All In a Day’s Work

There is so much happening on my little farm this month. So, much to do and last night I was sloooowed down. There are three main projects on the farm that need to be completed before the end of September: the horse pens and terraces, cleaning out the barn for a new water filtration system, and training up the two young dogs to do the work my Hank used to do.

Since Hank’s back injury in March, he has recovered to about 80 to 85% of the use of his back legs. He has lost some of his ability to work sheep in difficult situations. There are also times after doing simple work with the sheep, his back hurts. I need a dog to help me with the work, and we have two of Hank’s sons that need their training completed.

What caused my slow down? I was doing chores last night, and while feeding a group of ewes, and trying to train a young dog on working sheep I was literally knocked off my feet. Probably would have made a great video. I was trying to have the dog stop and lay down as I walked to the grain feeder. He had been circling the sheep, bringing them to me, which is what I was wanting in the beginning, and now the dog need to stop and hold them. Suddenly, a white creature came racing in front of me, hit my right leg and I was airborne. I landed on my side with a spilt grain bucket next to me, twenty sheep and goats vying for position to eat the grain. Not a good place to be. Sheep are very pushing when they are eating, even grazing pasture they will push each other around for a choice bit of feed.

I raised up on my left knee and hands, not wanting to put weight on the right leg due to the pain coming from the right knee area, and starting to evaluate my circumstances. Then I noticed a black hairy dog right under me, nipping at the sheep between my left leg, my arm and hand that were holding me off the ground. Now, I could not move because my young dog was working hard to keep hungry sheep from pushing me down again as they fought for position to eat the spilt grain.

My husband did not see the situation resulting in me being on the ground surrounded by sheep. He called out, “Are you ok?” I responded, ” I am not sure, but I need help.” He enters the pen and walks to me, fights the sheep and goats back with yelling, which sent my young dog into ‘Time to get out of here’ mode. “What do you need?” he askes. ” I need help getting up without putting weight on my right leg.” I grab is strong arm and he lifts me to my foot, and I test to see how much pain and weight my right knee will handle if I put weight on my right foot.

I put some weight, no much pain, and the joint felt stable. I took a few steps, the knee joint was stable, though sprained a little. I knew I would have some bruises show up and there were a few areas of scrapped skin. Not bad considering my age, and the situation.

I looked for my young dog, he was at the gate trying to find a hole to leave the country. This young dog, named Junior, is a very talented herding dog, lots of desire and easy to train. Junior is very soft to the handler, meaning it does not take much action from a person to have the dog want to quit and hide. My husband’s yelling and pushing sheep away from me, was too much for the young dog. While still in the sheep pen, I called Junior to me. It took a few tries before he came. I petted him and told him he was a good dog, which he was before and during the time I was down. Petting him also let him know I was ok, he was not in trouble, and he left the sheep pen with a ‘happy’ feeling. The yelling and pushing the sheep my husband did, would not be remember the next time he entered that sheep pen.

It takes months to train a young dog enough to have solid commands of the dog’s movements in containing a flock of sheep. Junior is a month into his training.

I made some mistakes in this situation. First, I should only have had Junior in the sheep pen with me. I also had his brother, Rusty, in the sheep pen at the same time. Second, I should not been trying to teach that specific lesson with Junior while holding a bucket full of grain in a pen of hungry sheep and goats.

When I fell, Rusty froze in position, confused as to what to do. When my husband entered, and was pushing sheep away, he was looking for an escape hole as well. Rusty is not as soft to the handler as Junior, but no dog likes it when my husband gets angry. Once I was up and walking on my own, my husband relaxed and Rusty came to my husband to see what they were going to do next.

My husband works with Rusty, and I work Junior and sometimes Rusty. I usually work the dogs individually. This day, we were trying to get chores done and both dogs worked, and that was a mistake.

Dogs have different personalities, just like people. To create a great working pair of dog and human, matching those personalities is key. I am a soft trainer of both dogs and horses. My husband is a very dominate personality in meaning he is strong in his opinions and very protective of his wife. Our training methods are different as we are have to adjust to the animal.

I have a good amount of patience, can be forceful when necessary, but try not to be. My husband had a very different process of training a horse, stick with it until the horse or dog does what you want. The concept of accepting little steps was new to him when we met. I have learned to expect a little bit more during my training times, he has learned to have a lot more patience and give the animal time to learn. His biggest challenge in training is be a little softer in presenting and teaching his commands. During the training process, the dog or horse learns to adjust to his loud voice and naturally strong stance. For me, the dog or horse has to learn, my soft command is just as strong as my husband’s natural command.

One aspect of training my husband and I both strongly agree is that bonding is key to training success. If the person giving the commands bonds with the animal, the animal tries harder to please and do things right, and forgives the person’s mistakes. Yes, as trainers and working partners with our animals, we will make mistakes and the dog or horse knows it, but will do our bidding anyway.

I love my border collies. They desire to be affectionate, obedient and are happiest when they do something that pleases you. Border Collies are listed as being the smartest breed of dog. Their intelligence requires that they are mentally stimulated every day with some activity. A Border Collie is never a coach potato type dog. Consider what your lifestyle is when selecting a dog, and pick a breed or individual that loves your lifestyle. Realize that puppies, regardless of the breed, need exercise and mental stimulation until they are mature dogs and settle into their breed personality.

As for today, and the next few days, I will continue to ice and elevate my right knee. Takes chores and tasks at a much slower rate allowing my knee to heal. Things will get done, the sun will set and rise, and soon I will be back at full speed.

amtolle