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DogPlay's Roadside Rescue, JHD



 
 
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  #1  
Old January 2nd 06, 03:47 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
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Default DogPlay's Roadside Rescue, JHD

Well to welcome in the New Year we braved driving rains, floods, falling
trees and 60 MPH winds to attend an AHBA herding trial a little over an
hour south of home. Actually we missed most of the worst of it. The bad
floods were an hour north, the driving rain managed to come before and
after our runs, the trees fell the other direction and .... well OK the
winds were still 60 mph. Very ..... um .... stimulating.

On Saturday our judge almost didn't get there due to the flooding - she
lives three hours north of the trial. A very nice person with experience
in many breeds (and non-breeds).

The JHD is a "test" which means it is pass / fail. The dog isn't scored
but instead is rated (good, fair, insufficient, not accomplished) on
various skills (pause, collect and control, movement through course,
obstacles, reliable stop, repen). To pass you have to get either good or
fair on each skill. It takes two "legs" (passes) to get a JHD title. Think
of it as graduating from kindergarden.

For the JHD the team walks into the arena and "sets up". The sheep are
then set out. The "Pause" is the dog waiting until it is released to pick
up the sheep. Despite the mud Freeway willingly stayed down and waited
calmly while I got a little closer to the sheep before sending him.

Let me digress ...

Different herding dogs have different styles. Freeway is very different
from Tsuki. Tsuki is much more intense, but more natural. Freeway
sometimes can't decide whether he wants to work, or to explore the
interesting scents in the arena. Still, even though he sometimes doesn't
look it, Freeway does have some good balance (the ability to adjust his
position relative to the sheep to keep them to an intended goal). Also,
unlike Tsuki, Freeway does find it acceptable to simply walk behind the
sheep and not stir them up.

So to continue .... Freeway came in like a freight train. He does that a
lot. A better style would be to arc out away from the sheep, then turn in
when he is "behind" them relative to me. These sheep aren't much concerned
about the dog. They also know they can count on the person for protection.
So they tend to go right to the person if the dog lets them. Once Freeway
saw the sheep were with me he decided it was a good time to go explore the
arena.

Sigh, I called him in and he went back to work. First "obstacle" is a
corner panel, just bring the sheep through the panel in the correct
direction. On Saturday I kind of lost track of where I was and ended up
too far to the side. I had to back up to correct. On Sunday I was pretty
much spot on. Freeway did a very nice job of stopping and switching
directions on command. Next walk down the fence line to another corner
panel. On Saturday we got about halfway there when Freeway decided that he
could stop sniffing and come play with the sheep. I turned quickly to have
him go around the sheep and whooops slipped in the mud.

No harm, got up and continued. On Sunday at this point Freeway thought a
corner of the arena deserved extra sniff inspection, so I had to stop and
call him to come back to work. The second panel was negotiated
uneventfully. Now scoop the sheep off the fence and proceed to the center
panels. Both days we managed to go around the panels instead of through
them. On Saturday I didn't notice but at this level the Judge is allowed
to help and she told me so I went back and did them properly. On Sunday it
was an easy fix. Get Freeway's attention (again!) a couple easy changes of
direction, and we are through.

The last thing is to put the sheep away. Now the sheep really would like
to be put away. So the trick is to have the dog keep a position that keeps
the sheep away from the gate until it is safely open. Then open the gate
and have the dog move so the sheep go through the gate - without the dog
following!

I must be doing at least one thing right. Both my dogs do excellent gate
work. They are both good and subtle repositioning to put just enough
presence that the sheep back off - but not so much that they leave. And
neither move when the sheep go through the gate.

One of the things I was looking forward to at this trial was the fact that
Sunday's judge was also the judge for Freeway's HCT. And in that one
Freeway flunked. Not for lack of interest, but for lack of control.
Interest he had in bucketloads. So it was nice to be able to show that,
yes, my dog can move the sheep with control.

Ultimately I think Freeway is going to be a decent sheepdog. I didn't get
him to be a sheepdog. I got him to be a companion, and a friend to Tsuki,
and to do therapy dog visits. But if he enjoys herding, and he really
seems to, and agility, ditto, well why not.

Among most herding people that sniffing thing is taken as a sign of
disinterest. But people who have trained in many things will usually
recognize it can also be stress related displacement. He really wants to
do what I want him to do. And all this is new to him. So he is still
trying to figure it out. And when his little brain gets confused, well a
good sniff is a way to relieve the pressure. Of course stress itself
isn't an evil thing. Anything other than blah is a form of stress ...
love, happiness, excitement ... And as he learns those stress signs come
less and less frequently.

We had a good time. It was a nice way to welcome in the new year.

--
Diane Blackman
There is no moral victory in proclaiming to abhor violence
while preaching with violent words.
http://dog-play.com/ http://dogplayshops.com/
  #2  
Old January 4th 06, 01:55 PM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
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Default Why won't you EXXXPLAIN why you are a convicted felon?

on 2006-01-04 at 04:32 wrote:

i think we already know the true idiot. he makes it easy


yes, he surely does.

--
shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net
http://cat-sidh.blogspot.com/
  #3  
Old January 6th 06, 12:32 AM posted to rec.pets.dogs.behavior
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Posts: n/a
Default Why won't you EXXXPLAIN why you are a convicted felon?

dogs need to stay away from rods as people are not aware of dogs while
they are driviing. dogs sometimes become skiterish around cars and so
need to be kept clear of roads.

 




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