A Weekend of Stockdog Sistahood
“What did you do this weekend?”
“Worked dogs, hung out with my SBSDC Sistas–”
“Worked dogs? Is that like training them to do something.”
“Um…yes…to work stock.”
Blank look.
“They work sheep. Sometimes cattle and ducks. They’re stock dogs.”
“Oh. Do you do that outside? Wasn’t the weather kind of crappy?”
Shrug. “A little windy and cool, but not terrible.”
Polite smile–the kind you give the crazy person on the corner muttering to themselves as you slowly back away.
Yes, those are the types of conversations I’ve had with non-dog folks. You know, the kind of person who can’t imagine willingly sitting outside for hours in the blustery winds and chilly air of what is currently passing as early spring to work their own dog, and watch their friends’ dogs work, sharing in the camaraderie, support, and fun of the like-minded.
But there it is, that’s exactly what I did last weekend with my stockdog sistas. We all met up at Deb’s house and spent the weekend working, laughing, eating, laughing some more, and working again. (“But I already ran twice!!”) (And, “Hey, why don’t I *really* torture you by having you work ducks an extra 10 minutes?”)
Of course, to get to Deb’s meant roughly a 6 hour drive, which leads to the question: how did Jig fare this time? Well, we snugged her into the hug-me jacket, gave her a squirt of Rescue Remedy, and harnessed her into the back seat and…she was super. Yes, panting. Yes, somewhat restless. But overall, the best she’s ever ridden.
Our lovely ‘selfie’.
On the way home we didn’t give her any RR, just the hug-me jacket. She did awesome. Made a lake on the center console when she rested her slobbery chin there, but overall settled in, laid down–yes, laid down–and rode like a champ. Or at least not a psycho. She did pitch a fit at one point…pawing at Gail, bouncing around, staring at the ceiling as though there may have been a trap door she could escape through. Turns out, she just had to make a pit stop. Once we took care of that, she was back to her drooling but stationary self.
At Deb’s we made great strides with our biggest issue: not allowing stock to leave one enclosure for another. It took us a while to figure out at least part of the problem. Me, of course. That really should have been a no-brainer. At least once we figured it out, we could work on getting past it. I came home with things to work on, and a lot better take pen than I had.
And, since I had my camera, I’ll share some random shots with you.
My favorite picture of the weekend. This is what happens when I turn my camera over to Tija…she captures an awesome shot! I’m not sure why Jig looks like a fluffier dog, except the wind was whipping her hair up. But notice her body language and where her focus is. Man, I love this dog.
Jig thought Deb and I talking about what to torture her with next was a bit boring. Perhaps sneaking through my legs would get her closer to the sheep.
Jig’s younger 1/2 brother Tenor. 7 months old and showing a lot of promise. I think Gail is going to have fun with him.
My most favorite little dog evah! Scully always proves that when you think big, you are big.
Janna and Mesa were one of the more advanced teams this weekend–working on some driving and control.
And I saved the cutest for last. Got a fix of puppy love, playing with Deb’s future star JJ.