Warmer pastures

Well, Uno has been sold and leaves tomorrow. She'll be going south and will get out of our cold winters. Lucky girl! She's going to a super home and will hopefully be hitting the trial scene with them soon. I'm going to miss her terribly though. She's always been a one person dog and enjoys being with me. Not to mention how much I respect this little dog's work ethic and drive. She would rather die than quit. My youngest son always says, "Dynamite comes in small packages" and I tell you that fits Uno to a T.

Fall work

Fall is a busy time at my house. There are lambs to sort and sell. Yearling steers and spade heifers to gather and ship to the feedlots. Calves to precondition (vaccinate) and cows to preg check. The cattle work goes on all over the county at our neighbors as well. Ranching communities such as ours still trade help for cattle work. So we go help them work their cows and they come help us. The spring cattle work is very similiar as well. I wouldn't trade it for anything!

One thing that we don't trade help on is anything to do with the sheep. Mainly because there isn't anyone else within a 100 mile radius that owns sheep besides us. Also, we can get everything done we need to do with the dogs.

We just shipped lambs out last week. I used several different dogs. We gathered them and counted the ewes out of the pasture to make sure we had everything. Uno and Cash did the bulk of that work as their young and need as much experience as they can get now. Once we got to the corrals the older dogs got me started as the young dog's rested. We hold the big bunch in a pen and then sort off 10 or so at a time with the dogs to put in a tub to run up the sorting alley. The dogs just love this work!

This was Cash's first time helping load the tub and alley. Wow, did he excel at it. He's a very level headed young dog with enough power and presence to move anything. I think I'm going to really enjoy him.

Uno loves this work as well but gets a bit more wound up. She thinks heeling sheep in tight quarters is what life is all about. She settled in after a bit though. I have to say that I have worked this dog pretty darn hard at times and have yet to find the limit of her stamina. She is such a great work dog!

Okay, I'll try to keep up with more of what's going on around here now.

The "Final" few days

We're on the final big push before the National Sheepdog Finals now. Wow, I've never done anything like this before in my whole life! I feel like my head's swimming with all of the information I've put through it in the last year but especially the last month. I'm so excited about how things are coming together though. It's such a super field, we have good sheep and great set out and pen help. So regardless of what else happens as to the "event" we WILL have a good dog trial. Oh, wait I forgot one of the other most important elements. We have plenty of portapotties! I never realized until now how important this element of a trial really is.

We have some really exciting things planned for this years finals. We'll be having all of our meetings early in the week. Then on the weekend lots of time to have some fun. Friday night there will be a bluegrass event at Roscoe's Bar and Grill. They're being so supportive of our event and we look forward to getting together with them on Friday night. Then Saturday is the Dog Classic with tons of "doggy fun". That evening we'll have some Cowboy Entertainment and refreshments before we hold the Calcutta of the top 17. (WARNING: shameless brag coming up next.) My younger brother has been doing some cowboy poetry for awhile now and writes mostly about his experiences guiding hunters up in the WY mountains in the fall. He'll be joining Bob O'Donnell this year at our Cowboy Poetry event and I'm SO proud!!

Sunday morning we'll start off with the double lift bright and early. Then we'll have ceremony mid morning to introduce the contestants and sing our National and Candian anthem's. Then my dad, mom and kids will be putting on a Cowboy Church service at 10 am. Brady (my youngest) is so excited to be playing the guitar for this! Yeah, I'm a proud mother. :-)

I'll be leaving for Sturgis on Friday morning, September 5th. I won't be home again until after the finals. If I get a chance to write about any of the finals from my hotel in the evenings I will really try. I just won't promise anything as I know how tired I am now and we haven't even started the event yet.

Workin' dogs!

What a great morning I had out working dogs. I have decided a big part of how any training/working session goes depends on my attitude. I was fired up and excited that Dustin was going to go set some sheep for me to work on a few double lifts with Jag and Zac. We set up a couple of fairly big ones. They could see them when they turned around but only for the first 50 yds or so and then not again for quite awhile.

Neither got out without a little help but actually I have to say that I'm really happy that they both let me help them so well. Zac has a tendency to just stop if he can't find them in the first minute or two. Because of where I ended up turning him back he couldn't see them at all for the first 200 yds or so but he let me guide him out well.

(Zac)

Jag on the other hand will always (well so far anyway) just take off running and just keep looking until he finds them. This time I asked him to stop and really look for a second and then take off. He was right on then. I did some international shedding with him after that and even Dustin commented on how nice of a job he did. You would know how big of a deal thiss if you knew how little Dustin actually watches me work my dogs! :-)

(Jag)

Dustin seemed to have a really good time working Kat as well. He worked on quite a bit of driving with her and his timing has improved so much! I wish there were more trials around here that he could run in before he moves up to Open.

(Nell, Jag, Kat and Zac waiting while Uno is bringing the bunch behind me)

I entered Uno in the finals but in all honesty have had my doubts on whether or not she'll really be ready to be competitive. I think the world of this little dog but she is a speed demon and has been really hard to hold on a drive. I have really been working on what Patrick told me with her and it's been paying off. She was AWESOME this morning!!! I was so happy with her. Now, I still don't know if she'll really be competitive at the final's or not but I'm starting to get a bit excited to find out.

(Uno waiting her turn)

I'm hoping to find time later this evening to work Cash and Tess as well. They're both at such fun stages right now as well. I'll try to write more about them another time.

New adventures

So I figured I needed one more thing to do in my days so I've started training for a 5K race. I figured I always take the dogs out for a good walk in the morning anyway so I might as well try to start kicking it up a notch. The dogs love it! Okay, they love the run/walks, I'm not so sure how they all feel about my "off days" though.

I have a hybrid bike that I take out across the pasture's with them the 3 days a week I don't run. It is pretty funny to me on how some of my dogs have figured this biking thing out. They don't have any trouble keeping up with me (or running out and back to me either) when I'm "running" as I'm not setting any world speed records. The bike is a little harder to stay out in front of though. Zac, Jag, Cash and Kat each have a certain distance they all go now and then just hang out there and wait for me to get back. Darn bums! Tess and Uno are my die hards. I haven't found a distance they won't go yet. Nell does her best to keep up but I usually end up meeting her coming on my way back. I don't take the two pups (Rock and Fly) on bike rides as I think it's to much for them at this age. They do enjoy the run days though.

Either way I figure we're all getting in a little better shape and I know for sure my stress level seems to have gone down since I've started making the time for this every day!

Dog days of summer?

Well, summer is flying by at warp speed. I don't like it! I want to have a couple of just plain, lazy summer days. It's not happening.

I feel like a calendar is ticking of in my head right now with the final's coming up so quickly now. Rene and I talk daily about things that need done or are in the process of getting done. We both are sure every time we get all excited about checking something off our list that another 10 things get added to it! My husband is convinced I'm starting to lose it. I wake up in the middle of the night with something else I remembered needed done yesterday. My latest nightmare was that it was time for the National Anthem to be sung and I didn't have anyone lined up for it yet. So there I was running around like a crazy woman asking every handler at the final's "Can you sing?" Okay, I took care of that one the next morning so I can officially check that one off the list. :-)

Haying is also all consuming for my family. We just got another big job to do on a cash basis. It's a great one and we're so thankful for it. But, my hubby stresses over getting everything put up while the putting's good when it comes to this as well! The several days I've got him roped into helping fence at the final's sits real well with him right now too.

The sheep have also decided that the grass is much greener on the other side of the fence now. So, we have to gather them daily now. It's great work for the dog's but unfortunately the one big drawback to a wet summer in my area is the needle and thread grass! It's unbelieveable this year. I had to take Jag to the vet just the other day to get one removed out of his ear canal. It was lodged against the ear drum so we had to put him under for it. Miserable little weeds!!!

I guess there could be a lot worse things to deal with in life than be busy with things you enjoy though! Maybe I'll just go sit on the deck, drink a beer and watch the sun set now.

Clinic lessons

Dustin and I recently went to a Patrick Shannahan clinic that my friend Jamie Spring hosted. It was GREAT!! Dustin took Kat and I took Uno and Cash. It was a relaxed clinic and it kind of felt like just a bunch of friends getting together to work dogs. In my opinion, that's the way to go.

I realize everyone gets something different out of each new experience with a clinician. The two main thoughts I keep repeating to myself now are, "Responsibility" and "Energy".

I tend to be a person who is a bit "buzzed up" when it comes to the energy I put out there. I also seem to be drawn to dogs that may have a bit of that in them as well. We tend to become a pretty energetic partnership! :-) So, now my goal is to become very aware of when I'm throwing energy at an already energized situation and bring myself back down. I've been seeing such a big difference in my dog's when I can do that so I know what a big deal it is for me.

I also like to work/train/run dogs that are very natural and who can do a job without being told every step. On the other hand I want a dog that's flexible enough to let me take the reins when needed. I needed a reminder and got a good one at Patrick's clinic about letting the dog have some responsibility for themselves. I was really fighting with Uno lately because for some reason I was not letting her be responsibile for the line on a drive. I wanted total control (not sure why) over it and she was getting downright squirrely because of it. When I gave her the responsibility back she relaxed and was holding a line again like a champ. We still have work to do on it, for both her and myself, but it was nice to get a wake up call to remind me of what I'm aiming for here.

Dustin had a great time as well and takes instruction SO much better from someone else besides his mother. He really seems to take in what Patrick has to say and comes home recharged to do a better job with his dog.

If any of you ever get a chance to attend one of Patrick's clinic's, I highly recommend it.