superminty

Well done Janba. What a lovely surprise!

Great work!

Congrats! Hope the last 1st place comes quickly, I don't think I could stand the nerves!

Oh Jules

Lovely pics. ETA - did you take them? I especially like the last three - very nicely set up. Also some lovely examples of "eyes on" with some of those flanks in the yard - anyone who did Lynn Leach or Trudy Viklund's clinics here in Vic will know what I am talking about

Well done Sherlot and Piper!

Cute pup, inevitablue. She's keen! One day I will get a bluey, love em. Had a lovely session today, been about 6 weeks between runs but after an initial minute of feralness, he did the nicest inside flanks he's ever done today. Lovely and thoughtful, even with naughty stampy sheep. Seems my dog grew more brain while I was away! Oh how I missed herding :D

Sure thing!

I have two dogs and my set up is pretty much exactly what you are asking for (although I have a station wagon so have a cargo barrier and I got a false floor put in just high enough to fit a collapsible crate in) - works perfectly for me. A removable divider is handy if you sometimes only take one dog and want to give them a bit more room. Not sure this would work without a fixed cargo barrier though. Should add, the locks on mine are on the door openings (buttons) and I wouldn't leave my dogs unattended in the car without locking them in, too paranoid.

This is the hardest thing to work around - everyone does things their own way! It's no different to the myriad agility handling systems there are out there - you just need to pick the one/ones that work best for you and work with them. I've been training a certain way for a number of years and no-one else was doing the same thing until recently, so I just had to experiment and see what worked for me. All got too hard so I gave herding away for a while. Now there are more people working their dogs the way I do here in Vic so I'm back into training and loving it I have learnt though to go to clinics WITHOUT a dog first. Then if I like the trainer's style, I might consider working a dog next time.

Yippee! Gonna have some fun I reckon!

Glad you enjoyed it piper. I am so glad these ideas are getting out there so I have more people to discuss problems with! Been doing this stuff on my own for far too long - since Lynn Leach came out in 2007. Lynn's clinic just gone did break my dog's brain though, despite the fact that we had the basics

Oh cute!! Love the name too

Have fun Kirty. I was meant to be going to help out but don't think I'll be making it now. We had Lynn Leach down last week and my head is still spinning! What an amazing clinic. I came away from it very inspired!

Only a few days til Lynn Leach's clinics start! I am so excited Got a list of questions a mile long This is the woman that really changed how I thought about herding - she is a wonderful teacher. Anyone else going? I will be there the whole time

Very nice! Look - sheep moving forward, Poppy moving forward, all is as it should be!

This was the way I was leaning, coz he got his sheep title, gosh, 3.5/4 years ago and it was not pretty - lots of good bits but a fair few bad bits too Then our duck titles were achieved after about, oh, 2 goes on ducks? I was terrified he was going to eat one, that's how little experience we'd had on them at that stage. Took a few trials to get it all working too. So once again not pretty. Just once I would like some pretty passes! I am fairly confident there will be regular cattle trials as the owner of the cattle has got a good source i.e. next door so plenty more where they came from. However, my next opportunity may not be til later in the year and you just never know. I would really like to have the title under our belt, then I will enter and run in Started, but start putting more driving into it - that way I can step in and help him out if need be. I don't mind losing points - not in it for the wins! Gotta remember I will be up against dogs that are already in intermediate and advanced, so we are unlikely to place anyway.

Fellow herders, help! I am currently racked with indecision! Do I enter for the upcoming A course trials on cattle or not? I am fighting a battle between YES: coz he will probably pass and then we will have our A course titles on sheep, ducks AND cattle (greedy me) and NO: wait and get his work more polished, while he should pass, it might not be pretty and there will always be more cattle trials. Argh Rain willing, we will have a practice run this weekend, which still leaves time to get entries in, but if training is cancelled due to rain, I think I am going to have to toss a coin and live with the outcome :p

Dingo (ok, I'll pay that one) Wolf dog - by small child who, when his mother said "yes dear, it does look a bit like a wolf" was quite insistent. "No mummy, it IS a wolf" :p Most people get that he is a kelpie but generally don't think he is purebred coz he's so darned big!

JulesP I worked a BC on Sat that wanted to do just that. Found myself giggling and thinking of Poppy. He just couldn't handle them moving! Everything was alright until they moved, then it was just all too much. Cash isn't actually noticeably crazier after a long time off sheep - he had been off sheep for about a year when we did Trudy's clinic and he wasn't too bad. Only problem is he has been just the same as that every single first run since, even with the more regular work. Of course, you only get to work on the first run once... My training notes all say "next session, work on speed" :D

Had a great day training yesterday - apart from working other people's lovely dogs once again, I had a sublime session with Cash. He is now driving through the Y cute and up to the corner and is yielding beautifully when flanked, even in a drive. Even getting inside flanks, which is really hard for him. Only started cued flanks a little while ago so I am pleasantly surpirsed with how quickly he has picked it up. We did a little work holding three sheep off another three - pretty easy job with a heading dog! Then he did a nice "look back" to go and pick up the other mob and bring them all together. Loving his pen work - he is holding really nicely and calmly and his "walk up" is coming along - even looks like a typical kelpie! He used to be quite loose eyed but is using his eye more efficiently now. Still need to work on his speed on cold trials/first run of the day - he is a bit quick! Could go much quieter and not run the sheep over his handler I think

Oh Dova, that's terrible. Hope everything's ok (or will be). Here's hoping things change for you soon.

Oops, double post

The cattle at the VIC state trial last year didn't go ahead as planned unfortunately. We have been working the new mob for this year's trialling season and they are still quite small (see my video earlier in the thread) so no damage done when they kick out. Cash has copped two kicks now and is learning to keep his distance and to keep low if he needs to go in close.

Thanks all, lots of food for thought. I will ask around about this walking backwards thing. I am unlikely to ever do three sheep as I have a liking for yard style kelpies, but you never know! Wish we had people with three sheep experience down here in Vic (that are accessible at least).