First Herding Lesson

    Today was Cooper's first herding lesson. He had a blast!  The place was way out of town in Santa Fe, New Mexico. It was easier to find than I thought it would be considering that the directions said things like, "turn after the stone bridge".  We got there  a bit early so were able to watch a shepherd cross in his very first experience with livestock of any kind. He really wasn't very interested in the sheep much. But when they were finished with their lesson, they asked if they could stay and watch some of Cooper's lesson.  

    What a difference between the two dogs!  The shepherd was real calm and a bit uninterested.  Cooper was far from calm and VERY interested!  He was supposed to sit outside the gate until we had the gate open, then he was to sit inside while we shut the gate. He couldn't sit for more than a second or two and was straining on the leash trying to get to those sheep. They were very wary of the wild one.  I would be too.  We did a couple of "walk-ups" where we walk up to the sheep slowly and when we reach the "bubble" (the invisible line where the sheep notice that the dog is there, but he isn't close enough to make them move), and then Cooper was supposed to sit for a while, calmly.  Then I say "that'll do", and we turn and walk away. It is supposed to help the dog learn control and teach him to not rush in. 

    Cooper evidently doesn't remember that he ever knew how to sit, lie down, or even stop on command. He didn't seem to remember how to walk on a leash either. All he knew was that there were big things that needed chasing. I am not saying that he was constant about rounding them up, but he did seem to want them to be together. 

    We were out there for an hour and fifteen minutes. During that time Cooper became more consistent in going the direction she wanted him to go, but still had trouble stopping at a distance.  By the time we finished, he was exhausted. Normally he dozes in the car.  This time we was completely out. He barely noticed when I stopped at the stop sign. Normally his head would have popped up to see what was going on. I don't think I have seen him this tired before. Ever. 

Cooper's first points

I have been a bit lax in posting to the blog. We have been really busy lately. I have temporarily gone back to work (long story) and Cooper and I went to four day dog shows, two weekends in a row.

Going back to work has been great. I have earned enough to go to more dog shows! Plus, I do love teaching. I did have to take off to go to the dog shows though, so the class had to have a "sub" sub. I only have a few more days left and then I can go back to being semi retired.

We both had a blast at the shows. It has been a long time since I could just go to the shows and just have fun without worrying about finding majors, etc.

At the Alamogordo shows, I met a couple of people I previously had only talked to online before. What nice, helpful people they are! Both have been in the breed for years and had lots of good things to say about Cooper. One is a handler and helped me with grooming tips. He groomed Cooper for me before every show. The other is a judge and breeder. She gave me handling tips and helped me practice with the wild one.

Bottom line: two points earned in Alamogordo by going best of winners on the days there was competition. He got more confident every day.

The following weekend we went to Los Lunas. Again, we had a great time. I took all I learned the previous weekend and he was able to get one more point. This was done without any assistance, so I was thrilled. So, Cooper now has three points. Only 12 more to go!

Cooper gets his certification

It came in a plain white envelope. It almost got thrown away without even being opened. It looked like junk mail. It was a certificate for Cooper's herding title. He is now, Jo-Lyn's Captive Heart, HCT-S. the "S" stands for sheep even though he tested on both sheep and goats. I guess they use whatever was used first. Cooper was excited because he got extra treats. I guess I will have to frame this along with the ribbons he earned.

Cooper missed his herding lesson

Poor Cooper missed his herding lesson a couple of weeks ago.  It could have been worse.

Friday, June 8, 2012, Cooper turned one year old.  In keeping with our tradition, we went down to "No Bones About It" so he could pick out a birthday cookie.  They also have doggy cakes that are frozen, but I didn't show him those.  He picked out a nice little birthday cake shaped cookie and we also got some of the soft cookie for him and Sadie to share when we got home.  We decided to walk up and down the street and do some window shopping in the little stores of Midtown.  We noticed some smoke up by the ski area and immediately knew there was a fire!  It looked pretty small at the time, but because of where it was burning, I figured that there might some problems heading out for the herding clinic the next day.  They will sometimes close various roads because of smoke, so I decided we would leave a little bit earlier just in case we couldn't take the short cut and had to go the longer route.

I got everything ready to go on Friday night.  I brushed Cooper (no bath since he would be playing in the dirt).  The things that could be loaded into the Jeep were loaded (water, umbrella, chairs, bowl and treats for Cooper, sunscreen for me, etc.) and we went to bed early.  We got up very early and left the house at 5:00 Saturday morning.  I figured it would take a little over 2 hours to get there and it started at 8, so I had plenty of time.

It was really smoky.  Still, we live in a resort area that has had more than its share of forest fires in the past years.  Smoke doesn't necessarily mean that the fire is close.  So, off we went.  We got to the intersection at highway 48 and the police had a roadblock.  They said we couldn't go that way.  I never thought they would close that road, I thought they might close the road at the next turnoff.  Talking to another driver at the road block, I discovered that he had been evacuated from his home about 30 minutes before and he said that he thought homes had burned already.  I "could" have turned around and gone a different way around the fire area, but that would have taken at least an hour longer, maybe more.   Plus, there was no way of knowing at the time exactly how large the fire was, where it was or how close to the house.  So, I just went home.

We had no phone or cell service that first day.  The smoke was very thick.  The flames looked to be over 100 ft tall and you tell it was moving fast.  We had winds of over 50 mph on both Saturday and Sunday which made fighting the fire even harder.

To date over 38,000 acres have burned and the fire is 60% contained.  254 structures have burned (242 commercial and residential buildings and 12 outbuildings).  They are still fighting the fire with air tankers and helicopters and on the ground.  We had over 2,000 personnel fighting as well as over 200 National Guard members.  Most of the people that were evacuated have been allowed to return home.  The Red Cross and other organizations are helping those in need.

Fire is very fickle.  It will burn one house to the ground, leaving nothing behind but ashes and leave the house next door untouched.  This has been a year for records here in New Mexico.  We have one fire that has been burning for over a month now that has burned almost 300,000 acres.  It is the largest fire in New Mexico history.  Our fire here has burned 254 structures, the most in New Mexico history.  These are records you don't want to have.

Cooper is a Herding Dog?!

When I got to Albuquerque for the dog show, I parked in the back.  It is pretty close to the building and usually gets shade at some point during the day.  I noticed when I parked that there was title sign with an arrow near where I was parked.  After we showed, I was returning to my car and decided to check out what the sign was for.  It said "Herding" and had an arrow to the building I was parked in front of.  I thought it would be a herding demonstration so I went in.  They were doing "Herding Instinct Tests".  The keeshond is in the Non-Sporting group in AKC so I wasn't sure if he would even qualify to take the test.  They are an accepted breed in the Herding Breed Association, so I let them talk me into having him tested.  I just thought that it would be funny to watch.

Historically speaking, the keeshond has been used for centuries as an all around dog.  Primarily in Holland, it is used as a barge dog and a farm dog.  In Germany, it is used mostly as a farm dog.  Its duties include herding the livestock, keeping rats and other vermin out of the barn, babysitting the kids and keeping the farmer  warm at night.  As a companion, the kees just did everything that the farmer did.  So, I am not sure why I was surprised at how well he did on the herding instinct test.  He evidently has generations of herding in his genes.

I did not go into the ring with Cooper.  I handed him off to the person in the ring and I hid behind the bleachers so he couldn't see me.  It didn't occur to me that I could go into the ring with him, because the ones I watched, that is how they did it.  He looked for me right at first, then the lure of the sheep was too strong and off he went!  It looked to me that he was just chasing those sheep around the ring, but, I did notice that he wanted them to be all together and when one would break away from the pack, he would go get it and bring it back to the group.  I didn't know enough about herding to know whether he passed or not, but when it was finished, they told he passed!  One person told me he was "Phenomenal."  I still wasn't sure that was a good thing until the judge talked to me and told me how well he had done.  It takes two "legs" to qualify for a Herding Instinct title, so I signed up for the next day.

On Sunday, I again parked in the same lot and Cooper was excited from the time we got there.  He wanted to get in to see those sheep!  I had to practically drag him to where he was supposed to be showing.  After he showed in conformation, I took him back to do the second day of herding.  He was soooo excited!  This time there were goats in the ring.  Again, I handed him off to the person in the ring only this time he never looked for me, he just took off.  He rounded up those goats, he changed direction when the handler told him to and kept his flock in a tight bunch.  All very good things.  Plus, he was having a blast!  Again, everyone there told me how well he had done (and how cute he is).  I think the sheep and goats were a bit confused about that little grey fluff ball bouncing around after them.

Monday came and again we parked in the same lot.  Cooper wanted to go see those sheep and goats, but they weren't there anymore :(  He looked for them for two days and couldn't understand where they went.

I think this is something we are going to pursue.  He loves it and he does need something new.  He is so smart and I think he will learn quickly.  I will take him this weekend to a clinic.  It will be his actual first time to have any instruction.  Hopefully I will get some good pictures.

Albuquerque Dog Show

Two weeks before the big show in Albuquerque, Cooper decided it was a good time to loose most of his puppy coat.  I hate the puppy coat because it is hard to comb and take care of.  It is wooly and soft.  But, I thought he was really looking good for the show until he lost it all.  But, we packed up and left at 6 am for four days of showing.  It was just Cooper and I.  We got to the fair grounds with plenty of time to spare.  I parked in the back lot near the sheep barns (more on that later).  Took out the grooming table and fluffed as much as I could considering he had no undercoat and off we went.  Cooper had to pee on every tree we passed, but that meant he wouldn't have to go once we got inside.  We had to wait a bit, but not too long.  We visited with friends and saw some people we haven't seen in a long time.  The ones from Colorado that were at the Denver shows were surprised at how much Cooper had grown.  He actually had grown about an inch or more in the last few weeks, but didn't gain any weight to go with the extra height.  So he was a bit thin.  He showed pretty good, let the judge go over him and look at his bite without too much wiggling.  He gets better at every show.  He didn't get anything (well, first in his class, but he was the only one).  We met my mom at a restaurant for dinner and then went to my brother's concert.  He sings with the Westside Concert Chorale.  It was a great concert.  Cooper would have loved it, but he had to stay in the car.

Sunday was more of the same.  We left the motel with plenty of time, got to the fair grounds, fluffed and he showed better than he did the day before.  The results were the same.  On Monday, he showed even better and got Reserve, but on Tuesday, even though I thought he showed even better than he had the other days, he didn't get anything again.  The puppy took Winners all four days.  I think it was because he was the only dog with any coat.  The other dog that was being shown had lost his coat like Cooper had.  Plus, Cooper was a bit thin because of his growth spurt.

All in all, we both had a great time.  We got to mingle with other people with the same interests, we got to visit with my Mom and my son took me out to lunch for Mother's Day.  I did some shopping which is always a good thing, even if you don't buy much.  I learned the things I need to work with Cooper on the most for him to do better at the shows.  It was good to get back home though.  Now, to find another show to go to that isn't too far away.

UKC Show

Grandma had been wanting for me to take her to visit her cousin in Paris, TX. Cooper and I wanted to try our hand at showing at a UKC show. When I found that there would be four shows in Paris, it was like the planets became aligned. There was a lot of planning involved. Because I wasn't completely sure that the trip would happen, I didn't pre-enter the shows. You can enter the day of the show in UKC so that worked best for me. Cooper didn't have a UKC registration number either, so I had to apply for a temporary number. It was easy to do over the phone. He got the temporary number and now all his points that he earned will transfer over to a permanent number at a later date. I probably could have just applied for the permanent number, but I really didn't think there would be enough time.

After the final decision of the time frame (Mom comes down here on Wednesday, we leave on Thursday, arrive in Paris on Friday), it was packing time. I was told that UKC shows are much more laid back, but that didn't help me in deciding what to take. The weather there had been in the 80's and really humid with lots of rain. I decided on taking pants with tops both summery and some a bit warmer, just in case. I packed all the grooming stuff and Cooper's stuff and we were ready. I packed Mom's trunk with her stuff, my stuff and Cooper's stuff. She had brought some fruit for us to eat and was planning on putting it in the back seat. I said that was where Cooper was riding, so we put that in the trunk as well.

And, we're off! (thank goodness for GPS) Cooper rides well and was immediately asleep. We stopped in Lubbock to eat and potty and continued on our merry way. We got as far as Gainesville, TX and stopped for the night. We called for directions to a Motel 6 south of town. It was new and about 10 miles out from where we were. The room was very big. It had 2 queen size beds and a large flat screen TV. There was plenty of room for Cooper to run and play. What a nice place! We left early the next morning and was in Paris by noon. I drove out to the show grounds just to make sure I knew the way. It was only a few minutes from my mom's cousin's house.

I went out to the show grounds to enter for the shows. It was relatively painless. Just fill out the form, put in the temporary number I received over the phone and pay the money. Easy Peasy! I was told to be back at 10. There were 2 shows each day. I mistakenly thought that one show would finish and then they would start the second show. Boy did I have a lot to learn. The show started almost straight at 10 like they said. There was no ring times, however. They just put up a schedule of the breeds entered and the order they would show. Cooper was in the Northern Group, which was after Juniors, Terriers, Guardians and Gun Dogs. There are a lot of breeds in UKC that are not in AKC, so I saw some dogs I had never seen before. Like the Spanish Water Dog. It looks kind of like the Portuguese Water Dog, but is is not combed out and is left all curly. They evidently come in a lot of different colors. As the morning wore on, I noticed that as soon as a breed finished in one ring, they would go into the second ring with another judge. So, they did both shows simultaneously. After all breeds in one group had shows, they did group judging. At times I was really confused as to what was going on, but everyone else seems to think things were going very smoothly. Of course, they decided to take a lunch break right before my group so we had to wait some more.

Cooper goes into the ring like a pro. This is, of course, his third time at a show. The judges all wanted me to show them the bite rather than handling the mouth themselves. That worked out best for me. Cooper stacked and remained still while I show the bite and the judge went over him. He got first in his class, Best Male, and Best of Breed. Three ribbons! Of course, he was the only keeshond there, but still. Then into the group where he got Second to a cute little Eskie. He got a nice red and black rosette ribbon. Next, we went into the ring and did it all over again with the same results, except he got second in group to a different eskie.

Sunday seemed easier since I knew what to expect. Of course, the weather couldn't cooperate two days in a row. It was raining. It really came a downpour during the night and there was water standing everywhere. The show site was a concrete slab under a cover, so was pretty dry. It was, however, really wet in the parking lot and there was no dry place for Cooper to potty. Not that the little mud puppy minded. He would have loved it if I had just let him go play in all that wet grass. He looked great. The coolness and the humidity made his coat look even better than it had the day before. The results from the two shows were the same as Saturday, but the judges both said some very nice things about him. The second judge asked me to show to her again when he got older. She said he was "Stunning!"

All in all, we had a great time. My mom got to visit relatives that she doesn't get to see very often. I got to do something I had never done before and meet some very nice people. Cooper had a blast and got to play with some cute little dogs. He got a new toy to celebrate his wins that he just loves. We saw lots and lots of wildflowers. I have heard about how pretty the Bluebonnets are this time of year in east Texas, but have never seen them before. How beautiful they were! Plus, there were lots of other types of flowers that we didn't know what were.