Sheep!

This past week, it seems like the weather has really turned to spring. Knock on wood, I hope it stays this way. Today felt more like May than March. Nice weather really only means one thing: sheep! We haven't had any herding lessons since last fall. During our last lesson, it was really difficult to motivate Iris to work sheep. She acted very stressed and did a lot of sniffing.

It seems like the winter off did a lot of good. Iris was like a different dog. She was very interested in the sheep. We started the lesson with driving and praising Iris for any interest in the sheep. We had plenty of interest! Woo-hoo! Then Diane had me drop the leash to work on get around. Iris did really well. She was definitely working better than last fall. There were still times when she would go off to sniff. Diane noticed that if the sheep stop moving, Iris thinks her job is done and she quits. So we need to work on keeping her interested in the sheep even when they're still.

Diane wanted to get Iris to hold the sheep against the fence behind me. We want her to learn that keeping sheep still is as much a part of the game as moving sheep around. One problem I kept having was if Iris started sniffing (or eating sheep poo, snacking seemed to be a priority for her today) and I went over to her to get her moving again, she'd take that opportunity to dive straight back into the sheep. Brat. Diane had me lean a couple extra rakes against the barn so I could toss one at Iris if she started snacking. That way I wouldn't have to walk over to her to get her moving again. Iris was not phased at all by the tossed rakes. I think she lifted her head up to look at the first one. Then she didn't care. Diane didn't want me to move too much because if I started moving, the sheep would follow me. We don't want moving sheep to be the cue for Iris to work. Being in the pen with the sheep regardless of whether or not they're moving should mean work. Diane came in the pen and she got Iris to move when I stood with the sheep. We finally had success! Something clicked in her brain. I think once Iris understood what I wanted, she actually did a really good job moving back a forth in front of me to keep the sheep in once place. She even put back one sheep that started to break. Good girl!

Then Iris got a break and Diane brought one of her dogs out to show me how I can practice having Iris move away from the rake at home. We also talked about using a food bowl to work on "walk up" and "out." I bought a small rake, so we'll definitely have to practice. Somewhere in with all the homework for the CU class! I also got a chance to see Diane's lambs. There aren't too many animals that are cuter than a lamb.

I brought Iris back out and we worked on "get around" again. Diane pointed out that if I started cheerleading Iris right as she started slowing down, she'd get interested again. If I was too late with my praise, Iris would start to check out and then I'd be praising her for quitting. Timing is important!

After the lesson, I was chatting with Diane and she mentioned that all her dogs were in the house during Iris' lesson so none of them were barking. Maybe in the past, the other dogs have been too stimulating for Iris? It's something we'll have to keep in mind in the future. This was definitely the best lesson Iris has had in a while! We go back in two weeks. Hopefully this beautiful weather will keep up!