Sheep Herding with Youngster "Rook" (February Classes)

Rook is my youngster in the crew. I have started him on herding classes to work on his exposure and "calmness" around the woolies with Louanne Twa our instructor. She is located south of Calgary in the Okotocks at Phantom Ridge. Rook was introduced to working on cattle with my crew and he did well but working smaller stock is still a new challenge for him. He was introduced to the woolies at 11 months back in the Fall 20ll with Calvin Jones from Wales and showed great potential. I am working on tailoring his stock sense with both sheep and cattle.

 We are keeping him on a long lead right now in our training so we can step in when we have to. He is a "cocky youngster" which is to be expected with a "Thinking" boy who is too big for his britches and needs to be tamed to get the best from his potential as a working boy on my ranch. We are working on pace, distance and respect toward stock.

Working with stock takes a lot of practice, time, and  consideration between you and your stockdog  in order to establish a safe and healthy environment with all  involved - which includes the "stock", the "shepherd handler" and the "dog". We know that Rook has the drive and instinct so it is all about getting down to business now with the training and  instilling the need for "teamwork" since he thinks he can do it all on his own whenever he "thinks" the job should be done.

My young  handsome boy on the homestead in the early morning before setting out for our 2- hour drive for classes. 

Here are some pics from our Sunday training session on February 19th .

Me and Louanne getting ready to curb Rook's wanting to "zoom" in on the woolies

Louanne coaching me about pace with Rook

Louanne helps me out with distance and pace

me working on Rook's pace with the sheep - this is hard work!



My Crew keeps me busy- and I would not have it any other way!

This is the beautiful landscape out where we have classes- my friend Donna Brinkworth captured this pic after our class

"Tracking" Along With "Ash" (February Classes)

 Ash getting back on Track!

We had to take a slight hiatus from tracking since Ash was in season but we are happy that "she is back in tracking" mode:-) She is a girl that wants to work and seems "not herself" if she is not working at something. She was so happy when I said "Are we tracking today!" 

Ash on her homestead after her early morning run before we set off to class. A friend of mine commented that Ash has that “easy, breezy cover girl look – she always seems to maintain a fresh and glossy look no matter what activity she does. If only I could do that! 

Ash sits as she watches me run to the house to fetch more things that I need for the day - thankfully she is the most patient and forgiving member of my Canaan Crew. Although I am sure she was thinking "Geez, woman can you put away the camera and get your act in gear!"

Ash getting ready  for serious work - she is all decked out with her tracking harness and knows we are out  for a job to get done. I am loving her "work ethic" She is still a young girl in training but takes the training so seriously and seems to look forward to all her sessions with meticulous thought. Here she is ready and  fresh out from the drive to class waiting for me to say " lets go track".

Our Tracking group met on Saturday, February 18th  for a breakfast seminar with our awesome tracking instructor Donna Brinkworth.  Next we headed off to Red Deer College to plot and age our tracks. Today's session focused on longer tracks in an urban setting. 

Ash beautiful footstep tracking - nose to the ground

Ash "being a farm girl" does not get a lot of urban exposure so I am always impressed when she tracks  transitions - she had to track on asphalt , on sidewalks , beside campus buildings and keep her focus and flow. The funny thing was that she is "IS" used to birds and all kinds of critters on her farm. We had one moment when she heard some birds twittering away in a cluster of trees along the track. She stopped to look and I  had to say "No" firmly but quietly. We could not move off the track or touch the dog to regain their focus on the work. Ash did not pull me toward the "tweeters", but instead paused for a few seconds and then got right back on track - yeah! She gets to chase the magpies  and ravens off her farm in a regular fashion but on track she needs to know they  have to be ignored. This is the part of training I love and aim for in the "teamwork" part with my crew - it takes time, patience, and dedication from both of you. The training also forces you  to "read" your dog's body language -  you need to get into "the mind" of your dog.  

Ash did a beautiful and smooth transition from the asphalt to  the sidewalk and  picked the correct corner to turn - I love working with this girl!  

Ash is a very "calm and thoughtful" girl who makes training a fun and rewarding experience for me. Ultimately, you are working toward a partnership if you expect results and teamwork. 

Ash scenting along the sidewalk with nose to ground on her track.

Me and My gal Ash after a great day of Tracking!

For more in-depth details about our tracking session visit Donna's Tracking Coach blog at: http://yourtrackingcoach.blogspot.com/2012/02/update-on-our-winter-tracking-class-and.html