Herding

Bug had a herding lesson this morning and we worked ducks in the barn again. It was a great lesson.

Both Bug and I have a steep learning curve and we both saw improvements this week. Bug continues to worry less about the rake and I am getting better at not moving.

I realize that my consistency in motion issue stretches to herding. Bug and I both get so wound up and move TOO fast. So, I am going to try and be conscious of consistency in all aspects of my life.

I am slowly but surely *getting* the fact that I do not need to be on top of Bug with the rake. He is very sensitive to the rake, but even if he wasn't - I just don't need to try and micro-manage him like that. This could potentially have benefits in the agility arena!

Bug did a great job of getting around and bringing me ducks. At one point he actually got all four ducks out of the corner successfully (he wasn't able to do that last week). I did a great job of not moving, keeping the rake at his shoulder, and watching my stock versus my dog.

I think we are BOTH having fun and I can certainly see how it will just become MORE fun down the road. Herding is really hard, in a different way than agility or Rally. I said to Diane I was having a really difficult time with some of it. She said she thinks that not only is herding the most difficult sport to learn, but also very difficult to teach!