Perspective
Posted By Amyinseattle on April 24, 2012
We had a busy weekend,but i don’t want to rattle on too much.
Lets start with the good news:
Molly found a puppy that she liked. Which sounds harmless enough but up until this point I’m fairly sure she thought all dogs smaller than her were rodents. Since it was a warm day after working cows, i tied her up to the fence a good distance away from the puppies so they could play without accidentally interacting with epic destruction. Being good playful puppies, they ended up rolling around over to Molly anyway and while she didn’t play bow (as she was constrained) she inspected them and allowed for a little teething. Apparently puppies are ok if they submit themselves for a TSA style pat down first. 
Molly also moved a group of 30 lambs and mommas. It was only one paddock through a few small spaces to another paddock and i kept a line on her because they’re babies, but she didn’t need the line. She got out to the fenceline, stopped nicely at the top and did a really nice job of rating and patiently waiting for little lambs to get up on wobbly legs and get with their buddies. Then we had to hold them off while the tractor went through. She didn’t need to be tight to get the messege across and they settled in nicely to her style – which was more eye than she normally uses.
The other news is more mixed. Elise would tell you that she did very well for her third time really working cattle. That she gained confidence as we went along and was quiet and thoughtful most of the time, but didn’t lack power. Elsie said she was very pleased with her work. And all of that is true. It is also true that she hasn’t been on stock in six (?) months, but that has never stopped me from having high expectations of her. LOL She was flat for a good part of our lesson, didn’t take her flanks and was refusing to do unassisted take pens. I know, i know, 6 months off stock and cattle are new – i’m being unreasonable. She did take on a stinker cow and got him to play along a little. I had to remind her to play fair and back off after knocking him in the nose a few times and turning him, but that is nothing new. She’s young and inexperienced – there are a lot of new habits she’s developing.
And being honest, i put her on sheep just before we went to work cattle and i got after her. So part of her being flat was my fault. She is a soft dog, which is great with little lammies but also means she doesn’t bounce back quickly after a correction. LOL
It looks like there is more cattle time coming up in the next few months, and apparently i need to start working my dog again. So that will be the spring goal. Who needs cable TV, anyhow?
)
Molly’s most serious injuries were to her brain; an area that i have very little experience with. I’ve had a mild concussion. There is a big difference between snowboarding for the the first time on ice dusted with snow and falling forward face first down the mountain… and whatever happened to Molly that knocked her unconscious for 25 minutes and stopped her pupils from dilating for 3 days.