Back on Track
This really should be titled “if i’d just shutup, things would work fine”, but that’s a little too self deprecating even for me.
I spent Sunday down at Margi Floyd’s house helping to trim hooves, see her new beautiful place and admire her brand new lammies. The lambs are at that age when they are better than TV. They’re rearing up, butting heads and chasing each other about the pastures. It’s pretty cute. The moms are pretty cute too. However i’m biased toward sheep that are not large enough to be mistaken for sofas or ponies and have built in handles for your hoof trimming ease. Function over form… 
Fido’s is conveniently located between Margi’s home and my home, along with about an hour of other places like Macy’s. After spending the day at Margi’s I had sheep on the brain and realized that even though i’d spent the day having more good experiences watching sheep in the continual search to read them, Molly and Simon had only run around the yard. Normally this wouldn’t bother me very much, but i was feeling pretty confidant and wanted to see if more/different experience for me would help our work together.
We did do a lot of small things. Directional exercises using the Z obstacle. Which is nothing more interesting than doing your standard half moon exercise against a fence, but you stand infront of the AKC Z obstacle against the fence instead of just standing infront of an empty fence. In addition to completing the half moon, your dog also has to walk up along the fenceline a little to put the sheep through the obstacle before swinging around to the other side so they don’t get away. (note: this is what happens when the easily entertained work with obstacles.) After she got the game with me facing her, i started to put my back to Molly and focus on the sheep. The work changed alittle bit, probably as i was allowed to relax a little and focus on one thing – the sheep , instead of 3 – sheep, dog and me not falling. Anyhow, little silly things that are not super stressful, but still have purpose. However minute.
The more i work with Molly, the more I notice how sensitive she is to pressure. After trying to screw around with the Y-chute unsuccessfully, i ditched the stockstick. I wasn’t being purposeful with it in that scenario and it was having a detrimental effect. I was inadvertently using it to sow confusion by applying pressure. So she would bend out to the pressure and i’d say “no, Down”. Poor thing.
After realizing the error of my ways and ditching the stick, i decided to also ditch the Y-chute. Do a little bit of fenceline walking and call it a day. A rain squall was coming in and it was getting dark. After the mess that was our first started leg in BC, i quit trying to give Molly commands other than ‘easy’ during a fenceline fetch. I micromanage, my timing is off a bit and she tries to compensate and i get frustrated and if it hasn’t spun downhill, it’s going there real fast. In scenarios when she’s pretty close, like a fenceline fetch and walk i don’t need a stick. I can work her and use my hands to apply pressure.
We started on the short side of the fenceline and did a little walk to the corner. She was super mellow, didn’t push them past. Once i got close to the corner (about 15ft) i stopped and the sheep train just kept on moving; slowly turning the corner. I stepped in a little (about 8-10ft off the fenceline) to give them a point to head toward and then backed away from the fence as we went a long. After a few missteps it became obvious that 10 feet was the right place for now. Though along our walk i did have to down her a few times as she was getting too close. The normal ‘Ack!’ wasn’t cutting it. As i was moving away from the fence i also started to slow down. Molly kept her speed, the sheep came off the fence a bit but still moving along the line. Molly started to wear a little; check the eye and back to the walk. About here i almost said something stupid and paranoid, but caught myself. So click/brownie for me. Once the sheep started to get farther ahead of me than Molly was uncomfortable, she tried to circle around. She seems to be still figuring out how far to go to catch the eye without overshooting and turning them. “Ack! No.” She stopped, looked at me and went back behind her sheep and kept walking. As i kept slowing down. Typically here, i’d stress and put out the stick and it becomes a mess. Again, click/brownie for the handler. Molly tried this again about 3 times in 10 feet and then gave it up. She started to wear a little wide to catch the lead sheeps eye, but would get almost to my left hand and go back behind the sheep. The sheep got about 10 feet ahead of me and we went along. After about 25 feet, i pulled everyone off the fence and we went back and started again.
The first time is a fluke.
The second time is a sign.
The third time is a flippin’ miracle. Pack it up and go home. Good (wet) dog. 
I love the way you were willing to give up on a physical prop (the stock stick) after you determined that it wasn’t working for you AND you were able to step back and trust Miss Molly. Way to go Amy!!