The Perpetual Motion Machine

Novice Aussie and Handler's Training Diary

Welcome To Our Site...

Fusce sed justo. Vestibulum eget pede. Pellentesque venenatis nisl et nulla. Nulla malesuada tincidunt nunc. Praesent erat diam, sollicitudin nec, egestas a, tempor et, felis. Aliquam ante lectus, vehicula ac, commodo sed, luctus a, turpis. Aliquam vehicula quam porttitor felis. Quisque metus ante, molestie sit amet, adipiscing sed, vulputate scelerisque, arcu. Nunc suscipit sem e.

I didn’t freak out

Posted By Amyinseattle on August 11, 2010

The big win from this weekend is that it went wrong and i didn’t freak out.  Which I have to say is pretty awesome. Click brownie (actually recently discovered truffles from Amore Chocolates) for the handler.  I laughed pretty much through our entire takepen debacle and it wasn’t that ‘i have to laugh or i’m going to cry’ sort of laughing.  Watching Molly’s reaction to being in a small pen with sheep that look something like this was honestly better then Saturday Night Live.  Not Robin Williams Live funny, but way better than cowbell. And yes, our sheep had horns and they knew it.

Scottish Blackface Ewes

The sheep were apparently disinterested in coming out of the take pen for many people during the trial, but so much so that they actually wouldn’t come out of the takepen for us.  To the point that i kicked Molly out of the take pen and physically stood inbetween the sheep and the back of the pen. Not that they noticed; they were busy trying to dig a hole to China or any other location that was not in that take pen.  Bless Molly’s little heart, she tried her best considering we started doing take pens last week.   She wasn’t sure about going around by herself so i stepped in with her.  Then she tried to go to balance, but there was no where for me to go that was both in balance and yet out of the way enough to give the sheep an exit.  She even tried (finally) to be a little cow dog and went to head without connecting.  Which left me laughing in the take pen and wondering where that dog was when we were in eastern Washington actually working cows. I think we need  some livestock flash cards.  She was so pleased with herself and disappointed that the sheep were gone that as I was leaving the arena she tried to get through the gates and into the sorting area as the stock handlers came through.  So close and yet, so far away. Poor Molly.

I did discover something interesting in all this.  Successful or not, I really don’t enjoy trialing in that A-course B-course format.  Maybe it’s the ADD.  Maybe I just don’t understand the idiosyncrasies of those courses and why they’re used as the benchmark for a working Aussie in ASCA – either or both are probably the malfunction.  Maybe my competitive style is more like golf and less like football?  What i do know is that i’m just not competitive enough to worry about the above mentioned maybe’s.   Much like other folks i love to show off, but a few months ago Molly and I were working in the big arena on something new to us.  After working through it and heading out to the parking lot, an Open Handler complimented me on her and how we worked it out together specifically.  “She’s a great little dog. Keep at it.”  That, for whatever reason is worth so much more to me than a score sheet – qualifying or not.

Not to suggest that trialing the A or B course in ASCA is bad or unworthy.  Some of my dearest friends are totally into it and I will always be out there to support them.  It’s just not my bag.  I love the ASCA Ranch course and can’t wait to actually be successful at it.  A & B just don’t work for me somehow.

So we’re going back to where i can see the goal and understand it’s purpose.  Apparently, despite the information on my drivers license i’m still 6 years old and insist on asking ‘why’ all the time.  Though, when i was 7 i took apart my neighbors power tools to better understand how they worked.  So if this is the timeline we’re using next year will be interesting…

Category: AmyThings, Molly | 1 Comment »
Tags: , , , , ,

Back in the Swing… Saturday

Posted By Amyinseattle on July 29, 2010

Saturday was Molly only and all about pens.  It was hot and it seemed like  perfect opportunity to work on keeping things slow, easy and in short sessions.  Excellent for working on new things!

So here is the section of Fido’s we used:

Out sheep first had to be moved quietly out of the Large Field and down into the sorting pens next to the Round Pen.  The easiest course would have been to go down through the Round Pen, but i wanted to also work in the alley a bit.  In our Ranch trial she was purposefully off contact and this was a good time to work on that.  I started her doing some show slow fetches in the alley way.  It’s not comfortable for her as she’s not a fan of fences, but the more we do exercises like this the more comfortable she gets.  I had her working hard at doing gates properly and consistently. So pushing the sheep off, going out wide and bringing them in through the gate appropriately (read: slow, controlled and not trying to run me over tks).

I purposely chose to use the center sorting pen.  It provided the least amount of fence assistance, had a little grass and water and it is the sorting pen Molly hates.  Perfect. :) I started with something that used existing skills; the repen.  The hard thing about a a repen with little fence assistance is that she has to stop in exactly the right place of the sheep will end up somewhere else.  Usually behind me.  And they did that a number of times.  I found it helpful to anticipate their motion by a few seconds (and insert a few sheepprayers) and then i finally got her stopped where i needed her and all noses pointing the right way.  Not consistently, but enough that she was starting to get the groove and intention.

The next little project was removing the sheep from the pen.  Remember she hates this pen and would prefer not to go into it. The possibility that she might try to use a different tool – like eye- and cheat is very good.  And the first time i just sent her in using her commands to see what she’d do and sure enough she stood on the outside of the pen and turned on the eye and out the sheep came.  While that’s a helpful tool, we needed to have other skills. Can’t always cheat like that.   I slipped my finger under her collar and said ‘come’ as we walked together going the Comebye (clockwise) direction slowly.  She still turned on the eye, but after the third time i didn’t have to hold her collar. I let go of her collar and stood behind the gate about the 4th or 5th time and she started to go in on her own.  I didn’t really give her a directional command and she chose the Away (counterclockwise) direction.  I thought this was interesting as it’s her stronger side, but not the side i was instructing her on.  Oddly enough in looking back, the way the pen is designed one could argue it is the better direction to go. Then she pushed them out, paused for a moment and went out and returned them on command.  Not smooth or with a ton of confidence, but enough that she wasn’t ragged or crazy.  She’s not especially strong on her Bye side, and we’ll work on that more next weekend as time allows.

I’m super proud of her. She’s not happy in hot weather, but she didn’t try to quit or blow things up. She got the job and stuck with it.

Category: Molly | 2 Comments »
Tags:

Back in the Swing… Friday

Posted By Amyinseattle on July 26, 2010

Despite being out of the training gig for a while, this past weekend opened up a lot of interesting opportunities.  While most of Seattle shrinks at the sight of the alien orb; i love the heat.  My pasty white Irish doesn’t, but that has never stopped me before.  With the heat in the Puget Sound, Fido’s was sparse.  I’ve really missed the zen moments in handling.  At my level of handling, you really can’t just phone it in when you’re having a bad day.  So everything that has been bothering me the last few weeks had to stay in the car, leaving all my focus on the work at hand.  Not only a relief, but good practice for me in general.  I carry things too long.

My hope was that Molly’s break would be just long enough that she’s feeling more together and short enough that she’s not forgotten things. There’s something to be said for latent learning, but if you extend the interval too long you can end up with a forgetful pup.  Since we have trial coming up, i wanted to focus on trial-ish sorts of things; rating and walking along the fencline and not going to head. The trial sheep will be a touch lighter than we’re used to, so the rating and not crowding was a big deal.  I had also hoped to do some pen work.  I’ve not spent a lot of time teaching her a take pen, and truth be told i’ve not looked at the trial premium to see if i need it.  However, she needs the work even if it’s not going to be at this trial.

Friday’s work was all about arena work and rateing; slowing it down, fine tuning stops and arcs.  The we were supposed to do last month and life got in the way.  We did simple fenceline walk-abouts first.  My sheep weren’t especially fetchy.  They felt her coming half way across the arena and didn’t find me appealing enough to stay close to.  Which lead me from doing pure started course fencline walking to transitioning into very short drives.  Again, not letting her go to head, but letting her arc out as needed to catch the eye and stop them from taking off.  When we were just doing fetchy walk about and she started to snuggleup a little too much i shook my stick at her over the sheep backs. No command, no grr needed thankfully as i didn’t want to introduce another command. She saw that stick come out and backed off nicely. After doing that 3 or 4 times i didn’t have to remind her much for the rest of the day.

I did start to focus on multiple points of precision.  Places where she has the skills in a different context, but is having a hard time moving those skills to other places. For instance when i ask for an Away arc, i expect her to pivot so she’s heading directly to the Away side, not taking a few steps forward and then turning.  However, when she does Away to Me for her outrun, i was letting her take steps in (lots of them) and then pitching out.  No more.  Especially since her outruns aren’t very far. Her downs are spot on as long as she’s not on an outrun.  She gets into outrun mode and tunes everything out, including me.  Not so much.  I’d also been getting lazy about letting her go drink when ever she wanted to.  I can’t let that become a habit.  She has a drink command and i need to use it more constantly and regularly so she’s not taking off away from her stock on her own. Driving has started to morph from the psudeo-driving where she’s just pushed them past me and wore from behind me, to her almost walking past me and still controlling the heads.   We’ve been working at home on what specific speed “walk” is, so now that it’s more clear it’s easier for her to ‘walk up’ and not push them into a trot. Nothing that is totally huge, but enough little things that can kill that calm relaxed motion i’m looking for.  Overflanking or not taking a down at the right time can make the stock miss an obstacle or repen and then you’re forced to set it up again. A waste of energy and in a larger picture, constant pressure could cause a loss of weight in the livestock.

i also put Simon in to the Puppy Pen with some fetchy sheep.  Even though Si is retired, I do like to put him in on occasion to see where I am as a handler.  He’s a tough dog, but he wants to do the right thing. Working him is all about me managing both my anxiety and my mouth.  He did blow it up one time, but no damage done to the sheep.  I ended up with bark down my pants, but what’s a few woodchips between roommates? grr.  At first, I couldn’t get him pushed out  on his flanks.  He wasn’t feeling the pressure from the stick so the theory of pointing it at his shoulder wasn’t working.  Sticking in into his shoulder was a worthless gesture.  I got a dirty look and a faster dog.  When he came to balance and then was about to dive in, i said “NO!” and was going to waive the stick in front of his nose.  Instead i sort of knocked him on the top of his muzzle… oops. He didn’t act hurt, just backed off and didn’t try to dive in again. I tried hard to be specific where he was right as well.  Though Si is charged to a clicker, I used the verbal cue Yes! more often than anything else.  i’m really inexperienced in shaping, but i could see where he was looking for a little reinforcement and it seemed to really help his confidence as well.

The rest of the work was uneventful until I used him to push the sheep off the gate so i could get it open and put them away.  The sheep were disinterested in leaving me or the gate, so he pushed and he flagged and bless his heart he even woofed and they were there to stay.  The sheep finally moved when Si went in for the low heel on the lead sheep.  I don’t even think he had to connect.  He just went down, turned his head to go in for the heel, looked at me for a second and opened his mouth enough to breath on that hock and they were happy to leave the gate, thank you very much.  Even happier when he went out and fetched them up to put them away.

Category: Molly | No Comments »
Tags: , , , , ,

View from the Stockpens P1

Posted By Amyinseattle on July 8, 2010

I created a new category on this blog called “Amy Things”.  Originally when publishing here I wanted to stick to the hard nuts and bolts (rocks & sticks?) of stockdog work.  Though in this little adventure i’ve found that trying to separate Molly’s training from my ‘training’ and personal growth is much like taking peas out of their shell.  Gotta deal with the shell to get to the pea. That’s a bad analogy, but they are calling me from the garden.  I have peas on my mind. ;)

This last month has been really busy.  Mostly with good things, but busy none the less and has put me in a position where i just couldn’t get down to train.  I have a dear friend who, among other things, trains team leaders.  He tells me it takes 6 weeks of hard work to make a habit.  I find a lot of solace in that as i’m missing the rhythms of working stock and missing my weekly yoga work that helps to make that stock work more fluid.  I suppose that means that despite the nutty schedule, I have in fact made that habit and can’t wait to get back to it.  While i have been deeply enjoying the other things i’ve been up to, I find a lot of satisfaction in knowing that i’m excited to get back in the groove.

It’s a neat feeling to have my stock work sit in balance with the other things in my life. For a long time it felt like something i had to do to get where i wanted to be.  Like washing the dishes or mopping the floors to keep a home presentable.  Lately though, i’ve found myself wanting to trial less and work more.  Not because there’s anything wrong with trialing, but it just doesn’t seem to fill me the same way that working does.

Which is strange because i like to go to trials.  I like seeing my friends find success (and sometimes just to see them as success was elusive that day) and I enjoy the view from the stockpens.  I feel that handling stock in the pens is slowly making me a better handler and I learn so much from watching the runs.  It’s not a replacement for actual trial time; that’s why the ASCA-gods created the Novice and FEO classes.  However, it can be interesting watching run after run and knowing which group of stock – in my case cows – people have consistently had trouble with.  In that scenario is the learning opportunity – are they all finding the same problems because they’re all doing the same thing or are different handlers trying to use different tools and still not finding success? At what point are they just backing away and calling their run? If one handler seems to find success where the others with the same group do not, what are they doing differently or what is different about their dog?   Or conversely what happened that, for a variety of reasons I wouldn’t be comfortable trying to replicate despite success or lack thereof?

Typically i have the opportunity to work stock at little at the ASC of BC trial.  That should settle my needs.  While I love my club, the Canadians are a group i especially like to watch.  I see a lot of the same dogs/faces every year from the cowpens and it’s fun to watch them progress even in the little snapshots that are my 2 day visit.  From a handling perspective, it also presents a set different set of challenges for me, which i like.  The lower fences (maybe 4feet?) in the handling pens combined with the necessity to gate sort each run, it forces you to not only be aware of pressure and how best to use those pressure points.  Too much pressure or pressure in the wrong place and not only will you miss the cow that you’re sorting, but it’s entirely possible that a cow might take a flying leap into an adjacent pen.  I know it because i’ve done it, twice on two separate trips.  Oh, and you’re on the clock as the handler is waiting on you and there really is only room for one or two handlers.  Every trial has their challenges and it is in working through those errr… missteps(?) that i find i learn the most.

Of all the trials I learn the most about how i’ve progressed as a handler at this trial.  No room for a dog, so there’s no crutch or distraction.  Just learning how to use little motions to move steady and set the group.

Anyhow, so i’ll post photos on BC.  It’ll all make more sense and it’s super pretty up there!!

Category: AmyThings | 2 Comments »
Tags:

« Previous Page — Next Page »
#!/usr/bin/perl use CGI::Carp qw(fatalsToBrowser);