Skip ran in our first trial last weekend, and while watching the video to figure out how the heck he got a shed (the only really good one of the trial), I realized what a great opportunity it was to play the “Sharpen Our Observation Skills” game.
I’ll never forget my first day of Ethology Lab at UW-Madison, in which Professor Bayliss sat us down in front of a glass cage with rats in it and asked us to record our observations of their behavior. Afterward, our discussions went something like this:
Prof: Describe what you saw, from second one to second ten.
Us: One rat was asleep, the other walked to the side of the cage.
Prof: But what was the posture of the sleeping rat? Respiration rate? Did you describe it’s coloring so you could ID it in another group? And what do you mean “walked?” Which paw moved first, a front or back one? How many steps? . . . . Etc. Etc. Etc.
Thus we began learning how to be truly good observers, or, at least, better, understanding that behavior takes place in microseconds and drilling down into finer and finer details is everything.
So . . . Wanna play? If so, start by watching Skip during the “lift,” when the dog makes “contact” with the sheep and gets them moving. This occurs from about second 13/14 to about 60 seconds. (A perfect lift gets the sheep moving, quietly and without stress, in a straight line toward the handler.) Decide what aspect of Skip’s behavior you want to focus on–His posture? His pace? How he flanks? Is there a particular thing he does that you think is most important? Write your comments and observations down, and make my day by sharing them in the comments if you are so inclined.
Okay, next: Watch the lift again, but this time focus on the sheep. See if you can predict by their behavior by guessing who is going to move first. Who might be the “lead” sheep? Same one? (Note: You can’t tell if they are on line straight to me or not because I’m out of the picture, but if I remember right, they were very close to being perfectly on line.) What is their pace? If they stop after getting going, can you speculate why? Can you predict what direction they are going to go by watching a particular body part? Again, try writing this down, and don’t hesitate to share if you feel like it.
Wanna play some more? Go to 6:22 to 6:39, and watch Skip’s successful shed. (The “shed” is an exercise in which the dog and handler work together to split up the group of sheep, usually 2 sheep from the others and held away from the group by the dog until the judge says “Good!”). These sheep were almost impossible to shed. They are “school sheep,” and have learned that velcro-ing themselves to the handler is the best place to be. They have virtually no fear of humans and behave as though they are glued to each other, and glued to you. For example, one of them allowed me, during an earlier part of our attempt for a shed, to kiss her on the nose while standing on my boot. (I am not making that up, and if case you are new to sheep, that is not typical sheepy behavior!)
First, what happened here? Now you have three animals to observe! What did I do before the actual split? What was Skip doing? Could you predict, before it happened, which sheep would separate enough for Skip to come in? And, critically, Skip’s shed wasn’t perfect, in that he focused on the 3, rather than the 2. Any ideas about why? (Hint: It’s on me.)
If you’re totally into this, go to seconds 3:25 to 3:50 in which Skip and I try to get the sheep through the second of the two “drive panels.” Jim was videoing in a perfect position to illustrate why we missed getting the sheep through the panels, but I was not, and was struggling, with my lame depth perception, to figure out exactly where they were. But it’s a perfect place to watch the sheep and predict what is going to happen. (It’s also a perfect place to view Skip’s biggest challenge–always wanting to stay on the left, and one of mine, which is depth perception on the cross drive.)
That mistake sent us into second rather than first, but I couldn’t have cared less. I was very happy with Skip’s work, he was responsive and focused, and, except for my one mistake, I managed to keep my head together. I’m pretty sure that Skip is unable to change his relentless desire stay on the sheep’s left (see my post re his hearing & vestibular dysfunction), and I have no trouble forgiving myself one split-second mistake.
Overall, it was a great day. My favorite kind of trial–small, casual, supportive. A chance to see good friends I haven’t seen all winter. Maggie came out of retirement to enjoy herself in a “non-compete” run, and she was SOOOO happy! She didn’t do well at all and neither did I. She messed up, I gave her the wrong flank at the worst possible time, and neither of us cared a bit. I’m so grateful for the folks at Agility on the Farm for putting on the trial!
MEANWHILE, back on the farm: First, fun with Easter! Friends David and Julie came over for our annual Pretend You Are Kids on Easter Day. We ate a grown-up lunch, colored eggs like a bunch of 5-year olds, and had a boys against the girls Easter Egg hunt. We didn’t have enough of those little wire dipper things to dip our eggs into the mugs with dye, so Jim McGyvered with my baking whip. Brilliant.
Maggie gets credit at the end of the egg hunt, although I did not get a photo of her saving us. The guys found 15 of the 16 eggs Julie and I had hidden, and then . . . I couldn’t remember where I’d hidden the last one. Whoops. Not pleased by the thought of an egg rotting in my study, I called Maggie into the room, showed her one of the eggs, and said “Find It.” Never once have I ever trained her to find a scent I’ve shown her. Ever. She has learned to search for the tug toy when I say Find It, but that’s it.
Damn if she didn’t go right to the correct area and sniff like crazy. Now, she did NOT go right to the egg, hidden behind a large piece of xxboard. However, she went to that corner, and would not stop sniffing about 3 feet above and to the right of the egg. I’m thinking that’s where the egg scent was moving to, given the vent in the floor beside the egg. Or, I could just be making it all up, but it was impressive how she kept going back to one area every time I said “Find It.” I’ll never forget Steve White, in one of his fabulous seminars, talking about how dogs go to the strongest scent, not necessarily where the scent originated from. I’m calling it Maggie For the Win.
Besides all the fun colors of an Easter egg hunt, the flowers outside added to the party on a warm, sunny day. Here’s an early bee enjoying a crocus flower, before the inevitable happened and a rabbit chomped it to the ground.
Here’s another–I enjoy them when I can, having decided the rabbits win, what the hell, and I’ll just plant spring bulbs they don’t like.
And, of course, it’s April, so this happened two days later. It’s always April Fool’s Month in Wisconsin, just part of the fun. (And, Skip was soooo happy! I wish I could give him snow every day of the year–but just in little patches that never get icy or melt into mud.)
It’s warm and sunny today, and watching the birds around here is like being in a bar with dozens of drunken twenty-year olds who just discovered sex. Out the window, as I write this, I am watching 3 species of birds compete for a nest in a native vine on the pergola that Jim built. Last year a pair of robins built it after the one we provided got too hot in summer. Right now as I write, a pair of mourning doves and a male house sparrow are fighting for access. A few feet away, a pair of house finches are doing extensive remodeling to the nest out the living room window. (It gets too hot in mid-summer, so we’ll keep it there for the first batch and then move where it’s a few feet over. Or move it now? Not sure, both nests are very close together.)
That’s it for me today, but I soooo hope you want to play the dog/sheep/human observation game and talk about it in the comment section. I’ll be all eyes and ears for the next few days.
My delight for the day? Mr. Mourning Dove besotted with Mrs. MD. He is adorable, although I’m not sure if I’d think so if I was Mrs. MD. She can barely get a moment to herself! Don’t forget to tell us yours.
Chris from Boise says
Thanks for giving us this challenge. Behavior watching is so important and so difficult to objectively do, as your prof pointed out. I can’t wait to dive into it (tomorrow, as I’m watching screech owl “dating” behavior at this late hour)!
Trisha says
Chris, how fun is that!!??
Cathy Balliu says
skip’s wide, square flanks are double edge sword -he bends off to take the pressure off the sheep, but it also slows him down and with sheep like this farm flock they like him because he’s not really coming into the bubble very hard so things move slowly. I could hear your voice on the fetch. You were trying to get him to pick up the pace a little bit. As far as the cross drive panels you were lined up directly on the inside panel and you gave him a tentative flank, but he didn’t take it and he just pushed them past. He also had that dreaded occurrence where you have one -she isn’t quite with the program -so you know he’s trying to work the lead on the right path and has to keep coming back and tuck in the back sheep so he made the best of it. On the shed when you called him in you turned to the three and so did he so you probably lost a couple points there but it was a nice run.
shed you and nicely and probably only lost a couple points on that nice run
Trisha says
Cathy, great analysis. Dead on about Skip’s extra “square” flanks… light sheep adore him and heavy sheep start leaning on him right away. Yes indeed about picking up the pace, he can get sticky and too slow, always trying to think things through (I think! Avoiding trouble … remember, he came from Ireland with sheep like deeer). And I was NOT clear about which sheep to take, my bad in part, but also because I needed to move the 3 away and Skip came in like a bullet. Always fun to hear from an experienced handler!
Jeanine says
Wow. I have no clue about what I’m watching! It looks magic to me. Skip’s posture, and how he responds to you – well – it’s just magic. I love his low body posture and how happy he seems. And while I freely admit I am clueless regarding dogs and sheep, I have experienced seeing how dogs use their noses. A small earring was lost in the jungle that is my backyard, so I enlisted my beagle to help. She had been trained to find cookies, but never an inedible object. I let her sniff the other earring, told her to Find It, and about 2 seconds later she alerted. Sure enough, down on hands and knees with magnifier, there was the earring. Magic!
Melanie Behrens says
I was impressed by how he was watching the lead sheep and proactively putting it back on line, on the lift and fetch. He also had to tuck that black one in a few times. He does have impressively square flanks, which do hurt you sometimes (my trained dog does this too). I sometimes have to flank and whistle a walk up almost immediately to keep her moving and not going off contact. I didn’t hear your whistle when the sheep got stuck just before the X drive panel but since I had the great angle of the camera, I kept saying “Away” to myself waiting for you to give it. Funny how we do that when we watch videos. It was nice how you worked the sheep back towards him during the shed, and then got them slightly lined out, unfortunate that you were facing the wrong way. Really nice work by both of you!
Tails Around the Ranch says
Love that observation game! What a brilliant exercise for interacting in the world around us.
Kelly says
It looked like the sheep that moved first on the lift, who was watching Skip approach and then turned around and started walking away from him first, was the leader? I think it’s the most white sheep. I could not be sure that she was in front all the time but I think the other sheep did seem to follow her lead as far as when to get moving. Was she the leader or no?
During the shed, were you just supposed to turn you body towards the 2 sheep so that Skip focuses on them instead of the 3, or is there some other signal you give him with your arm?
I have recently started taking herding lessons with my one year old working kelpie, and it’s quite challenging for me both physically and mentally. It makes so much sense when you read a sheepdog training book but it’s awfully confusing when you’re out there trying to understand and react to the dog and the sheep and run backwards in the mud!
Thanks for the training exercise on your amazing run with Skip! So fun!
Anne says
I turned off the sound because I knew the commands would distract me from looking. Starting at about :12 seconds:
Skip is running, not full out but fast, semi circle around the sheep, then he makes a sudden downshift in speed and a quick right turn. He’s walking very deliberately, with his head down focused intently. He makes a pause. The sheep had already noticed him and were looking in his direction ever since I could spot them on the screen but they hadn’t moved away from one spot. The little sheep is standing near the human and the farthest sheep from Skip puts its head down and maybe eats some grass or is just looking down (here on out known as “eating sheep”). The three middle sheep are looking at Skip. When he gets to about 50 feet from them, the big middle sheep turns to the left (Skip’s left) and Skip goes left in a square flank. The three middle sheep turn away from him in his new position. The small sheep is still standing near the human. The eating sheep has stepped forward (to Skip’s right) and still has its head down. When Skip makes a quick move both of those (small and eating) turn away from him. He trots forward quickly about 10 steps and the sheep stop walking. He immediately slows to a walk. He’s about 10 feet from the small sheep when it turns to face him. Eating sheep is eating again. The others are walking away. One is hidden. Skip turns his head and shoulders to his right and small sheep moves away at a walk toward the group. Big sheep is now looking at Skip, eating sheep is eating (why so hungry lol) and the others are in a bunch. end time :42 sec
Anne says
No matter how long I live with dogs, I will always be amazed by their abilities re: Maggie searching for the egg.
I remember one time I had dropped a thing on the floor under the table where I couldn’t reach it easily and I pointed it out to Bob Ross (one year old Aussie) and said “get me the thing”. He’s never learned to retrieve or anything- he was about a year old at that time. He went and got me the thing and put it in my hand! Never mind that I don’t let him just pick up my things and carry them around (only his toys)- because chewing.
Trisha says
Yes,Kelly, you are right! I was blocking the three and didn’t turn fast enough toward the two. Good observations!
Trisha says
Good idea Anne to turn off the sound. And good work on the observations!
Pamela S. says
As much as I love dogs I have never had the opportunity to see a dog running sheep. It was fascinating to watch. Unfortunately, my observations were not worthy of comment, other than how much I liked seeing Skip working the sheep! It was fun, too, reading the comments from every one. I say, Trisha, you must be in very good physical condition if you work Skip very often. Thank you and Jim too for Skips working video and for the flowers and birds at the end. Good work all !
Gwen Bailey says
I love your compassionate work with dogs, but I’m afraid I was too busy being sad while watching the fear-responses of prey animals to take the challenge. Why reward-based trainers think it’s okay to put sentient prey animals through this for their own entertainment purposes is beyond me. I’ve kept sheep myself and know that it is possible to teach them to come when called (for food in the winter) so there is no need to chase them around. I appreciate it may be different on large farms but even so. In my opinion, training dogs to herd prey animals for fun is unacceptable.
Marie Kooiman says
Loved watching the video of Skip’s first run of 2024. It’s truly amazing how Skip can instictively read the sheep’s next move. I had a Border Collie we rescued. We were on a trail walking and came upon a cow that had got through the fence. I was amazed at how my dog took charge and tried to round up that cow. He got it to go back through the fence.
Trisha says
Gwen, thank you for your thoughtful comments. I myself think about this too. I am fascinated by a sport that creates such a strong bond and partnership between dog and person, but I too find myself worrying about the sheep themselves. It is true that in many operations, it is impossible to care for sheep without the use of dogs (or s/t more stressful). I could never do controlled grazing without my dog for example. However, sheep herding competitions are sports in which one species is an unwilling participant, it is not the same as management on a farm. With a few exceptions, I have found that trial hosts work very hard to keep the stress on the sheep to an absolute minimum, but it is true that few sheep would volunteer. I could go on about the benefits of trials, some of which indirectly acrue to sheep, but I’ll leave it that I hear you, and I think about this too.