Thursday, May 17, 2007

Fun day in the sun

Well I've decided to give herding lessons a real serious try before I surrender. It's been a real struggle to find a trainer that I feel works well with the style of dog that Kess is but that is also able to explain things well to me. Being the type of person I am I seem to be drawn to a challenge (just look at my college experience). I'm doggedly determined to figure out the nuances of sheepdog handling. I think that actually being able to do some real work with your dog is the ultimate translation of the bond between dog and owner. Being able to work with a dog towards a common goal and then suceed is a great feeling. So for everyone who gave me money for agility lessons with Kess for my birthday thanks so much, but I'm going to use it for herding lessons. I want to commit to going once a week for three months and hopefully I'll see some real progress and if not I'll know that I gave it my best effort and we can move on. I just feel that Kess has a lot of natural talent, and that my understanding of animal behavior will increase ten-fold for the experience. I'm always amazed at how the herding instructors can pick up on the smallest hint like the flick of the dogs tail or the set of its ears to tell how it's going to behave. Well that's enough rambling on . . . here's the photos of the day. Still no pictures of Kess I'm going to have to give Nancy a lesson on my camera.


Rekker and Len


Bea and Len

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