We are near abouts Elizabeth, CO. Lots of dirt roads here....lot of farms and livestock. At this 2-day clinic, the first day the "competition level" handlers train with Linda Holloway (first picture) while the "beginning" handlers train with Tammy Van Deusen. Tomorrow we switch. It was hot and windy today, but generally enjoyable and productive. There were several shelties at the clinic and very nice Co sheltie people I enjoyed meeting(ok, even the Border Collie people were nice.)
Today I trained with Linda Holloway. I haven't figured out why trialing or training is so exhausting...I mean it's not like we are chasing the sheep around (although I do sometimes chase my dog). I'm trashed. But before I crash for the evening, I wanted to do a brief summary of some of the things I learned today:
-I need to be more subtle or at least aware of my herding voice. Not every command needs to be a shouted order; i.e. "go bye" spoken softly should incite a quieter and slower movement than a shouted "go bye." I need to be aware of that and use it.
-I adequately use pressure/body language to get the dog to move. But I need to learn to remove pressure as a reward and allow the dog the sheep. A simple example, is when a dog obeys a "lie down" command, to step back a few spaces. (In our training sessions today, Winnie learned Linda's words "let her have them now" and would happily prance over to her stock when she heard them.)
-Linda gave me a good reminder about using the "tap tap" of the crook to warn or signal the dog to move away. My first trainer Jerry Stewart taught me that. It was good to be reminded. It is more subtle than chasing or blocking the dog with our body.
-One of Linda's main themes is not to "micro manage" the dog. She wants clients to watch the sheep, and then command the dog to control the sheep. But she also wants us to let the dog work the sheep...to be patient and let the dog learn. She says particularly, I use too many commands.
Okay, what you are waiting for...Winnie met Cloud today and they are already enamoured with each other. Because I was working with Linda, I didn't meet Tammy or Cloud until the end. So I didn't get to see Cloud work. But he is handsome and friendly. He and Winnie immediately hit it off and were playing and chasing each other for a good hour..until we had to pack up and leave. Tammy says Cloud only does that with a few females he knows. Tammy seems like a real kindred spirit in how she approaches her dogs and life. So anyways, both Winnie and I are looking forward to working with Tammy and Cloud tomorrow.
P.S. Winnie is trashed too...(see second picture- at one point all 4 of her feet were straight up in the air!)
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