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Location: Scotland
Joined: Nov 2005
Posts: 19,298
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First solo job
Rip and I undertook our first solo mission last week
We were to gather a flock of around 30 blackfaced hoggs and move them from the fields in which they were grazing over two minor roads and up to the hill where they are to spend the summer.
I was nervous but also excited
Rip didn't let me down, he gathered all the hoggs perfectly and brought them to me. He has a slight problem in that he wants to head the sheep all the time and I was hoping to get him to drive the sheep, so I just commanded him to take half flanks and before too long he got the hang of driving.
For those of you who don't know, Rip is a 2 year old part-trained sheepdog that I bought a couple of months ago. He has been trained well to hand and knows his left/right and down commands as well as the "that'll do" command to bring him away from the sheep, however over the past few weeks it has become clear that he has never driven sheep before and it is unlikely he has yet been trained to the whistle - so that will be one of my summer jobs
We made the hill without any stress or fuss and here is a pic of us in action
I think this kind of practical work is what we are both needing much more of (and Moss too) and hopefully we will come on in leaps and bounds once we get stuck in over the summer