It has been a very nice couple of days for me. I think I earned it with all the work I have been doing! I went up for another two day lesson at my trainer's place, and it was just great. She has tons of different sheep- some heavy, some light, some not dog broke, you name it. That makes for some great training opportunities for me and my dogs!
Danny did well, though his outrun needs to be deeper- his left flank seems to have gotten less good, so that translates into less than optimal outrun/lift. I am going to have to send him, and then run up to the sheep to make my presence known. I don't want to raise my voice at the lift, because he is finally getting confident doing it, but he is sensitive enough that my presence and a little get out" as he gets to about 9:00-10:00 should help.
We worked on driving and I am better at doing/going where I need to, and Danny actually did a box!!! He is very responsive to my stops and my flank commands, but we will need to work on inside flanks for a long time, I suspect. He is walking up nicely on sheep, and has lost a little of the stop/stay there, so I will have to be careful to give him a steady versus a stand. and Require absolute obedience when I ask for a lie down.
Lucy got to work a few big groups, and that's really her forte- no losing sheep on the sides for her. Lucy didn't get a lot to do, but what she did, she enjoyed!
On the way home, we picked up a hay manger, and while there, we were invited to try Danny in a packed pen with some well dog broke, and not mean sheep. I had wanted to do this, but I didn't know if he was ready.... This person knows their stuff, so when they invited, I was all for it.
So, he takes Danny in, and at first, Danny indiscriminately bites some sheep. But, then, Danny started taking the flanks around. At first, he would meet resistance in the form of sheep's butts, but then he would gently try to bite the hocks. Then, he started pushing past against the wall. Then, it was my turn. I got in there, and Danny did as I asked, and I got some reminders of what to do and not to do. Well, that boy was so good. At one point he was literally faced with a sheep who did could not move, and faced him. So, I encouraged him to bite her face, and he *almost* got the courage, he hung in there long enough that she turned, and then, a few times he got in the faces of some other sheep, you could see it was a different dog. We will do this again, but I am stoked for how well it went.
On the way home, that was interesting. The hay manger was too big to allow the door to shut, so we tied the door down and Lucy was in the front seat, and Danny on a ledge that we made out of plywood for the space between back seat and front seat. Danny slept and did not move, until we pulled into the farm. He was soooo tired.
Got the hay manger unloaded, chatted with my brother for a bit, and then home. I got home to see my momma Parakeet was all puffed up- not good. I looked and saw one feeder was just about out of seed, and the other was 1/2 full. Well, apparently, momma will only go to one feeder (the empty) and thusly went a bit hungry. So, I immediately refilled "her" feeder, and left them be.
Then, Danny, who had an eye irritation earlier, showed up with a very painful/squinty eye. Off to the vet we rush. No corneal scratch, and basically chalked up to an allergic/irritation reaction.
THEN, we finally get home. LONG day, but in general a great one!!!!!!!!!!!
PS: Momma Parakeet is back to normal this morning :)
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