Jake Moving Cow/Calf pairs off the hillside near Coon Rapids, Iowa
Jake had another good work out today moving the cattle from one grazing pod to another. He did some really good things, but then he did some really poor things. There were a couple of cows that wanted to take the fight to him, full war was never declared, with Jake opting out. Not a good thing, but then again he did live to fight another day, and did end up the winner, getting the cows moved to the intended location.
Today I let Wayne work both Jay and Bea so that I could see how the pair worked for someone else.
Jay: Started out by being beligerant, wanting to ignore Wayne. I coached Wayne through the process of getting himself factored in. It only too a minute, one good kick in the butt (literally) to get Jay on the same page as Wayne. From then on out it was a great work out, Jay showed some rate and pace today on his own that has never been seen. Wayne declared "I could run the dog Pro-novice this weekend"; I don't know about that one. Sharon had planned on picking him up tomorrow, they arrived home yesterday from the South Dakota trip. I called her and asked if she minded if he stayed through the end of this week. She has a trial this Sunday and I really feel like that I have made a break through with him, if I can get it firmed up we may just be able to get the two of them to finish the trial season in style. We will be attending trials at the Rice County Fair next Sunday, followed by North Iowa Fair and Adair County Fair the following weekend. That will be the end of Sharon and Jay's trial season for this year. Keep your fingers crossed that she can get out of Jay what Wayne and I are getting.
Bea: Over dinner Wayne was telling me what I should do with Bea, so, I told him that he should take her out for a spin so I could see what he thought I should do with her. He found out, it's not as easy as it looks when you on the other side of the fence. But, I did gain some insight watching the pair. After a few minutes I stepped in, took over the reins and went back to something she knew, fetch...but when she arrived at the top I made her stop until the sheep had moved a ways off of her before letting her drive, this seemed to help her to understand how I am expecting her to drive, using her power to hold a line not just bump and wear from side to side. I also played a little "get excited game" her old trainer would get her excited and then let her slice and fetch which led to some pretty severe gripping. I got her excited while asking her to flank, she would try to slice, I stopped her, then got her excited, she would try to slice, I would again stop her, after about the third stop she made a change. I got her excited and she kicked out into the nicest flank actually going as deep as she could at the top.
This was where I ended our work session...with the exception of putting the sheep away. When I had her drive the sheep to the barn she went back to her old method, I growled at her, lied her down then gave her a flank, off she went, on the most perfect flank, she landed nice and deep on the top side and brought the sheep around like a pro. Maybe there is hope for her yet.
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