Chad and I (and all six dogs) are leaving in a few hours to go to the Canadian Border Collie Associations Sheep Dog Championships for the weekend. I am so excited I can't even sleep. We are only volunteering. Isn't it silly to be this excited??? I have certainly spend more time herding this summer than anything else. I had a lesson with Ribbon yesterday that went really well for Ribbon, but I felt like a complete idiot. I am trying to get ready to do a HT at the BC Specialty in October (AKC). I have never competed in herding, so I feel like a have three left feet. To cut myself some slack this was the first time I have put together all the elements of this test. But I really struggled with the parts of the test not going as I had imagined and then having to remember which direction to walk in and then to turn clockwise or counter-clockwise. Keeping Ribbon where I wanted her and to continue to walk so that the sheep and Ribbon knew where we were going---It is frustrating just writing it down!!!! I really struggled with going from training mode to trailling mode. If something didn't go as it usually did, like getting her to bring me the sheep, right away I wanted to get in there and fix it, but Steve kept saying, "go with it, keep everything moving." Why is it so hard to switch from being the leader of the team to being part of the team??
This certainly reminds me to spend more time with my Novice students (or any students showing for the first time at any level) on the strategies of moving around an obedience ring and setting up for exercises, so that it becomes second nature for them. Someone has to guide the team from location to location and the dog is not the likely candidate for the job. Something else for me to remember is that each handler needs more than one plan. What do you do if your first step of heeling doesn't go well, your dog hesitates to move or doesn't move at all?? What do you do if your dog become fixated on one of the figure eight posts?? At what point would you use a second command?? So many scenarios to think about.
Using visualization certainly makes a difference as far as the perfect mental picture, practicing the routine over and over again. I believe that you should also include some bumps along the road, so that your reaction to a mistake is pre-planned and then you can return to your routine more smoothly and feel good about things.
Okay so now I have a plan for my next herding lesson. A few weeks ago I sent Ribbon on a gather and when I asked her to lay down she did it immediately and the sheep were calm and with me. Steve's comment was, "You can't do it any better than that." This is only time I have heard Steve say this, so I am going to put that into my visualization and then add turning counter clockwise and clockwise at the cones and Ribbon pushing too hard on the sheep or over flanking and how I would deal with that and then return to my perfect mental picture. Three out of four times I am going picture the test going perfectly, but one out of four times I am going to add the bumps in.
I guess getting up early has its advantages!!! Gotta go pack the van now
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