Collies, Collies, Collies

Looks like we are over the kennel cough now. Thank Dog for that. But it wasn't as bad as I expected. On Thursday we were back at training. It was very nice. Even Merlin, who was an utter nut case before decided to actually work for me. Good boy! And he was fast. Wow. I was very impressed, if only he would set his mind more often on working, rather than watching the other dogs.

On Friday we went up to Norfolk for a herding lesson with Sarah Jenkins. She is a fabulous trainer. So calm and gentle and always full of praise for dog and handler.

Luke was full on with the sheep. He has much more stamina now and really made me work hard. Now I know why "sheepdog people" are always slim ;)

But I managed in the end to keep Luke behind the sheep quite steady. That was really good. This time he actually came back to me very often, even when I didn't want him to.

I wanted to try Merlin on sheep too, as he likes to herd the other dogs.
And after his initial barking at the sheep he actually wasn't too bad. Not bad for show dog anyway ;)

Then Chadiga asked me to try Jake. I was already very tired and wasn't looking forward to another full power session or a dog eating sheep ;)
What a surprise Jake was. He was gentle and calm and just steadily brought the sheep towards me. It was a pleasure to work with him so that Sarah said next time we go out in the field with him. Wow, what a surprise. Maybe his destiny is not Agility after all, but being a good herder.


Here is a YouTube link of Jake's session.

And Merlin on sheep.

Jake...

Dog's hospital

With Luke on the mend things started looking better. Then last Saturday Max started retching. First I thought something was stuck in his throat, but after a while I realised it must be something else. I looked up kennel cough on the internet and all the symptoms did fit.
Unfortunately I had 2 shows that weekend which I then forgot about :(
Instead I went to a sheepdog trail on Saturday. It was very relaxing to watch and made me realise how difficult it is.
If I ever get that far with Luke, I am not sure we will be any good. It seems so complicated. On the other hand, why worry now, as he doesn't even stop on sheep or does anything in a controlled fashion ;-)

Max is better now, his cough is gone. I gave him Wiccaweys kennel cough remedy and it helped a great deal. Unfortunately all the other dogs came down with kennel cough heavily. Especially Nina and Larkin. They are still coughing.
So no Agility training for us at the moment.

Luke change is amazing. I don't know if it is because he feels better now or if it has to do with the sheepdog training, but his recall improved, he is much more responsive in general, very bright and very very lively ;-)

He looks much better too. Shiney coat and bright eyes....

This week I am off to see Sarah again. I will take some of the other dogs too and try them on sheep.
Then next week I go together with Mary. We share the journey, which will help with petrol. Especially with ever rising petrol prices :(

I have entered Pembroke show now, but actually sent the entries off too late. Not sure they will accept them.
I was wondering if the kids and I could go to Scotland instead. Always wanted to go up there, but it is a pretty long drive...
We shall see.