Herding and Obedience

Yesterday Brit and I went for a herding lesson. And she was pouty the whole time. And I was frustrated, but tried to not let her know. It started out rough- which set the tone for the whole lesson.

Part of our lesson is getting our own sheep, and Brit wouldn't stop when I asked in the small pen, and wouldn't take a come bye flank, and wouldn't go near the barn. Three things which made a huge problem.  So by the time we worked through that we had a snotty border collie who was not in the mood to listen. I will say that she never quit- which is great. But it is hard to work a dog that is upset. I guess the lesson of the day for her was to learn how to work through a bad start- Jenny said that they need to learn that they have to work no matter what- upset or not. We did simplify things a bit for her in the arena- things that a few weeks ago took a minute took 10... but hopefully she will sit on that for a few days and be better next time.

My lesson was how to fix things if they go south when I am out there on my own. How to get the sheep out of the barn if they don't want to. How to watch that the stupid fence jumping sheep doesn't circle back and jump right back in the pen. And what to do if the sheep go way out in the big field so that I can ensure that my dog takes a wide enough flank. Oh, and how to get the sheep out of the trees. It was a long lesson- but a good one. lol. Let's hope for a more cooperative Border Collie on Sunday....

Last night was my last chance to work Brit and Pixel in Obedience before the show. Brit did great through a Rally set up. She is becoming a really good heeling dog- and seemed to have a lot of fun. I am looking forward to her Rally debut on Saturday! I did just a small amount of heeling with Pixel. A short pattern with some slows, and halts. And one drop on recall- which was perfect.  I was itching to do a long sit and down- but didn't. I know that she is solid on those and "just one more" is not going to change anything for the weekend. We are in the Open ring Saturday morning- fingers and toes (and paws) crossed for a happy Pixel!

Our scent hurdle team is racing Friday night- we are a sparkly bunch this time around thanks to the sewing talent of our box loader...should be interesting.... :)