A sheep... to the face

[Smalahundur]

Wow, sitting in front of the computer hurting...

 

Just returned from a training session with my youngster Max that nicely fits the bill of being a dog with more self confidence and grit than my Gláma.

 

I just started him this spring, and he has been quite a handful.

To start with very grippy, but that is now reasonably under control, he still has a very strong presence and the sheep respect him very much.

 

But at the moment he is still too fast and furious.And works too close (though I see improvement each session), resulting him pushing the group of sheep over me when I am trying to wear, and don´t get out of the way in time.

 

They mowed me down three (three !) times this evening, one time really harsh, not only mowing me down, but as I tried to get up, one of them runs horns first into my face, hitting my lower jaw.

 

Worst thing was probably the fact my wife had come along to check out the progress, judging by the laughter she was pretty amused...

[urge to herd]

Ooooow! And for your wife to laugh at you? Hopefully only bruises remain. Sounds like your dog is a rip roarin' kind of guy.

 

Hope your aches and bruises heal quickly.

 

Ruth and Gibbs

[juliepoudrier]

Oh my. Horns are the worst. I hope the damage wasn't too severe, and that it was more pride than physical hurt.

 

J.

[GentleLake]

I had a young ram bowl me over at a training clinic once when things got, well, a little dicey. So I feel your pain. At least you only had one person laughing at you. I had the whole clinic class to witness as I went ass over tea kettle.

 

Hope you're not feeling like the Tin Man tomorrow. If you are, I'll see if I can't send you an oil can. (Srsly, though, hope there's no lasting damage and that you recover quickly.)

[Donald McCaig]

Dear Aspiring Sheepdoggers,

 

Welcome to the wonderful sport of sheep surfing.

 

You probably already know that if you flutter your hand/hat in front of your knees, the sheep will (usually) break around you?

 

Donald McCaig

[Sue R]

It's that "usually" that gets you on the unusual occasion.

 

I am way more afraid of being hurt by sheep than by cattle. Cattle usually (there's that word again) knock you over and off to the side. Sheep, in my experience, are more likely to go right into you or through you.

 

I hope you are feeling much better and that there are no lasting effects!

[Mom of Mya]

OUCH!!! Hope you heal quickly and that Max learns very quickly to how he is supposed to do it best for you. I have to say had I seen my husband do that I probably would have had to laugh first too, then checked to see if he was hurt badly or tried to whip out my camera phone to take the picture as I asked if he were alright

[Maja]

"usually" is the indeed the key

 

I definitely feel for you. Darinka cost me a torn ligament in my right knee in January . That sheep had it in for me - she did twice. And I used have a ram that regularly plowed past my thigh. The bruises were enormous.

 

If the hat does not work, a plastic bottle put on a stick and tied with the baling twine (nothing else will do ) - if you wave it just right in front of you like a pendulum and/or hit the ground with it, the sheep may be more inclined to go around you rather than through you, they may also actually stop. As a special bonus the dog may stop too . But it depends - my little maniac gets stressed out and/or challenged by the thing and she gets faster. So I go to the training unarmed . Fortunately my present sheep think I am scarier than the dog so not much possibility of plowing through me.

 

The bottle has two functions - it makes a noise when you hist the ground, and prevents any accidental damage with the end of the stick when things get "chaosish"

[Smalahundur]

Thanks everybody for all your sympathy.

 

I count myself lucky, my back still smarts a bit, and my jaw, especially when I grin (which is why mr. McCaig´s advice hurt a bit... ). But no serious damage done.

 

As Sue pointed out "usually" is what gets you every time...

 

The scenario Maja describes is what me worries most, knees are very vulnerable in this game. I try to keep them both always well bent when facing the oncoming stampede.

How is your knee doing now Maja?

 

In training sessions with Max I am "armed" with a "boogy bag", a pvc rod with an empty dog food bag wrapped and taped to it.

It was necessary to discourage Max from rough housing with the sheep.

He does not need it anymore and I find I use it more to try and discourage the sheep from rough housing with me. But even this device slammed on the ground in front of their noses, whoosing etc. does not impress them a whole lot.

 

I think we are just at that particular point in training; a young keen dog, that has not yet learned to keep more distance, and set a better pace (but I have confidence in Max, things are improving quickly), and skittish flighty yearlings that have turned into knee knockers because they know who keeps them safe (well then don´t hurt that guy!).

 

I am kind of contemplating what is wisdom now, continuing with this group, or take a (long) break, and get him to work again on other sheep beginning of September, when the annual roundup has begun, and older sheep become available as they are gathered back home from the highlands.

 

Both options have their pro´s and contra´s.. I am leaning towards the first.

 

There will be a short break anyway now, as we are making hay the next couple of days.

[Maja]

Thank you Smalahundur my knee is doing great , it healed very, very well. However, for other reasons, my training has to be very low impact, and I pretty much have my irresistible personality alone to keep things under control. It is very good that the skuddes would never dream of running into me, and the ouessants would never dream of running. So we also have one set of sheep that are very flighty, and the other that are very heavy, so I alternate between our training problems . But I have faith in Darinka. We will make it .

 

Have a good haying!!!