Working with dogs can be extremely rewarding, not to mention a whole lot of fun.  There’s nothing like working hard at getting your dog to understand some new skill and then putting the pieces together and watching it flow.  On the flip side, training can be very frustrating.  There are times when you aren’t sure how to make your dog understand what you want, think your dog ought to already know what you’re asking for, or have reached one of those plateaus where it seems you’re either taking steps backwards or not moving at all.  Throw livestock into the mix and you have a whole new level of frustration, especially if you’re not used to dealing with stock on a regular basis.  Suddenly your dog knows way more than you and, worse, knows he knows more than you.  Depending on your relationship with your dog that’s going to be either a blessing or a curse.  A good dog can save your bacon when you’re in the wrong place at the wrong time.  A good dog with a wicked sense of humor may or may not be inclined to be so generous.

The more I work with dogs the easier it’s become to accept that some days it’s just not going to happen.  You’re not in the mood, or the dog isn’t, the stock isn’t, or maybe the planets are just out of alignment.  Whatever the case, sometimes it’s better just to forget training and do something else.  And sometimes you just need a reminder that it really is all about the little stuff.  Your dog holds that down for longer than it takes to turn your back.  He squares up on a flank.  He moves off your pressure.  You don’t trip over your own feet trying to get around the sheep.  If we only count the big success and forget all the little steps it took to get there we’re going to spend so much time being frustrated we might as well give up dog training all together.

About then it’s time to sit back and ask yourself why you’re doing this.  For me the short answer is, because I enjoy it.  The long answer has to do with loving my particular breed of choice and wanting to do my small bit toward preserving what they were created to do.  And, yes, some days it’s harder than others to take joy in the little accomplishments.  Some days I’m as frustrated as the next person to be backing up so far in my training it feels like starting over.  But at the end of the day I wouldn’t trade any bit of it.  I’ve met some great people through my dogs.  I’ve learned a lot through my dogs.  Life is fraught with frustrations.  How many sources of that frustration will love you no matter what?

We’re only a week away from the Steve Shope Clinic and I can’t wait.  Of course it’s an opportunity to spend the weekend with working dog enthusiasts so that makes it worthwhile all on its own.   And I love going to clinics.  I believe you should never stop learning, no matter how long you’ve been doing something or how much you think you know.  Especially where dogs and livestock are involved.  And also because those of us who train alone most times can easily fall into ruts and bad habits without realizing it.  Thankfully I have the SBSDC to remind me on the Sundays that I actually work a dog as well.  They’re very quick to point out when I’m messing up.  As we all know, it’s much easier to see what’s going right and what’s going wrong from outside the fence.

Quinn is going to be my clinic dog.  I really would like to trial him this year and neither of us is getting any younger, even though he acts and thinks like a two year old, he’s not.  He can do some awesome stuff but we’ve mis-communicated for so long I don’t know how to get him back.  He moves off me now, that was a big step, and he isn’t near as rowdy and will work wide on the stock but he still wants to constantly get to head and is very reactive.  I need to get some suggestions on how to deal with that because, obviously,  what I have been doing isn’t working.  My plan is to work him several times this week so he’s not a total crank-ball for the clinic but we’ll see how my schedule plays out.  We all know what happens to the best laid plans and the weather forecast doesn’t look all that promising.

I’m also looking forward to this clinic because most of my students will be attending.   It’s good for them to get evaluated by a fresh set of eyes and hear it from somebody besides me.

I’ll post details of the clinic next weekend and hopefully some photos as well.

I had a fairly decent day of working dogs Wednesday.  More practice with Rowan on understanding flanking and gathering which she did fairly well but then wouldn’t steady up on her drive.  I’ll chalk it up to a full moon.  I gave Murphy a try on sheep, thinking I’d pull him out of retirement to try for that last Advanced Duck leg only to help Lace into HoF some day.  Yeah, well, I’m rethinking that.  He had the attention span of a gnat and I swear he’s going deaf.  I’ll try him a few more times on ducks and see if he perks up.  He got himself rammed in the pen because he wasn’t paying attention.  It wasn’t a bad hit and he didn’t seem phased by it but it wasn’t his crowning moment to be sure.

Quinn had some good moments and some not so good but overall, when I look at how he was a year ago and how he is now, it’s a vast improvement.  He still pushes too hard and wants to constantly go to head.  I’m anxious to see what suggestions Steve Shope has when he comes up for the clinic in a few weeks.

Beth was up to work Hazer and Rein.  I took Quinn into the round pen to demonstrate pushing a dog out as Beth was having some timing issues.  I expected Quinn to be naughty and he wasn’t even close.  In fact, every flank I sent him on was a wide out to the perimeter of the pen flank.  Even when I switched him up he stayed out.  I was pleasantly surprised.  Now I just have to get him to rate his stock a bit better and stay off the heads.