Thursday was an interesting day. Shirley came over with Sammi and we loaded up into my truck and headed out to see some sheep. I was pretty excited to see what this little girl was going to do.
We started off with P bringing the sheep all together with the help of Quill ( Kali's Grandad)Watching this dog work is quite exciting, to see some really good pics of him Check out Ride A Good Horse, Shirley got some great action shots, that dog knows how to take care of unruly sheep.
Sadly my pics are too far away so you don't get to see the real action, it is really hard to get the sheep and the dog in the same pic.....at least for me and my camera.
P and Quill worked for awhile getting the sheep settled it was fun to watch ....and educational.
Below is Shirley's dog Sammi, P released her to see what she would do, this dog is very keen and she learns fast. Sammi is for sale so anyone interested in a good dog can get in touch with Shirley
( Ride A Good Horse) Sammi will be staying for a week with P, I'm betting she will look like a pro when the week is over. She listens really well. P Told Shirley that when they first released Sammi it would be chaos....it was, Sammi thought it was a game.....but at least she had the right idea, she had no qualms about getting right in there and trying to do what she was bred for.....I was quite impressed by her. In this first pic you can see she has her head and tail up....mostly just wanting to chase.
P let Sammi chase the sheep around for awhile then called her off, back on the leash she went to watch for awhile. She remained excited and watchful of their every move the whole time.
Then it was Kali's turn ,before I say how well she did let me just say here for the record....I am not a dog trainer...however I think I know my dog pretty well. I knew before we even got there that Kali would be afraid of the sheep....she has never seen one. Kali is also very attached to me and runs to me for comfort and safety in any new or strange situation. Can you see where I'm going here. Kali comes from working dog stock so she should have a good instinct and a will to want to work sheep....or anything......and let me just say around home she tries to herd anything she thinks she can move.....horses .....Sage.....the cats....I think you get the picture. I have to say even knowing what I know about my dog and being pretty sure she would have little or no interest in the sheep, I have to say I was still just a teeny weeny ....well maybe a bit more disappointed in her response.Sadly the first thing that happened, before she got a very good look at the sheep the whole big flock came running right at her....was she interested ....not she hid behind me.....not a great start. She spent most of her time looking at me to see what I was doing. Even when I waded amongst the sheep and pulled at them and moved them about she just wanted no part of it. P took her out on and off the leash to try to get her excited nothing........she was much more interested in rolling in their poop.....now that she was a champ at.
Every now and again I would catch her showing a little interest in the goings on but not much. She did like it when P pinched a bunch of wool and let her mouth it. After awhile and a valiant effort on our part we gave up and back on the leash she went.
After sidelining Kali it was Sammi's turn to go back out and boy was she up for it. Sorry the pics are so bad but you can still seethe different body language....tail and head down, this time out she was watching the sheep and really paying attention to where P was asking her to be,it was very cool to see such an inexperienced dog start to display such skill.....awesome in fact.
The next few shots are of the beautiful scenery you get to see surrounding where P lives.
I just want to finish off this post by saying, Kali is going back to have another go at the sheep. I think P is going to put her out there with a couple of other dogs and just let her follow them around and get used to the sheep. I am going to stay away and let her get comfortable with her surroundings and get cozier with the sheep. The word timid got thrown around a few times while we were there, I don't want to use that word because Kali is quite brave when it comes to other things, she is highly sensitive though and because I am not a wonderful dog trainer I think I am hindering her progress. I believe if she is around the sheep enough and gets used to them it will be hard to get her to want to stop.
Now having said all that and the fact that she should want to work sheep if she doesn't it's not going to break my heart and I won't be a big mess of disappointment. I hope she does but you know maybe every BC isn't meant to be a great herd dog......at any rate I guess we will find out. Keep you posted.
Now having said all that and the fact that she should want to work sheep if she doesn't it's not going to break my heart and I won't be a big mess of disappointment. I hope she does but you know maybe every BC isn't meant to be a great herd dog......at any rate I guess we will find out. Keep you posted.
4 comments:
It was a lot of fun wasn't it, and in all fairness to Kali, when Penny asked her the last time, she did get a glimmer of interest from Kali; -she was looking, and stalked the sheep a little, and that's where Penny stopped with her- on a positive note.
Sammi is a very confident and intense dog, whereas Kali is much sweeter. I think once she realizes that it won't get her in trouble to work the sheep, and she can study them for a bit and see that they move away from a dog,her instincts will kick in and she will take great delight in working them.
Thanks for the Sammi shots!
Sounds like a great day . Too bad about KAli , but as you said , not the end of the world
Sounds like a very, very good day. I've worked a BC on sheep twice and loved it.....they did too.
I think Kali will get the hang of it, just cause Sammi is so intense makes it harder to see the improvement in Kali, but she is a good dog no matter if she chases sheeps or not.
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