Jim on Christmas Day.
Sly on Christmas Day.
Sly is going to be a very nice "Lad". He has such a wonderful temperament and is a very natural pup on sheep thus far. He gives me the impression he is going to be a very deliberate working dog- a perfectionist. He's very, very steady and not in a rush. He is very easy to keep behind his sheep in a fetch and is showing early signs of having very nice, natural pace- he has little desire to flank to their heads to control them. Funny how because of Gwen I am so aware of that now! I will not allow that to happen in a second dog! I was urged by Carol to teach Ivy to stand rather than blocking her on the fetch- so that's what I'm doing with all 3 puppies. Funny how easy that is to teach if you wait until the pup is actually ready. I worked all 3 of them yesterday and you would have thought they'd already been taught a "stand". I also noticed that as a trainer I have probably done way too much flanking with the young dogs, thus not showing them how to pace behind their sheep. Had I insisted at an early age that Gwen stay BEHIND her sheep she probably wouldn't have quite the size hole she has right now with wanting to come to their heads. The pups are 13 months old and are just now ready for that kind of pressure. In fact Sly went off once to visit Ella. He came right back (I never call a pup back, I just do something with the sheep that should peak his interest) and I let him just cover a couple times and we quit. Ivy did a bit of sniffing, so I know from their reactions that they just barely ready for the pressure of being asked to stay behind their sheep and stand when the sheep are at my feet. I probably won't take them out again now for a week, maybe 2- give them time to let that new idea soak in. Clare didn't have any trouble, but she has a natural stand and probably the best feel for her sheep, so it wasn't as much pressure for her. In fact she responded so well to the stand that I could get her to stay in place while I positioned myself for 2 little outruns. She could probably work a second time this week- although I may not as she just came into heat 2 days ago. Ella worked Wren yesterday and they did well. Wren is like Cruz and tends to slice the top, so Ella is learning when she needs to get in Wren's space and when she needs to back up and release the pressure. She has an obedience down on her that carried over very nicely to sheep. Wren's very easy to handle like her parents, so it won't take much to square her out. Like Sly and Ivy she wouldn't be worked a lot yet because Ella has to put a fair amount of pressure on her in order for her to flank correctly. The more pressure you have to put on them to make things be right, the more mature the pup has to be- IMO anyway. I'd rather she wait than let her slice the top of her flanks over and over again because it's too much pressure on her to make her do it right.... She seems to have very nice pace behind sheep- she's just speedy and tight on her flanks- just like Cruz was.Work hired a girl to fill my overnight ICS position- so that's great! This means I'll be moving to days!! YAHHOO!!! Nights are killing me. I really like the job I'm doing, but just can't deal with 10-7 much longer, so the store manager opened a spot for me on the 7am-4pm ICS team! :-)) I had an interview for Dept. manager for the pharmacy dept, but they went with a person who already has dept. manager experience. My overnight managers were told I had a very good interview and was one of the top choices, but experience won out... Oh well, I very much like the ICS job and I can always put in for dept. manager again when another one opens up. I guess she doesn't start until the 31st. Typically you won't change depts. until the end of the schedules that are currently posted- which is always 3 weeks out. So it sounds like she'll probably be on with us for awhile to get trained in before I leave- which is good. I'm so glad they found someone as I'm pretty sure I wasn't gonna get to go to days until they did- and I'm pretty sure they wanted to fill it with someone already working at the store...
I have to drive to Hampton today to take Charlie in for a dental appt. It's a re-bond for his braces, so I need to remember to bring my book since we'll be there for about an hour. Last time it was just an adjustment and he was in the chair for about 3 minutes! I finished Twilight so now I'm reading the next one called New Moon. It's getting very interesting- I think I know what's about to happen, but we'll see. I'm in to the 200's, but it's nearly 600 pages long- big print. Charlie and I need to leave in a little over an hour, so I best get some things done around here and then get ready to go.
Clare has that same "go ahead, make my day" expression while on sheep as Deal. She is a very nice pup on sheep right now. She has wonderful balance, natural pace in a baby-dog fetch line, and lots of good sense. On this day 2 of the Hog Island wethers thought it fun to turn around and stomp a foot or two at the dogs. Clare was very business-like about letting them know that type of attitude was not allowed while she was on the field! She has a great head on shoulders, which is something they either have or don't have....
