Practice, Practice, Practice

A better picture of view from out sitting area.

      The picture yesterday was just to dark.  The above better shows my favorite view on the place.  On the far side beyond the water is where I do most of my practicing.  Not a lot of room but enough.  A big mistake I tend to always make is extend a dog to far to soon.  It's better to work close longer and insist on proper work close up.  Then the long takes care of itself later.

                                 Teresa summons the Lord of the Pumpkins.

      It's been so hot we're lucky to have anything in the garden.  Pumpkins are planted July 1 for fall harvest here.  It takes faith to plant something when it's so hot and dry.  I have a drip system and they still struggle.  So hot they don't put on blooms.  No blooms no punkins.   Global warming is real.

                               Belle and I visiting Tom Hines at his place Sat.

     Part of my prep for the National Nursery Finals is to hit as many different fields and types of stock at possible before the next thirty days are gone.   I drove up the Hines early this morning.  He's got some wild dorpers that see a dog and take off.  It was a good exercise in self control for me and the dog.  They're not western ewes and don't fight a dog but the dog must learn to stay off them or it's a mess.  Belle started out fine then started tightening up.  Not sure why.   Then after a while started blowing of the commands.  I'm thinking it was stress and pressure.   After several water breaks and rest I was pleased with her overall though as during one stretch she never missed a flank.

     We also practiced working around another dog and pulling the stock off another handler and dog.  It was like the horses.  She just ignored them and did a good job. 

     Plan for next weekend is to go down to Nancy Duley's who has offered to let me practice at her place.  She has one field I can do six hundred yard outruns.  I suspect the nursery nationals won't be more than four hundred.

     I looked at the USBCHA web site and there are 97 nursery dogs entered.  What are my chances of having a good enough run first time out to make the top forty percent.  Mathematically it's 1 in 97.    But that's is all being equal and you draw one.  We all know that the better handler has a better chance.  The better dog has a better chance.   So where will I end up?  I don't know but tension mounts.