Dare

I took the dogs for an early walk this morning at Old Chatham.  The colors were just beginning to emerge from the grey of dawn, morning mist lifting in wisps like woodland fairies.  As we walked the leaf strewn trail along the river the dogs caught scent of some wild thing recently crossed our path.  Dare, almost 14 with bad knees and ailing kidneys, was first to catch the trail of the unknown creature.  In that muffled and magical wood he shed the weight of the years like shaking water from his coat.  His back lifted, head up, he sprang through the woods over saplings and logs, turning straight up an almost vertical slope up to a hayfield a good 50 feet above.  Turning mid slope he bounded back down, following the trail.  He was not an old dog having a good time despite his frailties.  He was 5 again, in his prime, vibrant, powerful and so very alive. I called his name and he flew to my feet.  He met my gaze with eyes full of unencumbered delight.  Perhaps he was chasing a faun or unicorn.  Whatever beast left those traces of itself for Dare to find gave us both a few minutes of immortal joy.

Going the Distance

Spot sweeps up behind the stock at the top of the hill, 200 yards away from you.  Spot lifts nicely, a good top, please let him settle and bring the sheep straight.  Damn, too fast, start blowing stop whistles, “Lie Down, Lie Down, LIE DOWN”.  Did he slow down?  I think so, but we’re already down at the fetch panels and about to miss them, give him a flank.  He sort of took that flank, made the panels anyway, now closer I can get him to stop.  Whew.  Wow did we get a wild draw.  These girls won’t settle.  Spot is listening now, but pretty wired since the sheep are so wild.  Could we have caused this?  Spot does not listen well at a distance.  He never has no matter how much I yell.  Naughty dog knows when I’m close enough to enforce my commands. 

First let’s discuss some key concepts. 

Consistency -  In order for corrections to work they must be consistent.  Not harsh, consistent.  Consistent enforcement teaches dogs the requirements.  Occasional harsh corrections will not teach the dog but they will make him tense.

Latency – Commands mean to perform an action now.  Not in five steps, five seconds, at whatever Zen moment the dog feels in balance.  Avoid the string of reasons why the dog was justified in delaying.  You are in charge and you have the plan.  You don’t need to micromanage the dog with an endless string of commands, but you do need to have the dog take commands when given.  This is about clarity.  “Lie Down” means stop, now.   Very clear and easy for both the dog and handler to understand.  If you just need your dog to steady up then don’t use a stop. 

Priority – When you are about to miss a panel on an otherwise good run at a big trial that moment may be more important than the future.  When you are trying to catch an injured lamb that moment may be more important than the future.  Most of the time a particular moment is not critical.  Pay attention to the dog’s work and if he does not take a command promptly then enforce it promptly.

Trust – you will be amazed at how much your working relationship with your dog improves when you can trust that he will take your commands.  When you can be sure of a stop or flank when and where you need one then you will be able to relax and do your job, allowing the dog to relax and do his job.   

Clearly there is no point working on getting your dog to listen at a distance if he is not listening up close.  Listening up close means that when you give a command in a controlled situation the dog complies immediately, one command.  Pay attention to your dog and to yourself.  Are you letting commands slide because you don’t want to interrupt the flow of the work?  If so, then you need to start enforcing those commands every time.  If the dog stops well then stop the dog and walk to a position where you can make sure the dog does as asked, for example a clean flank.  If the dog does not stop well then walk into its face while giving a gruff correction appropriate to the dog and situation.  Keep walking as you train so as to keep yourself in a position to enforce commands with your body as well as your mouth.   

The difference to the dog on listening at a distance is whether the handler continues to enforce the commands as the dog is further and further away.  Most dogs learn to listen well at a distance with minimal work if they’ve always been expected to listen and that rule is maintained as the distances increase.  If your dog’s early experiences with longer gathers demonstrate that you will be walking up and making sure he stops at the top then he’s not going to change his behavior from that nice stop you trained close.  If you fasten yourself to the ground and start yelling, well the old saying is “the louder the handler the deafer the dog.”  All that yelling just increases adrenaline.  The dog tenses, worries, but you’ve never walked up close enough to enforce the command so the actual meaning is lost. 

Once your dog is working crisply on command up close start increasing the distances.  It is important that you do not grow roots when you start sending the dog further.  When driving, walk alongside, maybe 10 yards away, maybe 100, but keep moving with the dog so you are in a position to enforce commands that are not taken.  When you are working on a gather be ready to start up the middle as soon as you send the dog.  No running, just stroll up the middle so you will be closer at the top.  If the dog is still not stopping keep walking, maybe jog, maybe think if it was too far, but keep heading into the dog until it stops.  The moment the dog stops, back off and get him back to work.  This is not the time for a handler tantrum.  The dog needs to see that stopping is the best way to keep the work going. 

Here is the most important thing….the big secret…you have to chew this article up and eat it after you read this. 

Do not give your dog another command until the dog has stopped, really stopped. 

When you first start training a pup, what do you do when it has stopped nicely?  You give him a flank, or a walkup, you give him his sheep.  Why?  Because you are rewarding him for that nice stop.  If he does not stop you block him and enforce the stop, then give him that next command.  You are training a dog for its entire life.  If you give your dog a flank, or steady, or walkup when it has just run through one or more stop whistles what are you teaching him?  You are teaching him that you want him to just keep coming when you make all that noise. 

Watch handlers blow stop whistles and holler stops at their dogs while the dogs continue on happily, maybe slow down, but never really comply.   Then the sheep start leaning to one side or the other and the handler gives a flank.  Your little apoplectic tirade is not all that compelling at 300 yards, particularly when you have carefully trained the dog to wait for the flank.  Spot is not blowing you off.  He is working to the rules you have trained.  You react to a dozen missed stops by whistling and yelling far away, and whistling and yelling far away becomes like the cars passing on the road, background noise.  Then, maybe, the handler will run up the field, driving Spot back up the field, berating him.  Now let’s look at that from Spot’s point of view.  For every time you go dashing up the field in a great display of dominance you allow 10-100 missed stops go by.  How is Spot to know exactly what has caused you to become so angry.  You always yell and fuss on the fetch, but that’s just the usual noise of work. 

So the “naughty dog” does not know when you are close enough to enforce your commands.  You are always close enough.  After a few trips up the field you won’t have to walk far.  Some handlers complain that they have trouble walking that far.  You don’t often need to make the trip if you establish the pattern of doing so.  Indeed I think the handlers that are reluctant to walk to their dog end up walking further as they are constantly trying to patch up the dog’s training.  It is easier to maintain a well trained dog than a dog who has been taught that your distant noises mean you want him to take over until the action is closer to you.

Thou shalt NOT SPIT!

I had to move sheep tonight, including the new llama.  Buckley is a tall white creature who would be elegant if he did not react to any intrusion on his world by screaming and spitting.  Since our first few interactions have shown that he loathes the halter but does not mind the trailer I decided to just herd him into the trailer on the last load with a few sheep and the other llama.  It started out rather well.  He was willing to run down towards the trailer to join the last of his pasture mates.  Then he changed his mind.  I started moving to block his escapes and push him back down towards the trailer.  He started grunting and groaning.  I held my ground.  He started screaming.  Between screams you heard the telltale gurgling as he prepared  vile mouthfuls of rumen contents as ammunition.  He’d come towards me screaming and gurgling, whipping his tall white neck back like a dragon ready to blast me with flames.  He waited carefully to spit till he was within range.  I went right back at him, arms raised out to the sides with a buggy whip in one hand.  It was like a battle in some medieval fantasy “Maria Slays the Dragon”.  He got louder and faster and more aggressive.  I kept meeting him half way, arms out and up, moving fast into his space and using the whip every time he pushed into me or tried to spit.  In all this he noticed that when he backed off the pressure so did I.  He got quieter, the screaming stopped, the gurgling stopped, and I was able to slowly work him down and into the trailer.

Autumn Dreams

The trees around the pond are beginning to turn, green softening with just a few precocious leaves donning a full autumn red.  The sun is still hot, but at a much lower angle.  As I walk to the gate to take the dogs out swimming my thoughts are turning to the dog sled.  The group I’m swimming will be the dogs on my team this year.  They are crazy, completely nuts.  They bark and scream with frustration when they can’t power themselves through the water fast enough.  They slice and angle and compete with one another as we round the little island.  I sit comfortably in my kayak and watch this mayhem against the red leaves reflected in the water.  Sometimes I imagine the force of these dogs when I first pull the release on the sled.  I remember I’ll be standing on a conveyance powered by seven gloriously athletic and exuberant dogs, celebrating the stretch of their legs with no concept of my sometimes dicey ride behind them.  I remind myself that I have brakes, lots of them.  There’s a drag mat brake, a bar brake, a snow hook.  I think my first run will be on a familiar rail trail, a longish drive, but well tended and quite straight, lovely and safe. 

The Dog Who Flanked too Wide

A Parable

Once upon a time, in a land far away, there lived a novice sheepdog handler and her first Border Collie.  The Dog took care of the sheep at home, and managed well at trials, quickly progressing to Open.  The Dog was fleet and strong, hard-working and wise with his stock.  The Dog was a good partner, listening to commands and doing the job that was asked.  The Dog was happy.  The Handler was happy.  All was good. 

Yet all is never truly perfect in the world.  When given a flank command the Dog sometimes ran too wide in his arc.  The Handler asked online how to bring the Dog closer, sure that more experienced hands would share their wisdom.  Quickly a sage came forward with some training exercises to help the dog learn to stay closer to the stock when flanking.  Then a Troll joined the conversation.  The Troll explained how flanking too wide was a sign the dog was weak.  The Troll quoted a famous trainer as one of his justifications for his pronouncement that the dog was weak.  The Troll declared that the Handler should put the Dog aside and work with a dog of more power and quality.  And then Kind People took pity on the handler and berated the Troll while telling the Handler that she could still be successful with a weak dog, but to be sure not to breed the Dog and perpetuate his weakness.  And the Troll defended his position, with another troll or two as reinforcement.  And the Kind People continued to wring their hands and tell the trolls to be nice and assure the Handler that she could get by with this poor weak dog.  The Handler assured the electronic masses that she fully intended to keep the Dog and keep working it.  The Handler asked that the conversation return to ideas to help keep the Dog closer on his flanks rather than debating the overall quality of the Dog.  The request brought another training idea or two from people trying to be helpful.

Like all storms, the roaring wind of words eventually ceased, and all was forgotten.  The Handler took the idea first given and tried it.  It was very helpful not only in keeping the Dog closer, but in helping the Handler understand the dynamic between dog/sheep/person.  The Dog was happy.  The Handler was happy.  All was good.

The Dog went on to be very successful despite some clumsy handling.  The Dog went to the National Finals, getting to the semifinal round.  The Dog was successful at a variety of trials on a variety of stock, though never that good on very light sheep.  The Dog was bred and offspring were solid dogs.  The Dog took the handler from Novice Novice, to Open, to the National Finals, to the World Trial.  The Dog was happy.  The Handler was happy.  All was good.

Summer Symphony

A storm came in while I checked the lambs.

The western sky filled with great gray clouds,

tall and dense.

A lone bee buzzed his industrious tune against the distant thunder,

One last load.

The ridge was still bright and hot as I walked down towards the lambs,

towards the storm.

Sun shone through the gaps, outlined the sculpture of the clouds.

No carved and painted ceiling comes close.

 

I sent my dog to gather, silent she vanished over the wall into the brush,

Nothing but the flies and thunder and heat.

I wait then hear the cadence of the flock coming, bleats from stragglers,

past the wall.

They are fine, vibrant, annoyed at the interruption.

We let them go.

My dog and I walk back up the ridge, storm behind and heat before us.

I hear the rain.

The drops advance behind me like a tiny running army,

thousands of footsteps swarming up the hill

I reach the top as the first drops find me,

cooling the air and my skin.

© Maria Amodei 2015

On Your Mark, GO!

I took the dogs swimming today.  I have not been swimming Chord while she was busy with motherhood.  Rather nice not having her along since she’s my wildest swimmer.  While Chord was off the swim team I added in young Ike, Poe and Etta.  The energy on the shore while I'm strapping on life vests then opening the gate is unbearable on a good day.  Today I added Chord back in, another voice against reason.  I was swatting various barking dogs with spare life vests.  Then came the worst part, turning my back to the water crazed horde to open the gate.  Of course the chain was stuck.  At this point some dogs were screaming like air raid sirens and some were simply barking like fools.  Unable to bear the din I ended up breaking a big leafy branch off a bush to use as a weapon.  It was complete with some sort of little fruits that went everywhere when it made contact.  I thwacked a couple more dogs and pummeled the ground by my kayak, filling the boat with little hard fruits.  I finally managed to get the gate unlatched while the dogs were kept to a low whimpering and yapping. 

They are still bad at the end 20 minutes later, with some dogs willing to come out to be disrobed, but then plunge back in practicing their dock dog leaps.  It takes constant reminding to get them back to shore again.  Last time Poe thought perhaps the recall was optional.  He was somewhat shocked to learn I will dive in that skanky pond to get a teenage pup who misunderstands the requirements of life.  He was even more shocked to learn that I can out swim him even wearing jeans and a T shirt.  All those years of swim team are coming in useful.

They are just as bad when hitching up to the dog sled.  At least when going swimming I'm not trusting them with my life.

People sometimes comment how well behaved my dogs are.  I don’t mention the canine riots that occur on a regular basis.