KKnx clinic Feb

Kathy Knx clinic up in Arlington, WA. Feb 23/13. We worked Jill in the round pen, she's too green and so am I to work in the open field yet. There are NO fences out there! Better to be safe in a round pen.

So I started off in the morning and was very nervous.  Jill did her typical lets run straight for the sheep and they got stuck in a corner, where neither she nor I could get them out.  OK, here's what I should have done.  Take her on leash first, walked around the sheep to get them to move off that corner, then let her go. But being nervous, my brain wasn't working.

I let Kathy take over. Issues are:

1. On her first flank she always heads straight towards the sheep
2. She is not listening to me with her brain as we enter the ring.
3. She will pull and tug and almost jerk me on leash trying to get into the arena

First thing was to get control of the brain. Kathy made sure she didn't get her sheep when she didn't get out.  She also showed me how to snap the leash on her to 'wake' her up. Kathy worked her both times Saturday and in the morning Sunday.  I took over Sunday afternoon session.

I always learn better watching someone else work, getting the idea firmly planted in my head, then giving it a go.  I did pretty well, I think. I also think that Jill was responding to my corrections. It helped that we walked in on leash and stayed on leash until her body softened a bit. She was still very tight, but not as much. Great improvement.