First Time Handling

I am HOOKED. Seriously seriously. I handled Odin for the first time today and after I got even 1/10 of 1% of the hang of one small part of it, it was literally like driving a Corvette.

Today we had 3 nice little helpful sheep in a small round pen. We have not put names on flanks yet but using body language and the pole I had both flanks happening reliably. Actually, he already had them, so there was a bit of adjustment at first where I just confused the heck out of him. But by the end he was anticipating my movements. I have a good down (most of the times on the 1st command, bringing the pole horizontal really gets his attention), and at the end of the 3rd run we started putting a walk up on him. But it turns out he already KNOWS that command. What the heck???? I just had to say, Odin, walk up, and he got up and came walking up, nice and in control. Of course I am a dolt and let him walk the sheep past me every time - note to self, stop doing that. But how does that instacommand happen?? I guess body language?

When I finally figured out what to do with my clumsy self enough to ask for a flank in any sort of a situation where it made sense, we discovered that he does not like to go counter-clockwise as much as he does clockwise. Maybe this has something to do with the OCD in his right shoulder (the flanks he likes puts the "bad" shoulder on the inside)? In any case, I know for a fact he can run any which way he wants so I had my first training challenge, how to force him to take that flank. If I got "tough" and banged on the ground emphatically, I could sometimes get him to switch and take that flank (I guess that would be away side?), but then he would come in close and split the one black-bellied barbados away from the other two dorset sheep. Then, it would devolve into some fast action until I could get my head back enough to lie him down.

So the trainer was yelling at me to "come at him" when he came around too close on that flank. I tried a few times and she yelled "Too LA-ate!!" each time. Then, I got it in my head to lunge at him sort of pre-emptively, and after that he went around just great! I was still conscious he liked the clockwise side better, but no problems getting him to take either side anymore and the splitting off stopped. I would sometimes encourage him a bit like "be sure and get everyone, now" feeling totally ridiculous, but he would swing out a bit wide, and, well, be sure to get everyone.

How does the correction I gave have any bearing on him changing his behavior on both willingness to take that flank and taking it correctly? My trainer knew he would respond if I could get it right, and it obviously made sense to Odin. I'm the only one left wondering how the two actions even relate, because "coming at him" wasn't anything like him circling behind the sheep (his immediate reaction was to take off way back and circle again to a comfy clockwise flank), and it happened in my mind out-of-context from the moment that comes later, after the turn of the flank, where he would split one off. It is a mystery to me.

He has not had much eye yet (very upright and loose, looks like a little sphinx in his downs rather than the normal border collie "crouch"). But today, I swear I noticed that the way he looked at the sheep had great effect on them, even if he wasn't crouching. I noticed this on some sheep across a field from us while we were just out getting water. I had to take him away from the water dish, where he wanted to stare at those sheep and not drink, because it was making them stop and they weren't paying attention to the dog that was working them.

Wish I had pics or video but I was way way too busy trying to pull my thumb out of my nether regions and keep up with a keen 16 month old. Next time, next time. He was so tired tonight too - I think he is thinking so hard while it is happening. I just can't express how proud I was of the little guy. He has such heart - I could see that already and Joyce could too, I think. She warmed to him greatly, over the course of the morning. He is a cute lil mofo:
...which she noticed.

He wants to work with me. It is such a cool feeling.

Year 1 Timeline

October 2008, 7 months - Odin developed OCD in his right shoulder. Started getting really teenager-y. We had the botany beach bash and after he could barely walk I realized we had to do something about this.

November 2008, 8 months - Odin goes to work more. Gets even more teenagery, possibly exacerbated by pain, which other than the intermittant limp, he shows no other outward sing of. Goes on crate rest. Has surgery and stem cell treatment for his OCD (osteochondritis dessicans, a separation of cartilage from the bones of the shoulder that causes severe growth problems) in late November, after much help from my old friend Laura, now a vet in Colo.

December 2008, 9 months - Crate rest hell. The sedatives make him sort of crazy lurchy and clumsy, which is, you know, great for post-op recovery. We take short calm rehab walks, and I try to stop his energy (he does not agree that he needs to rest at all) by trying the cesar milan-thing where you repeatedly zzzzpt-strangle your dog to assert a calm dominant energy. This did not work for us. So we got a front clip harness, which worked much much better (3 weeks after surgery, so the gentle squeezing wouldn't be too much for the healing joint). Odin finally comes off crate rest, crazy with energy but much improved. He looks ridiculous half-shaved.

January 2009, 10 months - I don't know if he understood that we did our best to fix him, or if he just felt so much better that he became less obstinate, or if he just outgrew a phase that had nothing to do with the OCD and subsequent crate rest hell. But as we tried slowly to condition him up (he much preferred fastly conditioning himself up), he starts to really gel in a lot of behaviors to default good choices. How did this happen? Not jumoing up on people so much, way better on leash, insane desire to chew everything going away...


March 2009, 1 year - Odin starts getting really reliable off-leash. Start phasing out clickers, and working on long, solid stays and recalls. I go away for work for 2 weeks and worry that Odin won't be mine when I get back. He totally still is.



April 2009, 13 months - Odin's first time on sheep. Labeled hard by Laurie, he did not really perform best under her dominance-style training, but managed to stop trying to kill the sheep and instead come to balance on them. Tricks are now like, "find your blue ball, not that ball" and "bring me your leash!"

May 2009, 14 months - Odin is a fixture at work. He comes with me to the field, and does well. We experiment more and more with a raw meat-supplemented diet. We are starting to work better as a team. Also, I work on slowly conditioning him. We take a break from sheep for a couple months. He continues to be very exciteable but a true, sweet joy to be around. Loves children and meeting anyone.

June 2009 15 months - Odin comes to the railroad. He now firmly prefers balls to a frisbee, but still anything will do in a pinch. I'm starting to finally feel a bit more confident in my training instincts and timing as a handler - sometimes we achieve syncronicity and sometimes we crash and burn - I ask for a recall in a situation much less challenging than chasing a deer (which I can call him off from), - like when he is across the room from me or heading across an open field towards shade - and he clearly, with deliberate thought, weighs his options and flips me the bird - this about 5 - 10% of the time, and admittedly done with a bit of reluctance.

As for sheep, I enlist an online "mentor", an Open handler from the boards, who encourages me to try another trainer. I do and am amazed at 1) the difference in Odin's stamina, 2) the kind attitude Derek displayed towards him, 3) how wowed the other clinic-goers were with his talent! Laurie hadn't really indicated she thought he was any great talent, but Derek called him a "natural" and "responsive" - basically the opposite of hard. Maybe because he didn't approach my dog assuming he was a spoiled brat, which I suppose he could be - but I don't really think so. :) He's perfect, even when flipping me the finger (although that is going to STOP!)

....

So that brings us pretty much current. Now, I'm looking at this amazing dog I have, and thanking my luck daily Eric took us to his breeder. He is beautiful, thin, humorous, obsessive, drivey, keen as hell for sheep, and totally, completely devoted to me.

Love this dog. Let's see if we can learn how to work stock together.