Busy...

[sclmarm]

I feel like my summer is zipping by and packed full of activities.  A little farming and agility along with lots of swimming and herding.

I was using a 120 some acres to work Rooster in.  Hauling the sheep there.  Then I subsoiled it.  Subsoiling breaks up the hard pan soil so that it drains  and works up better.  I broke 14 sheer pins in 6 hours

Comments

[semperfido]

What do you do for aversion training? Do you use a shock collar? What else? How is it presented to the dog, etc. I’m very curious.

[sclmarm]

I have a clear criteria in my head of what I'm looking for, just like all training. I have a combo vibration/shock collar. My guys don't like the vibration, so that's what I use. If they don't react, I'll use the shock, but so far it hasn't been needed. I walk out with them with the snake body in plain sight. If they put their head down and start moving towards it, they get buzzed. If they move away, I leave them alone. I'll walk around to draw them towards the snake, within two to three feet. Once they're consistently moving away, I'll stand on the opposite and call them just to check. Most of the time they'll give it a wide berth. For first timers it takes two, maybe three times of being buzzed with the vibration before they don't want anything to do with it. For the repeats, I only had to buzz once. I'll move the snake and usually they want nothing to do with it.

[semperfido]

Thanks for outlining that. It’s sort of that was in my head. Snakes!

[talesofmyboys]

Yes, after you do a bunch of driving, always end with balance work, as you have figured out. Instead of driving the sheep out to do an outrun, will they run less if you leave them where you normally are and you walk out to the other end of the field? When I want to work on true fetches, I leave the sheep with the draw behind them so they aren't just running to me and the draw. This will also help the dog find balance really well because they have to stop the sheep from going back behind them. Or set them on a flake of hay or alfalfa. Dang it about your practice field but moving to a new one will be good experience for Rooster. Good luck at the trial!

[sclmarm]

I've been trying to put the draw behind them, but sometimes in new places it isn't enough of a draw. The good thing is these sheep are on a dry lot, and usually when I work them I don't feed them first. Then they'll settle down and eat. I've also recently figured out if I just have Poppet on a leash next to me, they'll stay out better on shorter outruns.

I found out the 165 flat acres across the road from the sheep didn't sprout any alfalfa like it was supposed to, so we can get back out there for a little bit until they decide what they're going to plant. I can use the pivot irrigation to figure out how an outrun is.

Thanks for the luck, it worked :)