Well, it seems that Jock is growing up, in many ways. However, the last few nights he has been forced to sleep outside in his pen on the front verandah.
Why? you may ask?
Simply because he is currently in a power struggle with our other dog and has decided to mark his territory by peeing in his pen. Jock is not a small dog, he's almost at full height now, is quite long and appears to have a bladder that stretches from shoulder to hip. He can quite literally pee for 3 minutes straight!
So, when he decides to 'mark his territory', he just about flood washes my lounge room floor. Now, I have children, one who is just about to turn 3 years, and she spends a lot of time playing on the floor. I do not want her playing in the area where he has pee'd. To stop this from being an issue, and to stop him from making my house smell like a public urinal, I've moved him outside at night.
Neither of us a very happy with this arrangement (I don't like keeping dogs outside overnight) but at the moment there isn't really any other option.
To his credit, since being moved outside at night, he has not pee'd in his pen again. He still goes out for his run just before bed, and he gets to come inside for attention, as well as a bit more training (obedience and agility at the moment), but for the next few nights, he will continue to sleep outside in his pen, and we can only hope that when we bring him back in, he's a well-behaved boy and doesn't pee in his pen!
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Friday, July 27, 2012
Things didn't go quite to plan
Well, I had to move the sheep again. The paddock they were in doesn't have enough grass to hold them much longer, and as it always takes a long time to come back, I didn't want the sheep grazing it down to bare earth.
To get them into the paddock that I needed them in would require taking them through the gate, closing the gate behind them, opening the next gate, walking them through, closing that and then walking them down the driveway to the last paddock (where the barn and dam are). Because of the way its set up, I have to close each gate once they are through, which is tricky at times as many of them try to rush back through.
With Jocks help, we managed to move all of the sheep out of the first paddock. He did do naughty things like dart across in front of them, and head them way too close, but after a few minutes I got him under control and we sent the sheep out of the paddock. We had to go back for Yak, who was, as usual hiding from us. Jock got a lesson in driving then, because without him, Yak would have just buried her feet and stayed put.
When they were all through, the sheep made a run for the far gate, which is a tiny laneway that is about 30 feet long and 8 feet wide. They'd jammed up in there and weren't coming out. This is where Jock came in. He quietly went down beside them and started pushing them out. Unfortunately enthusiasm got the better of him and he decided to cut them off when they started to run. Some quick commands and a minor telling off later and we had the sheep in the paddock ready to go to the barn paddock. The sheep had spread out a bit and some where panting quite heavily, so, as they are all heavily in lamb, I decided to leave them where they were for the night to recover. Jock wasn't impressed with finishing work so abruptly, but he took it in his stride.
He did well, but it was a much messier operation than it should have been, and his lack of training, and my inexperience caused many issues. All in all, he did well, but there is plenty of room for improvement.
Unfortunately, yesterday was the day that I really needed a trained dog, however, only having Jock at my disposal means that he was pressed into service more than he should have been.
In the very near future, I am hoping to get some young, dry ewes to train on. Until then, we'll make do!
To get them into the paddock that I needed them in would require taking them through the gate, closing the gate behind them, opening the next gate, walking them through, closing that and then walking them down the driveway to the last paddock (where the barn and dam are). Because of the way its set up, I have to close each gate once they are through, which is tricky at times as many of them try to rush back through.
With Jocks help, we managed to move all of the sheep out of the first paddock. He did do naughty things like dart across in front of them, and head them way too close, but after a few minutes I got him under control and we sent the sheep out of the paddock. We had to go back for Yak, who was, as usual hiding from us. Jock got a lesson in driving then, because without him, Yak would have just buried her feet and stayed put.
When they were all through, the sheep made a run for the far gate, which is a tiny laneway that is about 30 feet long and 8 feet wide. They'd jammed up in there and weren't coming out. This is where Jock came in. He quietly went down beside them and started pushing them out. Unfortunately enthusiasm got the better of him and he decided to cut them off when they started to run. Some quick commands and a minor telling off later and we had the sheep in the paddock ready to go to the barn paddock. The sheep had spread out a bit and some where panting quite heavily, so, as they are all heavily in lamb, I decided to leave them where they were for the night to recover. Jock wasn't impressed with finishing work so abruptly, but he took it in his stride.
He did well, but it was a much messier operation than it should have been, and his lack of training, and my inexperience caused many issues. All in all, he did well, but there is plenty of room for improvement.
Unfortunately, yesterday was the day that I really needed a trained dog, however, only having Jock at my disposal means that he was pressed into service more than he should have been.
In the very near future, I am hoping to get some young, dry ewes to train on. Until then, we'll make do!
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
I needed Jocks' help, could he do it?
Two days ago I discovered that I have a couple of ewes that are unwell. They were all due for drenching, and the usual feet trimming, plus a general hands-on check, so I set about bringing them up to the pens. Fortunately almost all of them will come up for a bucket of feed, but there is one ewe that constantly hides from us. Her name is Yak (she looked like a baby yak when she was born and the name stuck) and if she can 'miss the muster', she will. On this day, everyone had come up except for her and two others. The other two were making their way slowly up to where I wanted them, but Yak wasn't having a bar of it, so I decided to go and get Jock for help. Oh, how I hoped he'd remember at least a little of his training as he hasn't been worked in months!
With ten sheep penned and two making their way slowly up to the pen, Yak was still in the original paddock that has a drain across it, and of course, she was on the wrong side of the drain. With Jock by my side, I walked down to the gateway of the paddock. Yak saw him and made a break for it over the drain and started heading up the hill over to the far corner of the paddock. Putting Jock on a stand, I turned to face him and sent him 'away' to go out and around Yak.
He did as was asked, but cut in too close and almost ended up going straight up to her. I tried to send him out, but he either didn't hear me, or ignored me. Yak took off, and Jock managed to get around her and bring her to me.
When she saw the other sheep she made a bolt for it to them, so I called Jock back to me to let her go. He was a bit confused because he's always been taught to bring them sheep to me, so he wanted to go around and head her again to bring her back. However, he did listen to me and we followed along behind her until she was with the other two sheep up in the first pen. I put him on a stand and he held them in the yard until I got the gate closed.
All in all, he saved me from doing a hell of a lot of walking, and most probably some swearing as well! He wasn't impressed that his work was done for the day, but he did seem to take it in good spirits.
A couple of things impressed me with the way he worked.
He went the direction I sent him (no questions asked),
He was able to out run Yak and turn her back to me,
He brought her too me in a very straight line,
He came off her when I needed him to, and
He held them in the yard whilst I shut the gate.
Not bad for a green pup!
However, there are a few things that we need to work on:
As usual, he was too close, and he wouldn't move out when instructed, so when the weather improves, and my health as well, we'll work on that.
Thanks Jock, for making my job that much easier!
With ten sheep penned and two making their way slowly up to the pen, Yak was still in the original paddock that has a drain across it, and of course, she was on the wrong side of the drain. With Jock by my side, I walked down to the gateway of the paddock. Yak saw him and made a break for it over the drain and started heading up the hill over to the far corner of the paddock. Putting Jock on a stand, I turned to face him and sent him 'away' to go out and around Yak.
He did as was asked, but cut in too close and almost ended up going straight up to her. I tried to send him out, but he either didn't hear me, or ignored me. Yak took off, and Jock managed to get around her and bring her to me.
When she saw the other sheep she made a bolt for it to them, so I called Jock back to me to let her go. He was a bit confused because he's always been taught to bring them sheep to me, so he wanted to go around and head her again to bring her back. However, he did listen to me and we followed along behind her until she was with the other two sheep up in the first pen. I put him on a stand and he held them in the yard until I got the gate closed.
All in all, he saved me from doing a hell of a lot of walking, and most probably some swearing as well! He wasn't impressed that his work was done for the day, but he did seem to take it in good spirits.
A couple of things impressed me with the way he worked.
He went the direction I sent him (no questions asked),
He was able to out run Yak and turn her back to me,
He brought her too me in a very straight line,
He came off her when I needed him to, and
He held them in the yard whilst I shut the gate.
Not bad for a green pup!
However, there are a few things that we need to work on:
As usual, he was too close, and he wouldn't move out when instructed, so when the weather improves, and my health as well, we'll work on that.
Thanks Jock, for making my job that much easier!
Monday, July 9, 2012
The new training yard is almost ready!
Well, after a quick discussion with Jock, which went along the lines of -"I'm bored mum, I wanna go play with the sheep!"- I decided it was time to get the new yard set up and get some more training in.
Being sick with a head cold has put a bit of a damper on things, and I haven't really wanted to venture outside in the freezing cold and rain to get the new yard up.
However, yesterday evening I decided to 'bite the freezing bullet' and get started. The yard is really quite big, being a very large rectangle with rounded corners. There is still some more work to be done on the yard before it can be used (actually, until I fit the gate in place, we may have a little trouble keeping the sheep from making a break for freedom!) but soon enough Jock will be out there, no doubt as enthusiastic as ever!
Will keep you all posted on how we go, and whether we make any progress or not!
Being sick with a head cold has put a bit of a damper on things, and I haven't really wanted to venture outside in the freezing cold and rain to get the new yard up.
However, yesterday evening I decided to 'bite the freezing bullet' and get started. The yard is really quite big, being a very large rectangle with rounded corners. There is still some more work to be done on the yard before it can be used (actually, until I fit the gate in place, we may have a little trouble keeping the sheep from making a break for freedom!) but soon enough Jock will be out there, no doubt as enthusiastic as ever!
Will keep you all posted on how we go, and whether we make any progress or not!
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