Ducks or Sheep? Ted Picks . . .

Yay for Ted. I think I'd have chosen the ducks but hey, sheep are fun too.

I watched a PBS show last night and the woman had rescued a bearded collie who liked to chomp on sheep. She worked with him for quite some time and he was doing great. When they went for testing though, one of the sheep bolted from the rest and he sort of freaked out and so he failed the test. The woman was disappointed but vowed to continue to work with the sweet boy. It was fun to watch. Here's the info on the show:

Herbie, a two-year-old bearded collie, couldn’t rein in his impish personality or his penchant for attacking livestock. His errant ways had put him at risk of being shot by a local farmer. Fortunately, sheepdog trainer Barbara Sykes sensed Herbie was more than just a marauder. In her gentle yet firm manner, she coaches him hoping to hone his skills to herd rather than bite sheep on her working farm in England.

 That's just so cool....I really don't think I could do what you do but I love to watch the results. 

And who did I catch a flash of at about the 1:16 mark? lol.  

I've heard of the Barbara Sykes episode with Herbie.

And who did I catch a flash of at about the 1:16 mark? lol.

Wait until I post the little training video I'm putting together.  In the background it's all Maremmas, all the time!   

brookcove

I've heard of the Barbara Sykes episode with Herbie.

She reminded me of you, except with a British accent.

I don't mean this as a criticism at all, but I noticed both with her working with Herbie and you with Ted or the others, that sometimes it takes a few times of saying "lie down" before they do it. Is that still part of training? Do they eventually know to drop on a dime when you say it, or is it an accepted type of behavior. Again - no criticism intended cause I think you do amazing work with your dogs 

No offense taken.  It's a very common question.  Ted's a young dog and his level of compliance will go up, but there are times, and always will be, when I ask for a "lie down" and it will not look like the dog has complied, but I accept it.  The reason is that "lie down" is not a command with an absolute definition from the dog's point of view (or human's) - as in, it always means get on your belly.  It actually has to do with the sheep - it means, roughly, cease putting pressure on the sheep.  I'm looking for some effect on the sheep - maybe to slow down, calm down, stop, or stop turning away.  If I get the effect, I don't hammer on Ted about where his body is. 

That's why it's impossible to clicker train real herding.  You can train something that looks like it, on sheep that are basically training to follow people, but a person can't tell a dog what to do with his body at any one time, in a split second, to do what needs to be done to get the job done. 

Here's another video - he did something really awesome, going that far without scattering the sheep - but he sort of balanced it by not listening to a single "lie down", like ever.  If he had listened you would have seen the sheep settle down.  Instead they kind of - ran faster . . . 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w10QE76u3Xg 

It's like they only have so much good to go around.  I can accept that though.   

Hi Becca,

great videos of Ted!  Thought you might like to know that you have inspired me.  Both Cau and Bernie have now been to their first round-pen lessons.  I appreciate your videos as a learning tool and hope to get some photos at least of our next lesson. 

Wonderful!  How did they do?  If you start competing and end up at Roy Johnson's place near Lynchburg, let me know and I'll be sure to come up and root for you.  I'm only about an hour from them.  I may also end up going up to Susan Rhodes' (sp) next fall but only for USBCHA stuff.  I don't know how far that is from you, though.

Admiration for what you do!

That's where we went, to Susan's place.  She worked with Bernie, and she liked his intensity a lot.  I worked with Cau.  He seemed a little...distracted....?  But they both have good POTENTIAL. 

The problem for me currently is time and steep, steep price.  I finish school in Oct. and should have a little more of both then.  Hoping to get Joe involved, too.  Thanks for anoter place to look into down in Lynchburg.....

 I thought of you all this week - we drove up 29 to Leesburg to drop off a dog at (I hope) her new home, and the valley is just so gorgeous right now.  The drought last year was just depressing.  I'd forgotten what all those farms looked like with grass!  We celebrated our 15th wedding anniversary in Manassass and vowed to get up that way more often.  There are many trials (USBCHA) this fall and I intend to at least go watch, if not compete, at as many as possible.  Next trial - summer trial at Roy and Debbie Johnson's - never miss it!