Watch this space for periodic updates at semi random intervals as items I find interesting occur during our training and trialing progress.
Random Thoughts & Musings
Congrats to Anna Guthrie and Riddle for 5th place in the USBCHA Cattle Nattionals and to Anna and Tikkle for making the final round in Nursery.
Active Handler Role
Alasdair MacRae Uses His Body and Stock Stick to get the attention of the sheep
while 2006 & 2007 National Champ Star catches up to do his part in an ultimately successsful pen.
The above sequence of photos shows how Alasdair MacRae and 2006 - 2007 2x National Champ Star worked together to prevent sheep intent on escaping from getting out of the mouth of the pen for a successful team penning effort. A poor imitation of this trechnique allowed Piper and me to get our pen on the next day. While it was amusing to watch it taught the lesson in visual terms about how penning is a team effort and the handler must hold down his end of the bargain and he;lp the dog if appropriate.
FTB Ranch - New Mexico in July
Well, we are just back from four days of trialing in New Mexico. Unfortunately we could not stay for all 6 days as real job work requirements intervened.
Before getting to our experiences first a hearty thanks to Gerri Abrams for hosting. Her fields are amazing and seem to go on forever - just ask Piper (more later).
Also it was a great trial for watching some REALLY TOP HANDLERS work their dogs. Handlers of five of the top 11 dogs from last year's nationals were there including Jennifer Ewers, Ron Burkey, Trica MacRae, Herbert Holmes and that does not even include Alasdair MacRae who was at the world championships last year, plus many other really top handlers. Plus several of them were running young dogs in Open Ranch (same as Pro-Novice) so I actually was competing with the likes of Alasdair, Burkey and Hub Holmes -- they beat us of course.
Anyway - in May Maggie was unable to lift the range ewes so my hopes were somewhat modest. Maggie performed pretty close to her current level of capabilities and I was very happy that she brought sheep to my feet all three days that we ran and her outruns were all good with onloy a slight reditrect needed on the first day. I was especially happy to get sheep to my feet considering how hot it was and I did not want to have to run 300 yards up the field.
I had higher hopes for Piper and my goal was to get numbers instead of letters all 4 days (we only did that 1 out of 4 in May) and hopefully move in the direction of being competitve soon. Well we met that goal and on day 2 we were actually competitive and would have been very close to a check but for a minor grip.
Anyway Piper showed her usual wide outruns - too wide on Day 3 when she went maybe 600 - 700 yards for a 325 yard outrun and ended up at the set out pen. I thought she was on her way to Arizona for a while but the best part is that I was able to get her off of the set out pen with a recall whistle (several recall whistles actually) and she went on to complete the run. (actually this was almost the best thing of the weekend as I was not sure she would call back in that situation but it showed she is listening). Her fetches are uniformly too fast for the first half (she slows down just after the fetch panels when I get a bit more control on her) and we only made the fetch panels one day. She also has a tendency to overflank on the drive unless I give her an immediate "flank - lie down" whistle with almost no hesitation and this brought sheep back towards my feet on the turn after the driveaway on 3 days. (The last day I don't really think it was her fault as she had a group of runners and they wanted to bolt for the exhaust).
We had some trouble at the pen on the first day with "ring around the pen", got a reasonable pen with a 4 point grip reduction on Day 2, and did not manage to complete the drive on Day 3 - too much back and forth before time expired. The last day I learned my value as an equal partner on the pen after watching the Alasdair MacRae "stick dance" the day before. When the sheep tried to escape to the bye side I made myself an obstacle waving my crook and impeding the sheep from escaping on that side. I put Piper on the opposite side and brought both her and I in one step at a time creating a squeeze on some sheep that did not want to go in the pen. But we did not leave them a choice and got them in fairly cleanly. I actually thought Day 4 was our 2d best of the wknd but it was not reflected in the score.
Oh, the excitement of the weekend - during one of Alasdair's runs a juvenile rattlesnake decided to pass throught the well populated handler's tent causing all to scatter before it was taken out by Jeff Blackstone. Alasdair later said he was watching and wondering if the snake was going to cross his drive away.
Maggie's official Birthday was Sunday May 31. She is now 5 years old. After a rough first year and a half where she bounced from home to home and name to name she has been with me for 3 1/2 years and is not going anywhere.
For her birthday weekend Maggie and I went to the Antelope Valley Stockdog Club Trial by ourselves (No Piper or Ramsay). It was Maggie's special weekend.
For her birthday Maggie earned a lovely emerald green qualifying score ribbon on a drive away course for the first time. Successful completion of a drive away course has been one of outr goals for a long time and I have to admit there were times when I thought the goal might be out of reach. But she came through for her birthday and - although it was still sloppy and the score did not earn a placement - she completed the course with a successful drive-away. I am so proud of her. Happy Birthday, Maggie !!
Apparently it is actually possible to tire Piper. I know because we actually accomplished it during a rare Wednesday training session.
After about 40 minutes of trading outruns - she went through three other dogs - she finally started to slow down. And when she did --voila ! Another amazing siting - pace ! She did her best driving she has done for me.
New Mexico Recap
Saturday it seems was our competitive highlight as we were unable to replicate our success in completing the course on either Sunday or Monday. Still we met our pre-trip goal and overall the trip has to be considered a success.
Even though overall a success there is a lot of room for improvement. I need to get more control over my dogs (both of them) at the top. We have never worked at quite the distance we were working at in New Mexico (300 yards from handlers post to set out) and it showed. Maggie went into default circling mode and Piper busted in too hard bringing the sheep too fast and off line. I believe these are fixable and we will be back to work on them soon.
Indelible image of the weekend -- Herbert Holmes taking off on the quad to rescue Allison the one and only time her nursery dog had issues at the top. Every woman there thought it was great.
We met some nice people, had a bit of success on the trial gfield, a bit of fun in the thriving metropolis of Mountainair (the population of the Free to Be Ranch was close until folks started pulling out for the Colorado trials), and made the round trip safely without major incident. Like Gen MacArthur, we shall return !
Maggie & Piper Pose by the HMS Pinafore in NM
New Mexico - Part 1
Well we made it to New Mexico after a long and uneventful drive.
Day 1 was very similar to Day 2 of Pauma.
Day 2 was a major breakthrough. PIPER GOT #s instead of letters. It wasn't pretty but we made it around.
I don't know what the # was as they were very slow posting and were not posted by the time I left.
Preparing for the Land of Enchantment
(May 08, 2009)
We only have one week of training between Pauma Valley and leaving for the Land of Enchantment. As is evident from the entry recapping our travails at the Pauma Valley trial we have a lot of work still to do even though both Maggie and Piper (esp) showed progress from Sonoma.
I am really looking forward to the New Mexico Free to Be Ranch Trial (all except the 12+ hour drive to NM) and would really like to show continued progress. It will be good to get 4 days in a row of trialing and see if we improve or regress over the course of the four days. Hopefully if I stick to the plan to not tolerate sloppiness just because it is a trial both girls will get the message and we should show improvement.
I am also looking forward to the trip because it will be the first time I have been to New Mexico in 25 years. I drove through in 1984 when I moved to California and it was beautiful so I am looking forward to going back.
But as for that preparation. We are drilling Piper on driving today at K9znEwe and it seems to be having an effect. Jennifer explained to me that at Pauma Piper seemed to ignore my "there" and then by the time I gave her a "lie down" our timing was too late and she had come around too far on the flank. So we are reintroducing Piper to the Lord, her God - for her that's supposed to be me - by making her pay attention to "there". We are trying to control her pace and get a straighter line on the drive with fewer flanking adjustments and more "there". At least for today it seems to be working a bit although it needs constant enforcement.
After some driving practice in the lower field we went out to the upper field to do outwork onthe hill where Jennifer normally sets up her trial course. She actually had a course set up today, including fetch panels and two drive panels. Piper's outwork today was outstanding. Her outruns were nice and wide and deep and she came up on the sheep for straight lifts. We made the fetch panels both times and she was taking her times and lie downs. The first couple times we just turned the sheep around the post and dorove them back to the set out and hay. While driving staright back Piper kept a nice pace and a pretty straight line proving she can do it. We had some trouble later trying to drive on the angle but even then our last time with a larger group of sheep we managed to make that before getting seriously off line on the cross drive. Piper is getting closer each time and I think we have a reasonable chance to post a number sometime in NM. Keeping my fingers crossed but will be happy as long as she shows progress.
Maggie is doing nice outwork although I am having a bit of trouble steering her on the fetch and we missed the fetch panel. Driving for Maggie is still an exercise in gaining confidence. She will only go a few feet away from me before she wants to either come back to my feet or go to the head. I am trying to build her confidence by walking with her and it seems to work sometimes and sometimes not. We really need to get this down before she has any chance on a P/N course and it seems it is still going to take some time.
In football quarterbacks often talk about the magical time when everything seems to slow down on the field. Obviously everything happens at the same speed but the mind is processing information more rapidly and efficiently resulting in less panic and the sensation that eerything has slowed down. For some QBs it never happens and they are never able to transition.
I noticed after our runs in Pauma Valley that I was experiencing a bit of the same sensation. Whuile there were still nerves I did not have the sens of sheer panic while standing at the post. In retrospect the entire runs seemed to have gone a bit slower than previously and I was able to ract more calmly and according to a plan. Not just panic handling anymore. One friend who I have not seen at a dog trial for quite some time told me afterwards that I seemed much calmer handling and that it was having a beneficial effect on my dogs' runs.
It still needs to slow down mentally quite a bit but it felt much better to come off the field - even with runs that did not finish as well as hoped - feeling like I had handled the dogs appropriately and - while making mistakes - not just reacting with panic. I think it is a trend that will continue.
Here's to being able to press the "slow motion" button during future runs.
Many athletes and sports teams use videotape to review as part of an effort to improve their performance in the future. Many little league parents use videotape so they can relive their son or daughter's moment of glory.
This points to differing but not necessarily contradictory reasons for using videotape. One is to preserve the moment of glory for future enjoyment. While this is certainly nice - or it would be if we ever get a worthwhile moment of glory to preserve - this is not my primary reasons for videotape.
I like having the videotape because it lets me go back and see - without the rush of the moment - what is actually happening. What is good. What is bad. What is handler error. What is the dog not doing what it should. What is sheep being uncooperative.
I also like having video of some better handler's runs so I can see what they are doing differently. It is really amaxzing what can be learned by watching and comparing.
The videotape does not lie and it can shine a bright light on both flaws and also what is going right.
It is especially interesting to go back to some old tapes to compare and see the progress that has been made.
Operation Recovery SDT
We made our second and third attempts at a Pro-Novice Trial over the weekend of May 1 - 2, 2009 at the Pauma Valley SDT to benefit Operation Recovery (a returning veterans organization).
The field was a flat rectangle with fairly high grass. Unfortunately because of the topography of the field and the height of the grass a number of the dogs had some difficulty spotting the sehhep at set out. Honestly, from the spectators viewpoint it was almost impossible to see the dog after about halfway out on the outrun. The view from atop the bale of hay at the handler's post was better though.
Maggie was my first dog in the run order on Saturday and as we walked to the post she never really saw where the sheep were and clearly was confused as to why I was dragging her out into a large field with seemingly no sheep. I tried to send her "come bye" and she was having none of it. I was almost ready to retire her without her even leaving my feet when she flopped over to the away side so I sent her that way.
She then did a nice outrun but only about halfway to the sheep where she cut in snd almost to the centerline where she looked back at me as if to say - "See, I told you - no sheep !!". She did take an away redirect and went and got her sheep. By this time she was discombobulated and wwanted to circle on the fetch so we retired.
Piper did not have the same trouble on her outrun. I'm not sure if she saw her sheep but she trusted me enough anyway to take a "come bye" and ran nice and deep behind the sheep. She took my whistle to turn in but came in a little fast and busted the sheep up a little. Still the lift was an improvement over Sonoma but not what we have been getting in practice. The fetch was a bit of a breakneck speed and somewhat offline but she did take a couple downs and we made it around the post but not much further before retiring.
Overall I was very happy with Piper and I was particularly pleased whn Jennifer commented after the run that I looked like I knew what I was doing instead of being in panic and react mode.
Sunday the dogs ran in reverse order. This time I set Maggie up to go away and I still don't think she saw the sheep but she trusted me enough to go anyway. At least she went off more at her usual speed and started wide. After a slight turn in about halfway she took my "away, get out" (not sure why I did not lose points for that but I didn't) and bent out nicely and came up behind the sheep. She lifted them a bit fast and to the left, though. She was still clearly a bit out of her comfort zone as she had trouble putting them on - line and did one circle on the fetch (I said out loud that if she did one more we were retiring). We got the sheep around the post - despite their desire to snack on the handlers post hay bale - and she actually started to drive them away. She did not get far and started to stress out so I decided to retire her before her mind was completely blown. Big improvement from Saturday and -- according to at least one observer who has not seen us for a while - big improvement over where we used to be.
Piper's run on Sunday falls more into the realm of steady improvement and getting a bit farther around the course. The outrun was again lovely and deep. She did not take a full lie down but she did give me some hesitation and pace. The lift was much better and she lifted the sheep straight and - while at a brisk pace - it was not a race. She brought them pretty straight down the fetch line - or at least it seemed that way to me until I check the videotape. When we made some directional adjustments to maneuver around the post the sheep escaped on her by about twenty yards and while she covered nicely I think this is where we lost our 4 points on the fetch.
We managed to get about two thirds of the way to the drive away panel mostly on line before the sheep made a left turn for the road and an open spot in the fence. When the sheep got too close to the fence, the Judge called our run about 1 second before I was going to retire her anyway. We then successfully retrieved while guarding against the escape.
For the weekend 3 RT's and 1 DQ but I am still very happy with the progress. We are making it a bit further around each time (except for Maggie on Sat).
Congrats to Friends. I have not heard the full results but apparently two of the dogs we train with on Saturdays in Campo made it halfway to the nursery nationals today at the SJVBCA Spring Trial in Deer Creek.
Congrats to Sara Goodman and Tweed who placed first in the first Nursery Run today.
Congrats also to Sharon Roman and Flair for placing first in the second Nursery Run.
They both have made it halfway to Klamath Falls. Good job ladies !!!!
Training - Saturday April 4, 2009 - Canines and Ewe
This is a regular training Saturday but with the benefit of an informative trial test from Sonoma and with a targeted next trial in Pauma Valley in about a month. Our Sonoma experience has identified that we have a number of things to work on and we are trying to target those in training this weekend.
I have worn my running shoes because one of the big things we will need wotrk on is getting Piper to pay attention to me from a distance. I am expecting that I may be running down the field a few times to enforce the messages being delivered to Piper. I am also working on trying to get my whistle blowing consistent enough so I can start using whistles to communicate with Piper and also with Maggie. So far I seem to have a "Come Bye" and a "Walk Up". I am still working on the "Away" and "Lie Down" as well as "There".
If we are to have any success in Pauma Valley I need to be able to get Piper to take my commands from a distance. Jennifer tells me I need to project power from the post. It's a good phrase so I ask "How do I do that ?" Pretty much as expected I need to be ready to go out and let Piper know that "down" means "down" - every time. Thus, the running shoes.
On her first outrun Piper comes into the sheep too strong and we have a near repeat of Sonoma. I have planned for it and am already partway down the field.
"DOWN !!!" followed by a run the rest of the way to Piper who reacts as if I have finally and truly lost it. Just the reaction we are looking for.
The next lift is a better and we have a controlled fetch but it is a little jerky as Piper likes to get up with a quick first step and I am trying to make sure to down her whenever she gets up too quick.
Our third effort is back to a chase lift and another crazed run up the middle. Piper reacts as before but she does not run off the field and we take the long walk of shame back to the post to resend. This time it works much better and the lift and fetch are both nicely controlled. Everything is going so well that I take her around the makeshift post and start the drive toward the drive away panels on a little practice course. With adjustments we are only somewhat zig zagging our way toward the first panel and so Jennifer lets me keep going. Amazingly we made the panel and themn she took the flank to start the cross drive. It certainly was not a thing of beauty but there was only some zig zagging and we made the cross drive panels. We even did some of it with whistles. We did learn a nbew command though - the "AwayDOWN" or "Come ByeDOWN" with essentially no pause because Piper is so quick I need to put her down almost immediately on a minor adjustment flank. This is the first time I have ever made a full drive away and cross drive from the post !!! Yea !!
For the rest of the afternoon we play set out dog for some of the other students. Piper is on her best behavior and is taking all (well - almost) of her lie downs (verbal and whistle) and her flanks. It seems that her early in the day experience with berserk trainer sunk in. This also happened when we first got her and the second time we worked I had to really get in her face close at hand.
Fortunately she learns quickly and it does not appear I will need to go into psycho mode very often. After only a couple firm corrections running up the field she was like a different dog by the end of the day.
I need to remember that Piper has only been with me for a little over two months. The partnership is definitely developing and getting better each time. She already has taken me farther than I have made it before and we are just beggining to partner up.
I am looking forward to the day when she is truly working "for" me and not just "with" me on the field. Each time out there is a little bit more working "for". When she does this she clearly has the ability and if we can get it together it will be a fun journey.
Sonoma Dog Friendly Wine Tasting
One of the big bnefits of making our Pro Novice debut at Sonoma was the ability to go wine tasting afterwards. Starting with a toast of Piper Sonoma Blanc de Blanc methode champenoise to celebrate our debut we toured several of the local dog friendly wineries for tasting.
There is actually a list of dog friendly wineries and most were very happy to invite Maggie and Piper in although none of the wineries was willing to serve based on "dog years" so the girls were not able to taste.
Sonoma Wine Country SDT - March 20, 2009.
This was our first move up to Pro-Novice and it was quite a jump. In reality we probably were not ready but did not want to remain a perpetual novice. And as I told anyone within ear shot if we did well we would celebrate by going wine tasting and if we did poorly we would commiserate by going wine tasting. So there was really no way to lose.
Well - by most standards we probably would not be considered to have done well - but I was very happy with both dogs.
Piper was up first (18th overall) and she was only the second dog all day to "Go Bye". Her outrun was gorgeous - wide, deep and a lie down at the top. Unfortunately she came on a bit too strong on the lift and I was too inexperienced to tap on the brakes before things got a bit out of control and she gripped out on the lift.
Maggie was up about an hour and a half later. Her sheep broke toward her on the outrun but she continued wide (not quie as wide as Piper) and came up on balance for a nice lift. Maggie was one of only three out of sixty dogs to score a zero/zero on her outrun and lift. Unfortunately as she was coming down the fetch line the sheep wanted to escape to a corner where they had escaped on many dogs. I made a misstep by trying to get Maggie around to the other side and when she hesitated and released the pressure her sheep got away from her. I am told that at least one person who has seen Maggie since we started going to Novice trials commented that it was the best he has ever seen Maggie. So progress.
As planned we celebrated with a toast of Piper Sonoma Blanc de Blanc methode champenoise.
