We went to San Mateo on Thursday in a total rush. The plan was to get my JD visit done with Katerina (!!!) and then proceed north to pick up Eric. Before proceeding even further north. Odin waited in the car and then got to meet Cathi Zammit from the City and Katerina and Ian from the USACE. We went up top on the landfill and played for awhile at the City dogpark afterwards, me being careful not to let him strip his pads on the crushed gravel.
After picking up Eric and heading north (fun drive), we stayed in a hotel and Odin rode in an elevator for the first time. He was terrified. I also had to keep him from alarm barking when people started getting up in the morning and moving around in the hall. He definitely wan
ts to protect us. Odin and Sadie and Frank Woo ----->We stayed at Sheri Woo's house, camping out in their field where Sadie, her daughter often camps. Odin had so much fun with the kids, their teo dogs Henry and Wes, and an old soccer ball. He also climbed redwood stumps with us and fetched 9-ft long branches out of the forest for ... throwing?
On Sat morning, we arrived at Sharon's. Odin behaved terribly, as soon as he realized there were going to be sheep happening. I mean, he really lost his mind. He almost pulled me off my feet several times. We probably waited there for about an hour, and even though Eric and I both tried over and over to correct him with increasing harshness, the only way to keep him even halfway under control was to continually ask for his attention. He was incapable of calming himself down, and of course Laurie noticed and commented. I felt terrible and hung my head. But he was beyond reaching.
She had him come up first for the clinic. I thought this was merciful. But after Wednesday, it shocked me immensely that his immediate reaction was to run at the sheep (we had 4 at first) and slam them into the fence at the back of the field. I groaned inwardly, oh jeeze. But Laurie stayed cool as a cucumber, and we brought about 10 ewes out and got rid of a troublesome mother who didn't feel like flocking. She didn't fault Odin at all. When we started the next time, she decided to turn him off a bit by reclaiming the sheep. She pulled out in front and let him know that stupid actions would get the stick-bag. Also, she let him decide when to come to rest, which he finally did, at balance.Odin turns the sheep, at a good distance...
He kept running them into the corner at first, and after Laurie turned him off he was hesitant to take them out again. But we worked on it, and she had me run him for the second run on Sat. He kind of blunderingly pushed the sheep into a V-corner, and Laurie was back with the spectators, because Eric had said, "Oh yeah, let her do it on her own!""Easy for you to say!" Laurie shot back. But she did, and then came to help me and said to everyone, "Oh, you guys, this is a V!! You need a trained dog for this," but then she had me take Odin's collar and guide him through. He did, and we came through wonderfully, then it was a pretty nice fetch across the field. HE lost the sheep at one point and I sort of organically turned it into a drive. I figure, try and let him be right as much as possible right now; although I don't know if that's a good idea or not. He was gentle, helped start two kelpie pups (Tillie and Bloke), and above all, after the first part of the day, tried hard to be a team player with me. Now... to stop the flailing...
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