Sheepherding : Lesson #3

Brit and I had another lesson with Jenny from Alta-pete today. Brit is doing really good!

She started out a bit rough- a lot keen, and a little out-of-control, but Jenny explained to me that sometimes you have to let them be bad to get them good. I think Brit did a good job of that to start. I've not seen her so wild before, it was interesting. lol

She did settle into herself though and we picked up where we left off. Worked on flanks and lie downs (which are both getting better). We also had to work a bit on making sure that Brit squared off on her sends. (again, not sure what that is called. lol) And then we worked on something new. Apparently the dog should not look like a drunk and weave back and forth. lol. We started working on teaching her walk up, and getting her to walk a straight line into the sheep. Brit thought this was hard, and confusing. I could see the smoke coming out her ears. lol. But I think she was starting to understand at the end.

Sheepherding is kind of like expensive chocolate. Your first bite is always just enough to make you go yummmmm. And then you are done the whole chocolate bar, and are left wanting even more... (It's just so yummy) You know it's out of your budget but before long you are figuring out what to cut out to afford it, and before ya know it you come home with expensive chocolate and no vegetables. ;) I am liking herding more and more each time I go. It's so incredibly different with Brit than it was with the corgis. Uncomparable really. And I want to do it more.

Thankfully (for my wallet) at this point it is still just really, really fun and not something I am addicted to. lol. So far I am able to just say no. We'll see if that continues to be the case. I'm already trying to figure out when we can go again this month...I think twice a month is reasonable for now...

No photos this time, but I brought along my friend Jen who was nice enough to take some video.  I cut out the part where I dropped the damn stick, and almost got head butted by a sheep. lol. Pure entertainment that, but this is about the dog not me. :) Watching the video I appear to be smarter than I feel. I still feel like I am fumbling a lot and have no idea really what I am doing, but it doesn't look as bad as that. We are learning together Brit and I. Thankfully we have a patient teacher. :)

And uh, the video is five minutes long which is long, and probably boring. Even to me, I only watched it twice. I think it will be good to have though to watch before my next lesson and remind me about what we did. So watch if you want, but I won't be offended if you don't. The best part is at 2.25 - that where we used the fence to help Brit to walk a straight line. lol