And More Progress
Moss had four days in a row of working sheep. I tried taping a bit of his progress this morning. I know it’s not a great video, but what thrills me is watching the sheep and Moss actually walking. We still have things that need work, like staying down for more than a second, but I’m just so happy that we can get around the area in a calm manner. He still is spinning around a bit, but nothing like he used to.
Thursday night he brought the sheep in to their night-time pen. He had to do it in three groups since he wasn’t out far enough. Friday night I got myself in a better position and still I had to stop him three or four times before he saw the sheep way at the back. He made a nice outrun and stopped when I told him to. I kept him far enough back that the sheep merged into one long column and quietly walked (that’s WALKED) into their pen. I wish I had taken a camera with me!!
Progress
Moss was fantastic today. I’ve considered trying him in some ASCA, AKC or AHBA trials. They’re smaller courses and the handler can stay closer to dog and/or sheep. It would give us something to gauge our progress by.
Today I laid out a ASCA course and I do believe he would have qualified once or twice. Not exactly sure how they score though. I’ll try to get some pics and videos this weekend.
Moss is really coming along. He used to think walk up meant run and lie down meant walk. I changed my “walk up” to “steady” and it was a miracle! He wasn’t sure what it meant so he tended to walk slowly instead of running. And I practiced walking backwards…..
We worked some on “get out.” Did much better with that. (Been reading my books again….lol)
But it was indeed hot. Did a couple of really short sessions and tried to take the sheep out in the side yard but he lost ’em again. Called him off. Too hot for a chase.
Another Good Sheep Day
I can’t believe Moss has finally learned to STOP. He doesn’t often actually lie down, but a stop on his feet is fine. It just all of a sudden came together. We’ve added reviewing whistles, and today we worked on “walk up.” Since I can stop him, we can do this without a long line. It has taken a long time but I really think, unlike all my other dogs, he really needed to mature. It keeps getting better.
Bikejoring
Well, I did it. I drug the bike out of storage and cleaned it up and took Moss for a test spin. He did great, except for when he’d cross in front of me. Scared the life out of me. But no crashes. We only went to the corner and back but it’s going to take some time for me to get in shape enough to really give him a good run. I just ordered a walky thingy too to keep him on one side. I really wanted him out front so we could bikejor but he needs to get comfortable with running with the bike first. (And not crashing into me!) I did train a couple of my dogs, ages ago, to dog sled by using a Springer bike attachment. But boy, has the price gone up on those babies!
(One of my girls would suddenly lie down while running. Of course the other dogs would just drag her. With the bike and Springer, I could slow down or stop and get her up and moving again. Once she caught on, she was one of my best sled dogs.)
I have visions that we’ll soon be scooterjoring. I think having my feet under me would make me more confident. I feel pretty precarious on the bike. (Did I mention that I really need to get in shape?)
A New Adventure – Parkour
We’ve been looking for new ways to keep Moss busy and thought we’d give Parkour a try. We haven’t found a lot of places to practice yet and this is very basic beginning level but we might actually go for a title. Why not? Gotta spend my money somehow…
The Eyes Have It
Now that we’re almost settled in, I’ve been working on a couple of new tricks with Moss.
I saw some interesting videos on teaching dogs to mimic. I thought this would be fun since Moss has some tricks that would be easy to copy and teach him to do by watching me.
I also had already started teaching him to cover his eyes with his paw. The recommended method is to stick some tape on the dog’s nose and click and treat as they rub it off with a paw. Moss just sat there with the stupid tape on his nose. Weird dog. After a few tries, I started rubbing my face with my hand to see if I could get him to move. His eyes got huge and he sat perfectly still and stared at me unblinking for several minutes, like he had never seen anything so strange in his life! It’s hard to train a dog when you’re laughing.
Today he just about had it down. He not only wiped the tape off (and then retrieved it and handed it to me) but did a few without the tape. Sometimes he amazes me.
Learning the Difference
I’ve been working with Moss to learn the difference between the phone and my test kit. He LOVES to retrieve things and will grab the first thing he sees. I’ve started putting my feet on them to keep him from the self-rewarding behavior. But we’ve been working on this for weeks! Just wondering if I’m doing this right. He starts off good, but then started with mistakes. At the end, he grabbed a toy. (When he leaves me, he’s going to look for the phone)
PS I was reviewing the video and Moss heard it from the other room and retrieved the phone. lol
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