Maja Posted February 17, 2011 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2011 Today's been one week since we bought the brand-new, non-dog broke, people-shy sheep. My person still is a strong sheep repellent, but it all begins to look like stock work more and more. The sheep had one day of "we are flighty" attempt but they gave up, since they had no chance with Bonnie. Maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted March 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 Bonnie update at 16 month and with the new sheep, who are now acting just like normal sheep. Vrious things: (She is starting again to lie down on her own in this movie, before, she hardly ever lay down after PennyT told me to keep her on her feet - she would always stand even on lie down command, which was fine by me. And today she would lie down sometimes without any command at all. Maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted March 4, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2011 Putting sheep into an enclosure; Dealing with problems: maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted March 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 A bit of a fetch, sort of a cross-drive and a bit of a drive. Bonnie looks back at me a lot a bit surprised I am not saying much . Bonnie is almost 17 months now. And hey! We too have a standing lie down . Maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted March 29, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Today we loaded the sheep into a trailer for the first time. It was a bit funny, I hope you will like it. Maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted April 30, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 30, 2011 Ok, so this evening we are going to the three day clinic with Derek Scrimgeour in the South of Poland. I am very excited. Bonnie has turned 18 months today. This will be a very important indicator for us - for Bonnie on how she works off the bat in completely new surroundings with lots of people and lots of dogs around, and for me - whether I have improved my handling in the presence of stress, which is being watched by many people. So keep us in your prayers! And of course thanks again to all those who helped us reach this point, I don't know what I would do without all you! [i need a hugging emoticon here] Maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted July 1, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2011 Hi Folks, Did anybody miss us? Bonnie is improving, but I don't have any video since now things are too intense for me to video and train at the same time. Also the sheep became heavy in weight and temperament. I am looking for a butcher and cleaning the freezer. But on the news front, the clinic with Derek Scrimgeour was very helpful in that he gave me important pointers on how to work away from home, which was a big problem. I have followed his advice and there is a definite improvement and most of all it gave me hope. We went to a fun trial and I was very happy with Bonnie. We didn't win anything, because my dog has a dumb handler - I forgot how light sheep work but Bonnie did well. So we are now going places to practice away from home. Maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalahundur Posted July 1, 2011 Report Share Posted July 1, 2011 Yep, I did. Always nice to follow Bonnie´s (and your) progress. What I´ve seen from the two of you has impressed me. Must have been great to get instructions from someone like Derek! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted July 2, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 2, 2011 Thank you . Next week, we are going to practice and then to a herding event. I hope I won't blow it. With Derek's help, Bonnie seems consistent with her work although she is understandably more excited when working in a new place. So it's now up to me. At the fun trial I mentally had to remind myself "look at the sheep, darn ya! Look at the sheep!" I did well catching the sheep though, I think . Fast, very calm, without undue stress for livestock -even if I say so myself (part of the trial was that you had to take the sheep out of the sheepfold by hand, the rest was pretty normal stock work with the dog with some funny accents ). Maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted July 12, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 12, 2011 Bonnie passed her HWT-CS test - it qualifies her now to participate in trials class I (the lowest class). I would like to thank all the wonderful people who helped me and Bonnie get to this point, I wouldn't be here without you. Remember last year I had this puppy that was running around the flock . As soon as I have some time I will tell you all about the test. Maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted July 14, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 14, 2011 So here is a partial movie from the HWT-CS, there are fragments missing because the cameraman was too engrossed in what was going on that sometimes he forgot and pointed the thing neither at the handler, nor at the dog nor at the sheep. The outrun is longer than it seem in the video, where it looks real short. The tasks: 1. Taking sheep out of the pen. The pen was large - a leftover from the TS trials. Here we lost only 1/10 point. 2. Driving on balance. There were two gates we had to go through and then get to the point to set the sheep for the outrun. No penalty points 0/10. 3. Outrun. Bonnie ran fine, but I repeated the command like an idiot, and theshe did not reach the point of balance. We lost 7/20. 4. Lift This was real bad - Bonnie out of the blue did not react to my lie down. Lost8/10 points. 5. Fetch As a result of a louse lift the fetch was really bad, lost almost all the points 18/20. Bonnie wasn't controlling the sheep well so they used it to escape to a strong draw - a packet of sheep on the other side of the fence. She brought them back though, you can see the tail end of it. I lost my stick there too. 5. Drive away This was good because there was another draw - another packet of sheep on the other side of the fence. But Bonnie is a super dribing dog so she straightened the sheep got the through the gate fine. So lost only 2/10. However, after they got through the gate, I -like an idiot -instead of making Bonnie continue the cross-drive stopped everything so that I could get to the balance point. The thing is you are allowed to go on balance after the gate but because I stopped the sheep tried again to escape, but I didn't have to make them wait because Bonnie can cross-drive and she could have caught up with me. Still, Bonnie brought them back again her own way completely ignoring my commands to the great satisfaction of the viewers. 6. Settling the flock That was no problem. I knew where the draw was, so piece of cake. Only while going there my eye had swat so that I couldn't see well, and I couldn't see the stakes at first. 7. Then back to the pen. No loss of points. Bonnie looks confused because we rarely do penning and hardly ever by putting the dog between the sheep and the pen, but then she does a beautiful flank the sheep go in and there is lots of clapping . I gave commands like I only knew lie down :lol: . I wish I had seen the escapes coming, but it was just too much for me to pay attention to. I completely missed the signs. So there is our first test. Now, because Bonnie passed the test (it was actually supposed to be a trial-run just to see what its' like) the next time will be a trial, class I (the lowest). As you can see, it was not anything like an arena trial. The sheep were nice, not very dogged. It is a test for young dogs basically. Maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted July 16, 2011 Author Report Share Posted July 16, 2011 I guess it was way more interesting when Bonnie was running around like an idiot, and I was making a ton of mistakes per minute :lol: Maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted November 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 Bonnie had her second birthday a week ago, and yesterday, she won a trial in class one (kind of like novice). I am still stunned a bit. Later on I will put in a video of her run. I was in such a shock I only realized we placed first when the told me to move to the middle and the judge placed a winner cup in my hand (I am somewhat excused since it was all in Czech.) Now I have to divide may bag of Fitmin Adult :lol: . Maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 But how will you divide the cup? J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted November 7, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 I guess Bonnie will have to chew it into small pieces And really, I am not seeing into things - she was so happy! Maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juliepoudrier Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 She knew she did a good job, and no doubt your happiness helped to increase her happiness! J. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smalahundur Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 Bonnie had her second birthday a week ago, and yesterday, she won a trial in class one (kind of like novice). I am still stunned a bit. Later on I will put in a video of her run. I was in such a shock I only realized we placed first when the told me to move to the middle and the judge placed a winner cup in my hand (I am somewhat excused since it was all in Czech.) Now I have to divide may bag of Fitmin Adult :lol: . Maja Congratulations! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PennyT Posted November 7, 2011 Report Share Posted November 7, 2011 A dog that loves trialing is a big advantage. Congratulations and make sure she continues to thrive on trials. Penny Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MyTDogs Posted November 8, 2011 Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 Congratulations- that is great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted November 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 Thank you all very much! I think I will take the opportunity and next time we trial, I will enter Bonnie a notch higher, where there is no drive that ends in a fetch. In this class, it often is that you drive the sheep away and then send the dog to fetch, I think repeating this will not help the dog make a nice transition to a normal drive and cross drive. Bonnie can drive and cross drive ok. The only problem with the higher class is that I will have to learn to whistle. I think if we go back to shedding we can learn a half decent shed by spring, so even if we are not quite ready then, things will get ironed out in practice at trials and at clinics. In the video, I am uploading there are some things which I think you don't do in your trials: the driving is done towards a particular spot, not through the gate. It's not always that way, but it's an option. In this case the spot was a hollow, and the judge ruled that we did not reach the hollow so after the drive and the fetch we get a redux. When I stared setting up for the drive again it became chaotic, and I got upset because Bonnie was confused and was doing weird things, and I had a thought to retire. But I got hold of myself and went back to calm handling, which is a thing I am very proud of. The drive was longer than it looks, but part of it was in the hollow and was not visible anyhow, so I cut out that part. When we are doing the wearing on balance, Bonnie is not receiving any commands. After wearing, We are doing the shedding race. It's a weird thing and I don;t like it. It's Y shaped, and the sheep need to go into the 'I' part of the "Y", but can go into the "v" part of the Y, and the handler can't go in at all, but at releasing the handler can touch the sheep. So now I just have to wait for the video to upload. Maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted November 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 So here is the video. please remeber that this is the lowest class for trials, there is a long way to go. As I wrote, Bonnie can do a drive with a cross drive, but at this level it happens the way it is shown. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maja Posted November 8, 2011 Author Report Share Posted November 8, 2011 I am also wondering if I am going off my bean even more. The sheep talk to me. E.g. when I was training with a very, very wild bunch, and I was trying to to a pen, I had the sheep standing and lined up for a good pen, and I looked them in the eye, and I saw rebellion there. The sheep wouldn't go in time after time. I left the pen alone and practiced some other things all the time Bonnie was working very hard because the were trying to escape to the sheepfold every second. Then I tried the pen again, and the look in their eye was of submission - and they went in nice and quiet. At the trial, when I was doing the shedding race one sheep looked at me, and I could swear she sized me up and thought, "Hey sis, I weigh more than you do!" and wham! she pushed between me and the shedding wall. I have a big bruise on my thigh. My first thought was "I hope this is not a DQ for touching a sheep" :lol: Maja Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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