Lengthy National Updates- Herding

Ok so I will start with Monday and go from there with results and thoughts etc.

Monday- Herding
This was one of the worst things I have seen in a long time. The sheep were flighty and heavy at the same time. The first JHD run there was an opening in the fence and the sheep could wedge themselves behind a gas tank and you could't get them out. The sheep didn't want to be near people or dogs. One dog pulled from th morning JHD run based on how the sheep acted the day before. The other two dogs in the morning struggled and both were backed down a little by the sheep. Neither dog gave up though and they did a great job trying to move the sheep.
So my first run was Venus' 1st leg of her HCT. We made it through and she passed.

Next was Bacchus' 2nd leg of his HCT. He passed and earned his HCT.


Then it was time for Bacchus to attempt the JHD course. One of the 2 dogs from the morning ended up deciding to do HCT instead of JHD. The other dog started ff well but then was limping. I probably caused most of our problems in his JHD run but it was tough.

The blue is where the sheep came in the fence. We had a big problem navigating that area. The pink X nar that is where the sheep would often get "stuck". They would turn andstare at Bacchus but he seems to have enough power that they won't do anything more to scare him. I could send him along the fence there and get the sheep moved. We did ok with the bottom left panel (green square) when looking at the picture. We had real big problems at th 2nd pink X. Bacchus is the greenish arrow and the shep are the grey. To get them out of that cornerI sent him against the fence. Once the sheep moved they took off bac to the pen where they started and I would have to start over. If I sent Bacchus in the other way they would just bolt back the direction we had come from and be back at the pen again. We'd start over and work out of that first corner and get stuck again at the 2nd corner. We did manage to get the 2nd panel (green square on bottom right) somehow. I think it was pure luck. I couldn't figure out how to get the sheep off the fences and into the center panel. We ran out of time. :(
Bacchus was the only dog to make it through 2 panels that day so that was really good. I didn't get video on my camera but someone else did. Once I get that I will post it.
Venus then had her run fo her 2nd leg of the HCT. By this point the sheep were irritated and were refusing to move for many of the dogs. They would charge the dogs and refuse to move. When the Border Collies came in to change stock they had to grip the sheep multiple times to make them move. Venus was doing well until she got charged and hit by a sheep.

That night her foot was a little bit swollen but it was fine by the next day.

National Updates

It's been a crazy week so far. Quick update- Bacchus got his HCT and 1st leg of his NAJ. Venus got the first leg of her NF. Flirt took 3rd in Futurity and 4th in Sweeps!
Lots of things to talk about after I get home.

Happy Birthday Clover!

The first night I saw Clover


HAPPY 5th BIRTHDAY CLOVER!!!

Clover is an amazingly special dog and I will never have another like her. She was MY first dog. My others were never actually registered in my name. I will never again have a champion at 7 months old. I will probably never again have a 2 time National Specialty Award of Merit Winner. She was my first ever agility dog.
Clover is the easiest dog I have ever lived with. She learns easily and wants to please. She tries her hardest to never be a "bad dog". She is the mother of my first actual litter.

Clover is a lovely girl and very sweet. She never causes trouble with any other dogs. Clover is a once in lifetime dog that we have been so blessed to live with.
Brandy

Ugh... A-frames! & Rio

I am still trying to figure out what to do about Venus' aframe. I'm just not finding anything so far that works well without some degree of injury (leaping when she's hyped up, slamming her front, or jamming toes!)


It's looking a bit crazy for my agility day at the National. Thy are doing Ex Std starting at 8am. After that is Ex JWW. There are a total of 42 runs between those 2 classes. Next will be Open Std which Venus is in. Flirt (client dog) is at 9am after 6 dogs, then there are 15 in her class. Pretty much I need 9-10 am to focus on Flirt and that looks like when Venus will be running. Of course. I have someone to cover Flirt for me but I had really wanted to take her in for her first time.

I can't believe I leave on Saturday and I have NOTHING done! My list today is mow the grass, do lots of laundry, gather show clothes, wash dogs, plus i have to go to work.
2 people I am staying with have laptops they are brining, I think. Hopefully I will have internet access and can update this blog. I may use it for results too so it might be non-agility for a while.

Ok one of my all time favorite Shelties is going to be in his first agility trial Oct 4th and 5th. Rio is one of Jenn's dogs and he's just adorable. Hehe before we went to Canada Jenn had to go to work or school one morning. After she left we decided to go back to sleep. Rio cae and took a nap with me. He's jut that sweet cuddly kind of dog. He is nervous about things sometimes and it is a huge deal that he has made it far enough that he is ging to be in an agility trial! I hope there is video!
Brandy

Todays practice

I took Venus out today to work on contactsd and motivation. It was a wonderful training session! I took a target for Venus and worked a little on driving to the target. I kept food on the contact the whole time so it was all her rewarding herself. I wasn't worried about her rewarding something bad because if she jumped off too high she would land past the food and I could get it then before she could. She thought that was a fun game. I put it at the end of the a-frame and got beautiful contacts from her. She was doing a 2o2o most of the time and driving to it rather than trotting down to it. Then I tried the dog walk. First time was a little slow but then she started running quickly up and across and only a little slow down on the down side.
I then decided to try it with the weaves. The first time was about her normal speed but the 2nd time she flew through the weaves to get to it. We even started back away from the weave poles and she drove to them, hit the entry, and blasted through them all. Yay Venus!
Brandy

Crazy Venus!

Venus has been very hyped up the last few weeks. The weather has been awful lately. It is either extremely hot and humid or raining. Neither of which work to go tire her out.
Saturday I took Venus and Bacchus herding. We went through exactly what we needed to do for the HCT and JHD at the national. I was still very nervous about it. Both dogs did fairly well, it was mostly me having the problems. On Sunday we went herding again. This time in a different location and totally different sheep. It went well and we were able to use it like the trial. I think both dogs and I will be fine at the national. Bacchus held his stays amazingly well.

Today I took them both out to do agility. I had my mom come along to help with distractions. It was the perfect night to work on this. The woman who owns the equipment had her dogs out in their fenced yard. There is another fence that backs up to the field and those dogs were out and barking. My mom was standing around playing with Venus. It was a big test for Bacchus but he did extremely well. This worked for Venus some too because she got even more hyped up when she saw me working Bacchus. She did pretty well but several misses on the a-frame. She also had one crazy a-frame performance. She ran up, did a huge jump over the top and landed in the yellow. *sigh* I was glad to see the ethusiasm tonight though.
Brandy

Not much going on

Sorry for the lack of updates this last month. We really haven't been doing much. It's just so hot outside that I haven't been training anybody.
We may be doing a show and go this weekend but it just depends on my schedule and the hurricane! It is scheduled from 9-1 on Saturday. Of course I work 9-12 and it is about a 30 minute drive to the site. Hmmm, by the time I get there I will have to squeeze everything into 30 minutes during a very hot part of the day! I'd like to take Bacchus and try him at a semi-trial like situation before the Sammy National. This is all assuming that Hurrican Hanna doesn't rain on it too bad to cancel. It'd be good for me though if they reschedule for Sunday.
We haven't had a lesson with Ronda in a long long time. I thin the next one is Oct 6th which will be the day I get back from Kansas so I won't be going to that. For those that are interested here's our preliminary schedule for the National:

Saturday September 27th- Leave NC and head out for the National. We'll stop somewhere and stay when we get tired.
Sunday Sept 28th- We continue along and arrive in Cameron, MO for herding on Monday.
Monday Sept 29th- Bacchus tries for his 2nd leg of his HCT and 1st leg of his JHD. Venus will try for both legs of her HCT. Then we head over to Topeka, KS and get unloaded and set up for the show. That night is novice weight pull which I might put Venus in.
Tueday Sept 30th- Agility for Venus and Bacchus. Venus will be in Open standard and JWW and Novice FAST. Bacchus will be in Novice JWW and Novice FAST. Then weight pull competition for Bacchus.
Wednesday Oct 1st- Relax! As of right now we aren't doing anything that day.
Thursday Oct 2nd- Dog class judging for Bacchus.
Friday Oct 3rd- Another day of relaxing and watching for my group.
Saturday Oct 4th- Best of Breed competition for my naked Venus.
Sunday Oct 5th-6th- Drive home and rest.
If I end up with a little more space I will be taking a puppy to show which will add showing her on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday. Nothing like a dog crazy week!

Here's a couple of recent videos since my last post. The first is just a little practice I did with Bacchus. I really need to quit procrastinating and start training him a 2o2o. I tried to keep him slow and calm on the weave poles. I am really afraid he is going to break one.


This next video is Venus' cool new trick. I've always wanted a dog that would do this.