Someone's a Big Boy

Last week Jax was starting to have a difficult time working far away from me in the big field. If I sent him on a fetch without being very close, things got a little messy (as you can see in the photo). This week our goal was to work on getting him to maintain his outrun, as our trainer said "an outrun is a mindset", that when Jax goes to collect the sheep he has to get the whole group and not just run willy nilly at them until the all fled in various directions. Messy.

The partnering with the trainer (and a rather long pole to keep Jax out of the flock) we'd work on sending Jax to fetch the flock with me at a distance. If he got to close, the trainer could push him out and force him to gather the sheep and not split them apart. 

 Still ever so focused...... I send him out with the trainer and sheep behind me. 

 Jax has obviously come in to close, the trainer ready to fend him off and force him to follow along and go around the entire flock of sheep. 

 Here Jax is going on an 'away to me', getting sent outside the sheep. You'll notice he does have quite a bit more independence now and we are moving further away from each other. The goal being to eventually just be standing at the fence line and he does the work in the field without so much guidance. 

This is the kind of distance we are working with, putting pressure on him to have the confidence to go around the sheep and use what we call his "toolkit". In that kit he has "lie down", "steady", "walk up", "away to me", "come by", as well as a range of stylistic moves that he uses on his own when the timing is right. 

Here I've sent Jax to fetch the sheep and I've asked him to lie down behind them. The next move is asking him to "walk up" and bring the sheep towards me.... What you call a "fetch" in the biz. 

A little messy here, bit still working on getting it together. 

By the end of the day we were able to have more confidence as a team working in bigger spaces. I have learned how to set my dog up for success and get the most out of the situation. If I set him up in a sticky situation, there is bound to be trouble and I know that. I need to help him make the most of his abilities as well as the tools to use. With the sheep huddled against the trees, we were in a rough spot to pull them off the fence line and bring them towards me and fetch them. We walked in close and set it up quietly and firmly, no yelling or panicking from either of us.