First Day Out!

John
Nora says "Hi Mom"

John.

Handsome thinker, John.

Sweet-Pea, Grace.

My little bug, Rose.

John, enjoying not being contained by baby gates!

Henry and Gwen enjoying the sun. Gwen worked hard this morning on sheep, so she was content to just relax and enjoy the warm sun with her pups. She rolled and rolled and then sprawled out in the sun.

Henry and Rose.

I must be bias, because they seem like the cutest, most intelligent pups ever!

Henry

Henry

Handsome Henry. What a pretty profile.

I think he's smiling.

Henry and Rose.

Clover and Henry.

Nora

Grace and Nora.

Rose

Clover, Nora, and I think John.

She just has the most intelligent look. (Rose)

Rose

Nora, showing off her gorgeous profile.

Does he even look real? John is probably the most classic looking Border Collie I've had.

This is the typical cat-dog relationship we have here.

John learning how cats tick.

Rose is learning too.

"Hi Clover, I like you a lot!"

Clover says she likes Rosie too- and Dylan's lap!

Good thing Dylan has two hands.

Grace is learning too. (I over did the contrast fix on this one- oops)

See? Doesn't that little face just say "I am wick smart"?

Nora

Wayne loves canine affection!

Dry grass, warm sun, and new puppies. Wayne thinks that makes for a pretty good day!

The rugrats! Grace, Henry, Rose, John, and Nora. They had a great time outside. They were not worried about being in the wide open spaces and just got on with exploring.

Yeah For The Sun!

Well it was actually a very nice day today! It was a little breezy, but reasonable. I wore my insulated bibs, but I only needed my long john's shirt and a vest. I didn't have to lug around my insulated boots. :-) I did wear my hat, but didn't need gloves. :-) So a few less layers. I got all my dogs worked, which always feels really good.

I played with Ivy and it was pretty good. Carol says Ivy should indeed work right thru this stage of not wanting to walk in, so I'll just keep things light and pleasant. I started to tell her "walk up" when she was behind the sheep, in the hopes that she will learn what "walk up" is.

All the other dogs I worked in the big field. I pushed their outrun comfort zone (slightly beyond 300 yards) to see what I would have. Cruz got there without additional direction, but unfortunately I was trying to video tape and I could not see where he was on the lift. The sheep lifted offline, and he would not come off enough on the comebye flank to change the direction of the sheep (he was being outrun because he was too tight). Because I had the camera in my face I wasn't much help, and was seeing things way too late. He did some nice drive work, again I pushed our distance comfort zone to see where we are at. We're good until about 200 yards. Beyond that I start to get tighter flanks and have a harder time getting subtle movements. I'm not sure my whistles carry much past 200 yards very well.

Deal needed an additional directional whistle on her 300 yard outrun. She took it wonderfully, however when she checked up on the lift, she did not give me the additional flank like I asked for. At 200 yards she would have. I pushed her drive work as well. Interestingly at about 200 yards she was becoming reluctant to push forward. Once in awhile I need to go a step or two beyond where we are comfortable so I know what we need to work on, and towards.

Today was the furthest I have ever sent Gwen. She went nicely, but then didn't cover very well on the lift. Like Deal, she will normally take an additional flank like a star, but due to do the additional distance, she would not. One thing I realized I had never done with her was ask her all the way around on the fetch. I hadn't done this because she is such a big flanking dog and in her early days it was hard to keep her behind her sheep, pushing forward. So I worked on that today. It was a new concept for her, but she did quite well once she knew what I was asking. I would ask her around to various places and then ask her to drive a very short distance, then ask her around again.

Toss was the 2nd dog I tried to video and work, and that just doesn't work. If I video (or photograph), then I'm not really training, and these days between crappy weather and my paying job I don't really have "non training" time to spare. We went out really, really nice at a distance beyond where I know he would be right. Because I was trying to tape, he brought the sheep up the fetch like gang busters, and drove them off in a similar style... After a couple minutes of trying to drive him with the camera in my face I decided I needed to ditch the camera. Maybe it won't be too long and Ella can come out one afternoon and tape while I work. After I put the camera away Toss got back on track and worked very nice. His forwardness is going to be a blessing as we approach the distances that Open is going to throw our way. He was a big boy today and work off whistles very well. Once he realized I was on the ball, he drove nicely and flanked lovely much of the time. He is such a funny dog in a drive. He is so forward and wants to just push, push, push. He knows he is to walk, so he does this big, powerful walking stride. He does not lie down on his stop whistle while walking behind the sheep. He prefers to stay on his feet. He does lie down most of the time when I ask him to stop flanking. I really like working Toss. He was a long wait, and we had so many, many frustrating sessions, weeks, months, and years!! I'm glad I waited him out and I'm thankful I had a trainer who saw Toss' potential years before I did! He's a hell of a dog on the field, and a delightful dog to own. :-)

Fluff Balls!

This is my little button, Rose. This past week she has bonded with me in some kind of way!! She is the littlest of the group, by a good amount, but she is a pistol, and she is the most personable. She already looks right thru me when I talk to her! It's almost creepy when a puppy of this age looks at you with such intelligence! When I play with the pups every evening, she is with me the whole time. She is a hard core playing pup, but if I'm in there with them, she is by my side.

The babies love their big "sister", Maddie. Maddie has been wonderful with them. In some of the pictures it may look like she's being rough, but I assure you she's not. She is 100% appropriate and plays down to their level.

"Hi Brock"

Henry and I think Rose.

Awww... Maddie and Henry

Nora and one of the boys, I think Henry.

Pretty girl, Nora. Nora is Dylan's favorite. She is the most independent of the group.

I remember Gwen looking like this.

John.

Oops, I guess that one got in here twice.

John.

John. He's such a handsome boy. He is more independent than Henry, but still very personable. Both boys have some good bone and should be pretty good size boys. It's clear now they are all going to be fully coated.

John

Henry.

Henry is more personable than John right now. When I sit in with them and play Rose is always with me, and I typically end up with a lot of Henry and Grace.

Henry does a lot of soaking everything in. He is going to be a thinker, that's evident already.

Grace, the polar bear cub- or baby seal.

Whata face!

I like Grace's attitude. She's in the personable circle and she is quite full of herself!

Return To The Midwest?

We're from Wisconsin. Ben spent 13 years of his life in MN and 7 years of his life in WI. MN/WI, same difference. He grew up in urban/suburban areas. In each home they had a nice yard and maybe a cat or 2, but they did not ever have to be outside in -20 with snow drifts against the barn doors 4' high. However, I did. I grew up on a horse farm that was close to 90 acres in North West Wisconsin- an hour or so directly East of Minneapolis/St Paul, MN. We had our own show horses, brood mares, and foals that were sold each summer. Additionally, we had horses in for boarding. In my teens we cared for 20-30 horses year round. We had show horses that came into box stalls every night and were fed grain and wonderful hay every morning and evening. We had broodmares that started the same routine in February/March. We had "pasture horses" that were that, pastured. During the winter months they were fed hay under a lean to attached to the main barn and let into tie stalls for grain. The main barn was an old dairy barn. The dairy stalls my father made into tie stalls for the pasture horses. There were 10, maybe 12. Their front feet stood in packed clay, but the rest of their body was over concrete. They had wonderful mangers that held their feed buckets and flakes of hay. He made the stalls so the manure fell into the same manure "ditch" that the dairy cows used. It was just wide enough for a pick fork. The milk parlor was converted into our feedroom. My Dad had built a huge feedbin that held probably a ton of feed that was a custom blended sweet feed mixture. The mixture changed throughout the seasons, which dictated how much of what ingredient the horses needed. The feedroom also contained the well, which was heat taped, and heat lamped for several months of the year. All the water spickets were also wrapped in heat tape. Hoses were drug out, and then returned into the cemented laundry room with a drain, twice a day from early December until at least mid-February. There was probably less hose dragging as my brother and I got older and we could carry 2, 5 gallon buckets of water at a time... The pasture horses stock tanks all had electric heaters. I can remember my Dad had build plywood covers for the tanks so the horses could not pull out/knock out the heaters. The pasture horses were the true indicators of the weather. If it was cold enough, wet enough, dangerous enough- the pasture horses were kept in their tie stalls overnight. The visual remembrance of the pasture horses being kept in is horses coated with icicles. Ice on every exposed hair- eye lashes, nose whiskers, manes, tails, and balls of ice dangling from their fetlocks! We had metal "shedding brushes" that would be used to scrape off the ice. Even more of memory is my fathers own exposed hairs being covered in ice! Namely, his beard and mustache! We lived off a good size driveway. I'm not sure how long, but several hundred hundred yards anyway. The county would come and plow, but to wait on them would often mean days of being "snowed in". (although I can remember times when there was no choice but to wait for the professional sized equipment) My Dad would plow the barn yard and the driveway- many times in the dark. He and the good 'ol "classically aged" tractor- which may or may not be in the mood to fire right up... I don't have to think very hard to remember his rose-red, ice covered face! The things we did to simply make it until the next day on a farm in the mid-west!! We heated with a combination of wood and oil, but I don't remember relying on the oil very much. The wood was found, cut down, cut apart, split, loaded, unloaded, stacked, and hauled in by our 8 hands. Sometimes there was an additional pair of hands, but I don't remember that happened too often. We cut the firewood from our own acreage of woods. The woods was low-lying, so to go out and cut, split, and stack during the "un-frozen" times of the year was not doable. The only time we could get out there with the tractor and F250 was when the ground was good and frozen. It was a weekly event, and as a kid it was a miserable task. As an adult I only see the values it taught me. To be heating in the same manner now would please me beyond words!!! Of course as a kid I only saw the reasons it was a bummer. But what I remember as an adult is all of us being together, working to support ourselves. I remember the brush fires with roasted hotdogs and baked beans. I remember the laughable moments and I appreciate what having to be out there or be cold instilled in me as an adult- I don't remember it as being miserable. In fact I'm envious. I wish my own kids could look back on such experiences. I can remember times the drifts of snow were so deep and high that my brother and I could make snow caves several rooms deep and wide. I can remember drifts high enough that had you jumped from the roof of the hay barn, it would have only been several feet! I can remember cars that had been plugged in all night (southerns don't even know what that means) still wouldn't start in the morning. I can remember the barn cats having a heat light (and they were not pampered at all, so for them have been granted a heat light...), I can remember having to go inside to change gloves/mittens half way thru evening chores because the pair you had on were too crusted with ice to provide any kind of protection during the remainder of your chores. Then after the frozen tundra came the MUD....

Would we ever go back? I don't know. It is such a beautiful area of the country and provides both wonderful pasture and "livestockfeeding" croplands (ie corn, alfalfa) with terrain ranging from near flat, to gorgeous rolling hills. Somedays I think yes, somedays, not so much. My parents have moved to Northern Arizona, so being close to them in pretty much out. We can't afford land out that direction. The rest of my family is the same area I grew up. Ben's family is the same MN area he grew up. To move back to that area would mean we were 90 minutes from everyone but my parents. Land is reasonable. Land there, vs. land here on the east coast is pasture, or pasture/woods combination. Here it is either expensive crop land or all woods that needs to be cleared; a 50 acre farm that's mostly pasture is pretty much non-existent. Here, we deal with the summer misery of heat. We deal with parasites for both dogs and farm animals that never get "froze out" and really take a hold during the hot and humid months- sometimes regardless of how much we deworm and deflea!! But, we do not have to build barns and buildings for our animals that protect against the sub-zero temperatures, and we do not have to "feed" our livestock for as many months. It's all about trade-off and personal choice. We give up dealing with the sub-zero, but in turn have to deal with the summer months of 100 degrees and 98% humidity for weeks and months- not just a few days here and there. The mid-west has "house bound" months, and the south has it's "house bond" months- but they are at opposite ends of the year!! In one area you are miserable outside from Jan-March. In another area you are miserable outside from June-August....

We've been in the southeast for a long time now, but the hot and humid summers are still no less to bear, and are dreadful. Something in my gut says we will end up back in the mid-west! As I age I miss my family. I know the family that is there are not going anywhere. I miss the cold, and I miss the snow. I miss the weather that reminds you just where exactly you stand in the universe! I believe I have come to the conclusion that I would rather deal with the winter than deal with the miserable summers of the south east. 20 below does not last as long as 100 and humid. Although it can be difficult, making livestock comfortable and viable during the short lived 20 below is possibly more manageable than the several hot/humid/parasite infested summer months of the south east...

The midwest seems very compatible to what I want from life. I want to have livestock, largely to produce our own meat, but also as a small source of income. I want to have enough land to train stockdogs to the top level. I would like to have a garden large enough to produce the non-meat staples.

Busy Week

Wow! Can't believe it's Thursday night already! It's been a busy week and I'm pretty exhausted. I did work the dogs on Sunday and they all did well. Kit did really well on her sends. She didn't make a single mess and stayed off them very nicely. I'm really excited about her progress on outruns. She does so nicely with everything else. She has a solid stop, reliable flanks (including off balance), short distance driving with flanks (including inside), and pens very, very nicely. Once she has a nice outrun she will really be a very useful dog and I would guess, fun to trial. Toss did a really nice job with only whistles. He's been such a good boy over the last 6 months or so. He's really matured and not that I didn't like him before, but he has really become so enjoyable to work. He is really a cool dog to own, and to have him coming along so nicely on sheep is a good feeling. I did what I said I wouldn't and I played with Ivy. I let her work the geese. It had it's good moments. Her and Kit are both in heat now. I worked with Deal and shed work. She's doing better. She has to learn to watch me a little more, so she knows where to come in. I'm not always really great either. Sometimes it all feels right, and sometimes I really have to think about which hip I'm turning in, which hand I'm calling them thru with, and which hand I need to have the stick in... I may get a shedding video so I can see it over and over again... I just need to do it right a hundred times- or so. Cruz got to work the geese and was in his glory. Birds and cows. They make him smile. :-)

The babies are ADORABLE and really a lot of fun right now. They are very clean puppies and are basically "potty training" themselves. They have been on 2 of those indoor rugs with the rubber on the bottom. I wasn't going to add newspaper until I needed to. Gwen kept it so clean, I didn't need the newspaper. The rugs are washable, so it has been a perfect "floor". This week I started putting newspaper at just one end of their puppy area and they only potty there. They quickly learned this week that their little routine is to be let out of their puppy home and into the entire kitchen while I make dinner the minute I walk in the door from work. They are a riot and have a total ball. By the time dinner is made I have 5 pooped-out pups! :-) They are all fireballs and into everything! They're all going to have coat and are unbelievably cute! I'll get some pictures of them tomorrow. Hopefully it won't be too ugly tomorrow so I can play with everybody outside and have a fun day off. I need it!

Ooookaaay....

If we're going to have Mid-West temperatures, then I want Mid-West snow!!! Blah!! It's not even 30, and the wind is whipping so the temp feels more like about 18. News said the next few nights we'll have inland lows in the single digits. Not a big deal when it's the norm- it's all relative as they say, but here in the South East water lines are only buried several inches deep and our animals typically don't have the kind of shelters that do much for the cold. They are mostly shelters for sun in the summer and to simply come in out of the rain if they choose to. My dogs now have a 3 gallon horse bucket for water up here by the house so I can keep it ice free. They normally have an 80 gallon stock tank, but I dumped it Friday evening before running the dogs with the 4 wheeler. (I didn't want them jumping in it, thus being wet shortly before being put in their insulated, but not heated kennel building). Refilling the tank Saturday morning was a no-go as the house was froze. (I can remember having to haul the hoses into the laundryroom in the basement when I was kid in WI) At least the sheep don't drink a lot. If I just keep breaking the ice the 80 gallon tank will remain full enough until the hoses can be used again (I'm figuring). The couple years that I had horses I would have to re-fill the tank via 5 gallon buckets. Back in the good 'ol days I could carry 2 at a time. That's a little harder now... I need to check the goose pool as I forgot to ask one of the boys to do that for me yesterday.

I hope the wind will die down some later on so I can work Cruz, Deal, Gwen, and Toss in the big field today. Even if it's just a couple sends with flank work on the fetch line. I'm really, really going to try and hit some spring trials this year with the above dogs. Cruz is still one-foot-in-front-of-other, but to say he has lots of trial years left is probably being a bit overly optimistic. (although I tend to be pessimistic, so maybe it's really not...) Once the lambs are all born I will have more sheep and can really start working on Deal's shedding. All she needs to understand is that she needs to come in where I feel the split needs to be, and that none of the sheep are misbehaving, so no need for the occasional bite. She's a control freak, so even though she really does come thru nice on a shed, she still feels the sheep are "screwing up" by being in 2 locations, so they must be "told" they are wrong... She's getting it though. It's best to do early shed work on a large group so the dog can work each group that's kept back. The light bulb seems to come on sooner. So until my sheep group is built back up I'm rather limited with that. All my dogs can work a single really good at least! LOL! Toss is coming along on his whistles, but I feel like he's still waiting for the verbal back-up. Soooo today I am going to keep my mouth shut. I'm going to keep the work simple so he is right and he is close at hand, but he will only hear whistles... My voice is near becoming a crutch for him. Gwen just needs easy, but long drive work. Building her confidence. She has been wonderful the last two times out. She's going to be a quick student with shed work. She likes to hold sheep, and is almost too respectful of their bubble, yet she comes right thru when I asked- and like a bullet. Ella had Wren here a few days ago. She did a nice job. She is really a blend of her parents on sheep, so Ella has a very nice young dog! She is fast on her short sends, but she had wonderful, wonderful pace and feel for the sheep on a fetch. I had them do some corner work, kinda thinking that it was insecurity of closely covering sheep that was causing the rushing during a send. I was pleasantly surprised when she quietly and easily went into the corner both ways- no rushing, tail down. What's interesting is that at first Ella didn't say anything, just let her work off her body language. Wren was quiet and relaxed. Then the first time that she nicely gave her a flank, Wren rushed in... Her father is the same way on an outrun! Cruz is an honest dog, so typically he can be out while people (and me) work dogs all day and you never have to tell him a second time to stay close and out of the way. The couple rare times he has thought he was sneaking off to sheep he has done beautiful outruns. Carol and I went ahead and let him "sneak" off a time or two and both of us looked at each other like "where did that dog come from?" So I have tried to invent ways to send him, by not sending him... I almost have to let him question the send- then he uses his brain. If I send him, he just flys. (Oh to have him again as a 2 year old knowing what I do now...) Shhhsshh'ing (even gently) him does not work, that's still a send to him. He is such an incredibly honest dog, that what I've been doing lately is simply stepping to the side and letting him drift off- kind of letting him go on his own. (not something you could do with a lot of dogs) I have also tried sending him, then stopping him a short way out, making him stay put for a few, then giving him a whistle. This reminds him of outrun training where I would stop him, run out part way, and then make him get out. So that's pretty much what I get- which is nice, but then I'm taking a redirect hit right off the bat.... So I really don't want that to be our method. Age is on my side in some sense. He can still go like a rocket, but he is becoming more and more okay with not. But stepping to the post at a trial always gives him that extra octane boost, so that's not a reliable method either. LOL!

So that's the plan for today. At least the sun is out. I think I'll just leave Ivy be for today. She was quite nice when Ella was here, but now she's in heat. She did not come in last year, so this is the first time her hormones have been all amuck, and I'm just not even going to go that route.

The puppies are beautiful and doing great. They are getting to the fun age now. I bought them a couple little toys yesterday. I found a clearance panda bear that's about the size of 2 puppies. :-) Their favorite though is one of my boot socks. They are still such a quiet group in the sense of never complaining. When they see you now they are all at the baby gate, tails wagging! They love attention and being played with.

Well, off to make a promised a brunch for the boys. Ben left yesterday and won't be back until July. :-(