The Secret is in the Sauce

Sheep





Idaho Farm Flock
Mix Hair/Wool

                     Idaho Farm Flock
                          Katahdins

                                                                California Farm Flock
St Croix/Dorper 



       The secret is in the sauce.  A line from the movie Fried Green Tomatoes.  The secret is in the sheep!

       Consistency for the dogs.  Learning to predict and read the sheep.  I was watching other handlers at one of the winter trials, while speaking with a nice guy from suburbia with two nice dogs who was fairly new to trialing. He had no idea what kind of sheep he practiced on.  Not even if they were hair or wool sheep. He did well in the trial. His dogs were very obedient.  His timing was well practiced.  It was a good team demonstration.

     When you start putting yourself out there and listening to others takes and opinions you really have to sift through the jetsam and flotsam.  I totally get that everyone has their own journey, so there are many right truths.  My take for us will be that it is our art form.  I will team up with my canine teammate and be fair to the sheep, fair to the dog, and fair to myself.

     




                                             Young Western Range Ewes
                                           Northern California/Southern Oregon

          


The Western Range White Face Fine Wool Flock
Northern Nevada 



Waupoos Island Sheep
North Country Cheviot/Coopworth +



Kingston, ON
North Country Cheviot



Zamora, California
Western Range Ewes
(After down-pour)


             Waupoos Flock



Raumati Sheep
New Zealand
Romney


     Our team will learn on all different types and kinds of sheep.  However, my flock, no longer looks as diverse as what you see below.  I want a young dog to gain confidence and develop talent with consistent sheep.  Good sheep that do not cause the dog to download bad software that we will have to have un-installed later.  

     'Read the sheep and trust your dog', my open mantra.  Secret is in the sheep and learning to read them.  If I don't have a clue, how in the world could I correct my dog appropriately?  Consistent learning on consistent sheep.  Different style (lines) of dogs are better (different methods) on different types of sheep.  The difference between great and good is consistency day in and day out on all sheep.

My first mix flock




                                                         My first mix flock
                                                           Woolies, hair sheep, 
                                                          range ewes, and goose






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