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Recently started herding lessons


LauraV
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We recently started taking lessons to build confidence in my rescue, and boy does he love it! It's such a good feeling watching him do what he was bred to do. He is naturally ambidextrous which is really helpful. I got into the pen for the first time and it isn't easy as it looks. My trainer makes it look like a beautiful fluid dance. I look like I'm trying to juggle while balancing books on my head! I'm very excited to keep it up with him, and maybe eventually, with a lot of lessons and hard work, we can try and trial! 

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5 hours ago, LauraV said:

We recently started taking lessons to build confidence in my rescue, and boy does he love it! It's such a good feeling watching him do what he was bred to do. He is naturally ambidextrous which is really helpful. I got into the pen for the first time and it isn't easy as it looks. My trainer makes it look like a beautiful fluid dance. I look like I'm trying to juggle while balancing books on my head! I'm very excited to keep it up with him, and maybe eventually, with a lot of lessons and hard work, we can try and trial! 

You're not kidding it isn't easy but props to you for taking lessons! 

I'm fine with the commands and directions if we're both in the same position it's when we're facing one another and it reverses and I have to try and remember it's... OK right so my "Away" will be her "Come-by"   Meanwhile dog has long since gone for fish and chips cos I could be there all day.

Robin Dean is the the farmer we got Fleet from and I think he's won the international brace championships two or three times - brace being where they run two dogs at once.  He has training kennels at his place too and there's a big whiteboard on the yard with name of each dog then a list of their commands underneath. I remember asking him "How the hell do you remember all this without wandering around with 286 bits of paper trying to keep up with each dog and who has what?"

Funniest thing in the world when you hear the handlers giving all these weird whistles and noises for multiple dogs though.  Sounds like R2D2 having a meltdown.  

Keep up with the lessons though I'd love to know how you get on :D 

 

 

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Also re:  Your trainer making it all look like a beautiful dance.  That's one thing that fascinates and frustrates me in equal measures.  

A handler from border collie rescue just looks like she's turned herself into a nice fluid swirling and moving around with sheep it's like she just flat out showing off.

Note the little dance into a big ball or swirling sheep around the 1.30 mark it's like she's doing performing arts training "OK moving outside then back inside graciously... swirling with the ball of sheep now... let's have the dog move here... now hold the sheep there again beautiful....and back into the swirly whirly ball of sheep"

 

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7 hours ago, Parly said:

I'm fine with the commands and directions if we're both in the same position it's when we're facing one another and it reverses and I have to try and remember it's... OK right so my "Away" will be her "Come-by"

I had that same problem until someone suggested thinking of it in terms of a circle or clock and moving clockwise or counter-clockwise instead of left and right. Clockwise and counter-clockwise is the same no matter which way you or the dog is facing so no need to have to make mental adjustments for positions.

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3 hours ago, GentleLake said:

I had that same problem until someone suggested thinking of it in terms of a circle or clock and moving clockwise or counter-clockwise instead of left and right. Clockwise and counter-clockwise is the same no matter which way you or the dog is facing so no need to have to make mental adjustments for positions.

GL thanks for that. I had a several years long career as a production stage manager, (I was a young thing with a lot more energy than I have now) and still find myself thinking in stage right/stage left terms for a lot of different things. The clockwise/counter clockwise is basically the same concept. As I am still threatening to take sheep dogging lessons at some point, this may come in handy.

Ruth & Gibbs

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6 hours ago, GentleLake said:

I had that same problem until someone suggested thinking of it in terms of a circle or clock and moving clockwise or counter-clockwise instead of left and right. Clockwise and counter-clockwise is the same no matter which way you or the dog is facing so no need to have to make mental adjustments for positions.

I can reason it in my mind sort of standing with arms almost physically moving like you say to think of simple but I have appalling discalcuai (number dyslexia) and honestly it can take me so long to try and get tings worked out in my brain so it makes sense to me, I'd be there for half an hour it just isn't worth it.

Would love to do agility though but again for the same reason I cannot get myself orientated and think on my fast like that.  Too much going on in a small space gets me flustered and then I'm just a viral clip waiting to happen.  

I got disqualified from show-jumping years ago and was beeped.  Started to leave but went the wrong way so tannoy guy shouted at me and oh my Lord.  I'm a disgrace  :unsure:

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5 hours ago, Parly said:

 

Would love to do agility though but again for the same reason I cannot get myself orientated and think on my fast like that.  Too much going on in a small space gets me flustered and then I'm just a viral clip waiting to happen.  

 

Coming from doing agility for years with my bcxbeagle, herding is such a different ball game. The way you give corrections is a hell of a lot different. The way you move is completely different, so it was super tough. My husband video taped me so I can learn from my mistakes. 

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20 hours ago, Parly said:

Also re:  Your trainer making it all look like a beautiful dance.  That's one thing that fascinates and frustrates me in equal measures.  

A handler from border collie rescue just looks like she's turned herself into a nice fluid swirling and moving around with sheep it's like she just flat out showing off.

Note the little dance into a big ball or swirling sheep around the 1.30 mark it's like she's doing performing arts training "OK moving outside then back inside graciously... swirling with the ball of sheep now... let's have the dog move here... now hold the sheep there again beautiful....and back into the swirly whirly ball of sheep"

 

Great video! I seriously looked like an idiot and my trainer was super nice about it. I know when I'm teaching someone something in my mind I'm freaking out like what the heck are you doing? But she was so nice and made me feel comfortable even though I looked like a dummy. :)

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On 9/6/2018 at 4:11 PM, juliepoudrier said:

I just think about it in terms of the dog's left (come bye) and right (away). It doesn't matter which way the dog is facing--it's either going to go to it's left it right....

 

J.

Yeah, but aren't you also a person that has no problems with different whistle sets on multple dogs ( I am also in the novice and beyond group, hiding under my wife's account;) ).  Up til now I never dared to try it, don't think I could manage, and have genuine admiration for those who can.

I mean for us lesser mortal devoid of such superpowers of multitasking,  it can be a struggle just keeping our hægri from vinstri. I am also one that has to keep a strong sense of clockwise and counterclockwise connected to the flanks ( like a child learning to count on his fingers I  sneakly use my slightly bend arm/hand as a crutch, rather pathetic after years of handling :D ). And I still rehearse in my head on my way to sheep...

it is easy to lose track of it in the heat of quickly changing circumstances. One never feels more stupid than realizing you are "correcting" the dog while you made the misstake yourself....

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