5 months!
Beautiful weather lately pushed us into some less trick training and some more playing outside, so we spend lots of time in the woods now and To also got to do some tunnels and cik&caps around the stanchions! It looked too easy to be true, she looked like a pro on her first session already, as if she is running sequences for years 🙂 I still can't believe why doesn't everybody teach cik&cap - it makes things so easy that it's almost ridiculous!
However, to keep things interesting, after a first session of carpet running, she got completely obsessed by it, she thinks RC is so much fun she refuses to play or even take a ball (or a treat of course) as she is too much in a hurry to get to run it again! So we're now working on play with carpet in sight 🙂 - not a problem I would meet in RC classes before! She can do all the rest, finds the carpet from any angle, runs it beautifully - but she can't play once in her obsessed mode, so we can't do any more running until we fix that!
OH, that is too funny!!! So obsessed with RCs she can’t do anything else???? Only YOUR puppy would be first to do that!!! she is beautiful! Love all her markings!!! Great photos!
Yes, I guess she is just trying to say it’s a brilliant idea 🙂 But it makes a bit harder to JP/R/NR. -- Keep running back&fourth for JP, stop and play for NR maybe? 🙂
This makes me laugh! I can just see her…yay, carpet! Wait on that JP, just let me run this CARPET again! I love that toy, but LOOK, there’s the carpet! Zoom! 🙂 Love her photos, too, what a beautiful girl she is growing up to be!
I think I actually will try a bit of that: keep going back&fourth for JP, stop and pause for NR… And for the very best ones, I can use a pool JP! We are both suffering with RC withdrawal and this sure sounds like fun!
Hi Silvia,
Just out of curiosity, are you using a thrown toy like a ball on the carpet or is she chasing you and a toy? She sure is stunning and those pictures are amazing!
Sietske
I was using a thrown ball -- but within the 1st session, she stopped getting it and just finished the carpet, turned around and ran it again in the other direction, stopped, started herding and looked at me, hoping to send her again -- huh?!?
He he…maybe you can use herding as her JP!!!
That is too funny! She will be a natural! I guess the JP would indeed be to keep running her back and forth 😉
well,I have a working sheepdog and while mine works like an aussie, not like a BC or kelpie, I got interested in sheepdog and learnt that with dogs working like BCs, one of the main things you teach a dog is send away, other than turn left/right, with no sheep ( so no reward ) as you might need the dog to go away from sheep or to trust you and run ahead even if s/he can’t see sheep yet .
So if she comes from a working line ( I thought her father is working with sheep right? ), it’s quite normal she loves running back and forth on command 🙂
For example my dog has different working style ( was breed for working with cattle, and in the mountains of northern italy not in the hills of great britain 😉 ), so less sends away, less long runs, yet running out full speed is her all times favourite game and I would say all her agility and many of her tricks were taught making her believe it’s all just a cooler variation of a game of running out full speed in the fields for no reason.
Otherwise, she would just work giving minimum — she sees no reason in wasting energy in something unless it’s useful ( like herding ) or fun ( like running )
Yes, she is from all herding lines and takes herding very seriously: she puts her serious face on and takes it dead seriously that Le has to stay between her and me on walks (poor Le!) and would keep running back&fourth for RC for ever, but I sure would like her to play as well! We agreed now that she at least has to take the ball, but she would still rather just stare at either a ball, a carpet or me. -- Or run it, so we mostly just keep going now, but do need to catch some air from time to time as well 🙂
Yeah,sounds quite familiar
Even though mine is more interested in big groups of animals/people. Then she really goes mad!
Do you ever have trouble with claws going through the bottom of the pool? Did you put anything on the bottom to protect it? I think my pool might have to get a size upgrade this summer to one like this.. 😉
No, but this is the first time I’m using it with so little water in it, to get To used to it. Normally, there is so much water they have to swim, so we never had a problem with the bottom, even with many dogs using it at the camps, jumping in it etc. We do have a problem with the upper part that needs to be filled with air to keep the water in as it keeps getting new&new holes that we need to fix, despite the blankets over it… So I think we might go for one with a frame next time, to avoid this problem…
Yeah that makes sense, just sucks since the framed ones are so big and heavy. I felt the same way about cik&cap when I did Vi’s first session sequencing, it was SO easy! I’m hooked!
To is looking awesome, and so pretty!
Yes, I think this type of a pool is perfectly o.k. for just your dogs. Ours is holding many dogs for years.
After To’s first session I was like -- so what can I do for the next year then??? But well, now I know: fight the herding obsessions 🙂
Oy, I hear you on that one.
Silvia To is stunning !
And a very cute new type of obsession 🙂
Do you think 4-5 mos is the age for showing/developing obsessions ?
Yes, it looks like it is 🙂 It started with herding Le right about a month ago, then water obsession -- and now RC obsession!