Jake the sheepdog

Last week I had the opportunity to "test" Jake on some more sheep than just 5 and in a huge field not a small paddock.
He worked very well in a small paddock and though Sarah said that she thinks he could move a bigger flock of sheep easily, I wasn't so sure.
Anyway, Jake didn't go to fetch the sheep, but once we reached the flock, he was amazing. He drove them behind me, so that I could walk leisurely in front of him. He did a cracking job. Though having no directionals as such ( comebye and away) he instinctively knew what to do.
I could send him to do anything, but he would be very happy to move a flock with sheep with me and keep them together.

I was in awe... He was amazing and really seemed to enjoy himself. He was lying down behind the sheep when asked and stopped when I told him to. Well done Jakey!

Luke was a bit more pushing and it took him about 10 minutes to settle down. In those 10 minutes he just ran circles around the sheep without doing anything else and without harming them.
Then he started driving them towards me. And though he was a bit fast, he was really good. Not as good as Jake though ;)

All in all a lovely experience seeing them enjoying themselves so much. I was overwhelmed to watch them.

Reflection

The Agility season is over now and though I still have a few indoor shows, it feels very much s if the exciting Agility show time is gone.
We have break from training as well at the moment.

I am seriously considering to take Jake out of training. One is a financial aspect, as everything just gets so expensive, but as well, as I don't see an improvement in Jake. He has good days and bad days (like me really ;) )
I am sure he wouldn't do worse at shows without regular training. Maybe I let the kids run him from time to time to get some experience. On the other hand, he always looks for his mummy when he is in the ring with them.... So maybe not such a good choice after all.
Then there is Robbie, who does Agility, but without too much enthusiasm. He would be equally happy without it. He is not the fastest dog anyway and I just keep going with him to actually do something with him other than taking him for a walk.
He is not interested in sheep, so that rules that out....

All these decisions ;)

All in all this season was very nice, though we had the kennel cough and some shows were cancelled due to rain. But I feel like I have learned and awful lot and working with Max is so much different than working with Jake.
I had a few great training days. Would be nice to have the odd one during the winter, but we shall see.

Other than that, I really would like to spend some more time training some of my dogs at sheep, but it seems a very costly hobby, unless I would own some sheep :-O

Mid Downs Show

Well, let's just forget about Mid Downs Show. The weather was awful and I wasn't even sure if I should go.
But I did in the end. Arrived too late, so missed walking the course. Chadiga came along to run Jake.
While waiting in the queue we got soaking wet, though wearing waterproofs.
Max did very well, but came out of the weaves one pole too early. That was a surprise, as he was excellent at last training.
Oh well, never mind. I probably didn't work him good enough.
Jake was just an Ar*e in the ring. Didn't do t al what Chadiga was saying.
as they broke for lunch then we decided to go home to get into some warm cloth. Not sure I wanted to return after being in the dry though.
After getting warm at home again I decided to go back. When we arrived the Jumping class came to and end, so I booked Jake and Max in, but told the caller and the ticket person that I have to go back and get Jake after my run with Max.
Anyway, Max knocked a pole, so I took him back, got Jake and when we came back the class was closed :(
I was a bit miffed as I told 2 people I will be back, but weather was bad and I expect everybody wanted to go home.

That was my last KC Show of the year. Now only a few unaffiliated ones. Training broke up for another 4 weeks, which is a shame as Luke just seem to get the hang of it. The garden is too muddy to train at the moment, so we have to wait for better weather. Yeah right.

This week I have booked another sheepdog session, that should be fun! :)

Larkin with his first clear round rosette!

What a good boy :)

Pairs

Forgot to mention the Pairs. Chadiga and I tried this class first at Paws in the Park. It was so much fun. Max went first and had a cracking clear round. Chadiga went second with Jake and he went clear up to the last obstacle. He stopped before the obstacle and looked at me, sitting behind it. Then he run underneath the jump, to make matters worse, when Chadiga then called him he back jumped the last jump. What a shame, as it was really good. The judge even came over to tell us that it was one of the best runs he had seen that day, if not for the last jump.... Oh well, it was great fun nevertheless.
So again we entered at the UKA show. Max got 5 faults for running around a jump. Then it was Chadiga's turn. And..... She must have confused the class and took her own line :D
She went the totally wrong way, no idea what she was thinking about, you would think with 15 her brain is still working well....
Still the class was great fun and I am sure we will do it again. Next time she might better use Larkin though ;)

UKA Waverunners Show

We were lucky with the weather, the sun was shining, though it started as a foggy day.
We actually arrived late and Chadiga and I had no time to walk the Steeplechase course, which was our first course. So we were watching for a bit :)
The course was a lovely flowing course, really nice. Unfortunately Mx decided that he caannot go to the tunnel on his own, came back to me, i sent him again and he went into the wrong end :-S Silly boy.
The rest of the course was good.
Chadiga took Larkin in the course and managed to get a lovely clear round with him. Well done girl!

The Agility course was rather difficult, jusged by David Munnings, I heard a few voices saying that it is much harder than beginners course. Lots of eliminations, due to strange weave entry and lots of side changes and little pully and handling bits.
Max managed a clear round, so we had to wait all afternoon to see if he got a place. And in the end he managed a 6th place, what a good boy. The jumping wasn't that easy either as you had the weaves right after the tunnel, when the dogs blast out of the tunnel. Lots of dogs ran past the weaves, so did Jake, as I called him off the tunnel and he started his usual barking routine :(
and ran past the weaves. He then found the entry and finished with 5 faults.
Max managed to find the weave entry and got a clear round which then turned out to be an 8th place.

I tried the power and speed for the first time with Max, unfortunately I changed my plan of handling (never a good idea) last minute and instead of a reverse turn on front of the seesaw, I wanted to cross behind the following jump, which pulled Max off the jump and he knocked the poles down.
Too bad.

Next day, Sunday we were back. Lovely weather again, very sunny :)

At the Helterskelter Max decided to shorten the course and go for his lead after half the course.... I have to remember to keep the lead away from the finish or the course at all, so he doesn't leave the ring.
In the Agility he managed to run around the tunnel instead of going in, well, never mind....
Chadiga ran Jake in Agility and he missed a jump to look for his mummy... Naughty dog!

I tried the Time, Fault and Out for the first time and it was great fun. Jake managed to obstacle 8 :-s and went in the wrong end of the tunnel :-O
Max flew around the course and I had real problems keeping up with him.... Boy, he was fast. Unfortunately when we came back to the start for another round he jumped the finish jump...... Oh well.....
When I later checked on results Mac was actually in 6th place, but there were only 6 places, so he got a clear round.

All in all a really nice weekend! Thanks Waverunners!

Next is Mid Downs then ;)

Can't believe it!

Can't believe it is September already.
So what has happened in the meantime?

We went to a few shows and got a few places. Max managed an 11th place in the jumping at Caerphilly. It was a lovely show, though I didn't really feel like going. Weather was a bit mixed to start with.
But when we arrived it perked up and we had a lovely time, though we forgot to pack jackets and rain stuff. Typical!

I didn't go to the Pembroke show, as the weather was just foul.

Then we had Bridgehouse at the end of August. We were lucky with the weather and Jake managed an 18th place in Agility and Max managed a 9th place. I was very happy. Next day (Surrey DTC) we were not that lucky. Though I felt much better than the day before, Max flew over the courses, but knocked a pole in every course.

Then we had Paws in the Park and to my surprise Jake managed a 5th place in Agility. No idea how we managed that :-O
But I was very happy.
The Paws in the Park itself was very disappointing in comparison to last year. The Agility show was nice, beside that we were parked miles away from the rings. On Sunday the kids ring partied all day and had lots of fun. Unfortunately Luke came home with lots of bites round his legs and groin area. No idea what it is. At the moment I put some Lavender and Tea Tree oil on it and hope it helps.

Now the Agility season is nearly over. What a shame.

We haven't been to any sheepdog training lately, but might go at the weekend.

That was my quick update, sorry it is so short....
Doubt anybody reads this ever anyway.... Probably better this way ;)