One of my favorite things to do is to load up my van with as many herding dogs that can fit (6, for the most part)… and getting to do some real training on fundamentals.
On this trip, I introduced Sue to cattle (middle panel), with some gentle line work, he was… overly keen, so we kept it short. He is my first boy to train, and well, his brain doesn’t work like it should. 😛
With Chunky (left), Mazikeen (right), and Fiddle, we worked gently moving cows along the fence line, driving and improving distances on the fetch and gather before going through some elements of courses (getting the cows to the cone in the middle of the field without moving way offline is still a big deal), then driving to the y chute. Chunky had a wonderful day, working as a sandwich to pull cows off the fence with me. In Mazies case, I have to be careful, as she prefers to be a bit more independent on what she wants, and following her shoulder draws her in rather than pushing her out, as when the cows are fetched to me, it is the picture she wants.
Rory and I working in the small pen, fetched them out into the arena, and drove them up the fence and then back into the pen. Very pleased so far!
Clarjo Farms 