8 State Hurricane Kate

Today we went to sheep herding lessons. Bandit and Chase both got to work sheep. They have such different styles; it’s interesting working with one, then the other. I had to work hard to manage Bandit to move the sheep around the field. Especially after working cattle with him, he seemed like overkill on sheep. After working with the cattle yesterday, I have a much more visceral understanding of why he is that way and what he was bred to do. Read more…

Posted on July 13th, 2008
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Yesterday Bandit and I got to work cattle for the second time. We found a beef cattle farm within 15 minutes of our house. Gene has Aussies (Australian Shepherds) and runs ranch trials occasionally. He was recommended to me by some Aussie people. We started out by sorting out cattle from the herd so that we could work with smaller groups in small pens. I helped with Bandit on leash while Gene and his dog Joe did the sorting. First we worked with Bandit on leash in a small paddock area with 3 cattle. Read more…

Posted on July 13th, 2008
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There has been an ongoing discussion about people who let their dogs jump on or otherwise molest a strange dog without asking permission.

Click here for a fantastic article by Suzanne Clothier about dog behavior, explaining perfectly why my dog Bandit tries to correct misbehaving dogs, and how their owners usually just don’t get how rude their dog is. Walk into any room and Bandit will immediately pick out which dogs are in control of the ‘owners’ and are most likely to misbehave, even if it isn’t evident to anyone else yet. Fortunately, Bandit and I have an understanding about this and I try to intervene (if needed) so that he doesn’t have to. I’m still astounded though by people who seem to have no clue that their dog is being rude and don’t see the signals that their dog is sending out (like staring constantly at another dog). Bandit has even been jumped on by another dog in the hallway at an obedience trial. Of course, if he tries to correct the offending dog, he will most likely get in trouble! Go to the link and read what Suzanne has to say. It’s good stuff.

IMO, people who greet a dog by roughing it up around the ears and patting it on top of the head are just as clueless and may be asking for trouble!

Posted on July 9th, 2008
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Over the holiday weekend, I took Chase along to visit my family in Wisconsin. Bandit and Cay stayed at my friend Becky’s place in Minnesota. I took Chase along because he had a sore back and I thought he could use some time away from the other dogs to recuperate. He is also a sensitive soul who likes individual attention. I think he has been missing that a bit since Cay has joined our pack. Read more…

Posted on July 6th, 2008
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Cay has figured out how to come on my whistle by watching Chase. Today I practiced recalls on the whistle with her for the first time. All on her own, she learned to leave the inside toys inside and the outside toys outside. I didn’t have to teach her these things because she pays close attention to the other dogs. Today I practiced “choose to heel” exercises individually with each dog. Read more…

Posted on July 1st, 2008
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Cay brought me the ball to play yesterday, all on her own! She had never done this before, and is starting to interact with me more, as she has seen the other dogs do. This morning a fawn in our front yard got all three dogs wound up. We went to Kim’s so that Bandit and Chase could work sheep. Cay jumped on Kim today—I started to correct her as I normally would, and Kim said—“Hey, she wouldn’t have done that a few weeks ago”. By golly, she was right! Cay was happy to see Kim and she showed it! 

Posted on June 28th, 2008
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Finally, after working with Bandit on sheep for 3 years, I found a place nearby to try working cattle. We went to Carey’s place and he showed me how to start Bandit on three cattle, working in a small area. I think we did very well together. Carey sent me in alone first, to get a feel for what it would take to move the cattle. Then I took Bandit in and worked at giving the cattle just enough to get them moving, then backing off a bit. Bandit worked very well and with a lot of control. His eyes got kind of big at first, like, “Wow, I really get to be in here with these cows! Yippee!”  Read more…

Posted on June 26th, 2008
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Cay is starting to learn “sit” in distracting situations, like waiting at the door to be let out. The three dogs tend to crowd at the door and each one clamors to be the first one out. But they know that I won’t open the door until they’re quiet, sitting still, and giving me access to open the door. Cay has learned from watching the other two what it takes to get the door to open. For a long time though, she didn’t seem to know that she needed to sit. I helped her for a while, but now she is starting to sit on her own, most of the time. I think that maybe she knew the word “sit” before but wasn’t able to let it get into her brain here with the distractions. Now that she is getting calmer here, she is starting to get it. She seems to know “hurry up” and “go potty” now too, when I tell her to go outside.

Guess Not…

A New Home for Cay?