog. To counter that we practiced having her stay in a “lie down” as the handler walks away (which she’s getting much better at) and “walking up,” to keep her in a straight line behind the sheep and not let her get to head (which needs some work). She had a little trouble “taking time” when putting the sheep through the chute, and knocked the handler on his butt once, but overall she’s sticking to her program and we’re sticking to ours.
Malibu (raining and muddy)
MO
Three runs; the first went pretty well – she stuck to her guns and hustled the sheep well. The weather seems to agree with her since she goes pretty much full out in the rain and cold and herds like a good farm worker.
The second run was wetter and muddier than the first and by that time Stevie had moved to the bleachers which were partially covered – and Mike was in the ring on a cable tie, so we figured she would get distracted by Mike but she surprised us and after going for sheep a little bit she tore ass through the fence and jumped the rock wall to invite Stevie into the ring. After a few minutes of chasing her around the bleachers in the rain and mud I got a leash through her collar and started back for the ring – we ran into some problems with the light post and the fence coming right up next to each other and she slipped her collar and ran back towards Stevie and I ran up to the gate. Unexpectedly she turned back and ran through the fence and started back at the sheep. I hopped the gate to join her and we started back where we left off.
The third run was even colder, muddier and wetter but this time there was a ram in the ring and it had been charging all the other dogs which MO seems to take as an invitation for more fun. All in all good stuff.
Stevie
Three runs, all good. She now has a “lie down” but “stand” has gone with it so we need to circle back a little and get “stand” working as a stand – or “on your feet.” Driving is coming along very naturally and by the third run she was wearing pretty evenly and drove the sheep in a good straight line – she was also tired which seems to help. We practiced “walk up” and “take time” which are both working out pretty good and it’s looking like we could do a controlled walk up/lie down kind of thing if we wanted to but hopefully we’ll get a nice enough stand that we don’t have to resort to too much of a yo-yo. We also need to start squaring up her flanks and get back onto freeing her up, but when and how is kind of vague still – it all seems to happen in its own way on its own schedule.
After the lessons we took the pups to the beach, Stevie’s first time. Neither of them seem interested in swimming but running in the wet sand was the tops and chasing after the birds and each other in the rain is always fun. Good times.
