So ... I have a dog who knows how to open my chain link gate. Mr. Zip. If he feels like letting himself out to come hang out on my front porch, well, he just hops right up there, flips the latch with his nose, and then leaves the gate wide open for all those who care to join him.
I outsmarted him though. I took an "S" hook and put it through the hole. He hasn't gotten out in a couple of weeks.
Tonight, when I let them out into the backyard, I looked to make sure the "S" hook was secured because I had been through that gate a couple of times early in the afternoon. All was fine.
Dinnertime comes, and I open the back door. Normally I have 12 legs, 3 heads, and 3 tails come barreling past me. Nothing. I stick my head out into the yard and ... my gate is open and the dogs are gone! Not that big of a deal when you have herding dogs, and sheep in the back pasture. So I whistle. 12 legs, 3 heads and 3 tails come barreling toward me from my neighbor's yard. Apparently they'd been herding the rabbits ... again. Poor things. Well, they're not that poor. They live in a condo of sorts that my neighbor built for them. But they still don't need harassing, and I gave Mr. Zip a ration. The bigger problem is now I have to get a more substantial clip to go through that hole. How he got that one out of there is beyond me. But my guess is the dogs were running loose for about an hour before I noticed anything. Poor bunnies.
Anyway, Katy and Eric came over with Scout and Zeke. Katy's handling and her timing are really looking good. Her confidence is obvious, and Scout is really respecting her much more. She is calm, she has time to think, she's practicing what she's learning and it's all coming together for her. Katy's dedication is really paying off, and all the hard work is starting to really show. With that said ... and without taking a morsel of anything away from her ...
Our trainer. She is amazing. Her ability to teach the person is incredible. This summer, I had an opportunity to help a few people get started. I was not confident or comfortable doing it, despite the fact that everyone said they learned a ton. The first lesson I took with Dianne ... and watching Dianne work with the people I was just working with ... made me realize ... immediately ... the difference between a "trainer," and a "good trainer." I always steered toward training the dog. Dianne trains the person -- and she's really really good at it. She has the patience, the kindness, doesn't make you feel like a spaz, is willing to explain it 14 different ways until you understand it, and will work on something with you until you "get" it. Sure, her bubble is as big as the moon with our dogs, but that's not what we're there for. Yes, she could train our dogs in a heartbeat, but what would be the point of that? We're there to learn how to do it ourselves.
In watching Katy from my vantage point tonight, I was really happy for her. It wasn't that long ago that it was clear to see like she felt like she had 2 left feet and her dog didn't give a patooie that she was there. Tonight I told her that it's starting to look like she's "dancing" with Scout. And I love seeing it. And I know Dianne does too.
There are a lot of people that hang their "trainer" hat out there, but does that really make them a trainer? You can belong to several different organizations, but does that a trainer make? For a long time, I thought, "Is there really that much difference between training for arena trials and training for field trials?" "Does it really matter who I train with? The concept is the same."
This year I started working Echo. Here's a clean slate. Early on, I decided to go train with the "big hats" and try to pretend I knew nothing and see it through from the ground up rather than putting a second dog through my novice mistakes. While arena trials are fun, they are nothing in comparison to what I'm doing now. Holding three dog-broke, course-trained sheep against the wall and doing a controlled escape around a horse arena one day, and the opposite direction the next ... I am appalled that people not only make breeding decisions on their dogs ability to do this, but are also hanging their trainer hats out on it. I guess for most herding breeds, like Corgis or something, it's probably fine. But Border Collies are capable of much more and should be held to a much higher standard. So I've decided to go for it. I'm stepping out of my comfort zone and going to people who not only have experience in but are very successful at trialing at the highest level. I couldn't have made a better decision. And I can't thank my trainers enough for the time, patience, expertise, and friendship they have extended. I am very lucky to have them.
Happy tails,
JD
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