Page 19 - Demo

locations. I wanted to expose them to different types of stock and to gauge where we needed to improve our training. I liked that this class was not scored competi- tively, which kept me from feeling pressured to conform to any judge’s opinions on our work.
The next venue we explored was the ASCA started class, which has a similar course flow to the PT with the added pressure of being scored. As a trainer, I was still more interested in developing sound skills for my dogs than what the scores reflected. As a competitor, how- ever, I was happy to note that when I saw the results that I was looking for, the scores reflected the fact that the judge agreed with what we were doing.
I felt that both the dogs were ready to compete in the AKC started class at the 2003 USASA Nationals, and they performed very well all three days. I found it inter- esting that Ace outscored Bonus on almost every run, but the judges usually made some type of comment to me that they thought Bonus was the dog who showed great promise. While I was there, I enjoyed watching talented Aussies in all levels of the trial classes. Unlike ASCA, where the advanced classes have more available points than the started classes, all AKC herding classes have the same number of points available. Therefore, when I watched Leida Jones win High in Trial out of the advanced class with her herding champion, Penn Y Caerau’s Double Vested, I was impressed with how well they worked as a team and was inspired to reach for this goal also.
Because I lived in a suburban area I could not main- tain livestock on my property, so my dogs never had the advantage of being able to train daily or do chore work. To make up for that I had to make sure they were given enough opportunity to develop their skills. In addition to training with Shannon and her flock of mostly hair sheep, I began traveling several hours north to work commercial wool sheep with John Wentz. It was an excellent experience to have my dogs work large flocks of ewes with their lambs. The ewes were naturally protective of their babies and would stand up to a dog if they felt threatened. These sheep were great teachers,
Ace takes the sheep to theY-chute at the 2003 Nationals
Peggy and Ace celebrate after a successful run.
and my dogs had to figure out how to apply enough pressure to move the flock without working too tightly. I enjoyed seeing their confidence grow as they learned they could handle this type of stock. John also helped me introduce the dogs to working cattle, and when Ace realized he could make a cow move, he became much bolder in handling his sheep.
The next summer I bought some call ducks to keep at my home. This truly tested my husband’s patience, but it was the only time I was ever able to train on a daily basis. I learned as much about ducks as my dogs did. The dogs happily worked the ducks every day, compet- ing for the duty of putting them away at night. Once the water froze in the duck tank, I transported them to a local farm family who had agreed to care for them over the winter. I would pack up the dogs and visit my ducks on weekends to continue my training. My dogs enjoyed this time, which is why I believe they have been so suc- cessful working with ducks.
A local Rotary club had asked me to do a demonstra- tion for them with the dogs in the early spring. The night before the demo, I collected my ducks from the farm, clipped their wings, and practiced my routine. I bedded them down in the shelter that had held them the previous summer and went in for the night. The next morning I found that they had all vanished— without any evidence of foul play. Rationally I know that it had to be the work of a predatory animal, but my story will always be that they were abducted by aliens. Shannon saved my demonstration by sending ducks to
November/December 2009 The Australian Shepherd Journal 17