Champ Training

The 10th, Champ & I did not do much training. We did some steady, where I changed pace. Briefly introduced trying to stop during it while I kept moving, but ehhhh. The 11th was similar - we did some steady, nothing special. In the evening, I tried for some stops and get backs - not great.

Morning 12th
12th: Steady with Faith facing away.
This went decently well - Champ is taking all the speed changes when I am facing him right now, including stops, without additional motions or vocalizations from me. When I turn around, he was less consistent, and I did some reminders. I'd say "decent, needs work".

12th: Steady to Get back, Faith moving
If I'm moving still, a get back request is often half heartedly followed, either a minor back up or not turning all the way. I didn't spend a lot of time here, but need to spend more. Potentially start with "get back" training, before switching to steady + get back while target moves.

12th: Steady to Stay, Faith moving
This goes better if I request a lie down. A regular stay fails most of the time. However, even the LD is half-hearted, and often a sit. We got a few real ones.

Notes: Next training session, focus on stays themselves and get backs. Steady by itself is looking good, the stays and get backs are less honed in. Hone those in a bit more, and then potentially do a quick combined effort at the end of the session. We'll pick one to start with - lets say "get backs". In theory stays might be easier, but the lack of movement is sometimes harder than movement in the wrong direction.

The 7th and the 8th, Champ & I continued work on "steady". I did a bit of changing my speed, which he was okay with but didn't always slow back down. I also added a new criteria to work on - me not looking at him (facing the way I walk instead of Champ).

The 9th, we went to Raspberry Ridge for a morning of herding! We started by taking them out of the pen - initially we had some issues because the limping sheep Champ kept dropping, which encouraged other sheep to drop, chain of events... I really needed Champ to slow down on the other side. We managed to get a few good lie downs on the far side, and after a few attempts slowed down enough that all the sheep came out. Sadly, including the limpy one, which I didn't actually want... Brought them back to the gate, and after a little rotating the limpy lady and a friend were penned. Champ and I took a break and left the sheep to graze.

Round 2, Champ brought the sheep down (no lie downs, I did not go up, no sheep lost) and we penned them in C holding. Bringing the sheep down, it looked like he was wearing less than usual - steady work showing? Not perfect on the penning, Champ rushed in after half of them went in the pen, breaking the group apart. After getting him out of the pen, sent him off to gather the stragglers. Decided we were in need of a break, so would not take sheep to A course. Champ went in and got to the back of the sheep. Was wearing at first, so they didn't come out, but got a stay long enough that a decent number left the pen before Champ came around to head them off. Whoops. There we traded off with Munkee & Sierra (planned!), and took a break.

Round 3, D course - starting at C pen, non-standard. This was very good - we got a lot of lie downs, the steady showed again as Champ was walking slower behind the sheep. As he got tired, we started losing both the lie downs and the slowness - so we skipped the footbath and penned the sheep in D holding. Had a beautiful maltese cross! Champ is coming off the sheep pretty well, too. Outrun looked terrible - definitely need to train that at some point.

Round 4 & 5, D course again. We were going to stop after round four, which was similar to round 3 - not quite as good, Champ tiring out. But then while Carolyn and I moved the maltese cross, Champ was beautifully lying down looking at the pen, and it felt like he deserved a round 5. Where we had way less lie downs and a bit more mayhem - still able to get a good call off though!

Showed Carolyn what we were working on with steady, and she had some additional variations we could add.

• Steady with a stop while I keep moving - I keep moving backwards, but ask for a "stay" while I'm still moving

• Steady with get back while I keep moving - I keep moving backwards, but ask for a "get back" while I'm still moving 

To set some definitions:

Stay: Any form of not moving paws. Standing (no moving paws on the ground, even an inch), sitting, or lying down.
Get Back: Turn around 180 degrees from current direction, including looking away from the target.

Of recent, I've been working on "steady" with Champ. First, I'll define what that means to me.

Steady: staying the same distance away from the target. 

My end goal, this is to have a command of "steady" on sheep. For training, the easiest goal is... me. It would probably be better if I had an RC car with treats on it, but... I don't. This is not the first time we've worked on this command. He wants to get closer to me if I'm moving away.

Over the two days, we did a few sessions of this - most of them were pure fun. I run around with him a bit, send with out with a "go on", and then a "there" or "get back" to get him the right distance. Then I use "there" and "slow" to encourage him to slow down if he starts speeding up, with a bunch of "good" commentary when he is doing well. The night session on the 5th was the first time he auto-corrected himself after speeding up!

We used no treats, and that seems to be fine for this. I finish most reps with a "get back" and then a "come", while I run off so he is having a lot of fun. I can also end reps with a "get back" and a "go on" and then run towards him.

I am raising criteria to make the distance he is willing to stay at more variable. Today and yesterday he has been at more or less the same distance in his successful steady's, so I'd like to be able to make that further away - vs a slight rush in. Another criteria I could raise is changing how fast or slow I am moving, but I am not doing that today.