And now it’s Raven’s turn to strut her stuff! Raven is definitely a lot more like her mother than Griffon, at least in terms of how she works. She is fast, pushy, and seems to have a fair bit of eye. She has a propensity to circle the sheep – very common with puppies just starting – and is not yet really keeping me in the picture.
This is her second time out on stock and she actually has changed from the first time, which was two days ago. Her first time out all she did was run in a circle in one direction and completely ignore my efforts to turn or and, eventually, to stop and call her off. This time I preemptively put her on a line to make ending the session a lot easier. It wasn’t necessary, however, as she did eventually just lie down on her own and let me gently lead her away. Good girl!
Today’s session showed some progression towards going both directions around the sheep, and also balancing to me. Because it is only part of the flock, the sheep are lighter (more flighty) than when I was working Griffon. It’s also a different time of the day, and Raven is a much more intense puppy and thus elicits a different response from the sheep. Overall, the session was much more frenetic than Griffon’s time on stock, but I am still quite happy with what I see.
These little videos are mostly just to get a baseline on the pups. I won’t be doing any formal training with them for some time yet. Instead, over the coming months I will be working on their recalls and loose leash walking around distraction (building up to being able to do both around the sheep), lie downs at a distance, and generally developing a strong relationship and lots of value for being with me.
Kynic Stockdogs 