Ok, that's a bold claim to make. AFter all for a lot of border collies
sheep = life - so how could Tsuki be the *happiest* sheepdog? I dunno -
he's mine so he just is. He isn't the *best* sheepdog but he is
competent. And he does have a work ethic, but he also has a grin that
just can't be beat. Its fun and intersting to watch him go through
various emotions.

No one who is serious about working sheep likes to see a dog with its tail
cranking - it means the dog is having fun, not working. And its true.
When Tsuki has his tail cranking he is quite obviously NOT thinking about
controlling the sheep - he's just having a good time. Fortunatly for all
of us even in tha mode he does seem to pay attention to things like an
upcoming fence. If he isn't going to be able to turn the sheep off the
fence he peels off in the opposite direction and gives the sheep plenty of
room to stop.

As he gets better and more mature he is saving his tail cranking runs for
"that'll do" which means we are done with the sheep, - where upon he takes
off full blast tail cranking wildly - not chasing anything at all but
making wild big loop-de-loops everywhere BUT where the sheep are.
Yesterday he tried a regression and did a tail cranking out run which
rather alarmed the sheep. It was muddy and slippery and the field has a
pretty good slope to it and I wasn't having any of it. At least we now
have a STOP so cutting off his fun wasn't a problem.

I put his leash on and we practiced driving the sheep. One loop aroud the
field and the sheep began to trust I actually had control of my dog and
they settled down. And I ended up not actually using the leash (i.e. he
did what he was told) So I dropped the leash and he settled admirably into
working sheepdog mode.

Best of all he settled into THINKING sheep dog mode and covered his sheep
without coming in too close and without me telling him what to do.
(Covering the sheep means changing his position to adjust the sheep's
direction of travel - and keep them from bolting.) In working / thinking
mode the whole body language and demeanor is different. He doesn't have a
lot of Border Collie eye, but there is still an obvious focus to his
attention. When he is in working mode he always starts with a head drop
then when he's covering as we walk the field he will stop and stand very
uright, watch his sheep, then move again.

He moves more slowly when he is working. When hes working I feel he is
very satisfied, very fulfilled, but not necessarily joyful. But give him
the "that'll do" and the joy bursts out of him. I'm always amazed and
amused at how quickly he can shift from one mode to another.

I've learned a lot from working with him on sheep. I've come to
appreciate, for example, exactly how big a handicap it is for a novice
shepherd to try to train a green dog. I understand why if you *really*
want to learn to handle you learn to handle on a trained dog first. I
haven't done that because as a sport I just don't take it that seriously.
I also grok the importance of innate desire/drive/whatever you want to
call it. In sheep herding you are really handicapped if the dog is merely
being obedient. The ideal sheepdog is actually aware of how it affects
the sheep and will adjust speed, position and body posture as necessary to
attain the goal. A good sheepdog, for example, will take pressure off the
sheep just by turning its head away. Taking pressure off is good because
it keeps the sheep from going into panic mode. They do this without being
told anything. One of the things Tsuki does consistently well is penning.
Why? WEll despite his desire to work closer to the sheep than he should
when fetching or driving he seems to have a really good feel for when to
stop when we are pushing the sheep into a pen. Push too hard and the
sheep don't go int the pen, they scatter in all directions. He stops
pretty far back and just stands there. When he does that the sheep all
tend to settle in front of the gate. Then a single step forward on his
part pushes them through.

I have some mysteries I haven't really solved like why real work
is different for a dog than trialing or practice at trialing. I'm not
mystified that they can tell the difference - but why should they care and
behave differently? But they often do. Tsuki certainly does. He never
goes into tail cranking mode when we set out to do a specific real task.
He's not alone in that.

Diane, great post! Great read! Thanks for posting about Tsuki
and his sheep adventures. I love reading these posts. They are
quite modivating.

wrote:



I've learned a lot from working with him on sheep. I've come to
appreciate, for example, exactly how big a handicap it is for a novice
shepherd to try to train a green dog. I understand why if you *really*
want to learn to handle you learn to handle on a trained dog first.

I would think the above could be true in any dog sport. Schutzhund
definitely comes to mind with the above

I have some mysteries I haven't really solved like why real work
is different for a dog than trialing or practice at trialing. I'm not
mystified that they can tell the difference - but why should they care and
behave differently? But they often do. Tsuki certainly does. He never
goes into tail cranking mode when we set out to do a specific real task.
He's not alone in that.

Indeed I have certainly seen and experience the above.

Thanks so much for this detailed and fabulous post.

Gwen

Diane, great post! Great read! Thanks for posting about Tsuki
and his sheep adventures. I love reading these posts. They are
quite modivating.

wrote:



I've learned a lot from working with him on sheep. I've come to
appreciate, for example, exactly how big a handicap it is for a novice
shepherd to try to train a green dog. I understand why if you *really*
want to learn to handle you learn to handle on a trained dog first.

I would think the above could be true in any dog sport. Schutzhund
definitely comes to mind with the above

I have some mysteries I haven't really solved like why real work
is different for a dog than trialing or practice at trialing. I'm not
mystified that they can tell the difference - but why should they care and
behave differently? But they often do. Tsuki certainly does. He never
goes into tail cranking mode when we set out to do a specific real task.
He's not alone in that.

Indeed I have certainly seen and experience the above.

Thanks so much for this detailed and fabulous post.

Gwen

Diane, great post! Great read! Thanks for posting about Tsuki
and his sheep adventures. I love reading these posts. They are
quite modivating.

wrote:



I've learned a lot from working with him on sheep. I've come to
appreciate, for example, exactly how big a handicap it is for a novice
shepherd to try to train a green dog. I understand why if you *really*
want to learn to handle you learn to handle on a trained dog first.

I would think the above could be true in any dog sport. Schutzhund
definitely comes to mind with the above

I have some mysteries I haven't really solved like why real work
is different for a dog than trialing or practice at trialing. I'm not
mystified that they can tell the difference - but why should they care and
behave differently? But they often do. Tsuki certainly does. He never
goes into tail cranking mode when we set out to do a specific real task.
He's not alone in that.

Indeed I have certainly seen and experience the above.

Thanks so much for this detailed and fabulous post.

Gwen

Diane, great post! Great read! Thanks for posting about Tsuki
and his sheep adventures. I love reading these posts. They are
quite modivating.

wrote:



I've learned a lot from working with him on sheep. I've come to
appreciate, for example, exactly how big a handicap it is for a novice
shepherd to try to train a green dog. I understand why if you *really*
want to learn to handle you learn to handle on a trained dog first.

I would think the above could be true in any dog sport. Schutzhund
definitely comes to mind with the above

I have some mysteries I haven't really solved like why real work
is different for a dog than trialing or practice at trialing. I'm not
mystified that they can tell the difference - but why should they care and
behave differently? But they often do. Tsuki certainly does. He never
goes into tail cranking mode when we set out to do a specific real task.
He's not alone in that.

Indeed I have certainly seen and experience the above.

Thanks so much for this detailed and fabulous post.

Gwen

Cool post! Thanks for telling us about Tsuki and his sheepherding. Dogs
working sheep has always fascinated me and I've always enjoyed watching it
so it was fun to read about you and Tsuki. I never really knew much about
the training aspect, although I know it is involved. It's also interesting
to me how much of herding is ingrained in the dog naturally.

Cool post! Thanks for telling us about Tsuki and his sheepherding. Dogs
working sheep has always fascinated me and I've always enjoyed watching it
so it was fun to read about you and Tsuki. I never really knew much about
the training aspect, although I know it is involved. It's also interesting
to me how much of herding is ingrained in the dog naturally.

Cool post! Thanks for telling us about Tsuki and his sheepherding. Dogs
working sheep has always fascinated me and I've always enjoyed watching it
so it was fun to read about you and Tsuki. I never really knew much about
the training aspect, although I know it is involved. It's also interesting
to me how much of herding is ingrained in the dog naturally.

Cool post! Thanks for telling us about Tsuki and his sheepherding. Dogs
working sheep has always fascinated me and I've always enjoyed watching it
so it was fun to read about you and Tsuki. I never really knew much about
the training aspect, although I know it is involved. It's also interesting
to me how much of herding is ingrained in the dog naturally.

On Thu, 04 Dec 2003 06:15:26 GMT, opined:

Ok, that's a bold claim to make.

Diane,
Thanks for this post and the one on Oso the therapy dog. They put a big smile
on my face.

I appreciate it.
Chad

--
Looking for a pet? Adopt one! ** http://www.petfinder.com
Info for a healthy, happy dog? * http://www.dog-play.com


It's hard to think of you as the end result of
millions of years of evolution.