A New Plan and a Nice Day

You know, i'm always telling people that using the appropriate sheep makes all the difference in training a dog. Funny how hard it is to remember such good advice myself. Today i got out a group of about 8-10 lambs for Billy to work, but this time it was the hair sheep and not the less settled wool lambs. What a difference it made! I'd been thinking the lighter sheep would be good for his driving since he was being a little hesitant to walk up but it turns out the slightly heavier, more sensible hair sheep were a lot better. Bill had been worried about touching those lighter sheep off and had his mind in "defense" mode, worrying about losing them. With the more settled, heavier hair sheep, he could lean into them a bit more without stressing about losing them, and he slipped into "offense" mode, taking charge and being more affirmative and positive on driving. It was very nice to see and he sure enjoyed himself. All of his work today was strong and nice - outruns, flanks, driving, even some shedding work. It was a nice glimpse of the future, for sure.

Billy says, "Will I ever grow into these ears?!"

"Perhaps if i just stare wistfully into the future?"

It's been a nice weekend around the farm with family in for the holiday and friends out to work dogs. Even the weather has been nice. Jet says this is the right attitude for a long holiday break:

Gael just says, "HAY!"

I also managed to get some nice shots of Lauren's good dog Mac. They're turning into such a nice team!