Indian River Sheep Dog Trial

So the 2nd Indian River Sheep Dog is behind us; This year was much easier than the first. The fields were clipped (so there was no complaining about the long tufts of grass); Werner Reitboeck was our judge and he did a great job. Bev Lambert won the first open run and Amanda won open the second day. I definately need to step up my game!



Libby got around the course both days. On Sunday she had a tough go; she had affected her sheep when she was on her outrun so set out flanked her dog to hold them. In Libby's mind that dog is now in charge and she just lay down; The sheep went almost back to the set out and Libby brought them off the set out. For me that is HUGE. She wouldn't take the Come flank on the fetch and we were off line the whole way; Drive was shakey but she kept them moving and didn't once get stuck. I have to remember that a couple of times I haven't made it around the post. Always more to do and learn...



Little bits at a time



John did great! He finished second in PN both days with an overall first. Loosing to Viki Kidd and Macy on Sun by a point and Bev Lambert and Ester by a point on Sat. I'm very proud of him; it is only his 3rd or 4th trial. He'll be in open in no time...



The food was great, everyone helped out and the weather for July was very cold...good for the sheep and dogs.



New exciting news....Dixie had a single puppy (out of Preacher...John's PN dog) on Sunday morning; It was an accidental breeding but should make a nice working pup; She's a little b/w bitch. We didn't think she took as I looked at he last week and she wasn't fat at all (of course with one she didn't get very big. I made her go out of her crate on Sunday morning and than we heard this awful screaming...well it was puppy screaming...and Dixie had delivered a puppy in her crate...im sorry for making you go outside and being mad when you were reluctant





More exciting news: We'll be hosting a fall trial the week before Butternut. Bobby Dalziel will be judging and doing some lessons on the Tuesday after our trial

Trying to be better at blogging...i'll let you know...nevermind..you be the judge

Moving sheep to the leased farm

This spring sucks....it has been cold, the ground temperature is still not up to where you should plant corn; it has been wet...frost warnings in June? Where is global warming when you need it!

On Monday it was time to move the flock from our pastures so as not to get the worm load in the lambs up too high (resulting in death...never good); Our neighbour is using about 15 acres for her horses and has agreed to let us graze her property; of course all of the cattle people are saying...pasture lice, why would you let them put sheep on the property, they ruin the grass, can't fence them...etc etc; So with that bit of knowledge we set up grazes and will be taking pictures to see how our high density grazing will help this grass.

We have many people that meet us and say...oh your the ones that move the sheep in the white fencing. That is the right thing to do, must be lots of work. True, but the right thing to do!

My biggest worry is the white dogs (Whiskey and Charlie) barking and causing issues with other neighbours.

So down the road we go; John had dixie and Preacher; I had Pam...i should have opted for Libby as she is more obedient...my job was to keep them from going in driveways and lead the sheep; Pam decided keeping them in the middle of the road was a good idea. So i yelled at her...and she decided that the man that was watching from his car was going to be her new owner...she is very friendly!

The sheep seem happy at the new farm and are eating the grass quickly!

Pasture lambing

Well compared to lambing outside in the winter in Ontario, pasture lambing is going very well. We've had lots of lambs, mainly good mothers; a couple of granny ewes that were having trouble waiting until they had their own lambs before they stole others.



It'll be interesting to see what today brings with 20-40mm of rain. I just opened up a new graze but no one seemed to want to move; One ewe lambed overnight and we helped a ewe last night with a monster single.



No triplets yet, mainly twins. Just 2 semi bottle babies and not much mismothering yet; I do have one little one that seems to get lost from his 2 moms (remember the granny ewe) quite frequently

Just one or two more to go...this is so much more civilized than winter lambing

update way over due! Training in the mornings

I can't believe i've not blogged in 2 months. I have friends that should smack me for that.

We finished lambing the majority of the flock that was not supposed to lamb in the winter and have just started our pasture lambing. The grass is growing slowly so we are struggling with where the main flock will go next. We are going to reduce the flock size so we aren't so busy; less of the problem ones, and we might actually be able to go away to a dog trial together.

So enough of my whining! Libby and Preacher have been working just about every day. John and I spend time working on redirects, having Libby lift heavy sheep, working lambs (which she hateS!) and prepping for upcoming trials.

Spec lies down!

Spec is coming along nicely. She is giving good distance from the sheep, lies down with only 1 or 2 cues, both flanks are equally wide. We need to start working on her outrun which is about 20 feet right now. She has a great deal of difficulty if John is holding the sheep for her, she hasn't got the idea she should work for me and not him; her mom had that problem too! As an aside, there are a couple of guys that look a lot like my husband in the OBCC and when they hold sheep at a trial Pam always goes up and says "HIIIIII" and than gets back to herding.

Spec being very careful; she is thoughtful and i've been told moves just like her mother (with a lie down!)

Becca at 7 months old; she balances nicely but doesn't have a stop; John is working on her lie down off of stock right now; we'll start her in a month or so

Tired BEcca; tired John; we are pleased with her "keeness" so far! She is at the stage where she completely blows us off if one of the other dogs is more exciting..Recall work and lie downs are the next phase of work

Here he comes to save the day

I used to rely on Pam, my first border collie, to do chores. Not because she is so good, but she does know the job and in general I trust her to do things correctly (this is NOT true in a trial situation).

Two years ago I bought Libby from Sam Furman. Not that Sam really wanted to sell Libby but she just wasn't quite the dog for some sheep. Libby loves hair sheep that move....she excels on them. Actually what she really loves is chickens...but that's another story. My flock is about 60 hair sheep and 200 big dorset or dorsetXrideau ewes. They don't move fast, and sometimes they don't move at all. After working with Craig Rogers last summer he asked me why I don't do chores with Libby; after all it can only improve her confidence and her skills. She is my open dog, I should be able to do a few sheep chores with her, not just trial this dog. So she goes out faithfully with me at chore time, runs to the chicken coop and proceeds to bring them all outside....not today libby, we have to do the sheep.

My husband is away at a conference for 3 nights, 4 chore days. Our tractor is sitting in the field with some parts that need some fixing. We use 2 large round bales a day to feed the sheep; On Tuesday before he left he moved the round bales into place for me so it would be easy for me to unroll the bales. We unroll them so the sheep clean them up well and there should be less waste. I don't know if that is true. Well behind the barn we have the ewes that have lambed. They had finished their day's allotment of hay so I got a small round bale from the barn, pushed it out, rolled it down the hill and turned it to go behind the barn. I'm feeling quite strong now. Enough of that, get the ATV and the tow strap. So the bale is in place behind the barn, with 150 ewes clammering for me to unroll it! It must be sooooo much better than the other bale that is in the already partially eaten. I've been trying to get Libby to walk in front and clear the sheep from infront of the bale. When John and I do this together with Preacher and Libby it is quite successful; but with Libby alone today, the sheep were just not listening to her...

So...i get Preacher, my husbands dog...i hope i don't mess him up! Here he comes to save the day! He gets right in there, moves the sheep and lambs, stays far enough in front that I don't roll over him...and gets really dirty. Preacher is a really nice dog. He's just turned three and he is Johns' go to dog now. He's Johns main dog. Preacher is also starting his trialling career. John has run in him in PN a couple of times last fall with fairly good results for someone that has never really trialed. I think he will make a good trial dog...but he is a great chore dog and that's what is important.

Preacher is funny. He always seems to know when I need some help...hence the here he comes to save the day. Last summer Janet and I were trying to move the rams (maybe about 5 of them) somewhere, not far, with Data and Pam...Those rams had no interest in moving for our dogs. John was somewhere else on the farm and suddenly...who should show up..but Preacher; Dont' worry maams, i am here to save the day! He moved those rams exactly where we needed them...and went back to find John. He needs no thanks, just to work. It is nice having a dog that will work for just about anyone! Thanks for the help Preach.

A taste of spring...and winter comes back

Lambing continues; last week we had temperatures above freezing with rain. Nine ewes took the opportunity to lamb that day. I was traveling in Wisconsin and my husband ran around, warming lambs and moving day olds from jugs into mixing pens. Since we have no room to lamb in the barn our ewes are outside, lamb outside and we than move them to the jugs inside. Our sleep deprived lifes are a bit ummmm grouchy. I need my sleep as does John, so we agree to be grouchy. Since Thursday we've had 12 more ewes lamb with about 80 to go before the end of the first week of March. I'll try to take a photo of lamb races at feeding time

The dogs are missing working but we have at least managed to work Spec and Tate at least 3 times this week. One of the yearlings in the herding volunteers was very difficult to work, a little too much pressure and she would turn on the dogs. For Spec and Tate this was very difficult and for session number 2 we removed her from the group. They aren't ready to face that much pressure from a sheep. This of course gave us an excellent opportunity to work Libby and Preacher on a split group, on a persnickity ewe, and for Libby...sticking in there and not flanking off. I guess what i am rambling about is that you need to take advantage of training opportunities. With lambing and being tired we 've been a bit neglectful training but just a few minutes out of the day can make for some excellent work.

I've also taken to splitting the dogs into two groups for walks. The mini schnauzers (yes they are still fosters) are totally obnoxious with Preacher and will cause a fight.,...with them usually on the bottom. Poor Max ( I use this lightly) has the scars to show it. The minis need loads of exercise and with their poor social skills it makes for a stressful walk for me if I have to take either Preacher or Dixie. Note to self...no more mini schnauzer foster dogs!

Oh, we are totally enjoying Becca, the delta bluez puppy. She is just a charmer, is really well housetrained and is a fun puppy. She's interested in the sheep, so now the chore is to keep her away from them! She's fitting in well, sucking up to Sergeant ( the male Giant Schnauzer) and using all of her puppy charm to get what she wants. We've switched her to a raw diet and she is doing great on it. Becca has decided the white dogs (Charlie & Whiskey....not Scarlett yet) aren't out to terminate her but she is still careful around them. This past week she met 2 rough collie and another border collie. I'm thinking of actually going to a puppy class with her for socialization....Maybe i'll take Spec and John can take Becca....

Training the puppies...

What an exciting morning. My friend Helene is visiting Peterborough and brought 2 or her dogs and her foster dog. I also was training a local bred dog named Mabs. Mabs is really coming along from a dog that would only away to me circle, she's almost comfortable going both ways now.

After running Mabs for the first session I took Helene's foster pup Kess (about 7 months old) into the arena with my really dog broke sheep. She was a little unruley and the picture wasn't right for her but we made progress and she made it to the other side of the sheep!

John brought the new, yet to be named puppy...how does everyone like Rye...or Brooke...or Brin, into the arena. She wasn't interested in the sheep...but the poop, yahoo! I got Dixie out (the red & white dog pictured to the right) to move the sheep and puppy Rye, or Brook or Brin, turned right onto them, tail nicely tucked under her, looking very stylish. Definately wanted to head them; She was even lying down (not on cue of course) John stopped after about 1 minute for fear of having sheep turn on her at this impressionable age. We'll probably try her about once per month over the next few months until she is ready to work a little more.

We let the sheep rest a bit and I brought out Tate. She is out of my bitch Pam and Amanda Milliken's Bart. She was a very late bloomer but is coming along very well now. At first she would run to the gate and not want to work. We started her on the large flock with another dog until she gained more confidence. We didn't work at all in the arena which made her uncomfortable until recently. After all the snow we haven't been able to be in the field. She is showing nice balance, stops well and covers the sheep and is doing a short 20-30 yard outrun (that's all the room we have!). We are thrilled with her progress.

This afternoon we have to do chores, move hay bales and we'll probably train some of the dogs again. It is above freezing, we get to work dogs and live on a sheep farm..does it get better than that?