This week is all about the Nippersink or Swim Sheepdog Trial, outside of Lake Geneva, WI. It was our first competition of the year, and given that training hadn’t been going well, I didn’t have much in the way of expectations. But it turned out well, and most importantly, Maggie and Skip appeared to have a wonderful time. If anything, I’d describe Maggie as elated after her first run. Be still my heart. If you’re interested, I’ve included two videos, one each of Maggie and Skip’s runs.
I should set the stage first: Nippersink is a big maw of a field, split by a deep creek (Nippersink Creek, thus the name of the trial), with flighty sheep who will run back to the barn given a microsecond of opportunity, as if snapped by a bungie cord. Tiny mistakes or slow responses result in big trouble.
A partial view of the Open course field, taken from the perspective of two handlers who are off the course but standing such that their dogs can see the sheep when they are picked up by another team. Can you see the 3 sheep waiting for the dog? Trust me they are there, way way back on the horizon, to the left of the porta potty, at the base of the tree on the right in the center (not the big flock, just 3 sheep. See the challenge? (FYI, you can see the handler at the post who is running in the background on the right.)
Here’s a another photo of part of the course, taken behind handler Jennifer B who is at the side of the course in hopes her dog will see where the sheep are when they are moved by a dog who successfully picks them up and brings them down the field. (See the three sheep? They are at the base of the tree on the far right in the center of the photo.) The course is much harder than it looks in photos, the photo flattens it out. If your dog runs short, they can’t see the sheep above them because of the hill. And . . . imagine you are there, trying to see exactly what your dog is doing when they get between the three sheep and the flock in the pens behind. You’re basically looking for a tiny, black dot that is barely perceptible.) For the Open class, dogs have to figure out that they have to forge through the creek to get to the sheep; many of them see the creek (which is very deep, you can’t tell here) as a fence and never find their sheep.
Skip had two runs on Friday in what’s called “Pro Novice” out here (Ranch out East). Think of it as “Intermediate.” The dogs didn’t have to run as far or cross over the creek, so it’s a much easier course than the advanced one, but believe me, challenging enough. Bottom line for Skip? He was wonderful. The dog who’s recently been difficult in training, as if he had his paws over his ears and was singing “la la la la” instead of listening, was perfectly and brilliantly responsive. He did lovely outruns, took charge of the sheep without scaring them and did everything I asked. It wasn’t a big course, but a challenging one, because the sheep came barreling down the field toward the barn (behind the handler), and the dog had to cover them on the right side on the fetch, then swing around at warp speed to turn them around the post on the left side.
I made some handling errors, mostly just too slow to respond when I needed to, but I didn’t get too upset about it. (Especially since “thinking fast” is not one of my “signature strengths,” and it was the first trial of the season.) Skip got fifth on the first run, sixth the second and fourth on third time, out of about 30 teams. Best part? Skip got 26/30 points on one of the drives, my biggest challenge at every trial.
Here’s his second run. I’m including it because it’s the best video. It’s not easy to record these runs. Jim should get a ribbon . . .
A few notes if you’re interested; I’ve added the points awarded at each phase by the judge: You’ll see that Skip has a wide outrun and disappears over a hill on the left of the sheep. Wide outruns can use up time and energy, but in this case it was helpful, because a tight outrun would send the sheep barreling to the barn before the dog got behind them. (We got 18/20 points) You can see the sheep see Skip at around second 19 before he gets in place to begin the lift (the moment of “contact” between the dog and the sheep) (8/10 points) and the fetch. One of my favorite parts is the beautiful pace Skip has on the fetch, controlling the sheep without scaring them.
Next Skip had to turn the sheep clockwise around the orange cone–tricky because they wanted to run to the right to the barn. This turn is the end of the fetch phase, and I lost 15/20 points because all the sheep didn’t go all the way around, ouch. (And totally fair.)
But the drive! Whoo hoo, I got 26/30 points, I think my best ever, because driving has always been the hardest part for me. (The outrun, lift and fetch require good handling, but much of what happens is because of a dog’s skill. The drive, which starts on this run around second 145, requires a lot more finesse and experience from the handler–I’m working on it.) We made both the gate panels on the drive, and then ran out of time at the pen. Overall, Skip was wonderful, my handling got better from the first to the last run, and Skip seemed to love every minute of it.
And Maggie, competing in Open, the big, scary class full of super-experienced handlers and great dogs on a huge course? She blew me away on her first run. She got 4th out of about 40, and it was our highest score in Open so far. If I hadn’t gone brain dead and turned the sheep around the post the wrong way, she could have won. Maggie had to run first on a huge course, with no chance to see other dogs find the sheep. She literally had to run almost a half a mile, mostly not being able to see the sheep, leap over a deep creek to get to the back of them, run past a pen of other sheep and ignore them, and keep going up a steep hill when she couldn’t see her sheep for much of her run. All of this just remembering where the sheep were last year when we ran then.
She did a beautiful lift, and was supposed to turn the sheep to the left for a “dogleg” fetch. I whistled her to go clockwise, but didn’t see that she’d taken it, so I followed with a loud Come Bye! Turns out that confused her, caused her to stop (“I was going Come Bye, wasn’t I?), and she lost the sheep who stampeded over the creek, off line on the fetch. Then I lost my head completely and turned the sheep around the post the wrong direction, but she did a good drive (our nemesis) and we got the pen. We ran out of time on the shed. Afterwards I said “we won’t have a good score, but I don’t care, I’m so proud of her,” but the course was so hard that a measly 52/90 points was good enough for fourth place.
Here’s the video: It’s over nine minutes long, and you well might not want to watch the whole thing, but if you want to see any of it, watch the beginning to see what Maggie had to do just to get to the back of the sheep. Any dog who can run that far and bring you the sheep is a wonder dog to me.
Maggie’s score was 19/20 for the outrun, 10/10 for the lift (be still my heart), 1/20 on the fetch (all my fault), 12/30 on the drive and a 10/10 point pen. I’m happy with the drive though, even with the points awarded, because it’s been our nemesis and we both did well enough.
Most importantly? She seemed thrilled afterward; my best descriptor is “elated.” I wish somehow I could have recorded that, it made my heart sing. Lately she’s been looking sour in training, as if it was all just too hard and too boring. That’s got me thinking about”practice” versus “real work,” how/why dogs know the difference between practice and competitions. I’d love to have a discussion regarding our best guesses of what differences dogs perceive between practice/training, competition, or “real work,” like getting sheep in a pen for vaccinations.
Maggie’s second run resulted in a Retire. She got a rough group of sheep who fought and fought her on the lift and kept running over her to get back to the pen. She pulled them off the fence three times, but could never win, so I walked partway out and called her off. I didn’t fault her for a moment–she tried hard and wanted to keep trying. I am sure that there are dogs who could have gotten those sheep down the field, but I guarantee you that there are a lot of good dogs who couldn’t. Better to let it go and fight another day. What matters most to me is that she tried and tried and tried and wanted to keep trying. I’ve wondered lately if she really wants to keep trialing, and her answer was clear: “Yes, please.” At least on these kind of sheep–flighty and not sticky and hard to move.
Overall, it was a great weekend. It was wonderful to see so many good friends, and be in such a beautiful place. Thanks especially to Connie, Margaret, Catherine, John, and Hixie, who worked so hard to put it on. And special thanks to Jim for putting up with it all and recording the runs. The wind was so strong it felt like getting beaten by a baseball bat, so he spent a lot of time in the car. Can’t wait for the camper we’ve ordered to arrive!
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: No time to take farm pictures today, and was pretty sick yesterday (too much sun, wind and not-so-healthy food?), so here are some more photos from the trip.
What a joy to discover Trout Lilies, a native wildflower, growing in profusion alongside dandelions and other scruffy weeds along a busy road beside a bar/restaurant in Lake Geneva.
Overhead was another wild denizen of the woods, the endangered Black Lace Pantie Plant. It was growing about 9 feet up in a tree over the Trout Lilies. Possibly parasitic.
Here’s from last week at Walking Iron Park; one of my favorites, the Pasque flower. A sure sign of spring here in Wisconsin
Close by was this sweetie, looks like a Common Garter snake to me, but I’m not an expert on reptiles. Chime in if you are.
Just in case you’re snake phobic I’ll leave you with another image–the sheep flock at Nippersink being moved from one set of pens to another. They are lovely sheep, Cheviots, who, when fully wooled, are about a cute as a sheep can be.
I hope you’re having a good week; don’t hesitate to ask questions about sheepdog competitions if you’d like, and jump in about our dog’s perceptions of “practice” versus “real life.” (See a post I wrote 2014, and some interesting comments, about this very topic.)
Kat says
One of the things I study/research/learn about–not actually sure what word fits–is education. There are countless examples of students doing incredible things when it’s real work and doing poorly with make work worksheets. The Foxfire books are a great example. While practice is valuable for mastery of a skill it isn’t the same as using the skill in a real life situation. It sounds like the same is true for working sheep. Judging by my own dogs it’s probably true for most dogs. Mine have been far more responsive and promptly compliant with cues when on a Therapy Dog visit where they know they’re showing off for others than practicing at home. Kids are able to articulate that they know when it matters and when it’s just make work but I’m guessing the same is true for dogs.
Trisha says
Love this perspective, thank you Kat!
Carole says
Love these videos and congrats on doing so well! The difference between practice and competition is something that has fascinated me since I was showing my beloved Great Dane, Sabrina (Dune’s Wicked Loving Lies, CDX, TT) in Obedience. She enjoyed training – as long as she was learning something new – but her inner clown always came out at Obedience Trials. Her efforts to entertain the audience were many, but the one that stays with me is the day she blew her second leg in Open. She started by doing the figure eight exercise without me, returning to my side with a “Why are you standing here? I already did this one…” look on her face. She did the drop on recall with her butt in the air and tail wagging madly. For the retrieve over the high jump she returned to me without the dumbbell, then (with an “Oops! I forgot something!” look, flew back over the jump, grabbed the dumbbell, and came back to slide into a perfect sit. Finally, when sent over the broad jump she took it, detoured to take the high jump, then the broad jump again, then the high jump, the broad jump. By this time the crowd was applauding and the judge had dissolved into tears of laughter. That day, I could have cheerfully murdered that dog, but it is now a memory I wouldn’t trade for anything. Sabrina has been gone for over thirty years and I still miss her!
Trisha says
Carole: Sabrina still lives in that story, a wonderful one full of love and laughter and joy. I’d have given her a blue ribbon for . . . something!
Deborah Mason says
I think the environment tells them a lot. Most of us practice in the same place(s), with mostly the same people & dogs. Then we go to a trial and it’s a place that’s new (or not often visited) with more people, new people, more & new dogs. They also pick up on our more excited state & excitement. No matter how tense/excited we might be at a practice, we amp it up for “the real thing” Our dogs (pound puppies) both participate in Rally, Agility and are learning Nosework. They are on a whole different level of behavior (some good, some bad) when we go to a trial or fun match as opposed to a practice.
Paula Ehlers says
I LOVE watching BC’s do their thing – majestic and breathtaking! How much of what they do is born into them vs how much is “trained” into them? My first exposure to them was probably The Johnny Carson Show, when they herded sheep from street to his studio, lol.
Maria says
Tricia, those videos show the artistry in what you do–it looks like sheer magic! (and I know it was due to a lot of practice and hard work)
Something so compelling in watching dogs do what they were born to do….
Suzanne Clothier says
Wonderful to see – thank you for sharing these! Any dog working their heart out is a joy to behold.
Cathy Balliu says
Love to watch Skip work! Such clean open flanks yet comes in with sharpness and precision. And Molly did so well for you. Just that hesitation at the drive away which luckily didn’t cost you anything and then the missed second panels. I do that too – think the sheep are on line and thru and then make a lovely tight turn right in front of the panels. Looks like a very challenging field. Running on three sheep is my least favorite scenario.
Trisha says
Paula: I remember that show on Carson too. The handler said he was a wreck, especially leaving the studio and getting them back into the cab. I could never had done it! Re your question about instinct and training–tons of both! I could go on forever, but most BC’s have the inclination to gather the sheep–but without training tons of them will run straight at them first. Some dogs inherent tremendous ‘sheep sense,’ the ability to read the sheep and know what they about to do. Some have to learn it, some never do. Some dogs have a natural sense of pace (not too fast, not too slow), many don’t. No matter how good the dogs, there is tons and tons of training involved when you’re working at an unfamiliar place with sheep the dogs don’t know. For example, Maggie drives the sheep from the barn to the pasture (not easy, it’s through a woods) without a word from me. Skip, after a year, still needs me to help him get it right. Once they learn the routine things, just like us, get much simpler. But competitions are so varied and so difficult to get the precision necessary that they are an entirely different world. Plenty of dogs don’t like trialing at the highest level, just too much pressure. Some dogs adore it, just like us humans.
Laurie says
Your herding videos always just amaze me, Patricia. I love them and could watch them for hours! It’s like watching a flowing magic trick performed by a symphonic master. I wonder constantly, though, how you even begin to teach a dog which direction to go by the various whistle signals? How do you remember them all? How does the dog? I would love to learn more about this, and hope that you will write about it someday. Keep up the great work – and know that everything you write about and share is deeply appreciated and treasured!
Sally says
My background before sheep is theater. The vast difference between rehearsal and performance can be felt hours before the house is opened. Totally different energy from the get. Send me to a theater anywhere in the world, let me in through any door, and I can tell within seconds whether it is a rehearsal day or a performance day. I’m certain Maggie, with her much more highly tuned instincts can tell the same.
One of the trickiest parts of teaching theater, especially in high school, is balancing the need to rehearse with the danger of over rehearsal.
Beautiful runs. Congrats.
Trisha says
Laurie you are so kind! I’ll keep writing about dogs and sheep, just hope I don’t bore everyone else!
Trisha says
Thanks Cathy. Great point about Skip’s flanks. They are fantastic on flighty sheep, but actually too open on heavier ones. He loses contact and has to keep picking them back up. And yes yes about reading the gate panels. Argh! So hard for me to do! Hopefully I’ll get better at it? And yes too re 3 sheep, so challenging, especially the flighty Cheviots!
Linda says
Thank you for sharing! Really love watching the dogs work and your perspective of the runs.
Nannette Morgan says
I loved both these videos. I could feel the joy the dogs had working the sheep. Question: what are the cream colored mounds in the second video with Maggie? I don’t think I’ve seen those before in your videos. Thanks for sharing with us!
Anne says
My thoughts: practice vs. doing work: we tend to give more commands and be more picky while training, and not so much when doing a job. So they feel more relaxed when they get to do more stuff on their own.
Patricia Anderson says
Wonderful post–and watch out for the black lace panty flower! Love your sense of humor. Also that you don’t berate yourself for mistakes. Life lessons.
Gayla says
After last week’s fascinating post and discussion, I’m thrilled it went so well and that Maggie was obviously happy to be doing it. That has to help your mind rest easier…
Love the videos! Congratulations all the way around!!
Cydney Levanetz says
I’m like an excited kid watching your videos! What a thrill to be there, I’m certain it’s like watching your children compete in a sport; you have so much pride in them being there and working hard, placing well is like the frosting on the cupcake. My daughter and I plan on being at the Labor Day Trial this year in Hudson and we get silly giddy talking about it. Do you participate in that and do you enjoy that trial? I have to say I’m more excited about that trip than the island vacation we are taking. Hopefully we will see you and the dogs there.
BARB STANEK says
Love it. Keep the video and trial talk coming! And the practice talk!
Sigh. I guess I am going to have to think more about practice before I write about it. I know that I’ve had my challenges. Portuguese Water Dogs tend to be smart and opinionuated. “I just did (fill in the blank) twice. Exactly why must I do it a third time so that you get it right?” says my girl. She also has been known to say that fetching a bumper at 100 feet is fine to do once, but not twice.
I don’t have the answers. But I know that keeping practice fun is essential. It can never be a “drill” exercise for my dogs. Also, the dog’s get to say what is fun and what’s not. Just as with rewards, if the dog says it’s not fun, then the human better recalibrate.
Finally, a smart dog does things only because it wants to, never because it’s “forced” or “made” to. And if a trainer is ever foolish enough to argue with a smart dog, saying something controling like, “You will do this because I say so!”, the trainer has taken so much away from the relationship with the dog that the trainer will spend a good long time repairing the relationship before the trainer can begin training again.
HFR says
Wonderful videos! Thanks for sharing.
I’ve noticed something else while competing in agility and nosework: my dogs always perform better when they haven’t worked in awhile. Sometimes, for different reasons, we’d go longer than usual without practicing or competing and I’d always fear that my dog would “forget” his skills. But every time they perform really well the first time out again. This has been true for different dogs and different sports. It’s like they need a vacation from it in order to be good at it. Has anyone else experienced that or is it my imagination?
Anne R. says
What fun watching these lovely critters channeling their inner bossy-boots! It is so intricate and the distances so huge – can’t imagine how you keep from moving all over the place trying to keep an eye on where they are as they go up and down and thru the creek etc. I’d never have guessed those are flighty sheep as both dogs had them moving so calmly around so much of the time – it even looked like they got a few “rest stops” along the way. And it’s happy news that they both had such a good time!
Sally, I grew up playing classical piano and did dance for fun, and I get your show vs. rehearsal observation. I felt like there were those of us who were great players in practice but froze up onstage, and those who were great in private and then became brilliant onstage. And it’s obvious which ones went on to professional careers!
Cathy Withall says
So lovely that you and Maggie enjoyed it so much – there’s nothing like having that great connection and joy in competition. In agility, the courses vary massively between different judges, and as a consequence some of us tend to avoid certain judges and prefer courses set by others. It may not be that there’s anything wrong with the courses, simply that they don’t suit me, or my dog. Perhaps the same is also true of sheep trials – the type of sheep, the way the ground lies at a certain venue, may all affect how we and our dogs perform.
Wanda Jacobsen says
I so enjoy watching your videos of your dogs working the sheep. Attended our first trial a couple of years ago when you were in Hudson, WI. Husband, son, and daughter-in-law and I absolutely LOVED the entire day! Thank you for what you do for dogs.
Trisha says
Thanks Wanda! Hope to see you in Hudson this year.
Trisha says
Cathy: Absolutely true about what field or sheep suit a dog in trialing. Maggie is her best on reactive, flighty sheep, she honestly seems elated after working them. She also loves big, open courses, even ones that intimidate other dogs. She struggles with ‘heavy’ sheep who have to be pushed by sheer will power by dogs, and hates the boiler pressure of small, tight courses. This year I’m going out of my way to run on her sheep and fields that suit her as much as I can.
Trisha says
Anne, the pace of the sheep is a perfect example of how the right dog can “hold” the sheep, even from behind. It’s sort of a miracle really. If you’re interested, check out second 151 or so in the video of her run. I confused her by repeating a signal (that she didn’t need), sigh, she paused and the sheep took off at a dead run toward the barn.
Trisha says
HFR… yes yes and yes! I used to think it was because I was a lousy trainer, but now, based on experiences of others like you and some research (which I can’t remember enough about to cite), understand that dogs need “processing” time. I suspect that is part of it. I think taking the pressure off too might be a factor. The advice from sheepdog trainers far more experienced than I is to stop trying to train anything a week or so before the trial, and just let your dogs have fun. That’s exactly what I did with Maggie especially, just let her have a good time doing what she loved.
Trisha says
Barb: Oh yes, the challenges of training smart dogs! So many smart dogs do the same thing… I’ve seen dog after dog do something perfectly twice, then the third time start changing it up, perhaps assuming that they must have been doing it wrong. And hear hear about dogs getting to say what’s fun or not!
Trisha says
Hi Cydney! We’ll be in Hudson. I’ll run Skip for sure, but not necessarily Maggie. They’ll be using the sheep Maggie doesn’t do well with, so I’ll probably pass on running her. Come up and say hi IF I’m doing about to run a dog!
Trisha says
Thanks Patricia. I told Jim I think I have Competition Deficit Disorder. I really should be much more upset with myself about Maggie’s run. She would have won, without question, if I had not made 2 mistakes, one pretty stupid (going around the post the wrong way.) I do have moments of regret about it, but as i said, thinking fast is not one of my skill sets, and I need lots and lots more practice to get up to the speed of other handlers.
Trisha says
Nannette: They are piles of sawdust marking the shedding ring! The sheep have to be split within that circle or it doesn’t count. And you lose points every time the sheep leave the circle!
Miranda B says
Wow, I absolutely love seeing your videos of the dogs working a sheep. It must be really rewarding to see how happy they are!
I especially feel connected with watching them work because my husband and son also have Border Collies that do competitive herding. The day we went to our first trial in Hudson was amazing-we were so glad you had it on such an awesome property like this one! We ended up coming away with two placements and couldn’t believe all the prizes there were for spectators too…all thanks to people just like you who share their wisdom about these incredible animals.
Rebecca Rice says
Hi!
Just curious… which is faster, sheep or dogs? If the sheep decide to bolt, is it physically possible for the dog to get ahead of them and turn them, or do you just have to let them run it out until they get tired enough to settle back down so the dog can gather them up and bring them back?
j says
Thank you for sharing the video! I love watching dogs work sheep. So is this last experience with Maggie informing what you think about continuing to trial with her? Just an outlier?
Trisha says
Great question! I looked it up and BCs clock at around 30 mph, sheep around 28. But depends of course on the kind of sheep and build of the BC. And remember that dogs have to run around to the front to stop the sheep, so they have to go faster. But if the sheep do beat the dog they usually end up off course, or back to the pens or the barn where the dog might have a chance to pull them off a fence. No one would ever ever let dogs just chase sheep to exhaustion, they are called off the course the second it lookes like they are chasing and not trying to get around to stop them.
Trisha says
Great question Jen. Definitely it’s shown me that Maggie loves working some sheep but not others. I’ll put her in some trials where she’s more likely to do well and enjoy it, and skip the ones with sheep who need lots of push from the dog. She’s eight, around the age that some dogs (not all by any means) get a bit like “Really? This is so hard and not that much fun anymore…”. We’re going to go to a few new trials that reportedly have reactive, semi-flighty sheep and see how she does. She sure loves the Nippersink sheep, and the course too. Big massive fields don’t intimidate her, they inspire her. A true Scottish lass!