Get Back Blanche!

The sheep were cooperative- Blanche's arch nemesis, the brown-headed sheep, was nowhere around.
She's making the sheep stick too close to me by coming too close to them. Hit the ground in front of her with the stick. Her shoulder should be pointed away from the sheep so she makes a wider arc behind and around them. We practiced making turns, and getting her to "Get back!" to avoid splitting the sheep. Had a few good fetches where the sheep walked slowly and were relaxed.
Practicing "steady", where she walks up slowly.

Keeping the dog busy

Last week at herding Blanche was amazing- driving sheep perfectly and keeping them together. I was so proud! Not the same this week. She kept diving into the sheep and splitting them. We had to back up to having her circle them at a good distance so they stay together- something I thought we mastered 3 months ago. I guess it depends on the dog, the sheep, the day, and of course me. But we had fun and she ran off a ton of her six tons of energy.
Here are a few of her "interactive" toys. The Kong Wobbler keeps her busy for about 5 minutes. (Way cheaper on Amazon by the way.) The Nina Ottosson interactive toys are similar to intelligence tests. They make Blanche think, and it took her a few times to figure it out. My other dog still can't lift the pieces to find the treats. Blanche lifts the pieces, then Jack steals the treats. Between the two, they have one brain. 
See the picture of Blanche with her new Kong Genius. It's kept her busy for almost an hour!!

Funny herding video

http://www.xtranormal.com/watch/8239967/

Sheep Can Jump!

Sheep can jump! A reluctant city girl and a neurotic Blue Heeler learn to herd sheep. Some sheep fight back, stomp their feet and head-butt Blanche- belying my belief that they will "go like sheep to the slaughter". I guess it's my and my dog's job to keep them all together to go to the slaughter. They shouldn't worry though, I'm vegetarian. And this is urban herding, where they just go through gates and around corners.

Reflections on our lesson
 Today our good trainer Robyn taught us how to drive sheep in a square figure eight around the arena, Blanche staying between 7 and 9- or 3 and 5- depending on the side she is on. Blanche takes the heavy side, because the sheep want to go toward the gate. We both left feeling successful, unlike last week when I didn't know what to tell Blanche to do and we both ended up frustrated. The sheep were all over the place and I was yelling one contradictory command after another. They'll run if the dog is at 6:00 position because they don't know where she is.

Remember to watch the sheep's heads to tell you where your dog is.