Fetch Gate Farm Trial – Independence Day
The last weekend in June, I’d signed up for a Tom Wilson
clinic at Windcroft Farm in Pennsylvania. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to
attend this clinic, but I had two more opportunities to see Tommy in quick succession.
He judged the Fetch Gate trial over Independence Day (a Thursday), and then
gave a clinic at Fetch Gate the following Monday and Tuesday.
As I prepared to drive up to New York the day of the trial,
I entertained the idea of not going. My heart really wasn’t in it. But I made
myself go, knowing that once I was there, I’d probably feel much better, and
reminding myself it was only a one-day trial and I could leave after running
Dot.
I did feel better once I got to the trial field. Roger and Heather
Millen of Fetch Gate Farm have a good sized field next to their house where we
can safely let the dogs off leash so I arrived early to get my dogs out and let
them stretch their legs before the Novice handlers’ meeting, which was at 6:15.
There was a slight change to the course this year because they’d just had a
tremendous amount of rain, and the bottom of the field still had some standing
water. The pen was moved more into the field and closer to the drive panels to
get it out of the standing water. They also rotated it so that the gate now
swung open toward the back of the field, which meant the line from the outside
edge of the drive panel to the pen would be down one side of the pen, and the
sheep would have to be turned to their right to go into the pen. Because the
line distance from the drive panels to the pen was fairly short, this made
penning a little more tricky than usual; the line had to be just right. This
added small challenge suited me just fine, because the sheep are normally not too
difficult to pen at Fetch Gate. At the handlers’ meeting, Tom recommended
stopping the sheep between the panels and the pen to ensure we had enough time
to get to the pen and get it opened. Fetch panels were not set up for the
Novice or Pro-Novice classes. The turn at the post was clockwise, and after the
drive panels we turned left (out of the field) to go to the pen. Novice was to
have four minutes and Pro-Novice five.
Dare was the second dog to run. I’d been sure I would send
her left because that’s just generally her better side, plus the pressure on
that field is to the right, and I thought it might make her tighter anyway. But
at our lesson the day before, her outrun to the right was better than her first
outrun to the left. I thought a bit about whether to send her right, but ended
up sending her left anyway. She went out very tight, which was disappointing.
However, the rest of the run was very nice, and I was really pleased with her!
Outrun 17, Lift 8, Fetch 18, Drive 18, Pen 10. Total 71 (of 80 possible) and 2nd
place! J
Seamus was second to last. I sent him left, and he went out
well. As he started to come into the vicinity of the sheep, he lied himself
down! I was happily surprised (okay--stunned might be the word)! He had
stopped himself short, at about 10 or 11 o’clock, but a free lie down from him
on his outrun or lift is worth ANY point deduction! I let him lie there to see
if he would get himself up, partly because I was in NO hurry to get him back up
immediately after a lie down, and partly because it would have cost an
additional point deduction. He lied there and looked at me, and I waited
perhaps 10 or 15 seconds, and he didn’t get up, so I gave him a come-bye
whistle, and he took it. He came on to the sheep; not as nice as he knows how, but
better than he would have if he hadn’t stopped at all…but that was about the
last willing stop he gave me. The rest of the course was a too fast,
stopping-too-late kind of thing. We got through the drive panels, and I flanked
him away to turn the sheep out of the field. He flanked, the sheep turned to
their left as I needed, and I looked towards the pen to see where I was going
and because the footing wasn’t very good. I looked back up and Seamus had
changed direction to a come-bye flank and was now already at about 8 o’clock
around them!!! Somehow I managed to get him to stop and flank away and turn
them back down the field, but one sheep popped back through the panels. They
came on to the pen in a hurry, and I think we still might have managed a pen if
he’d stopped when I asked him to as they got to the pen. But he didn’t stop,
and the sheep reversed and went behind the pen, breaking the plane at the back
corner of the gate, and stopping there. That’s always a dilemma in penning. It
is usually better to bring them back up the side of the pen to the opening in
the direction you wanted them to come from in the first place, because the
handler can use the gate itself and their body for a chance at blocking them.
Pushing them the other direction around the pen means the handler has to get
out of the way, open the gate as wide as possible to make it inviting for the
sheep to go in the mouth of the pen and ensure the dog gets around them quickly
enough to keep them from continuing back up the other side past the mouth. As I
tried to quickly evaluate my situation, I thought it might be easier to do it
the “wrong” way. We’d already lost our points for going “around” the pen
(breaking the plane), and flanking him away-to-me to try to catch them and turn
them, then flip him back come-bye to push them into the pen seemed like it was
going to jigger him up even more, and just having him do one big flank to the
away seemed like it would be smoother. Since these sheep are usually pretty
happy to go in the pen, I thought that this would work, and it did. With the
exception of the free lie down that Seamus offered at the top of his outrun, it
didn’t feel like a very smooth run, and it wasn’t. Nevertheless, his score was
good enough for 4th place. Outrun 17, Lift 9, Fetch 15, Drive 8, Pen
5. Total 54.
Pro-Novice was a considerably larger class than Novice had been; after several
no-shows and scratches, 34 dogs went to the post. We ran about 10 dogs down the
order. The course was the same as for Novice, with the setout and drive panels
moved back. I sent Dot to the left, and she started out well. I had some hope
that she wasn’t going to go out to the fence line, but she did eventually get
that wide. I was relieved that she didn’t stay on the fence the entire time and
run the whole field. She started to come in, but each time she glanced in at
the sheep, she kicked herself wider again, heading up directly up the field to
the back fence all the way at the top. At that point, I knew I had to do
something and not worry about points, as we were going to lose tons of points
anyway for the outrun. So I stopped her and got her to come up on them, but
although she was very deep, she really wasn’t far enough around to where she
needed to be. I ended up flanking her a few times; she didn’t take the last one
but I remembered that Scott had cautioned me to allow her to get to their
heads, and since they were facing that direction, I left her alone. She lifted
them nicely (as always!) and straight on line for a perfect lift. I didn’t have
as good a fetch as I would have liked, but over all it was a very nice run; the
outrun was where we took the biggest hit. Outrun 10, Lift 10, Fetch 17, Drive
17, Pen 10. Total: 64. Considering the large class and the scores I saw on the
board when I looked about halfway through the class, I thought if we even
placed at all we’d be down at the bottom of the class. I was surprised when our
64 held up for 5th place!
Good doggies: Seamus, Dot, and Dare.
Tom Wilson clinic at Fetch Gate Farm
After the weekend, during which Fetch Gate ran the Open
classes, we went back up to Virgil, New York. I had one spot at this clinic,
and we worked twice each day. I worked Dot once, but since it’s Seamus I need
the most help with, he got to work three times. Seems unfair that the dogs who
behave best work least, while the dogs who are naughty get “rewarded” by
working the sheep most often.
Seamus and I both improved through the three sessions we
worked. Tommy had an interesting way of helping us understand very clearly
whether our lines were straight or whether our dogs’ flanks were appropriately
shaped. As he pointed out, when driving (or fetching) randomly through a field,
it is not as obvious as when we set ourselves specific targets. He set out set
traffic cones in two lines, forming a large rectangle, and had us aim to bring
our sheep between certain cones. It made it very easy to see whether the lines
were straight, or whether a dog was flanking with an appropriate shape. In our
first session, I could barely control Seamus at all, never mind getting
straight lines or good flanks. He pointed out that I need to step up my
insistence at getting better pace, or a lie down, if I ask for it. He really
preferred that I improve the pace and thoughtfulness rather than depending on
the lie down (as do I!), but also if I asked for a lie down, to ensure I get
it. It was hard to stop telling him to lie down, I admit! Tom talked about
using a long line (even though he is not a fan of using one) to help enforce
pace. He also showed me a way of having Seamus drive along a fence line so that
I could be off to the side and control Seamus’s pace the same way controlled
the sheep. It was hard for me to get the hang of that but I think I understood
better at the end.
With Dot, his approach to her work on her wide outrun was to
have her walk up on the sheep first, then ask her to flank, as a “lollipop”
shaped outrun, in principle similar to something I’ve worked on with Gene
(though mostly we have done it partway through her outrun, as described in my
June blog). As usual, all else with Dot was lovely.
Michael Gallagher Lesson at Kerales Farm
Just a few days later we had a lesson with Michael
Gallagher. He was available for private lessons one day, or a clinic over the
weekend, which unfortunately I was unable to attend due to my work schedule. We
had only an hour for him to see and get to know me and the dogs, but I think he
got a very good grasp on my struggles with Seamus and what I wanted to improve
with Dot. Michael was able to see that although Seamus lacked respect as I
walked him to the field, and as I worked him, he really is not a hard dog and
in fact is rather sensitive. This is something I’m aware of but find it tricky
to get the responses I require without getting him panicked. Michael’s sensible
advice was to keep things much closer and insist on the stops if I need them,
and address the way Seamus behaves as we walk to the field—a recurring theme
for us!
Seamus seems to go through stages where he’s polite, but
then regressing back to nearly dragging me out to the sheep. In the years that
I’ve been involved with dogs, I’ve learned that a lot of a dog’s respect has to
do with the expectations of them at home. One of the things that’s made it so
difficult to get the right attitude from Seamus is that he is very easy
and very polite at home. If his attitude is already good at home, what more can
I ask of him? A friend of mine mentioned that well-known sheepdog handler and
breeder Viv Billingham says she does not allow most of her dogs to live in the
house with her, especially not males, in order to keep their attitudes in the
right place (my words). This wouldn’t be practical in my situation, but I have
cut back quite a bit on petting and talking to him, and have totally stopped
cuddling him, and I’m raising my expectations of his responses to my commands
at home even further. I admit I hate to do it because he’s always been
respectful at home, but something has to change, so I’m going to try this and
hope that it makes our relationship that much more solid and trustworthy in the
long run. Since I’ve started doing that, he has worked better at our lessons.
I’ve also kept him in much closer so as to more easily get the response I need
from him. I’d entered Seamus in the Fetch Gate Novice trial and in the
Leatherstocking trial, but pulled him from those right away. I would much
rather just concentrate on adjusting his attitude at home rather than really
ingraining a habit of him getting totally worked up at trials. He’s still young
and I’d rather have the long-term good dog with whom I can go further, rather
than constantly scramble around a Novice-Novice course.
I worked Dot second and although by then we didn’t have a
lot of time, Michael could see the potential for her to go too wide on her
outruns. His advice was quite similar to what Tommy had suggested; walk her up
a bit to engage her on the sheep, then send her. He also pointed out how bad my
timing was. J
As we did a little drive away, with his help I was able to see a big
difference.
After my lesson, he brought out his ##Cap to use as he
worked with another person, so I could see Cap work. Cap is every bit as nice a
dog as I expected, though starting to show the wear and tear of age here and
there. I really appreciated being able to see Cap work in person. Tierney
Graham was also there, and she was very friendly, too. I’m glad to have met
both Tierney and Michael.
Me and Cap. I'm hoping some of the luck of the Irish will rub off on me. J
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