Herding 11-7-09

Today we put Ryddick back into the "big" arena in a long time. He did really good. At first he seemed a bit lost. Shauna kept her cool and he calmed down and did some nice work. At the end he seemd to know that it was time to stop and it took a minute for Shauna to calm him down and "that'll do". Here is the linl to the uncut video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E67Kv5D5rJQ&feature=channel_page

Herding 10-19-08

I took Ryddick herding on Friday and Sunday this week. I was very happy with the progress he made. Several times I was thinking of not continuing with herding, but Shauna told me that she can see some nice pieces amongst the chaos. I am so glad that I stuck with it. Today was the best day so far. Ryddick can take more and more pressure form Shauna without exploding. His balance is very nice and is able to get the sheep away form the fence without getting frustrated. It was very pretty to watch Shauna and Ryddick work the sheep. The next step would be to bring him into the bigger arena. That may happen early November.

Herding

Went herding two times this weekend and got some great results. I have been getting the sheep out of the corner for the first time without loosing control of the sheep or the Raygen. He comes on strong like an ACD, but he needs to learn some self control while he is herding. He barks a lot. He is having so much fun.
What a good boy!

Control Unleashed Seminar, Flyball, Agility and Herding

Raygen is going to be a helper dog on Monday. He did really well at the classes and he was asked to help out at the seminar. I am looking forward to it.
Since a few weeks ago he seems to finally understand how to play Flyball. There is a difference in teaching the behaviors and the dogs understanding the behaviors. I swear I heard the switch turn on. He loves it! He has also become more confident in Agility. I would bet that Flyball has helped him with that. He is consistently Qing in Jumpers and even places a few times. I have to insist on contacts and not rush him for speed points. He has not yet been over course time and those DQ's are so needed.
Herding is going well, too. He is trying very hard to understand what I am asking him to do. I am not sure what I am doing either, other then staying clear of those darn sheep. Almost got knocked over, that would hurt.

Herding Lesson

Posted a herding video on youtube. I love this DOG!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WYpNuMu7UD0

Herding Goats

I decided to use the goats to teach Raygen some slow "driving". I have him on a 25 foot leash so if he decides to take off he will not be able to chase them down. He did really well. I ask for a lot of sit and release while walking up to the goats. Gotta control that puppy.

Chicken Herding

My stepson came over the other day and dropped off 5 of his chickens that kept jumping the fence in his yard. Well, they jump our fence to and come into the big yard. So I did a bit of herding with Ryddick. It was so cool. He goes into this herding mode and helps me with bringing them back to the pond. Chicken herding is different then sheep herding. I don't have to watch out for getting run over by sheep.

Herding Downs "Play Ball"

Previous post I have been talking about expecting more downs while playing ball, to help Ryddick build muscle and be more biddable during our herding lesson. Saturday morning we went to beautyful Kelley Creek Farm. Keeping a long line on him kept him from getting away with charging the sheep. I like to keep him from going over threshold as much as possible. He did very nice and only started to go in twice, but we were able to stop it before he went into full "crazy" mode. I was very happy with the lesson.

Herding

Raygen seems to get the hang of the herding rules. He is very responsive to verbal corrections when he tries to take some wool. His challenge is to not come in so far to make them move. These are sheep not cattle and he can't nip at them. I was very happy with his lesson and am looking forward going again this weekend.Our goats in the back are his favorite right now. He will run all the way tot he back and sit at the fence and stare at them. New chickens are also very exciting for him to look at. What is next? Maybe I should get a horse after all?

Herding Lesson

After over a year I finally decided to take Raygen herding again. Shauna took him in and he was listening very nicely to her while they approached the sheep. They approached a few times and she asked him for a sit and stay and he was so attentive to her. She then ask him to stay while she moved away form him and then released him to "go get the sheep". First he charged a bit to wild and got 'em going to fast, but withing a few minutes was circling nicely. He does bark, bark, bark, bark. I am really looking forward in the next lesson.

Herding Workshop

Ryddick and I went to a herding workshop in Hunstsville form noon to 6pm. It was a good experience for Ryddick. For the most part he was calm and only had an outburst when a dog got to close to him while we were under the tent. He got to go into the pen a few times and swam a lap in the pond and by the end of the day he was so tired that he fell asleep on the grass with dogs and people all around him. I am planning on doing that again soon.

First time Herding (again)

I went herding yesterday and is was O.K. He was better the first time I had him on sheep. That was on December 8th of 2006. So long ago. He had to outgrow his Pano and we had such a long winter or I would have started last fall. Can't do herding in 5 feet of snow.I am planning on getting a lesson in every week. This is what I got him for. So much for me to learn and I hope that Shauna is going to be patient with me.