Training Bend

Headed to TN

Tue, 20 Jul 2010 21:48:27 -0400

Bend worked my spring lambs tonight. They excite her. We are getting the idea of the shed. Cy Peterson was visiting and helped Bend with the early sheds by managing the sheep we leave behind in our cut. I am hoping to get to Jan’s tomorrow for training early Thursday morning. We will get to do some big outruns. Bend is now off the waiting list for the Steamboat Springs trial. I am hoping Newt and Lizard will get in, they are 6 down the list.

We all swim every day, Bender does the most!

Till we load up and head out!

Huge Advancements Achieved

Fri, 9 Jul 2010 09:09:39 -0400

I have been away from recording Bend’s progress and it has slowed the training process some. A training log is a big help to focus on what you want, where you are going, what you are getting, and gives you time to think about how to progress in your training.

In the past two months a lot has taken place. Bend had some very nice runs at the Bluegrass series of trials with some placements. A cross over popped up once, so I was pleased to get the chance to train through it in a trial situation. Bluegrass is great for young dogs as you get so many chances to run. I had no intentions of running Bend in all that I entered, but she improved with each run so we kept going to the post. Training at Vergil’s did us a world of good.

Now that I have settled into my training for my trip west in mid August, we have started to work on shedding. She will be my hardest dog to train to shed as she has the most desire to keep things together. My lambs are weaned and ready to help Bender out with this new skill.

Our inside flanks are well on the way, the comeby outrun is our best now.

We have suffered a major
blow from a 1.5 pound rooster
that flogged her in one of my
sheep lots. Bend does not
want to flank anywhere near
the lot now. I have caught
the rooster and gotten Bend
to pull a few feathers. I am
sure we can conquer this problem. If not, Dr. Hatchet will have a cure.

New training field.

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 22:24:12 -0400

What a great spring we are having. Today I drove 30 minutes down the mountain to Landrun horse country to train in a large field supplied by a client, Marcy Wright. What a lucky find for me!

Bend had a tight at the top outrun today. The first
one in a while. I was bummed. But she is driving
and flanking better.

One step back, two steps forward.

Swimming in the lake is part of the routine now.
Bend swims 3 times more than the rest. She
does laps for the joy of swimming.

Hellbender at Watercress in the Spring

Wed, 7 Apr 2010 07:35:08 -0400

Back to Watercress farm before the alfalfa hay field grows too tall in which to work. Bender’s big improvement came in her outruns. Altho not able to catch on video, her outruns were nice and deep and thrice the length. Her difficult side, the clockwise circle, is now her best outrun side. Vergil says this is not unusual because people tend to focus on the difficult. She is more relaxed with her inside flanks, but still too tight, especially on the come-by.

I included a clip of Vergil Holland completing a shed with Bend’s half sister, his open dog, Brooke, out of Stienman’s Don (Bend’s sire). I see some similar working style between Brooke and Bend. There are many good Don dogs competing today. I have been told that all the dogs from Bend’s litter are outstanding. Jan made it possible for me to purchase Bend for Eileen Stieman.

Getting out to new fields and new sheep is a keystone in the training of a good stock dog. If I could not move my sheep to new fields and occasionally train at other farms, my dogs would never be competitive.

Sorry about the poor video techniques. I do not carry a tripod with me when I go out to train. Jan’s place is one of the most beautiful places I have been. The video does not do justice to the size of her hay field nor the spring slender of the Smokey Mountains. Jan has two sets of sheep to work, as well as keeping a large flock of ewes and lambs. Jan is the breeder of my number one open dog, Newt.

Spring has sprung.

Wed, 31 Mar 2010 22:05:03 -0400

What wonderful spring weather! We have gone from heavy snows to showers of flowers in only a few days. Bend trained at Watercress Farm, Limestone, TN for 3 days last week. We will hit Otties Knob for the first time this year tomorrow. Our outruns are getting better, wider at the top. I see improvement with our inside flanks, slowly becoming better. Bend still struggles with the clockwise flank and sometimes my commands fall of deaf ears.