Eve's first time on sheep

Question:
 Long story short: She did great. She turned into a completely different pup when she was on the stock. Normally she's quiet and sweet, but she was powerful and had a lot of presence on the sheep. The trainers said she was very talented.

The lesson for Eve was very short and fun, though catching her was difficult even with the long line on. I also got a lesson in handling with one of the trainer's retired dogs, Lee. That was a blast, herding is much harder than it looks and I'm amazed that I didn't fall on my ass with all that backwards walking and sharp turns.

I was so mesmerized by Eve in motion that I didn't get a lot of pictures, sorry. Most are of her rare moments standing still, and they're still out of focus so I tried to fix them in photoshop. Yeah, they're still ugly. But I figure these pics are better than no pics at all. ;-)

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/working1.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeep.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/Sheep.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/staystill.jpg

Answer:
Way to go Eve!! :D I love pics, so intense!!

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http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/chasing.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/turn.jpg
(Hey, there's a dog back there!)
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/ear.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/walking.jpg

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Awesome! :D

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Aw, she looks so tiny compared to them! She's pretty brave. :D

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What?! Whaddaya mean I have to stop?
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/What.jpg
Nooooes! Let go! It burns us! Lemme at 'em!
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/nooo.jpg
I got to work miss Lee, who was an absolute angel despite me confusing her on several occasions:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/Leeworking.jpg
Prettier picture of Lee:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/Lee.jpg

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It's so wondeful seeing a dog do what it was bred to do!! How cool for you.

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Aw, Lee is a cutie too!

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AWESOME pics :) Way to go EVE!!! :D

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Do I need an excuse for pics of a super-classy dog? I really liked Spur.

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/Spur.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/spurworking.jpg

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/Spurworkingducks.jpg

And here's Ben eagerly awaiting the word from Fran

http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y174/laicositna/please.jpg

Done!

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Wow, beautiful dogs! :D

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Eve sure does have some presence! She'll be a force to be reckoned with as she matures!
Speckled BC! Lee is so pretty!

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Nooooes! Let go! It burns us! Lemme at 'em!
ROFL! Has someone been watching a little too much LOTR lately? :D
All the pics are gorgeous as usual :)
(I really like the name Spur)

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I think the shots look great. She looks like she's in her element for sure. Must be mesmerizing to watch.

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The photos are awesome! I'm sure she's just amazing to watch. :)

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Those were great pics...:) Eve looked so grown up in them...and the others, what more can I say but gorgeous....

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That's just so cool Grace. I felt a mix of Awwwww, cute puppy and Awe over her courage and talent. The other dogs are beautiful too.:)

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That's awesome!

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So where are the ugly shots you spoke of? ;)
I would LOVE to be able to take Kharma for training like that. Probably not with sheep though. She'd give them heart failure :eek:

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Thanks everyone! :D It was so cool. I'm hooked.
Oh and Renee, I don't think anything could startle these sheep. They just sort of trot along no matter what the dog is doing - totally bombproof animals and great for puppies. I do think it'd be a good idea to put Kharma on something that's bigger than her though. Those sheep were probably only 120lbs.

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*imagines Kharma getting annoyed and simply sitting on an unruly sheep*
Yeah, maybe cattle would be better.
And RD, those pictures are great! How often is Eve going to have herding lessons?

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Thanks everyone! :D It was so cool. I'm hooked.

Oh and Renee, I don't think anything could startle these sheep. They just sort of trot along no matter what the dog is doing - totally bombproof animals and great for puppies. I do think it'd be a good idea to put Kharma on something that's bigger than her though. Those sheep were probably only 120lbs.


Oh, yeah . . . I don't think they'd be bomb proof if they weren't moving fast enough to suit her . . . You should see how fast the bulls pick up the pace when she comes after them, eyes blazing, going for the hocks.

They were bred for the semi-wild cattle they raised in South America, and you can see it when she works . . . :eek: There are a couple of white-face cows that will balk and even run right over Shiva, but when Kharma comes out they show the whites of their eyes, bawl, and ask "how high?" I've kind of learned to enjoy watching that after dealing with the damned things.

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How very fun! Those are great shots. She definitely has what it takes, it looks like. I hope you continue to have such great experiences. This is what Border Collies should be doing. Wonderful!

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I remember my first time on sheep. I fell off when I didnt see the ewe turn.
Great shots and great dog RD!

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Hope you didn't end up getting rammed, Buckshot . . .

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Oh no I spoke to veteran sheep fellas, they told me to seperate em first.

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AWESOME!!!!!!!!! yaay eve!!!!!

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Oooo :D Yipeee! She looks great, so grown up.
I do have one question, why is there like a rope/string attached to her collar?

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That was to help us catch her when it was time for her to come out of the pen. I'm really glad we had it, too, because she forgot all about her recall and did NOT want to stop working!

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Great pics, Grace! :D Eve looks wonderful! All the dogs are beautifulllll. :D

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Ugly pics, yeah right! The pictures are wonderful, Grace. You can really tell Eve is in her element. She looks so focused and determined :D
Great pics as always(:D). Can't wait for more pics and *hint hint* maybe videos!

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Isn't herding fun?? I spent one summer driving 400 miles round/trip almost every weekend just to take herding lessons. I put a Started Trial Dog title on my Aussie (on sheep).
I ended up buying sheep and putting up my own arena, but I can't say I enjoyed having sheep. They're REALLY dumb! *L*
I want to test Khana on sheep this spring. My first chow was amazing and a complete natural. I'd love to see some of that in Khana too.
Good job, and hope you keep on with it!
Melanie and the gang in Alaska

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gorgeous. Eve looks like she's having sooo much fun.

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awsome pics RD!

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OMG YAY EVE!!
AWESOME shots!

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i could look at those dogs all day,especially eve..way to go RD great pics.

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Great pics! Eve looks really nice and the other bcs are gorgeous.

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Way to go!!! Both of you!!! Shes so cute and powerful

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It's amazing to see her being so focused! Very impressive and great work to both of you.