Monday, August 19, 2002

 
Ok, Cooperstown definitely qualifies as our Worst Trial Ever (TM)--it's never happened before that I just wanted to march off the field in the middle of my run. At this point, I have a slightly better chance of being voted into Cooperstown's Baseball Hall of Fame than I do into the as-yet-nonexistent Handlers Hall of Fame!

Here's a concise list of the bad things that happened to us: (1) Phyl stopped a couple of times on her outrun, which was up a steep hill. She might have run out of gas--it was very hot--or she might have lost sight of her sheep, but I think that I have to conclude that she's getting into the habit of stopping and figure out how to address it; (2) the sheep were extremely heavy and hard to budge, even on the fetch--none of the handling techniques that I've picked up over the course of the summer (flanking Phyl fast and wide to straighten out their path, stopping her frequently to improve the pace, etc.) seemed to make a dent; in fact, they probably made things worse. We made our panels, but it was real work to bring the sheep down the hill on anything resembling a straight line; (3) there was a substantial row of stalky grass at the start of the drive, and I had an enormous amount of trouble pushing the sheep through. Probably I should just have let Phyl walk up and try to handle things herself, but I kept stopping her (since that's what I primarily do when I drive with her: take pressure off the sheep by stopping her, watch what happens, give another flank or walk-up, take pressure off again, etc. Lather, rinse, repeat!). As a result, the first leg of the drive was a mess, with the sheep coming back to me several times before I finally got them to the drive panels (which we missed). Our cross-drive line was decent, but we missed the panels low; (4) fun and humiliation *really* began at the pen, when two lambs were happy to go and the third huge, ornery ewe decided that her best defense mechanism was to press against me in the mouth of the pen, and NOTHING Phyl or I did convinced her to budge. I've never been so damn glad when time was called in my short life as a sheep dog trialer!; (5) our score was a humiliating 32, with no drive points at all after that miserable battle to get the sheep around some semblance of a course.

Here's an even more concise list of the *good* things that happened to us: (1) Phyl kept at it during the whole of this terrible ordeal, even though by the end I'm sure she hated those sheep as much as I did; and (2) I didn't burst into tears. *Sigh*!

posted by Heather Nadelman

Thursday, August 15, 2002

 
Phyl and I went to Sam Furman's Front Runner Farm Sheep Dog Trial last weekend, in Richmond, VA. It was my first non-NEBCA trial, and I really enjoyed it thoroughly. Sam's farm is nice, her sheep were fit and worked easily, and there was enough shade for dogs and people alike to make the intense heat somewhat bearable. We didn't place either day (although Sunday we were 7th; they only placed through 6), but I was mostly pleased with our runs. On Saturday, Phyl got a little confused on her outrun--the sheep were very hard to see in the sun-burned brownness of the field--and she stopped at around 9:00 o'clock. She took a redirect well, and had a beautiful fetch. Her drive was nice enough (made the drive panels, just missed the cross-drive), and I messed up a tricky pen for zero points. Total score that day was 61, which would have put us in 11th place. Sunday her outrun was better, her fetch was even nicer than it had been the day before, and she drove the sheep on a dental floss line, taking every nuance of a flank whistle that I blew. Unfortunately (there usually *is* an "unfortunately" in these blogs, isn't there?), I couldn't quite see the cross drive panels well, and we just missed them. That blew my mind enough that I gave her a big sweeping come-by whistle to bring her home when I should have given her an away-to-me (yes, I'm a moron!): that made her almost cross her course, so I had to stop her abruptly and send her the other way around, which she (good dog!) obligingly did. She brought the sheep to the pen at a nice, controlled pace, and I was sure we were going to get them in on the first try. Somehow (I'm not quite sure how) they slipped around her, and I need a second attempt to get them in (6 points). So with two major bobbles and an otherwise beautiful run, we ended up with a 73 and no placement. But I was delighted with her, and I was mostly pleased with the way I handled her. Even better, Tommy Wilson (the judge) told me that she was a good dog and that I'd do well with her. Let's hope he's clairvoyant!

I've worked Phyl a couple of times since that trial. She's been like a machine on her flanks, but twice she's mysteriously stopped on the away-to-me side of her outrun. Both times could be explained by external factors (once there was a person and dog standing around 3:00, and the other she was quite tired and hot), but two times of anything makes me nervous. We're off to a one-day trial in Cooperstown now, and I'll see how it goes. I think I'll shush her when I give her the outrun command, to encourage her to hurry along. I'll report on how it goes when I return.

posted by Heather Nadelman

Sunday, August 04, 2002

 
I haven't updated this blog in awhile, mostly because it's been very hot and my last trial was discouraging--nothing terrible happened there, but neither did anything of remarkable interest. The heat was blistering (mid-nineties both days), and the trial had no natural shade for the dogs. I spent a lot of my time trying to make sure that the dogs were cool enough, and as a result I couldn't concentrate on my runs as much as I'd have liked. The field was a little tricky (down a hill and then up), and Phyl's outruns both days weren't very good--too wide at the bottom (especially day two, when she tried going bigger than she had the first day) and much too shallow at the top. The first day we had two costly mistakes: the sheep inexplicably--well, inexplicably to me--bolted the wrong way around the post when I thought I was setting up a nice, tight, relaxed turn, and they also bolted at the pen after my watching run after run when they practically knocked at the gate in their eagerness to get into the pen. *Sigh*. The other elements were decent enough, but we ended up with a 40 on day one (because of the one-point fetch when the sheep went around the post the wrong way, and because of the zero at the pen) and a 59 on day two (decent fetch and drive, but we missed our cross-drive panels low). No placements. *Sigh*. I haven't worked Phyl that much since that trial (which was a couple of weeks ago), because we're really deep into a heat wave and draught. Still, every time I *have* worked her I've been pleased with what I've gotten--she's taking everything in stride. This weekend I'll be going to a trial in Virginia, and I'm hoping for a little better run (and some more hospitable weather!)

posted by Heather Nadelman