Its only been two days so far and I can tell...

[Mooney, Mark]

...that it is going to be a LOOOOONG Month.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suki and I have been talking things over since the Herding trial, and finally came to a decision...

Fly went bye-bye on Tuesday.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

Before any of you jump to any conclusions, NO we didn't sell her.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

We didn't give her away either...

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

We decided that we were going to take Judge Lisa's advice and arrange for Fly to go to Joy's

for a month...to her own private sheep camp.  We knew that since we don't have stock, that this

would be the only way that we can get her the work that she needs.  Suki Emailed Joy yesterday

and it sounds like things are going well.  Fly and Lanee were out running on A course while there

were sheep over on B course, and Fly didn't pay any attention to them at all... 

 

Mark

 

Lock-Eye Champ CGC, FDCh-G, HT (Sheena x Sage 06)
Quest Blessing in Disguise “Fly” (Lily x Dash 08) [At Sheep Camp]
Sandi FDCh-S (Lab), Sparkle FM (Toller)
Cypress (Houston), TX

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Quest BC" group.
To post to this group, send email to ques...@googlegroups.com.
To unsubscribe from this group, send email to quest-bc+u...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/quest-bc?hl=en.

[pps...@aol.com]

Mark,

    Fly will come home a different dog!  Good decision on your part. 

    After having Savvy at the herding clinic last weekend.  Barb (the herding instructor) told me that herding would be a great way to get Savvy more focused.  Since Fly is his sister I am sure she has many of the same similarities.  She will come home tired & content. 

    Your house will be quiet without her.

     Keep us posted with how she is doing.

Debbie S

[Mooney, Mark]

I'll definitely keep you all posted. 

 

I agree with you that Fly probably has many of the same characteristics as Savvy.  We

are hoping that this will help her focus (especially areound stock) and will make her more

confident that she can handle any situation whicn she comes across. 

 

I know it will be quieter at home, except for when Champ goes around looking for her and

barking when he can't find her.  It is almost like he is saying "Ok, I give up...you can quit

hiding now...".

 

Mark

 

Lock-Eye Champ CGC, FDCh-G, HT (Sheena x Sage 06)
Quest Blessing in Disguise “Fly” (Lily x Dash 08) [At Sheep Camp]
Sandi FDCh-S (Lab), Sparkle FM (Toller)
Cypress (Houston), TX

---

From: ques...@googlegroups.com [mailto:ques...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of pps...@aol.com
Sent: Friday, April 23, 2010 3:16 PM
To: ques...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Its only been two days so far and I can tell...

[pps...@aol.com]

Mark,

   Is Champ still looking for Fly? 

   How was Fly's first week away?  Is she very far from where you live & are you able to go observe her training?

[Mooney, Mark]

Hi Debbie,

 

He is still looking for her, but not quite as much as he was.  Fly's first week away was quiet - except for

when we took Champ out herding on Sat.  Joy was at a herding trial so her husband Dave was doing the lessons.

He saw me watching Suki and Champ working on A course, and went into one of their buildings that is by the

herding fields, and came back out with Fly...I sort of acted like I didn't see them until he came walking up to me

and said "Here, have a dog...".  I looked down and saw a grinning Fly, and said to her"Hi - do I know you???"...

She wagged a couple of times and then spotted Suki and Champ with the sheep..."Bark Bark bark" tug jerk jerk...

After a little while I had to have Dave put her back up, as I didn't want to undo what they accomplished during the

first several days.

 

Joy's place is about 45 minutes to an hour from us - a bit too far to go to watch.  Besides, I don't think that she is

really ready for the distraction yet.

 

Mark

---

From: ques...@googlegroups.com [mailto:ques...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of pps...@aol.com

Sent: Monday, April 26, 2010 11:52 AM
To: ques...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Its only been two days so far and I can tell.../Mark

[pps...@aol.com]

Mark,

 

    I bet it was good seeing Fly (at least she remembered you)  45mins to and hour is not far at all.  It would be 4 hours for me to take Savvy to Barb's place. I was asking around at the last clinic I was at  who locally would be good for me to take Savvy too so I can continue with working on herding & the person that Barb usually recommends people to go too, she doesn't recommend for Me & Savvy because the person is too "soft" & doesn't have the experience  to work with a dog like Savvy. 

    How long has Suki been taking Champ to herd? I think it is awesome to watch the dogs do what they are born to do.

 

Debbie     

[Mooney, Mark]

Debbie,

 

You can't believe how good it was, and how hard it was to leave her there.  Although I KNOW that it is something that

she needs, I REALLY want to have her back home.  Another 3 weeks or so and I should get my wish.  I agree with you

that 45 min to an hour isn't all that bad, but it is too far to be making the trip other than on weekends.  I'll be really glad

to see her after she progresses some more.  After Dave put Fly back into her crate, we talked for a while.  Dave said that

Fly hasn't been obsessing over the sheep nearly as much as she had.  He has found that the sheep seem to like to

gather around the building that the dogs are in, and when he takes Fly out in the evening, they have to walk directly through

the middle of them.  He told me that Fly hasn't been paying any attention to the sheep lately.

 

I know what you are saying about the instructor which Barb usually recommends.  About 3 years ago We started Champ out with

a different instructor.  After about 6 - 9 months she basically hit a wall that she didn't know how to work around (or through), and Champ

wound up learning several bad habits from her.  After a few more months, it became apparant to us that we weren't going to get

any further with that instructor, so we decided to take a while off and to research other herding instructors.  It took us a while, but

we found Joy and went to a Fun day on her ranch on Labor Day 2009.  Champ has been taking lessons from Joy since then - and has

veen having to unlearn some of the bad habits that he learned from the previous instructor.

 

Take your time and really check out any instructor that you find.  You don't want to have to go back and retrain if the training style

isn't compatible with Savvy - it takes a lot of time and effort, and the results might not be quite as good as if you found the right person

in the first place.  We just wish that we had started off with Joy in the first place.

 

Yes, it is Awesome to watch them do what they are born to do, and can be amazing at how simple they make it look.

 

Mark

 

Lock-Eye Champ CGC, FDCh-G, HT (Sheena x Sage 06)
Quest Blessing in Disguise “Fly” (Lily x Dash 08) [At Sheep Camp]
Sandi FDCh-S (Lab), Sparkle FM (Toller)
Cypress (Houston), TX

From: ques...@googlegroups.com [mailto:ques...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of pps...@aol.com

Sent: Monday, April 26, 2010 12:51 PM
To: ques...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Its only been two days so far and I can tell.../Mark

[pps...@aol.com]

Mark,

    Sounds like Fly is making good changes already in only her first week there.  It is exciting to see the dog she will be after 4 weeks.  Maybe the source of her reaction to things is mostly fear based.   You probably have, but I was wondering... Have you done shaping with her? She is a very lucky dog to have you guys to give her what she needs the most. 

 

    I know what you mean about trying to do the right thing for the dog so that you don't have to go back & retrain.  That has been a worry I've had with Savvy.  He is a genius & so quick to learn the right & the wrong thing.  He is keeping me on my toes as a trainer!  Our dogs teach us SO MUCH!! Thank goodness! LOL!

 

    I love hearing about your dogs progress.  Don't worry, you will have Miss Fly home in no time.  Then you may need to go buy some sheep for her! 

 

Hope you are enoying your day!