Above picture looks a lot like Deal.
Above photo is totally Deal! (it's Clare of course, but that move is her mama!)
I like the different composition of this picture. (above)
There's Deal again!
Gosh, she looks all grown up in the above photo!!
Not that pretty matters, but she sure has that going for her regardless!!
Flankin' like her mama- deep & square, yet never, ever out of contact!
"That'll do, get a drink?" "Okie Dokie!:"
This is 100% Cruz's style.
Why do I love this pup so much?
Think working a single ewe takes good stock sense, try a single, pissed off goose!
Yes, she has a hold of Ivy!
Ivy's never dealt with this before and she was stellar! Notice the distance she's giving the bird, yet not backing down. She never gave ground and she never laid into the goose- she was both brave and patient.
"I'm smarter and faster" Ivy says.
"I said not that way!"
"Thank You"
Ivy did such a great job. The goose got behind the rest and then waddled off. I used it as an opportunity to show her what a "look back" is, and she the handled the lone goose like a grown dog! She never backed down, but she never got ugly with the goose or just decided all she could was plow in and make a mess. She hung with it even when the goose got really ugly. What impressed me the most was once the goose was waddling off in hot pursuit of the rest of geese, Ivy kicked off the lone goose and flanked out to bring me the whole group! I was really impressed with her stock sense today. Geese aren't sheep, but what she did didn't have anything to do with what kind of stock it was, it was about problem solving and being kind, yet assertive with the stock. This is exactly what Cruz does and makes no difference to him if it's a bird, sheep, or cow...
Hard to believe my girls are 18 months old already! It's a good age. They're ready for a few things now that were over their little heads 6 months ago. They are both very, very good girls on just a dog level. They are both very well adjusted, young ladies. Growing up in a well adjusted pack helps that so much. They learn things from the other dogs that no human can ever teach a dog. I have 10, 10x10's but they are rarely in them. 90% of the time they have the run of the whole 3 acres. I think this is how dogs should be kept.... But that's a topic for another day. The girls of course, know all the basic things they need. They ride like pros, tie out during herding practice (quietly), have 100% recalls, walk on a line, all that kind of stuff. Ivy has been on sheep/geese more than Clare because I feel like she is ready. Ivy is SO natural. At this point she is really never wrong. She's also very biddable and wicked smart like her parents. Even at the Border Collie level, Cruz and Gwen are above the curve when comes to brains, and Ivy is right there with them. Last week Ivy figured out in one try what I wanted at a fenceline chute. She has no commands other than a stop when it's the natural thing to do. It took her one try to learn that "walk up" meant keep pushing the sheep- and coming from a pup who has the urge to come to their heads, this was not a natural move for her. It was a very good exercise for her- to learn that pushing them past me does not mean she is going to lose them. She has incredible stock sense. I don't think I own a dog that reads stock better. (at that age) She is going to top her father, which I didn't think was possible!! Without a doubt she is the most talented young dog I've yet to have! She has everything right now. Of course there is no telling what will be 6 months down the road, but right now there is honestly not anything I would change!! Maybe today I can get some video clips. Dylan has a game this afternoon, so maybe I can get out there before the game and then download it when we get home. The weather looks iffy- we have had so much rain and over cast the last week. There's big storm clouds everywhere, so who knows if they'll just blow over, just hang around all day, or produce something....
HA! I finally got a picture of the real sisters! Kit is from the first Toss X Deal litter. She was the only Toss looking pup in either litter. Kit has been long maturing like her father, but has been very promising lately. She a very forward dog like Toss. Like Toss, she will be a wonderful straight-line driving dog, and one that you can pop around in a flank and stop anywhere without them fighting you for a balance point. Clare wants to work stock, work stock, and work stock just like Deal. She's very intense, but has enough of Toss that she is not ready at only 18 months for much handler pressure. She is more Deal than Toss in "style" on stock. Her flanks are a bit more square, but then curls in right at the "lift"- like Deal used to do. She has Deal's eye. She also has Deal's presence. She's an easy pup to work, but I haven't done much because I can see in her body language that she is really not ready for a lot of direction. She has nice easy flanks- unlike dogs like Gwen and Ivy who are very fast flanking dogs. (Ivy's not as insane about it as her mother, but she is fast). Off sheep Clare is a sap kind of personality around people and also a bit of trouble. She is the one that will chew and dig and do things she probably should know better to not do. When I moved my geese she figured out she could go right thru the pipe gate because I didn't have wire on it. Bad pup- yet all I had to do was say her name ONE time all the way from the house, and she'd come full tilt all the way to the porch. So I wired the gate. Then she figured out she could slide under it (and no she's not a pest along the fenceline- if she can't get IN she pays them no mind), same thing- I would call her and she'd come flying, but 2 minutes later she was right back in there... So we lowered the gate. Turd! LOL! I have such good adults and the puppies get to grow up learning how to be well behaved dogs. I don't have barkers, or fenceline runners. None of them pester the stock if I'm not out there, etc... I give my adult dogs more credit than myself for producing such well adjusted young dogs. Well, I guess I'll go see if the video camera is charged up. My guess is no. Oh, my new camera is the Canon Rebel xsi. My husband had ordered it for me! He also got me the 300 zoom lens, which is what all of pictures have been taken with. I have only used it as point and shoot so far. The action setting has a rapid fire, and it's so great to use on moving dogs!! The running picture of Ivy and all of these of Clare were taken yesterday when it completely over cast, so I'm very, very happy that these high motion pictures were in focus! There really was very little light for taking action photos!
