Another photo-less blog entry

So much to do, so little time. One day I will sit down and finish editting my photos and video from the agility nationals. And some updated puppy photos. And possibly something about the 2 legged kids too. But right now I can't be bothered, I'm knackered from single-parenting while R drives a tractor round and round and round the paddocks from dawn til just before midnight. So I'm having to find other forms of procrastination to avoid doing housework... and today I actually worked a few dogs!
Slightly wet training paddock, 30 or so training sheep, some dogs:

Elvis ran straight at them, blew them into 15 groups, look really confused, went around to gather but then would not come off the head. I was wearing Crocs (yes, really) and couldn't run, and he wouldn't stop. My attempts to block him just caused him to get wider and wider and wider until he was almost orbitting the 10 acre paddock. Hmm. Handler sensitivity. Who'd have thought? Plan- back in the round pen, get his stop back. Reassess.

Finbar ran not quite straight at them, picked one likely individual out and tried to kill it. Called him off eventually, managed to get him going around the sheep both ways, until he spotted the "cull" trying to hide in the middle, and picked it out and tried to kill it again. Blew myself a little aneurysm getting him off and back to the kennels. Sheep was fine, me not so much. Plan- back in the round pen, get a stop (can't say get one back because I don't think I've actually bothered to teach him one). Muzzle, and go out on mobs. Maybe after lambing time.

Tom ran a very tight cast, brought them back. Is just like Bill, but has a stop (OMG!), walks straight up where appropriate, and doesn't flippyflap with his tail in the air. And he's a little bit short on the head, which Bill isn't. Otherwise identical. He's just exactly my sort of dog. Lots and lots of work to do, he's way too close most of the time and slices a bit at the top of his cast, but I think I enjoy it. Favourite bit: one single pig of a sheep had jumped into the ram paddock some time ago, and was trying to sneak back down the laneway as we were walking off. I was thinking about Tom being a little short, and Simon's comment once that the way to tell if a dog was really short was to work one sheep. So I sent him after it, and he was actually not too bad, managed to hold it to me. Because it was a pig, it turned on him, and he had to back it halfway across the paddock to me. And he loved it. Walking straight up on it, steadily, nose to nose. It charged him twice, and both times he held his ground and hit it on the nose (no blood), no turn tail at all when it tried to run over him. Basically got him to hit it on command, and to walk up on command even when the sheep was threatening him. We both enjoyed it heaps, he didn't want to quit. Very much not perfect, but fun to work. Can't say the same for El and Fin at the moment, sadly.