12-30-09

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.