Herding - Ice does NOT stop us!
 The boys and I had herding class practice this morning at 9:30. It hadn't really started when we left home, but a few miles down the road we ran into sprinkles, then rain. Jennifer's place is also a big horse facility, so we were going to be in their indoor arena, so class would still go on. However, it got me a bit worried about the drive home...but that was for later! I have the boys signed up for working spots in a herding clinic in February with Larry Painter (awesome herding clinician and judge, from MO). Due to my work , shows and family stuff, we had missed so many practices, and I wasn't about to let weather stop us today! We are the least advanced (that I know of) of the participants, and there is no way I wanted them to look bad and give a poor reflection on OES as herding dogs!  I am motivated!!We had a great class - and it was only the owner and her BC, another student and her 3 corgis. The weather kept the others home.  Both of us had significant drives, and we left home before the weather started, so maybe we were just crazy.  Bond is crazy addicted to herding - sheep are like a drug to him! He really, really likes it. We worked on holding a wait at the beginning. Then giving up the sheep after working them - that part just about kills him. He struggles with it, and barks and goes nuts. But, I had a plan to work a bit, then do his stop - "there" - and sit, then he got to restart. We did it over and over.....with progress made. Much less frustrated barking. He also is learning to flank out and do it on command for direction - away to me (counterclockwise approach) and go bye (clockwise). Chewie is learning a send and fetch - and working at a distance away from me is hard for him (in agility too). So I wanted to get started, as it will likely take a bit to get him good with this skill. We worked on triangles - setting me, him and the sheep as points on an equilateral triangle and teaching him to come around me to get to the sheep. He had several really good attempts in both direction, and I think we are real close to having a  lightbulb moment!Then the drive home...not pleasant. We had heard it POURING on the arena roof over most of the 2 hours we worked. It was just at the freeze/thaw point, and of course the ground is frozen solid here. So it was pooling and freezing on contact. I drove slow, and we made it home fine. Only one van in the ditch. Here is our gravel road, it's a solid sheet of ice. Our driveway is at the top of the hill, on the right:  My garage:  The boys going from my garage to the house. Note we have not ONE speck of snow  : Closeup of my driveway - a solid sheet of ice:  Chewie - "I see you!"  And my very favorite part  ......remember, they were at the same place, doing the exact same thing... Bond's "after" picture  : - and he's locked on the porch, with fans to dry, so I can brush him out  And then here's Chewie :  |
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| That's how our boys would be. We're in snow right now, they go out to pee, Dex's feet are a little wet, Winston has to have his whole body toweled off! |
| Absolutely priceless! Reminds me of when our breeder sent us videos of Benson and her littermates eating their first solid food. Her brother had a nose full of mush, and she had the tiniest drip on her chin! Looks like they had fun, despite the weather. Glad you're home safe and sound! |
| You are so lucky to be able to continue to herd during the winter! And I would pay money to see a corgi herd, I just can't imagine them doing it, those little legs of theirs! Ducks, yes, but sheep? As for Mudface, I mean, Bond, he is just, err, enthusiastic? |
Mady wrote: You are so lucky to be able to continue to herd during the winter! And I would pay money to see a corgi herd, I just can't imagine them doing it, those little legs of theirs! Ducks, yes, but sheep? As for Mudface, I mean, Bond, he is just, err, enthusiastic? Corgi's were actually aggressive little herders of cattle - they were short so when they nipped at the cattle's heels, and they kicked - they were UNDER the cattle's hooves - they could duck and dart in for another nip! The 3 at class are more like the OES in temperament, and their owner has her own ducks and they do great w/ them too. Yes, we are so lucky! Jennifer has this awesome indoor horse arena, and it's nice and big. Not the greatest lighting for video or pics, but nice for working our dogs. Bond is so bonkers for the sheep, that he gets his face and front legs wet, also slurps water, and then the fine dirt from the arena just sticks to him. It's like dirt paste...ugh. I just plan on him looking like this once we start...and cringe. The other people just laugh and are glad he's going home in MY car! I am so anal about my dogs always looking clean and perfect...so you know it just about puts me over the edge! |
| That sounds like great fun! Nice to have an indoor place for the winter to practice. Teddy loved the herding at the nationals last year. He did great and we are going to try it again up in Canada in May. Wish you guys could come too! Love the dirt face! Yes, I wouldn't want that in my truck for the ride home.  And yes, the weather would have probably kept me home. Don't like the ice driving! Cindy |
got sheep wrote: Mady wrote: You are so lucky to be able to continue to herd during the winter! And I would pay money to see a corgi herd, I just can't imagine them doing it, those little legs of theirs! Ducks, yes, but sheep? As for Mudface, I mean, Bond, he is just, err, enthusiastic? Corgi's were actually aggressive little herders of cattle - they were short so when they nipped at the cattle's heels, and they kicked - they were UNDER the cattle's hooves - they could duck and dart in for another nip! The 3 at class are more like the OES in temperament, and their owner has her own ducks and they do great w/ them too. Yes, we are so lucky! Jennifer has this awesome indoor horse arena, and it's nice and big. Not the greatest lighting for video or pics, but nice for working our dogs. Bond is so bonkers for the sheep, that he gets his face and front legs wet, also slurps water, and then the fine dirt from the arena just sticks to him. It's like dirt paste...ugh. I just plan on him looking like this once we start...and cringe. The other people just laugh and are glad he's going home in MY car! I am so anal about my dogs always looking clean and perfect...so you know it just about puts me over the edge! That's how Tiggy looked after herding too. She drooled and panted and we had the same fine dark soil in the round pen. Her face and chest and front legs were so bad. Then there was the time she bit her own tongue instead of/as well as? the sheep. Add a bit of blood to that black paste, oh my it was hard to get her clean. To be fair to Bond, Chewie's coat is a little shorter.  |
| Great pics... love the last two lol I'm sick of the cold and ice but I'm NOT looking forward to mud again. It seems we had more "mud season" than anything else this year. Freezing rain and snow are supposed to hit my area tonight and tomorrow... hopefully it won't be that bad! I hate driving when it's icy. Snow, no problem. |
| Great story and great pictures. May I ask a really stupid question? What is an Ice Storm not an expression used in the UK? I've heard it before but never been exactly sure what it is. Cheers Debs |
| We use the term ice storm in Canada to describe a particularly bad period of freezing rain, which for those of you in tropical areas is rain that pretty much freezed on impact. The result is beautiful asthetically, with all of the trees and plants sparkling, but it is quite awful. Power lines get coated in heavy ice and break. The same with tree limbs. And walking becomes nearly impossible. Even the handrail going down the steps becomes frozen with wet slippery ice. We had thehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_Ice_Storm_of_1998 and it was just horrible. It is happening more often because of climate change. I hate it. If we are going to have to have winter in Canada, give me snow so that we can ski, snowshoe, toboggan etc. What does the term mean for you guys? |
| Thanks for the explanation Kim. Sounds nasty and very dangerous. Cheers Debs |
| Yes, like Kim described, that is what an ice storm is for us too. Normally all winter we are below freezing, so we should get snow. This was one day when we were at the freeze/thaw point, and it came down as pouring rain. And then with everything here already cold and frozen, it turns to ice on contact. A dangerous mess. Our last 2 times we had moisture this has happened. So we have no snow - we had a little snow before the 1st ice storm, but the rain made it all go away. Since then we were super cold temps, but ugly bare ground. And it looks double bad, as we were in a drought all last summer, so the bare ground looks really bad. It is great we have access to Jennifer's barns and arena. She just started doing herding a few years ago - so we all win!! Her dog Tally is a border collie, from a big herding kennel who produces some of the top herding dogs in the country - so she got herself a really good puppy. They are amazing, and Tally just turned 2 yrs old last week. Tally lives to herd stock  |
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