So today we added an insurance PT leg.

Getting Yoshi his PT has been a 4 year adventure - I am so proud of him.

Normally in AKC herding a dog will get their Herding Tested title (HT - the first level title) and then train some additional stay and penning skills for a few weeks or months and can then move on to the AKC Pre-Trial level which is the higher of the two "Test" levels.  Getting the PT is usually not the big deal that it was for us.   But we had some side trips.

The biggest one is that he has some huge behavioral issues having to do with other dogs in the vicinity.  So the most major side trip was not really a side trip at all.  We learned a ton about Control Unleashed exercises (Leslie McDevitt is a training genius, so is Kienan Brown) and just about every useful behavioral theory we could decipher, and I have made him rather [in]famous with his training videos.  Ironically the most popular video is the "before" Control Unleashed though the "after" one does well also.

Just to get him to the point where he could be in a trial or training environment without having a meltdown has been a years long process.  His activities are still limited to where he's either on leash or in a fence, but I haven't given up on that though I won't try it unless I know he'll be ok.

We have had a ton of obedience and rally training also he's a regular at a higher end obedience training class even though he may never get into the ob. ring (he might do Rally Novice).  He is a clicker fiend.  I consulted with a hit parade of training professionals in various states and at various conventions and seminars.  He has inspired me to learn a huge amount about observing and understanding dog behavior and language which will serve me for the rest of my life.  (If you have a dog who is unsure around people and you see me and I'm not racing off somewhere just ask me to spend some time with your dog - I love doing it and people tell me they love watching their dog be ok around a person.)

I also had to learn how to be a herding handler (I used a handler for his HT, but he has made it clear that I have to be the handler now).  Herding handling is something that I'm still learning and it's probably one of those things you never master.  And similar to: it's easier to learn to ride a horse if you start with a mellow, mature, solid, trail horse, than if you start with a young, high strung, Thoroughbred, learning herding with a highly driven, speed demon who is fearful, really is starting in over your head.  Herding is by far the hardest dog sport I've ever done and I've competed at the National level in dog agility.  You find that it's really nice that the agility obstacles don't usually move on their own.

Because I was learning, we also worked at the AHBA JHD level and earned that title as well.  (If you've never competed in AHBA, try it - it's loads of fun.)

Somewhere in there was a weeks long process of getting him to STOP!!! and STAY.  That stay in the video where I walk out of the frame and he's sitting there (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Rcqww1qoI) makes me cry.

So now what?  Well the natural would be to start training him for the Herding Started trial level (and the equivalent level in AHBA,) but it's a huge leap up to the trial level rather than the test level.  "Test" sheep are hand picked to be less flighty.  These are professional sheep with hard jobs of teaching dogs herding.  They have to be tolerant of barky, excited newbie dog who might bite them (despite efforts to keep this from happening).  They are usually smarter as they have to know not to crash into a fence when a dog is chasing after them.  Trial sheep are a whole 'nuther flock of sheep entirely.  Your average sheep is nervous and worries about not being in a large flock (instead of a small group of 3-5), and how "light" or "heavy" the sheep are is the subject of tons and tons of herding conversations, and Yoshi however talented he is is nervous around sheep and the more nervous the sheep are the worse he is.  so the answer to that question is I don't know yet, though we will be trying to make spending time around sheep no big deal.

I'm writing this as I want to thank all of you for the wonderful amount of support that you've given me over this period of time.

Ellen Clary
and Yoshi PT JHD
and Trek HCT (and a bunch of agility titles.)
The Yoshi Training Diary: http://frap.org/Yoshi/yoshi_training_diary.html
Our You Tube site (most of the herding videos are unlisted, but the training ones are visible)
http://youtube.com/ellenclary#g/u

Mr. "man, look at those legs go" Yoshi finished his PT today.

I think that's the scribe you can here say that on the video which you
can find here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=13Rcqww1qoI

He would like to thank his trainers and all the people who've given him
attention, skritches, and of course treats.
I would like to thank all the kind ears I've bent and shoulders I've
cried on.

Ellen Clary
and Yoshi PT JHD
and Trek HCT

Greetings,

So I've concluded that the only way to really prepare for competing under Hazel is to train under Hazel which precludes competing under Hazel.

After Lori's class today I realize that if I were to put Trek into Novice with only training from me and the few of Lori's classes that she's been to that what I would end up with is very likely a very clever and novel NQ.  She's very bright and talented, but doesn't have enough mileage to know that however  creative and tempting it might seem, doing a recall into Mozart's empty crate is not considered part of the plan - even if it has a cool toy in it :)

So expect to start seeing Trek in Wed Drop in from time to time.

Ellen and Trek (But it was just sitting there!)

Others can answer this far better, but there is a world of difference 
between PT and Started.

I almost wish there was a "Graduate" level of PT.


Pre Trial
scoring is pass/fail
the judge is allowed to help you and offer advice
the sheep are carefully screened to be the kind that stay with the 
handler ("test sheep")
you can walk in on leash
Once you release your dog for the outrun and have gathered the sheep
the herding is all along the fence  (usually easier - it's just hell for 
us, but that's just us)
the stock has to go in between a panel and the fence in both far corners.


Started
scoring is point based
the judge does not help you
the stock can be much more flighty and may run away if the dog isn't 
holding them to the handler ("trial sheep")
you walk in with the dog off leash
once you release your dog for the outrun and have gathered the sheep 
(much more difficult with light sheep)
the stock has to go up the center of the arena to a cone
then they go towards the fence and go through 3 obstacles
  - a Y chute
  - a Z chute
  - an set of panels (the turns into a pen at the higher levels)
Then (you're not done yet) they turn and go through two other panels 
(similar to AHBA JHD course), then continue on to a marked place on the 
fence and then turn for the pen.