Sunday, October 5, 2008

Corgi Herding Day

Yesterday I audited a herding seminar hosted by the Mayflower Pembroke Welsh Corgi Club. The club had Amy Hill come up from Florida. Amy has the first dual champion Cardigan (DC Cornerstone's My Dear Beli HXAsd HXBs HRDIII-s HTDIII-d).

It was an interesting day. Katrin had a working spot with Monty, so that was definitely the highlight for me. That and having the opportunity to see lots of Pems and Cardis herd. Katrin and Monty handled themselves very well.



A couple of the dogs worked ducks. It was cool to see how different working ducks is than moving the sheep around. The ducks break away from the gaggle frequently and the dog needs to go collect them.

The event was held at Black Birch Farm and the owner Diane also gives herding lessons. I might take a lesson with her just to see how she differs from Colleen - that and the fact that she is only 50 minutes away.

The only thing I continue to have a tough time with mentally is how much harsher people are on their dogs in the herding world. Not everyone and not all the time - and perhaps not even without reason. It is just different than the way I am used to training. Agility incorporates so much positive reinforcement. I suppose that is one reason I feel so comfortable with Colleen - I feel like she respects how I decide to deal with my dog and I don't feel like she is heavy-handed. It will definitely continue to influence who I work with. It is, however, a good lesson in taking what works for me and my dog and utilizing that bit of information.

2 comments:

Sarah said...

yes the herding world is much different, we are lucky here to have Scott and Jenny Glen, they are great, but I've seen some not so great ...

there are some good and bad in every dog sport it seems. just gotta train with who suits you best!

sounds like you had a fun day!

manymuddypaws said...

that's so funny- sarah said pretty much exactly what I was going to say! :o)

herding is a totally different world and you have to look away sometimes, but if you can find the right instructor it is pretty amazing!