Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Correction and Photos

The trial this past weekend handed out very nice prizes. They awarded very well made key chains with a nice BC photo for some and stand up tiles with a photo for others. I had said Cruz was 3rd in Ranch on Sunday and I guess he was 2nd. Just had to give him credit where credit is due.
The tornadoes yesterday were very close to us. Only a 20 minute drive to the 2 places it really hit. All we got was torrential rain. It's good to get the rain, but if we continue with this pattern and then get an average hurricane season we may have trouble. A few years ago during Isabel it was really mess because entire trees were coming down. The ground was so saturated that they were just falling. At least now we have a generator! Our biggest trees are oaks, and they seem to make the ground around them like cement, so that's a good thing. If they, are the 4-tree in one Sycamore came down we'd lose everything, no matter which way they fell!
Tonight's my 3rd night in a row at work, so I have Weds and Thursday off. I slept pretty late today, so I feel pretty good. I also have Friday off, as I switched with the Saturday girl so I could go on the Busch Gardens field trip with Charlie's Gifted and Talented class. They are building roller coasters in the class this week. I saw this morning when I got home that he had a whole bag full of things to make the coasters interesting. I didn't realize till after I said I'd just switch days that I'll be missing the Richmond night race! Dang!! It's always a great race! :-(
There were a couple people taking photos with good cameras at the trial. I'll find out where they're posting the photos and link the site. I'd love to order some good ones! It was a good field for pictures. Sometimes the terrain or the distance makes it hard to get good ones. I have a few pictures that Ella took at the cattle trial. If I don't go to NC tomorrow maybe I'll post some pictures. I'm kinda planning on going. It'd be a good day to take the pups again.

Monday, April 28, 2008

Connection and Trial

We're back to playing games with Internet again. Anyone needing to reach me needs to call me! Not sure what the deal is. I called the service guy this morning.
The sheepdog trial was really good. I ended up going both days! I'm officially insane. I got 2.5 hours of sleep Friday night because I was able to bail out of work at 1 instead of 3. Saturday night I did get to sleep from 10:30-4am, which would be a normal night's sleep if I wasn't already about 20 hours behind on sleep! LOL! Funny what you're body will get used to. Yesterday I was REALLY tired though. I think I went thru 3 "second wind"s on the 1.5 hour drive home! I did have time for a 2.5 hour nap before work, so that was good! I got up this morning at 9:30 because Jordan got here. She'll be here at 9:30 all week. I think May will be my last month of babysitting her, unless her mom can work later in the day. I just can't keep going on naps. Yes, I could go back to sleep when she takes a nap, but it's like real sleep....
Back to the trial. It was a very nice trial. The sheep were decent and for the most part- even. (more on that later) The outruns were fair, but not over the top far. Same for the drives. There were plenty of draws and other factors to make the runs challenging. The ProNovice class was 20 dogs and overall a very competitive group. I don't think there was much more than 8 points or so from 1st place to 6th both days. Ranch was much the same- very good dogs and handlers. Smaller class, I think 12. Novice was small, but nice dogs. We had 5 Nursery dogs, so I was able to run Gwen in Nursery.
Here's how they did.
Gwen Saturday: ProNovice she had a very nice run, really just line points off. She placed 4th I think. With the size and quality of teams, I was very happy with that.
Deal Saturday: She needed an extra verbal at the end of the outrun. They held the sheep on grain, so she could feel how heavy they were, and got cautious. She got impatient with them at the post because they got clingy on me. I read her little brain and stopped her just before she blew in to bite. She still made a mess and cost us lots of points, but she didn't grip. She got pushy at the pen as well and it took it us a minute to get them in because she would not give me a "get back" and was taking a step forward before each flank. If she had not cost us all the line points at the post, we would have placed.
Toss Saturday: He needed an extra verbal on the outrun, but only one. He was his typical forward, intense self. He wasn't bad, but he wasn't great. I really don't remember his run very well.
Mary Jane and Ella on Saturday had an awesome run in Novice. The dogs had to cross a good size ditch, and that pulled Mary Jane in. Ella did a nice job at stopping her (and MJ took it), letting her just sit for a couple seconds, then kicked her out. The rest of the outrun was lovely. She lifted well. I was a bit worried she'd feel all the pressure (food bucket) and rush in. She didn't stop, but lifted quietly, so that was fine. She wouldn't lie down on the fetch until about mid-way, so her fetch line was off, but other wise their run was gorgeous. They paraded them around the course and got them right in the pen. They won with like a 70.
Cruz on Saturday: Cruz ran a pretty nice Ranch course. He went too far on the outrun and I had to call him in, he took all the redirects, but we only ended up with 16/20 outrun points, and typically the outrun was a 20 point gimme. Funny how we used to get that score because he was tight, now it's because I'm calling him in... Hopefully it'll all even out in the near future! Our run was pretty decent and we finished in 5th out of 12 very capable teams.
Gwen on Saturday: The Nursery run was the same as Ranch, minus the chute on the way to the pen. Gwen ran just beautifully! We had a so-so fetch, but it was the same thru-out the class. Julie P. and Lark beat us by 3 points. A couple people, including Julie felt that Gwen should have won. I don't care- I'm just thrilled she is running so well!!
Deal on Sunday: She was much improved. She didn't any extra on the outrun or lift. She was still cautious, but I let her be. They were very heavy to lift off the grain in the deep bucket, so I opted to let her stay on her feet and walk in quietly, rather than coming in a bit quicker and then stopping. With her, that spelled grip IMO. She was delightful and not nearly as impatient. She was 10 points better than Saturday and I think she was 3rd. Maybe she was 4th, but I think 3rd.
Toss on Sunday: Like Deal, much improved. The only thing I remember him not doing for me was giving me a nice big, clean flank coming back from the drive panel to the pen. He started to cheat the flank and come in and it kept us from having a perfect line to the pen. He was also 10 points better than Saturday! Can't ask for much more than that!
Gwen on Sunday: Poor Gwen in her PN run got a sheep from hell. First she wouldn't come off the bucket, so it was a lot of work for her to lift them, as 2 came right off and one refused. By the time we got the 1 going, the other 2 were way off line. The ENTIRE course the 1 sheep only wanted to go back to the set out system. We had to work the group like cows, and with cows there is no such thing as line points!! Nothing we did made that sheep decide being with the other 2 was the best idea. It was like we were working 2 different groups at the same time! She handled it like a veteran and I received several very nice comments on my handling. We got thru the whole dang course and time ran out 2 steps from the pen!! After our run that sheep was removed from the trial... Darn! Oh well, such is the game. I'm very proud of how my dog handled it and that as a team we still managed to run the course with that!
Cruz on Sunday in Ranch did great. He was spot-on on the outrun and darn if they didn't beeline for the set out system. They had been beelining the OTHER way all day, so we both read that and he came in at about 1:00 instead of 12, and the poops squirted off! It was work to get them back online, so very few fetch points. The rest was gorgeous! I think he finished 3rd.
Gwen's Nursery run wasn't much better than the PN run. She did perfect outrun, lift, and a pretty decent fetch. After the driveaway panel they wanted the setout system. She flanked to the left to cover and they just kept leaning on her and they got to the system. The judge walked up to me and told me to keep working it. We made a few very nice attempts. They were being held in a sorting system with a tub and long chute. They had a sort chute made on the side to put them in easily. Well, they ended up in that little space. She's probably a good 150 yards away. I tried flanking back and forth behind the tub, and she did great, but no sheep. So then I decided (since I had the judge's full approval) to use my "walk in" command (what I was to tell the dog to walk into a tight place like a stall), and darn if she didn't take it just as pretty as could be. She walked in, swept the little chute and 2 came out. I asked her to "look back, walk in" and in her hesitation to comprehend what I asked, the two went back in. I sent her in again, and the same 2 came out. I called it good with that. I let the set out people push the 3rd ewe out and I did an assisted crossdrive with her back to the exhaust. Darn! Oh well.
I didn't stay to watch Open since I had to go to work, so I don't know how they did. The sheep were starting to be done.
Well, I've got to go pick up Dylan so we can finally get his glasses ordered.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

Cattle Trial!

Well, that's it, I am hopelessly addicted!! I loved it, loved it, loved it!! Cruz ran first and got a score. It's quite different- and very challenging to simply or not make the obstacles. Since there are no line points, you get diddly for almost. The cows were rather hard to lift. They wanted to split and bee-line back to the set out, and the outrun was really far if you needed to help a dog not especially experienced in cattle. Cruz did not go on the outside of the -5 point pole on the outrun. I knew right off the bat he was too tight to make it, but I also felt he was plenty far off to properly lift the calves, so I left him alone. He lifted them perfectly. He got them to my feet without much trouble, and I don't recall which fetch panels we made and missed. I opted to not even worry about the first set of drive-away panels, because nearly every person (including Tom and Pete) were either losing, or nearly losing their calves back to the set out on the drive. We played it safe and made the cross drive nicely, but didn't make the cross drive barrel/pole obstacle. Some of the calves went thru the right hand drive panels and we got most of them thru the chute. We got them almost into the pen and I went into sheep-mode and forgot I could let go of the gate. We kept the calves at the top of the field, but didn't get them penned before time. I was really, really proud of Cruz and was glad that run was over- I was incredibly nervous!
The more runs I watched, the better I felt about what Cruz did. Gwen got almost to the calves and second-guessed what I wanted. She swung around the calves in a cross-over right in front of them. In their true MO of the morning, they went in 3 directions back to the exhaust. I hustled down the field, got them collected and let her drive them back to the barn. I felt like she would very well do it on the 2nd run. Deal's run was similar- too far to help her with the lift mess, she got them collected with my help and we drove them up.
Cruz's 2nd run was great until the turn. At the turn we had a black calf that was hell-bent on being back at the barn. Cruz was stellar and did a wonderful job working the calf on his own, as well as doing exactly what I asked. We finally got him headed off the barn and the rest of the run was very nice, making a few of the obstacles. But because of the barn mess, our time ran out at the chute.
Gwen's 2nd run! OMG do I have a cow dog!! You would have thought there was months of training between her 2 runs!! She needed one quick re-direct on her outrun, but then went far and deep and lifted them beautifully. I don't remember what we made and what me missed, but she was just awesome. She handled them so well and did every single thing I asked her to do. She got really 'spent' towards the end of her run and decided she needed to incorporate a quick trip thru the pond edge when I flanked her comebye on the way to the chute. I didn't blame her- it's not like she got in and forgot she was working. She was "squeaking", so I knew she was really at her limit- adrenaline. I got to the pen when we timed out. I was so incredibly proud her that I could have burst! She is a nice sheep dog, but she is a killer cow dog!! It's her calling for sure. I actually think it is for Cruz too. Deal, not so much. I didn't even look to see her score (that's how much it matters to me right now), so I'm not sure what she did. She may have placed and/or gotten some Nursery points, I don't know. I honestly don't remember what we actually made for obstacles. You can actually have a very pretty, but all near-misses run and end up with squat! Very different than sheep trials.
Deal's 2nd run wasn't worth staying for. She got them lifted (improvement) and half way up the fetch line (improvement) and I asked to fix the line in hopes of making the panels. We had to turn them hard, and when we did they ran back to the set out. Again, too much distance with too much inexperience. She could not get them back on her own. I left the one that went all the way back, and just brought the 2 others up (there was only one more run after us). Deal does not like it when stock spreads out, and she doesn't stay honest on her flanks at a great distance when that happens. I don't think cows are her calling. Yes, she can and does work them, but not with the same talent that Gwen and Cruz do. The two of them are very natural about kicking back to keep re-grouping. Deal isn't, and it irritates her after awhile. Next cattle trial will just be Cruz and Gwen. I reckon Gwen and Cruz's offspring will be wonderful cow dogs.
The attitude of the trial was great, it was more like a group of people just working dogs. Dwight Parker sure has some nice dogs, as does another gentleman named Richard from TN. Dwight was kind enough to tell me they enjoyed watching me run my dogs. It's words like that that really stick with you when you're entering a new venue! I'd actually never seen Roy Johnson work a dog before, and I've decided I want a Sonny pup! LOL! Whata team. They remind me of Cruz and I. Roy works Sonny very much on verbal, and will actually have a whole conversation with him & Sonny seems to completely understand. Reminds me of Cruz. My friend Kay Sander had some stellar runs with several different dogs. I hope she will have a little luck on top of her and her dogs' talent at the Finals in May.


My friend Ella was kind enough to drive her van to the trial, and drive home again due to my crazy job hours. She enjoyed herself, and it was good for Wren to get out. I took Clare. Wren was a little yappy at first, but settled right down in a very short amount of time. I kept telling Ella that's why she was there and that she just needs to keep hauling her everywhere she goes. All puppies need to be out, but some need it more than others. Ella took a few pictures that I will try to get on here over the next few days. No promises though. Luckily due to rain, both my noon lesson and the kids' baseball were cancelled, so Dylan and I got a real good start on his project that's due on Weds. and Ben got him pretty far on cleaning his room. It was time for one of those- "to the bottom of things" cleanings. He got his G. pig's cage cleaned out and re-bedded too.
Our friend who owns the Boxer/Pit mix I was working with took Rosco back with him and is going to let a single friend of his have him. I'm fairly glad. He'd been here for 2 weeks and was beginning to show signs of wanting to fight with the other dogs. He's 8 months old. I told our friend it was my opinion that he was going to become dog-aggressive as he matured. Probably not looking for a fight, but was not going to back off from one. I don't think that Pit's are necessarily quicker to bite or fight, it's simply that the damage done is the difference between stitches and surgery.... He had gone from being respectful of being corrected appropriately by my dogs to fighting them if they got tired of his in-appropriate behaviors. I told him that Rosco had never shown any signs of being ugly to me, but that I didn't know if he would ever decide that any correction is worth fighting over. Our friend has 2 kids- 4 and 7 and will soon have to move into an apartment.... And he is not a dog trainer...
Friends have been putting feelers out for me about Jim. One friend spoke to a Vet who is a herding student and she said A. vaccine reaction (may have even been from Gwen's shots) or B. a mineral problem and that I should have some blood tests. Might be as simple as supplements/vits/diet change. I truly want to feed my dogs a natural diet, I just have to wait until I can do it in a 'homesteaded' way. It's the plan, but like everything, takes time. Maybe I will go ahead and change just Jim over now. Not hard or expensive for just one.
Well, it's 3:30, I think I'm going to take a hour power nap (or go play ball with the dogs) and then it's time to get ready for work. I have a super full week. I work Sun, Mon, Tues (which means till 3am on Weds morning.) Weds. I'm going to Ella's (about an hour) to move and sort sheep that need to be sheared and give her some ideas on what to construct for an area to work Wren in this summer. I'm sure I'll be hauling Jordan along. Thursday is Dylan's Gifted field trip to DC. I'm hoping I can sleep on the bus. It's a Charter bus and it's a pretty good group of kids, so hopefully... We have to be at the school (40 minutes) at 5AM and won't be back at the school until 9PM. I'm hoping I can get out to Carol's one day to both work a couple dogs and help her get last minute things set up for her trial. Saturday I'll be at her trial. I'm running everybody. Ella is running MJ in Novice. I have Cruz in Ranch, Gwen, Deal, and Toss in ProNovice and I entered Gwen in Nursery. The drive may be too far, but it's worth the money to get the field time in.


Thursday, April 17, 2008

Catch Up!

Today I'm going to play catch up. I need to catch up on sleep and the house. There are clothes all over and both the kitchen and bathroom need to be cleaned. Unfortunately I have to go into Franklin on my day off to pick up my check. They don't hand them out whenever, I think they have certain times and only on payday. I need to call personal this morning and find out. I worked a short shift last night to make up for coming home early Tues. night. I'm really, really tired. I got the kids off to school, (somehow our youngest missed the bus, so I had to drive him- luckily the elementary school is close) played a little ball with the dogs and fed them. Jordan will be here at 9:30. I'm going to sleep when she takes a nap. I need to call the store so I know if we're napping early, or this afternoon. I have to take our oldest to get his hair cut after school, but before baseball practice at 6:30. He needs one really bad and if I don't take him today it won't be until next week that I have time again... Run, run, run! I need mine cut too, but I don't know if we'll have time for 2 cuts. He isn't home until 4:20, so we can't be at the hair place until 4:45 and practice is at 6:30.... If they can do us both at the same time, we'll have time. And our youngest needs his glasses ordered. I get a discount at wal-mart, which is probably better than the 30% TriCare will cover at another eye place. My guess is that with the wal-mart price and the discount, it will be the same or less. Add in the convenience of getting them at work, and it's worth not using the TriCare this time. Our youngest was just to the eye Dr in Jan and had okay vision. Almost needing glasses, but didn't. Now, not even 4 months later he is quite nearsighted. The Dr. said it happens with growth and adolescence. He said he wouldn't be surprised if we're back again in 6 months. I know what kind of frames our youngest likes, but he doesn't trust my judgement, so I don't know when we'll get in to order them!! Tonight is already used up, Friday they play ball at 5:30 so there won't be enough time (unless the game is close to Franklin, which it may be), Saturday I'll be gone, and I'd almost bet the vision center is closed on Sunday, and even if they aren't the kids play ball at 2:45, and I work at 6:00. Our youngest has a big field trip with the Gifted class next Thursday, and I'd really like for him to have his glasses by then! (Yes, my day off will be a field trip to DC. We leave the school at 6AM and return around10PM, but I also have Weds. off, so it'll be alright) I'm sure his glasses will take some getting used to. I finally got new contacts after about 7 years (I have to wear gas perms.) and it took almost 2 weeks before I wasn't annoyed by the new correction... If the vision center is open until 6pm, he and I can maybe get there tonight after I get home with the other one from the hair place! They have baseball practice on opposite days, so Ben can take our oldest to practice and I'll take the other to the vision center. It'd be good if I could pick up my check then, but I suspect I will be making two trips to Franklin today!! And yes, the dogs have today off. They've been worked the last few days and Gwen and Cruz did a lot with the cows yesterday. I played with them this morning, and I'm sure I'll have time to play with them again this evening some time.
I found out last night that my schedule will always be the same. I like that much better, it was originally one of the 'perks' in my mind. For some reason what's on the board is different, but the main over-night super said it will always be 6-3 and Sun-Tues and Friday. So I'm happy about that.
It's going to be warm for the trial on Saturday. I'm nervous and excited. I'm nervous about next Saturday too. All the dogs are entered. MJ is running with Ella in Novice. Toss, Deal, and Gwen are running ProNovice, Cruz is running Ranch, and Gwen is running in Nursery. Carol said yesterday she thinks there are enough dogs to have the class.
Well, good! I just called work and I can get my check anytime and the vision center is open until 8:00. So I can do the glasses and check in one trip and not have to go this afternoon and eat up the day with travel time... Dylan and I can go when Ben and Charlie leave for work. I guess it's silly to keep saying "youngest" and "oldest". I also need to remember to get a bunch of crickets for the lizards from the hardware store tonight.
I need to place a mouse order at the feedstore. It's the time of year that Dylan can keep a dozen mice in the garage for the 2 snakes and the Red Tegu (he is like a Komodo Dragon). It's too cold in the winter to keep the mice in the garage and they are way too stinky to keep in the house! I think Dylan is ready to re-home his 2 big lizards, as they're a little hard to handle. The Tegu is huge. He could do damage if he wanted. When he eats he bites and then whacks the prey on something hard, or just swings it around. If he bit you, I'm sure he'd do the same. He's pretty docile, although the description is that they are testy. His Bearded Dragon is fast and doesn't like to be handled. He frequently takes his little fat tailed gecko out, and the snakes (2 ball pythons). I need to find the right place to re-home the 2 big lizards. The Red Tegu is rare I guess (we inherited him and the Beardie from Tony when he got divorced) Dylan has a lot to care for. He also has a Guinea Pig named Kyle, and he is pretty much in charge of the chickens. He and I need to get the chicken wire put up on the little paddock off the side of the barn where the chicken coop is. Pretty soon it'll be warm enough and they'll be feathered enough to go out. I need order my meat chicks. I need to get Ben make a rabbit hutch for me so I can get the meat rabbits. He made me a very nice one before and it was destroyed in a hurricane. Once I have the meat birds and the rabbits it's my hope that I can start to supplement the dogs' diets with chicken and rabbit, and also use the day old chicks and baby rabbits for the reptiles. It's my plan to also have duck and pig for us and the dogs, but I have to do things one step at a time. I'll have one of my lambs butchered, possibly. If they all have lambs this year. If they don't, I'll wait till next year. I really do want my dogs are a more natural diet, but I'm only going to do it if I can raise the critters myself. It's too hard and too expensive for me to buy it already processed. If I get the meat goats, they'll be eating that too.

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Cows/Whistles/Running on Fumes/Jim

Cruz and Gwen got one more session with cows today, before the trial on Saturday. Both did really, really well. We set the cows out on feed today so they would stay in the right place. We set them pretty far. Cruz did any impressive outrun, that happily surprised me. His outrun is the one place that my true beginner training her own dog for too long alone, can still show it's ugly head. He was very big and wide, but very appropriate. The cows mingled while he ran out, and where pretty spread out by the time he got there. He was on his own. I could tell he knew where I wanted them, so other than a few walk up whistles to remind him where I was, I pretty much let him do his job. When we finished, Carol said, "well if he can handle all that and still get them to your feet, he can certainly get them to you at the trial!" He had to really work hard, as they wanted to go in several directions. Or rather, each of them wanted to go a different direction, so it was a lot of work to get them grouped enough to bring them up the line. He did an awesome job. He never gets rattled or hurried. The only times he hustled and got up quick to their face was when I asked. And he's SO incredible about taking his "steady" whistle (basically an extra short 'stop' whistle) right in the midst of a hustle. He can be full tilt, wheeling around, just about to make contact and I can blow that whistle and dang if he doesn't instantly down shift 3 gears. So he's excellent at gaining the cows respect without making a mess. He's very much a gentleman first, but will not allow himself to be pushed either. He'd rather ask than insist, but has no problem insisting if needed. I was very proud of his work today.
Gwen had trouble on the first lift. We had it pretty darn long for a dog that's only been on cows 3 times. She got there fine, although I had to call her in from going to the sheep behind me when she first left my feet. It was simply a "Gwen, come in here, away". When she got up there one cow left right away and 2 stayed on the food. She struggled with this just a bit and kind of took it out on the one cow that left. As soon as I could see she was struggled I moved up the field and got about half way there and it started to click for her. I did a little more, then we took a 10 minute gab break. Carol's dog moved them out again and this time she was perfect. No trouble at all. She's going to be one hell of a cow dog. She takes her whistles so fast and she drives cows better than sheep. Carol assures me she'll do fine at the trial. I'm going to run Deal too. Since I'm only going Saturday, I can afford it. (I get paid tomorrow and got paid a partial payment for the board and train dog I have right now) I didn't take Deal today, because I needed to take our youngest to the eye Dr. and I wasn't quite sure I trusted 2 bitches in the cab of my truck. They'd most likely be fine, but strong bitches' can be funny like that. I'd trust 2 males before 2 bitches. I don't trust people, and would never put them in crates in the bed of the truck. When I go to trials I put the crates in the back so when I get there they have crates to be in. So I'm pretty excited about the trial. They aren't starting until 8:30-9 and it's only 2 hours, so that's awesome! We'll plan to leave at 5:45, so I might even be able to take a power nap before going. When you just go for the day, packing is pretty simple. I'm going to test Ben's car tonight to see if 3 dogs and 2 crates will fit, but I doubt it. Ella liked the idea of being able to bring Wren and one of my pups, so we may have to take her van. It's either her van or Ben's car, my gas hog is missing this trip!
Oh I wish I had room for cows! Thinking very hard about getting a group of goats. Carol has 3 nice wethers that I may buy and the guy she got them from is local and happens to own one of my Deal X Toss pups from 2004. They're meat goats.
Carol gave me a bigger whistle to try out. She said I should order the Blaster. This is whistles is basically the Blaster, but the 'tab' is on the side and it's brass. I don't like the taste, and I'm struggling with the high ends. I can blow the lows fine. It's becoming very obvious my Montana Lite has "topped off". My dogs can't hear me in the wind beyond 200 yards, especially my low whistles (away) . From what I can tell, I can blow this one the same strength and get a much bigger sound, but I'm not getting any high tones of yet. I'll practice on my way to work. There was no truck last night, so I went home after 4 hours. So I'm going in for 4 hours tonight. (it was my day off)
I'm glad I have tomorrow off, as I feel like I've been running on fumes for awhile now. It's all doable, but I'm beat. Without a doubt I could sleep for several hours right now and wake up drooling on myself! LOL! I had put in for some time off next week and I don't think she gave me much that I asked for. Next week I'm working 6-midnight almost all week, but then back to 6-3 on Sat and Sunday. Sat and Sun is Carol's trial.... I'm calling in on Saturday. I had put in for working until midnight on Weds and then Thursday off for a field trip with our youngest, but my schedule has been Weds and Thurs off, so that's no different.... Like most other trials, I'll only be going to Carol's on Saturday.
I probably need to have Jim looked at. He does this odd head bob, and pretty much always has. I cannot find anything online that explains it. It does not appear to be the symptom of anything usual. It's not something that came on suddenly, and it's not a tremor type thing. More like a 'tick'. When Gwen had her pups, I thought she was done at 2. I waited for 2 hours after #2 and nothing. I fell asleep and when I woke up, she had 3. I do not remember if Jim was #3. It's possible he was #3 and was somehow deprived oxygen just long enough to give him a slight tick. Everything else with him is normal- so it seems. He runs and plays, he's bright, etc... He can move a bit awkward sometimes, but he is also big and leggy, built much different than Ivy, Wren, and Keele. (and his non-littermate 'sister' Clare, who moves like an adult) I want to think that's it's just an odd quirk, but my gut tells me it's not. Even Carol, who is not a worrier said it doesn't look good. I was telling her today I should do some click n treat work with him (he's a food monster) to see what he does when he's focused on something. If he can't stop bobbing I'll know something is way off. It makes me sick to my stomach to think of life without Jim, but if he's not right and it's going to affect his life, I will not subject him to a miserable being. Carol seems to think it will be progressive and end in seizures. It's very odd and I'm very worried. I decided a long time ago Jim could do whatever he wanted and he would never leave here!! I've had a lot of dogs, and own quite a few dogs, and other than losing Jake to a car, I've not had any bad dog luck. At some point my number will be up! I hope it's not up with Jim! My friend Ella seemed to think he did it more last week when she was here than he did the week before... sigh! I don't know who to have look at him. Carol said her Vet is excellent at diagnostics, so I may use her. I don't feel my vet is anything special. After Carol's trial I'll take him in somewhere. The delay is for me. If I take him this week or next and something is wrong, I will certainly not be able to run the dogs I have already paid to run... I love this pup beyond words and I hope the reason I was supposed to love him so much wasn't because his time here was to be short!!

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Dogs/Job/Training

Well, the job is going pretty good. Some days it really stinks to be heading out the door when there's still so many nice hours of daylight left, but I guess that's the case with any j-o-b. As far as being there, it's fine. The people are fine and the job is a snap and there's always plenty of it to do. So for the most part the 9 hours goes by pretty good. This morning I bought $200 worth of groceries before coming home, so by the time I had the cold and frozen stuff put away and lunches packed, it was 5 minutes to 5am. I woke up briefly at 6:55 because I forgot to sign a form for our oldest. I slept until 9:40 when Jordan got here. Jordan has to get up at about 3AM (it's a long story), so she was tired too. I turned the tv on and we both laid on the sofa. In about 5 minutes she was snoring. So I slept till about 11am. This is how I sleep now... Not the greatest, but there's really no other way.
I have promised my dogs some work today. I worked several of them on Sunday in the barn area doing gates sorting and stall work, etc. Today I'll take them out in the field and do a few outruns and drive work. I have tomorrow off. Our youngest has an afternoon eye appt. so we're going to head out to NC right away in the morning with Cruz and Gwen, and maybe Deal and then go to the eye place from there. I don't have Jordan tomorrow, so it's really my only day. She's too little yet to be trusted out of sight, so it's pretty hard to take her along.
I am trying to make a decision on selling Kit. She is a very nice dog, and if I was doing agility she'd never leave! However, her style (which is just like Toss', her sire) of stock work is not really my cup of tea, so to speak. She's very fast and tight, is fairly free, and will "bore" right thru the stock in a drive. A lot of handlers like this type of dog, but I don't really. They like them because they push on in a drive, and because they can 'place' them anywhere and not have the dogs' sense of balance to 'battle' with. She is not loose eyed by any means, but she doesn't have a lot. Toss is now very nicely off his stock, but started just like Kit. Also they are both slow as ever to mature. My personal style are dogs with a good amount of eye and balance and feel the bubble. I prefer a quite natural dog. I would have probably not kept Toss as a stockdog if he hadn't been so incredibly attached to me, and only me. I knew he would not adjust. This is not the case with Kit. I believe she would adjust. I have a woman who wants to buy her and could be here in a few weeks to get her. I'm also bringing Sly on for her. She will probably take him when he's 8-12 months old, depending on how quickly he comes along. I have not made a 100% decision. I may have to sell her with a 30 day trial, so I know she's adjusted and her new life suits her.... She was 2 years old April 2, so I'm quite bonded with her. She'd be fine here doing a little training here and there and being one of the pack, but if she could go to the right home and get more work, then maybe that's better.
I'm excited about the cattle trial and since I can only go on Sat. I may run Deal too. Ella is going to drive me, since I work until 3am. If we take her van, we'd have room to bring Wren and one of my hooligans. Jim's the one that could use the getting out, as he's like Cruz as a pup in the sense that he's a little insecure about new people for a bit. But I'd like to bring Clare, as I know she'd love to sit and watch the cows. I hope the field is such that Ella can make a video of our runs. I'm nervous since I've never run in (or even seen!) a cattle trial!
I have a few pictures of Wren and Loki on the sheep from Saturday. I'll get them on here when I can. Maybe Thursday.
Off to work some dogs!

Friday, April 11, 2008

Working Cattle/Kids Of Today/Pups

Well I am 100% hooked on working cattle. I enjoy it greatly, and so far the 3 dogs of mine that I have tried on them are stellar! I went to NC on Weds. on 2 hours of sleep and had a good afternoon. I worked Cruz, Gwen, and Deal on the steers and the puppies on sheep in a round pen. Cruz was his usual wonderful self. I worked at penning them for the first. After some work, we were getting the hang what we needed to do and we had all 3 heads going into the pen when the outside steer decided to slip around. I called it good, as we had already done quite a bit, and we were attempting to put them in a sheep-size penning pen. I doubt these 3 have been in that pen much, if any. Gwen was AWESOME! A few more times on them, and the cattle breeding in her will be at the forefront! At first I was letting her work too hard. I was told to steady her up a little more- or I'd run out of dog. My personal thought was to let her alone and she'd figure it out, but I listened, as my age and my friend's years of experience are about the same! She was fine being encouraged to steady up a bit. She hits either end. She was a little high on the heel, but I'm assuming with experience she'll lower it. The man I got her from said if I ever sell any of her puppies to cattle-men that I needed to make sure and tell them that both of Gwen's parents are incredibly low heelers.... Gwen's been on cows twice now and she was much more confident this time. So she'll be running Open and Nursery (it's the same run) at the USBCHA cattle trial at Breezy Hill. Deal was super! It didn't take her any time at all to find the right positions. She's very good at driving them, reading them correctly. She hit both ends and will turn a 'trot away' (the term 'runaway' would be the word, but he really wasn't running) by jumping up and taking hold if needed. She took one shot that wasn't correct. She got him in the side and I know she bit hard because he really bellered. But other than that one time, she was 100% appropriate and didn't bite if she didn't need to. I love cattle work, as the dog is doing so much of it on his own and the judging is more reasonable. It's really a more practical venue. There are no lines- just getting from point A to point B. Which is what any farmer/rancher is going to do. Just get them thru the gate and into the barn kind of thing. Don't get me wrong, the sheep venue is an elite group of handlers and dogs and the refinement is simply amazing. But at some point you have to give the dog that gets it done a lot of credit. The fact that a 40 pound dog can control where a group (or herd!) of 1,000 lb+ stubborn animals need to go is simply amazing. I don't think I'll ever stop being star-struck by these dogs!! I'm intensely pondering the idea of getting Cruz and Gwen to several USBCHA cattle trials this season, getting them qualified and going to Finals. Cruz is a few weeks from 7 yrs old, and although that's far from 'old', it is mature. And Gwen could run in Nursery. If I wanted to go, next year would probably be a good year to do it. I would have vacation time at my job by then. It's a long way off, but it's certainly a serious thought rolling around in my head. The trial next weekend will help me make some decisions. I've never even been to a cattle trial! I'm hoping Ben will go with me, be my driver so I can sleep. Even if he doesn't go, I'll probably take his car since I'll have just 2 dogs. I almost want to run Deal too, but it's 2 trials each day, so even going just one day that would put my entries at over $100. My friend told me to be prepared because people are going to want to buy Gwen from me! She's such a cool little dog!! Who knows maybe this coming year I will be able to go to both sheep and cattle trials and I'll just take different dogs. Gwen's not overly careful on the cows like she is the sheep. She's a wonderful sheep dog, but maybe she's a much better cow dog. She has NEVER gripped a sheep, but she had no trouble hitting both ends of the cows... it's all so interesting! I'm thinking of getting a group of goats now. I don't have room for cows. Unless I only kept them until they were 600 lbs or so. I'd have to work calves. The growing steers would eat A LOT more than Boer goats. I really have no choice but to wait till we have our 80 acres to have cattle.

We're have some really ugly trouble on the elementary school bus. These are kids K-5. The bus driver does not have very good control (he's new this year) and some of the kids are taking full advantage of that. Many kids, including our youngest are being verbally, and even physically abused by a group of colored kids. I say colored, because it's relevant. Recently, my youngest asked the 'ring leader' to please get his feet out of the aisle, because the bus driver wasn't going to go until he was sitting right. The boy got right in my son's face and said "You don't tell me what to do, you fuckin' white boy!" OMG!!! WHO are these kids, and WHO is raising them!!? My friends' 3 elementary kids ride the bus here everyday, and their middle daughter has been called a "white bitch" and the little girl next to us has been hit in the stomach. All by the same ONE kid!! Letters by NUMEROUS parents have been written, phone calls have been, visits (that turn threatening) to the school board office have been made, still nothing!! Many parents are now driving their kids, and that's fine, but that is just NOT right!! We shouldn't have to drive our kids!! We pay taxes to have the kids bused, and being bused is not a promise. If you behave badly, you're kicked off. Unless of course you're colored!! (so it seems) Anyone want to guess what would happen if my white son called this boy a *uckin' *igger!? He'd never ride another public school bus in his life!! Yesterday I could no longer take it. I'm tired of what's happening and I'm tired of listening to them when they stop at the driveway. Yesterday I was loading the truck to go to the dump and naturally the dogs were all out with me. The bus pulled up (my dogs know to wait until the kids are off the bus to greet them) and since it was warm, they had all the windows down. As soon as they spotted my dogs a whole group of them starting yelling, screaming, barking, and carrying on. Well, you know what my dogs did- and I just lost it. I FLEW onto the bus and yelled "WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!!?" I went on to tell them how 'over it' all the parents are on this route are and that numerous letters and phone calls have been written. I told them they needed to shut up and grow up!! Then I turned to the bus driver and apologized. He said "I don't mind, I wish I could get them to shut up like that, they don't listen to me!" I went to get off, and do you know those little (oh I wanna say it SOOO bad) kids in the back went to back talking! I wheeled back around and told them to SHUT UP!! I said "Do you want ME to drive this bus!?" In unison they all said "nnooooo!" I said "then shut and be decent". I said when you come by this house I don't want to hear you. Of course I half expected a phone call this morning, figuring they'd be quick to get after me. Call me, please do, I'd LOVE to come down and have a chat!! I really want to send our son with a recorder, but I don't really want to do that to him. If one of them found out, I'd be worried about his safety. Is that just crazy!!? That I have to worry about that kind of crap at an elementary in the country!!!! So I'll say it again, who are raising these kids and why are they allowed to act like this?? Something has happened to me in the last year or so, and I just no longer have any patience for that kind of crap and I have no problem calling someone right out on it. I talked to my neighbor last night, who is the county 'disciplinary guy' for the county next to us. He said he would make a few phone calls for me today and if he doesn't get anywhere, he'll tell me what we need to do next. It's obvious the Principal is hoping this will all just go away. She is the one that has the power to take the kid off the bus, but hasn't even come close. I guess she rode the bus the other day. Yeah, like that's going to help. That's like having a uniformed officer standing at the jewelry counter waiting to bust someone for stealing!! Stupid!! I'm very, very frustrated. I've called the school board personally, twice. Nothing.
As mentioned, the pups got to work sheep in the round pen. They all did various things. For some reason the group that we put over there had an pretty one ugly ewe. That's not typical of her sheep, but this ewe was nasty. She quickly read they were pups was constantly turning around on them. Which made getting the pups to cover, nearly impossible. We finally pulled her out during Sly's turn, but it was too late. He started out so nice, but was then convinced it was best to stand back and watch, not go around. I was a bit upset, but oh well. Not upset at him, but upset at the situation. Ivy is "this close" to turning on. She almost did it. Jim pretty much ate poop. He knew right away that ewe was not something he wanted to get involved in- smart pup. Clare was fabulous and told that ewe a couple times what she thought- but I didn't like that she had to do that. She too little to have to hold her ground. Keele is quite the character and fearless!! He said to the ewe "bring it on". And she did- she was going to pound him! (nasty *itch!) Keele's my friend's kind of dog, with all that attitude, so it's a good fit. As heavy as my ewes are, I don't have any that are ugly like that. She'd be out of here right quick if she acted like that. Or I'd stick Deal on her! Deal has zero tolerance for ill behaving stock and she never bluffs a bite. Cruz will bluff a bite, not Deal.
This got to be a long post and I have quite a list to get done today. We have to be at the ball field by 5:15 and I have to be at work at 5:55. Luckily the ball park is 3 minutes from work. Ben will be there around 6:00 or so. I'm a little tired, but I only work tonight and have tomorrow off. I want to get some dogs worked today. At least the ones I didn't take to NC on Weds.

Wednesday, April 9, 2008

Drizzle

It's chilly and drizzly again, but it's not going to phase me today. Hopefully it won't ruin the day of working dogs. I'm really looking forward to letting the pups work some nicely dog broke sheep in a good size round pen. Right now at home I don't have ideal sheep or the ideal "starter pen". I have quite heavy sheep, (and only semi-human drawn) and the only enclosed areas I have are two small paddocks off the barn. (it's a great place to work gates, do practical shedding and sorting, 'sweep' stalls, and do other barn work!) Being on only 3 acres I kind of have one of 2 choices, 2-3 small areas to work, or one open area. I used to have a round pen and 2, 100x100' areas, (that couldn't be 1- 200x200') but that left me with nothing larger. So all that came down so I would have one larger area. The puppies won't need a round pen for long. In fact if the field continues to be available, I'd rather take the pup, the sheep, and Cruz out to the middle of the 20 acre field and work. None of these puppies appear to be the 'stick em, chase 'em' types.
I got home at 3:30 this morning and stayed up till 4:15. Then got up at 6:15. Hopefully that will get me thru the day. Our youngest has a baseball scrimmage in a near-by town at 5:30, we need to be at the homefield by 5:15 so the coach can finally get the kids their socks, caps, and shirts. I'm going to decide at 5:00 if I'll be sending him with one of his friend's to the other field, or driving there. Ben plans to stop and pick him up, as it's on his way home. I'd like to go, but it depends on how tired I am... They play their first game on Friday and I'll miss it... Their next game though I'll be able to see a little bit of because it starts 30 minutes before my shift, and is only about 5 minutes from work. Speaking of work, I was 3 minutes late yesterday. Seems I have really (um... Feb...) forgotten about my truck's inspection and got pulled over by a State Tropper last night. That's right, Mr. State Tropper on the back roads of Southampton Co. He must live out there. It's almost comical because it's so back roads, that by the time he found a place to turn around and "caught" me, I'd gone probably 5 miles! Thankfully he was not on a power trip, because my DL is not, let's say, quite right. Being military and a resident of a different state, Ben does not need to have a current DL, as long as his Military ID is valid. (until back in the state of residence for 30 days) For a few years, we assumed it was the same for me, but it's not. I should have a current VA (or WI) DL, but I don't. I keep putting it off, because now it's so expired that I will have to take both the written and the driving test! I've been pulled over twice now, and nicely been told I best get myself a VA DL.... So I suppose tomorrow's agenda will include going to Wakefield to get an inspection done. It's $15, my ticket is about $30 and Ben said the added court stuff will be about $50. Poop!
Poor Cruz he is not convinced that me being gone for 10 hours 4 days a week is a great idea. Ben says he lays by the door. Last night (well this morning) he was so happy when I got home that he 'talked' to me- which is something he only does when he's really excited about something. He is never more than a glance away, and he's been that dog to me all his life. He'll adjust and he'll figure out that I'm always coming back. It's just something completely new to him- especially during that part of the day. It's pretty interesting coming home on the back roads at 3AM. I bet I go within 100' of 75 deer every morning. They seem to be very sensible though, and stay where they are. I guess they're behavior along the road is very different during that time of day. They're pretty much eating, vs seeing them during the day when they're most likely traveling from one place to another. The morning before I had to slow way down in order to not hit a skunk. They sure move funny and are really close to the ground.
So I guess I'll get ready to head to Carolina for the day. I only gave the pups half their morning food, hopefully that will be okay. I'll let them have the whole backseat to themselves, as Deal and Gwen can ride on the front seat and Cruz on the floor. That's all I'm taking today. I'll know we'll be doing a lot of lip flapping, because it's been probably a month since I've been down there, and it will take awhile to rotate thru the pups, especially if someone takes some pictures or videos.

Tuesday, April 8, 2008

Still Here!

Well, between this intermittent online availability (the wind has moved the dish) and getting myself adjusted to my work hours, I haven't been able to write for a bit. I have emails I need to reply to, but I'm starting here. If anyone's written to just say "hi", this is my "hi" back until I have more time. I'm wrapping up all the stuff for the VBCA newsletter so I can drop it off at the printer on my way to NC to work dogs and pick it up on the way home. I'm going tomorrow even though it will mean about 4 hours of sleep. I have tomorrow and Thurs. off, so I can catch up by going to bed at the normal time tomorrow and Thurs. I'm not missing another training day!! This will be a pretty light newsletter, having mostly just entry forms and results. I don't have much filler material and I want to get the entry forms out to everyone in a timely manner... I printed out some things to work on for it during my lunch hour. I have to take an hour long lunch, so I like having something to do. Last night I watched Medium, which I haven't watched in a long time. I like the job well enough. I work 95% of the time by myself, which I prefer. It goes faster when you have your own one system. Thank goodness we've only had the one night without a truck so far. It made for a long 9 hours! If I have to be there, I'd just assume be busy!
I'm still planning on going to 1, or both days of the cattle trial in Gladys, VA in a couple weeks. I signed Gwen up for both Nursery and Open. It's one run, for both classes. I wish it were 2, although getting the points for both classes for only an additional $2 is nice too. I think Gwen can still run Nursery next season. I forget what the cut off is. I want to say it's July, but I could be totally off. I'm not going to risk the iffy connection and to pull it up right now. Gwen won't be 3 until Oct 31 2009. I can't imagine I would go to cattle finals in 2009, but one never knows... Cruz is one hell of a cow dog, and since he's pushing 7 (in May), I may try to qualify and go. A friend of mine from here in VA goes every year and like me is not a wealthy woman, so maybe we could ride together. Who knows, it's a year off!
I need to order a bigger whistle. On Saturday I worked a few dogs and decided to really push some distance with Cruz, just to see where we're at with distance and control. I sent him on an insane outrun, probably pushing 500 yards and he was perfect. He needs little to no help on the fetch, so my whistle wasn't that important. I did a very long drive, probably an honest 300 yards out, and I could tell my whistles were not reaching him. Cruz is a completely honest dog, so I know without a doubt when he's wrong, or is standing waiting for direction, he's simply not hearing me. I found that my voice actually carried better- however he could not hear what I was saying and my 'walk ups' were often a flank. I've been told by people who know, that the type of whistle I have will 'top off' before Open level distance, and indeed it did. I think I have the Montana Lite. (looks like a bell) When I first got them, I could not hold the Half Moon in my mouth, now I wish I hadn't given it away. There are a couple out there I'd like try, but of course they're like $50 or more. I'll have to get one by summer time though I suppose. It'll be a bummer to have a long drive fall apart because my dog can't correctly here me.
The puppies are doing great. Clare looks like a little dog. I called her Deal this morning. Not by mistake, but because I thought that's who it was! From the side or the back they are identical! If it was just markings I'd be able to tell them apart, but she moves exactly like her mother! It's amazing! She is absolutely stellar on the hair sheep!! She is drop dead serious, flanks like a pro and flips right over to the other side when I change direction. I can also see that, given a larger area, she's going to have natural pace behind sheep!! I'm just thrilled with everything this little pup is doing! Her sister, Loki was here yesterday. She's gorgeous pup too. She's going to have coat. She looks a lot like one of Deal's littermates that didn't look at all like Deal. Daren is going to bring her over on Saturday so I can try her on sheep. I'll be sure to get pictures. I'm hoping tomorrow someone can video the pups in the round pen and Cruz and Gwen on the steers. Jim is keen on sheep and appears to have somewhere between Gwen and Cruz with eye. He wanted to keep at their heads, but not as much as Gwen did as a pup. He's a thinker and not in there making a mess. I appreciate that greatly!! He took the pressure of me pushing him around very well and ended up giving me a few very nice circles around them. Ivy still doesn't 'see' them at all. She's not worried or afraid, but she's also not turned on at all. Sly goes around very nicely and very seriously. None of these pups are silly around the sheep- that impresses me. Keele has turned on and thinks he wants to work cows, and Wren is doing the same. Of course neither will be doing that for a very long time. Clare has already had her pretty slick and shiny coat for awhile, and now the coated Cruz pups are losing their puppy fuzz and their pretty adult hairs are coming in.
The lambs and the chicks are doing good. The chicks are almost feathered out now and are starting to look like pretty little birds instead of some ugly half feather, half fuzz creatures!
I guess this needs to be about it for now. I need to print out a few more things for the newsletter and start getting into 'going to work' mode. It'll be good to have 2 days off! I'm glad the weather is going to shape up for tomorrow. The weekend looks iffy.

Friday, April 4, 2008

Online/The "Real" World/Night Shift

We've been having major connection problems with our satellite computer service this week. Not sure why, but I think the whole company is having trouble. I called today and waited 20 minutes (on a cell phone...) and never got a person. So hopefully I can get this published today... The blogger automatically saves every few seconds, so that's NICE- if I get knocked off, I won't lose 30 minutes of my life to cyber space!
As I mentioned before, I had to go in for a 3rd day of 10-4PM stuff for my new little job. Man! I sure am glad I don't have to live around that type of work schedule! My dogs were wondering where I was all day and if I'd forgotten about them!! Although I didn't have to go in during the day before working my real 6PM-3AM shift, I had to get our 2 week grocery shopping done- so there I was, day four of being gone all those "good" hours! Yuck!! At least with nights I still have from 10am-4pm. I'm not sure if sleeping 4am-10am 7 days a week would work, but I'm hoping it will be okay for 4 days/week. Right now I work 3 days in a row, have 2 days off, work 1 day, then have 1 day off before the 3 days in a row. I have 2 weekdays in a row and 1 weekend day. After putting in 4 days of daytime hours, I know why so many people question one's ability to properly raise and keep worked a fair number of dogs. It wouldn't be doable! Especially during the winter when it's dark when you leave, and dark when you get home! I don't know how ya'll 9-5'ers do it!!
I hope I can keep up the with the hours, because I very much like the job! I didn't want anything I had to think about when off work, and I really didn't want to have to be dealing with customers for 9 hours. My job is quite simple and it's the kind of thing where once you develop your method, you'll just breeze thru it.
This is what I do... The boxes with merchandise are already loaded onto the pallets. Sometimes the pallets are even brought to me, if not I just go get them. I get about 20 carts, and start my "break packs". I open the boxes and put the merchandise in the right cart- ie, mens wear, ladies, etc... The only dept. that's separated within it's self is Health and Beauty. Pain meds go in one, hair stuff in another, etc. It's simple, but it is fast pace. If you don't go as quick as you can, the guys from the back will have you quite boxed in. Once that's done, I deliver (or some come and get them) the carts to the departments, and I go to HB and start putting the stuff on the shelves. Other than an occasional customer (by now it's after 11pm), looking for something, I'm just busy doing my own thing. No one hoovered over me last night, and no one felt the need to "hold my hand". Simply, "this what we do- go for it". Exactly what I wanted!! Simple, done nearly alone, and busy so the time goes by. I was amazed at how well it got to be 3am. I was a little worried that on my hour long 9:30 'lunch' I'd start to get tired- but I didn't. The night people seem to be a decent group to be around, so that's good. Tonight I don't think anyone will be helping me with the break packs, unless there's another huge truck like last night. The drivers are on strike I guess and what's happening for this store is they're waiting to send trucks until they have like 2000 items, instead of like 1200. (ya kinda wonder why they don't do that normally doesn't it?) So if your local stores look a little bare, that's why. The store I work for does not have a union, but the drivers are backing up the union drivers. Maybe the trucker's have enough power that someone will listen, I doubt it, but maybe. If they refused to drive until the fuel came down, maybe enough influential people would be affected and something could be done. Highly unlikely though I suppose! I'm glad I'm still able to babysit. She doesn't pay me much (we're friends), but what she does pay me/month is just about what it will cost me to go to work/month. (if I drive my truck- most nights I can drive Ben's car and get over double the gas mileage) Last night Ben's "ETA" was about 8 minutes too late and I had to take my truck. (I hope I'll be able to save this when I get back online- it stopped getting a connection when I started talking about the truckers)
When I got home at 3:30am, I let all the dogs out for about 10 minutes, came inside made sure the kids' had clothes laid out and I packed my youngest son's lunch box. Ben didn't have any trouble getting them ready and off to school, so that's good. The boys pretty much get themselves ready, as the routine is always the same, but they still need someone up and watching the time. Our youngest will have to set an alarm so he knows when to walk out for the bus because Ben normally needs to be gone before he gets on the bus. (Our oldest leaves 40 minutes earlier than our youngest) Ben gets both up at the same time and our youngest has some extra before needing to catch the bus. Of course I'm here while our youngest is waiting for his bus-time, I'm just hopefully asleep. I slept till 10:00 and hopefully that will be enough. I didn't sleep solid 4-10am, but hopefully after a couple shifts I will. Once I know the boys are getting ready and on the bus okay and I feel comfortable with the dogs new routine, I should sleep thru the morning routine.
I do think I'm going to take a short nap here in a minute. I'll have enough time to do a little work with a few of the dogs before I need to make some dinner. I think grill cheese and tater tots sounds like a plan... I don't need to start that until 4:45. So I'm signing off for now. I printed some things out to read on my breaks.

Tuesday, April 1, 2008

New Life/ New Job/Growth

This morning before I left for my job orientation, I was able to watch and help an all black ewe lamb be born. I quietly watched as she worked to get the lamb's entire head into the new world. Although the lamb's whole head was present, there were no signs of her front feet. Ideally, they should be born with their head between their front feet. I'm not quick to "get my hands dirty" with births of the dogs or sheep, but I'm often glad I'm there when a bit of assistance can make a big difference. It was clear this lamb's legs were all out of place, and the fact that the ewe's vulva was clamping closed on the lamb's neck during the "rest" periods, I was prompted to get involved during the next contraction. It was very easy to slip my hand in, feel the bent back leg, gently pull it forward and let the ewe do the rest. Both mama and lamb are doing great in their little "bonding stall". I'll keep them in the stall in the barn for about 3 days. This ensures that they are bonded well enough that the lamb won't get left somewhere. My girls are only yearling ewes, so they're young and these are their first lambs.
We've had a fair amount of very nice rain (including today), so things are looking very green & 'refreshed'. Once the last 315' of fence is up, the sheep will be able to graze the whole 3 acres at night when the dogs are put up for the night. This will benefit them and my sheep-care budget.

I go back in tomorrow for the last of the pre-job stuff. I've had to do a good deal of 'shuffling' to be there for all the interviews and training- since of course it's 8-5 type hours. A bit hard for someone who's working nights for a reason!!! Luckily, and unfortunately I don't have the little girl I babysit during the day, tomorrow. It's lucky, because her mother doesn't have to find someone else to watch her (like she had to today), but unfortunate because since it was my day off, I was planning on going to NC to train, let the puppies play with dog broke hair sheep, give Cruz and Gwen another turn on cattle, and visit with friends... Big sigh!! :-( I piped up today that these daytime hours were getting hard for me (4 of them now), and that I had to absolutely be out the door at 3PM to be home for the kids (5 of them). Ben was able to take the entire day off today so he was here for the kids after school... He cannot do that again tomorrow, and certainly not at the last minute... So I will be flying the back roads home tomorrow to be here before the bus. I'm going in at 10 instead of 11, so I'm done at 3:00. I start my job on Thursday. My shift is 6PM-3AM, 4 days a week. Right now I have 2 weekdays in a row off, and one weekend day. I guess they're hiring one more person so we can rotate weekend days. Working 6pm-3am one weekend day is going to make trialing a bit trying. This means whichever day I work, my "day off" won't start until 3 AM.... They do the schedules almost a month in advance, so I'll have to do the same with trial weekends. As soon as I know there is a trial I'll have to put in for either a Fri and Sat off or a Sat and Sun off- just to go one day. I don't trial often enough that I anticipate this being a problem. I'm only worried it will keep me from the USBCHA Breezy Hill Cattle Trial because it's the 19-20th, and the schedule is already done thru the 18th. I had already invited Ben to come along, as I thought he'd enjoy watching Cruz work cows. So if he were to go, he may have to drive so I can sleep... we'll see. Although I'd be immensely disappointed if I couldn't go, in the grand scheme of things, it's not that big a deal. My dogs are young and we're honestly just getting to where the miles and the fees are worth it! The other trial I hope to make one day to is the Dixie Meadow's trial in NC the wkd. after the cattle trial. The good thing about this trial is that it's only 1.5 hours away. The cattle trial is 3-4 hours away. I am, as weird as it may seem, excited to start this job. It seems like a great place to work, with plenty of possibilities to move up and/or to different positions that best suit your life.
The Rhode Island Reds made their move out to the garage today. They're in one of the custom made whelping boxes, with a custom made wire top that makes it cat-proof. Ben made a frame that includes hinges at about the half way point- this way it's hooked down while still being able to lift the front half to care for the chickens. (or even puppies in the future) He even made a special place to hook the light. They were ready for the move out of the rubber maid tub. They were starting to perch on the edge of the tub, and beginning to... well- kinda smell, and Cruz was beginning to be a bit obsessed about 'babysitting' them. After watching me put a few escapees back into the tub, he quickly figured out I didn't want them out of the tub. So once they started perching on the sides and on top of the waterer, he felt the need to 'keep' them. It was hard to tell him he needed to let them be, as he had simply figured out where they were supposed to be, and was going to make sure they stayed there, but of course that type of behavior is not great! I'll take a photo of their delightful new home real soon.
My Jim pup is tugging at my heart strings more and more everyday, and I reckon he will end up being in the house like Cruz and Edge. I can already completely envision him being my next go everywhere, be everywhere dog like his sire. I love all my dogs with an intense passion, and they all think the world of me, but there is something incredibly special happening between this pup and myself. I had refrained from bringing Jim on like another Cruz, because I felt it would somehow hurt Cruz's feelings- that he has earned his position as my 'only' in several different aspects and that bringing on a pup on his turf would be some sort of 'betrayal'. Today I brought this up to Ben, and he said "I think Cruz will get over it".....