Thinking

I like to figure out how to get dogs thinking.  To me, going around the small pen after a dog has learned a few basics like stay out of the middle of the sheep, bring them to me, and stop, doesn't give the dog enough to think about.   Getting out into different areas will make them either fail and learn from it, or work a lot smarter.  This happened with Tessa in the last two sessions.   Last week we were out in the 5 acre field and she had gotten over her wanting to only hang out on the heavy side.   She's a smart girl.  It really only took me that one time of showing her, in the previous session, that she could go around to the other side without losing the sheep and she was willing to do it whenever I asked.   She has really got a nice steady walk when she gets to balance- she doesn't always come rushing up on the sheep.   Today I had the sheep in the dog yard, and decided to work a couple dogs in there for something different.   It's a new area, there are new things to figure out to get the dogs thinking.   Tessa did very well.  I pushed her out a couple of times, but mostly she was staying out on her own.  We just fetched around a little and practiced "stop".  

Hugging the fence

Stopping on her own well off the sheep