Tsuki herding pictures

I got some pictures of Tsuki herding yesterday.

http://www.sonic.net/~blackman/images/Tsuki3-7-29j.jpg
See those dots on the hillside? Those are the sheep. See the big oak
tree on the edge of the hill with the blue sky behind it? That's where
the sheep went when Tsuki appeared on scene.

Once he brought the sheep down off the hill and to the front I was close
enough for more working still shots.
http://www.sonic.net/~blackman/images/Tsuki3-7-29g.jpg
http://www.sonic.net/~blackman/images/Tsuki3-7-29b.jpg
http://www.sonic.net/~blackman/images/Tsuki3-7-29a.jpg
http://www.sonic.net/~blackman/images/Tsuki3-7-29e.jpg


I got some nice video of him going out and gathering the sheep from off
the hill but I don't see putting clips up anytime soon.

Diane Blackman
http://www.dog-play.com/ Testing http://www.sonic.net/~blackman/dogplay/

Diane said in rec.pets.dogs.activities:

Once he brought the sheep down off the hill and to the
front I was close enough for more working still shots.

Wow, awesome to see him on all of those sheep, Diane.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.

On Thu, 31 Jul 2003 02:42:41 +0000 (UTC) Melanie L Chang whittled these words:
Go Tsuki!

Where is it that you can work sheep in the middle of a subdivision? One
of my friend's fields has a bunch of McMansions behind it, but that's
because it's recently developed farmland. The neighbors have the
annoying habit of complaining about livestock smells which were present
before they moved in.

Its right next to a major freeway too. The properties are just now
transforming from semi-rural to subdivision. We used to herd a bit
further down the street - where the houses are now. Well it was when
Tsuki was a wee pup so he didn't actually herd but his first intro to
sheep was there. The property we are on now is what remains of a farm
circa 1890s. The property, 16 or so acres, was left to the city (San
Ramon) on the condition it not be developed. Volunteers have been fixing
up the old house, old farm machinery etc. The sheep co-op does public
demos etc. as part of their very reasonable rent of the pastures. The
main hurdle was establishing the historic authentoicity of sheep on the
property. The adjoining property owner has a church/school on it and
they also allow the sheep to graze there. So one picture has Tsuki and
sheep standing in front of playground equipment.
http://www.sonic.net/~blackman/images/Tsuki3-7-29h.jpg
Its only 15 minutes from work, 25 minutes from home.

The co-op has far more people wanting lessons than they have time or
sheep.

Diane Blackman

wrote in message
...
I got some pictures of Tsuki herding yesterday.

http://www.sonic.net/~blackman/images/Tsuki3-7-29j.jpg
See those dots on the hillside? Those are the sheep. See the big oak
tree on the edge of the hill with the blue sky behind it? That's where
the sheep went when Tsuki appeared on scene.

Once he brought the sheep down off the hill and to the front I was close
enough for more working still shots.
http://www.sonic.net/~blackman/images/Tsuki3-7-29g.jpg
http://www.sonic.net/~blackman/images/Tsuki3-7-29b.jpg
http://www.sonic.net/~blackman/images/Tsuki3-7-29a.jpg
http://www.sonic.net/~blackman/images/Tsuki3-7-29e.jpg


I got some nice video of him going out and gathering the sheep from off
the hill but I don't see putting clips up anytime soon.

Diane Blackman
http://www.dog-play.com/ Testing http://www.sonic.net/~blackman/dogplay/


Great pictures! This last weekend my Roxy and 40 other Rhodesian Ridgebacks
went to Ewe-topia in Roy, WA for herding instinct testing. RR's are not a
"herding" breed but they do have tons of prey drive, which is why we gave it
a try. I believe all but one or two passed. It was so fun! We don't plan
on going any further with this, but it was a great experience. I love
watching dogs doing what dogs do, verses what we have taught them to do
(which is fun also, just different). We had our first go at lure coursing
also. Roxy did so-so on that but it had been a long hot and dirty day
before we tried it.

Other breeds that are better behaved than RR's may not do this, but the best
part was listening to them before they got into the ring. The shepherd told
us not to discipline the dogs as beginners, that would come later with more
experience. He wanted them enthusiastic. Roxy has this cry that sounds
like she is being skinned alive (she did it as a pup when we would put her
outside while we ate dinner). Many of the RR's were doing this while
waiting their turn. I also witnessed owners of male RR's dirt skiing behind
their dogs (being pulled) to the pen. Males range from 85-120 lb. If they
had been graded by enthusiasm, the scores would have been off the charts!
Thank doG they had an off leash dog park there also, to blow off steam.

René