30
July
2007
Saturday - 3 trails in the sheep-field near the house.
Jon was our trail-layer, armed with tape to check wind-direction and a couple of kongs on ropes. The first trail, about 50m, was just into the field, from the forest area. There were no sheep in sight but plenty of sheep-droppings. I was very pleased to see that, while she had the scent of the trail in her nose, Mist lost all interest in the sheep poo 
. The wind was variable, which wasn’t helpful, but Mist seemed to cope fine, so we continued. The second trail was towards the broken wall at the top of the slope. A path runs parallel to the path, and I was a bit concerned that there may be fresh trails there, but even though Jon his behind a boulder nearby, she didn’t show any interest in the path. Again, sheep-droppings were ignored in favour of finding Jon 
The third trail went from the other side of the same broken wall, towards the houses. This time there were sheep within a few metres of the trail both at the beginning and while we tracked. Mist was a little distracted (naturally 
) at the start, but once she got the scent of where Jon had gone it was nose down and tracking was first in her mind. At one point a sheep came towards us, inquisitively, and stopped only about 2metres from the trail. Mist stopped and looked at it, but since it only stood still, she carried on and fortunately the trail end was not far away, so she received her reward promptly.
I was very pleased that she was still able to concentrate in the presence of sheep - and they’re not shy sheep there! Hopefully, we can train lots there this ’summer’ until the sheep are taken in, and get her to consider them as part of the landscape rather than objects to chase….. we’ll see.
Sunday - 2 trails in sheep-field near house
Again, the wind was blowing in every possible direction - not really strong, but enough to make planning trail-laying in open terrain on top of a hill perhaps a bit of a gamble. With hindsight I think we should have just stayed in the forest, but I was so keen to train near sheep…. 
The first trail Jon walked was from the marshy area near the forest/houses and up towards the broken wall/path. Since it was Sunday lunchtime, I suspected there may have been / be people on the hill, so didn’t want to cross the path. However, over the radio Jon told me that there was nowhere else to hide except behind a rock the other side of the path. I really didn’t want her to get confused with other, potentially fresh, tracks, so I asked him to retrace his steps back to the juniper bush which was only about 30m from the start. Better to succeed on a short one, than it all go wrong at the end of a 60m trail. He moved back, and told me he was ready. Then just as we were starting he told me there were people coming off the hill. We were already about to go, so I said we’d continue and see how it went. I’m as impatient as my dog Still, we set off, and it was clear that Mist was finding it much more difficult today. Perhaps because of the wind (although it was windy on Saturday too)… who knows 
. When she was on track it was clear that she was on track. When she wasn’t, she ate sheep poo. Grrrr! Then a family of four appeared on the horizon and her tail started to wag…. at them, not the tracking. So I stood still, held the line still, and said nothing. They must have been 40m+ away, passing right in front of Jon’s original hiding place (so at least that had been a correct decision). Once it was obvious that they weren’t going to come to play, Mist continued with the job in hand, and found Jon very shortly afterwards. Yippee! Not the best job, but a learning experience nontheless…. for me, too! I think perhaps sheep, wind and people as distractions at her age/experience level is a bit much. Slapped wrist for me - I will plan better in future, and must be more willing to give up and start again. Still, could have been worse .
Trail number two was equally ’so-so’. It started the other side of the path/broken wall, and went diagonally down to some trees by the wall/fence. There were lots of sheep on this side, many within 5-10m of the trail. I asked Jon to try to move the closest ones away, but of course their curiosity drew them back as soon as we appeared. Mist took a while to get started, clearly distracted somewhat by the presence of all these sheep, but then set off in the right direction. After about 10-15m she stopped up to watch the closest sheep. There wasn’t anything I could do. If I tried to move the sheep away, I might encourage Mist to chase it away and I didn’t want to physically pull her away as she was obviously concerned about the sheep and needed to work things out in her own time. In the end I called gently, and she came back and right at that moment got a gust of wind from Jon’s direction (ok, so air-scenting, but at that point it was welcome) and remembered what she was doing. Nose back in the right direction, although not completely on the floor, she found the trail again and found her reward. Jon and I took a kong each and ran in different directions for her to run back and forth between us - she enjoys it, and gets some energy out of her system.
So…..next time…. I will take more consideration of the wind, especially if it’s changing direction 180deg within a 50m trail (!) and other potential distractions and plan to address one thing at a time
Posted: Tracking / Spor
27
July
2007
Some pics from our ‘environment training’ the other night, followed by meeting Trofast the bloodhound….. another new friend
Mist is quite confident on all sorts of surfaces, but still doesn’t much like being picked up and put on higher surfaces - once she’s up there, though, it’s not a problem. We were lucky to find lots of different things to practice on, in a completely open area with no people around…. except for a couple of guys with remote-controlled cars whizzing around at breakneck speed - even better training for Mist to see fast-moving objects and not chase them
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Another giant friend….. meet Trofast
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Has Trofast really got Mist’s foot in his mouth? 
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I’ve told you, lie still, you need a good wash!
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That’s better
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Guess who was tired that evening
Posted: Miscellaneous / Diverse, Socialising & Environment Training / Miljøtrening
25
July
2007
Sviland - warmish, a little wind (variable direction), dry
3 short trails on the gravel area. 2 consecutive, and the other an hour or so later.
1. FrodeS laid the trail and lay at the end. Straight, along gravel track - Frode hid on the bank down to the little stream. We watched him from the bottom of the steep track down to the gravel area (20metres?) as he set off. Trail about 40m? length. There was some headwind so definitely some air-scent to help, and the last 10m or so she wasn’t tracking at all. Puppy kong on rope (+ one of Frode’s pup’s toys, since Mist wouldn’t bring the kong back - best to have 2).
2. Kai-Erik laid a trail along the gravel parallel to the stream, towards the forest, and after crossing a (tiny) stream, turned 90deg left and up into the long grass/open area. Mist found the turn no problem and was very clear about where she wanted to go. ~60m? length (must make a note to get a better idea of length of trails!).
Both these first trails, Mist was very keen while she had to wait to start, and worked well with her nose down, only lifting her head for the air-scent when there was very clearly a direct headwind. She managed a 90deg turn (first time we’ve tried that) and terrain change - very good!
3. We waited at the top of the steep track down to the gravel area while Krissi went down and walked a trail along the gravel and sand tracks in the nearest area. Mist pulled like a train to get down there to start! I knew where Krissi had started and the direction she’d headed in, but I thought she was going to turn off to the left into the forest to end the trail, so when Mist didn’t go that way, I started to have doubts. But it was so clear that she was following something, I trusted her and followed. And she was right Krissi had carried on round the corner of the sandy track and had hidden in behind the bushes on the right.
I think now I need to start to increase the time between trail-laying and starting tracking. Hoping to try some trails in sheep-terrain at the weekend…
Posted: Tracking / Spor
22
July
2007
Decided to enjoy the nice weather with a run around Melsvatnet, collecting a few points for the NRH O-Cup. In fact, they were definitely the fastest points I’ve got so far! 140 points in 70minutes! It was meant to be 150, but for the last few I folded the map badly and didn’t see one of them Mist got a good blast in the forest first - we walked along from the carpark to a peninsula where the main path didn’t go, so I let her off lead and we played in the forest and by the lake. She almost swam! She loved playing around in the water and wasn’t at all hesitant about going out until the water was past her tummy and she was almost floating. I don’t think it’ll be long before she wants to swim, but there’s no rush - wet dogs smell and Jon doesn’t like wet-dog-smell 
I bought her some bouncy balls yesterday (oops! I’m not supposed to buy her more toys :??) - only about 5-6cm diameter, so more suitable for her current size - and they were a big hit. I want to teach her to bring the ball back to be thrown again, without having to swap for another - it’s ok for the learning phase, but only needing one would halve the number of toys I have to carry around. Her ‘takk’ (thankyou, i.e. drop it) command works quite well and she was very good at bringing the ball right back. I did have the other one in my other hand, ready, in case, but didn’t really need it. When we weren’t playing, I changed direction lots in the forest, to keep her paying attention to where I was. She is no ‘velcro dog’ but her range is a lot shorter than Thule’s at the same age. It’s only when she gets tired and starts zooming round, tail tucked under her bum, out of control, that she seems to forget she needs to keep an eye on me. At that stage I normally put her on the lead to avoid any incidents with other people, dogs etc. - not that i have much control of her in the presence of others anyway, but I definitely wouldn’t have any at all at that point.
Having begun to learn tracking, Mist has her nose glued to the ground as soon as we walk on a path where others have recently been She’ll probably give up when she realises she never finds anyone that way (I need to make sure she doesn’t!). She also sits hopefully, ears back and tail wagging whenever anybody comes in our direction. What is interesting is that she often stays sitting until after they’ve passed and only then lunges at them on the lead - ‘herding’ behaviour or just a last-minute change of tack to try to get their attention. What’s good is that if they don’t pay any attention she immediately looks at me, for which she usually gets something. As she gets older I’ll work more on this - see people => look at Helen (as opposed to see people => look as cute as possible and jump in their face if they get anywhere near). At the moment it’s finding the right balance between encouraging her love of people (essential for SAR work) and tempering her enthusiasm to give everyone she meets a snog
After my run, back at the carpark, I almost managed to negate all the feeling good about having been for a run, the nice weather etc. ….. by locking the car key in the car I’d left the boot open a bit when I went for my run, so that Mist would have some fresh air. When I got back I’d lifted the boot without unlocking the car, and had placed the keys in the boot while I had something to eat and changed my shoes etc. Ready to go, I closed the boot Aaargh! My house key, mobile phone, money, everything….. including Mist, who would not have lasted long if the sun had continued to shine, and had moved round so the car was no longer in the shade Fortunately, I’d left some windows open a little. Although I couldn’t reach in to open the door, with the help of a kind man who had been intending to go for a walk with his family, I managed to find a suitable stick and he was able to lever the handle open. Phew! 
Just shows how easy it is to break into a car even with the windows open only a couple of centimetres. But I was very grateful today
Posted: Orienteering / Orientering
21
July
2007
Vigreskogen - warm and dry (at last!), some rain later (after our training session), changeable wind - both direction and strength
The plan today was to teach Mist that it doesn’t matter what it looks like, as long as it smells like a humanbeing! So, off went Sylvelin with a camouflage jervenduk/shelter, Johannes with a mosquito net and Hugo with a green scarf over his head (looking as if he should be carrying a gun as well), to hide in the forest!
Sylvelin sporting the latest in jervenduks…
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Johannes with this season’s favourite……. the mosquito net!
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A few minutes later, Mist and I were called in - all were in place and ready. After a quick attempt at tracking down her bodies* by following the trail along the main path , we set off into the forest in the hope of using air-scenting to find them. The wind was so changeable that it was hard to select the right direction to search - best is at 90degrees to the wind direction. Anyway, after walking almost full circle around Sylvelin, Mist picked up the scent and charged in. No worries that Sylvelin was actually just a strange camouflage-coloured shape on the ground - human scent was enough to get Mist’s bottom wiggling as she climbed all over in an attempt to find a way in I’m not sure Sylvelin needed the two Ikea spider soft-toys as a reward - a lying-down body is reward enough…… the opportunity to lick a face and stick her tongue in an ear is rewarding enough
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Next was Hugo, on the more vegetated side of the main path. We had to walk almost full circle around him in order for Mist to pick up the scent, but when she did there was no hesitation - she ran wiggling as fast as she could to get to him. He kept the scarf over his face, and didn’t speak to her, but played with the bite-leather - I don’t think Mist’s play was as enthusiastic as when the body is also active and moving, but she was certainly happy to be there and wasn’t phased by the strange appearance.
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Last was Johannes and since we didn’t know exactly where he was I wanted to make sure we didn’t pass too close, so walked quite a way towards the end of the path (towards the road) before turning to go at right angles to and across the main path. Before we got to the path, Mist suddenly lifted her head and raced off into the trees. Johannes must have been 40m or so from us and she didn’t hesitate to go and check out the scent once she had it. Great! Another fun training session
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We left after lunch (2ish), as I’ve run out of dogfood, and the shop was only open until 3! Afterwards we went to the sheep field and did some anti-sheep training again. It’s quite annoying that whenever we stay still, there’s always at least one sheep that is inquisitive enough to want to come right up to us. I want them to keep their distance as a) it would allow Mist to concentrate on me and b) that’s what normal sheep do , or else they run away. We managed to get away from the most friendly bunch and found a place where we were looking downhill towards lots of sheep with one or two within 20m. At that distance Mist was happy to play - when they come closer, she clearly feels she needs to concentrate on the sheep instead. I don’t think she’s either scared of them, nor that she wants to chase necessarily, but is unsure of what to do so needs to watch them. Hopefully, I’ll manage to train the sheep to accept our presence without bothering us, at the same time as training Mist to accept their presence
The other challenge is keeping Mist from eating her own body weight in sheep poo The best method is to run around, so she follows me and doesn’t have time to stop and eat. I had planned to just have her sit quietly and reward her for staying put and not going towards the sheep, but it doesn’t work - she can’t concentrate on me when there’s sheep poo within reaching distance, and even squeezy cheese is struggling to compete. Maybe I need to fill a squeezy cheese tube with sheep poo instead
Still, despite all this - she is being exposed to sheep and without the opportunity to chase (she’s on a 5m lead which I let trail on the ground), so I’m hoping it must be doing some good. Hugo advised me to get someone else to help out, and let Mist play with them, so she learns that people + sheep = fun games with people. Even recall training between Jon and me would probably work, as she loves running between us.
I drove round to the farm again, to ask permission to have her loose in a field with sheep (I’m assuming they own those sheep, and that they have some idea about dogs since they have a number of border collies themselves), but there was noone home again. It’s July!
* body = figurant = hiding person….. figurant sounds great in Norwegian, odd in English but previously I couldn’t think of anything better. Having just been looking at the SARDA (UK Search and Rescue Dog Association) website, I’ve decided the English version ‘body’, while a bit macabre sounding, is marginally better and will have to do…
Posted: Socialising & Environment Training / Miljøtrening, Airscenting / Overvær
18
July
2007
Sviland - not very warm, VERY wet - both underfoot and pouring from the sky 
A little breeze.
So where was everyone??? Ok, so it was pouring with rain and has been for the past 2-3days, but still…… excuses, excuses
Only Krissi, Johannes and I turned up at Sviland Wednesday evening. First, I took Mist out for a quick run around, and soon met Krissi with Lara, so we continued with them for a bit of a walk. Mist tried to be very playful with Lara, but she was not interested, and soon told Mist so . So Mist continued to run around like a mad thing, but kept a little more distance, only occasionally testing to see if this time Lara would want to play - uh, no! It’s good to socialise with dogs that don’t want to play as well as those who do, as Mist learns that it’s not every dog that is desperate to chase and jump and be generally silly. It also gives me a chance to work on recall in the presence of other dogs, but we’re not quite at that stage yet!
Krissi and Johannes both wanted to train rundering, with figurants and articles (my beaten-up, ready to collapse, camping stool - which I really should replace….. using it as an article for the dogs to find is just about all it’s good for these days ). Krissi went first, along the path into the open forest over the stream. Stream? It was a RIVER I’ve never seen so much water at Sviland before. It was a couple of metres along the path, and the logs that usually are completely dry above the trickle of water were practically floating. Fortunately I got a helping hand from Krissi or Johannes to cross each time - I don’t know why my balance is so unbelievably bad whenever there’s water around…. something to do with vertigo? but despite having pretty good balance on a bike, running etc. I only have to look at moving water to be drawn inexplicably towards it Still, I had my wellies on and managed to stay dry. Krissi rundered up as far as the beginning of the steep descent to the forest road/farm and back the same way, then Johannes chose to use the same midline/path but continued down to the forest road. Very kind to their figurants! Hiding in the forest there is a lot (relatively) drier than wading through waist-deep grass/undergrowth and sitting in thick vegetation to be landed on by an equally wet dog!
I hadn’t entirely decided what I wanted to train - initially I’d thought of setting up something with different types of figurants - someone in a jervenduk (poncho/thin tarpaulin type thing), someone with an umbrella, someone standing up, someone walking. But with such awful weather I didn’t think people would necessarily feel so hugely enthusiastic, and it may have required some extra effort on the part of the figurants if Mist was a bit spooked. So we’ll leave that for a sunny day where people can be comfortable rolling around on the ground and having fun with a puppy!
We had two short trails in the gravel quarry area instead. And it went very well Johannes was the trail-layer, walked about 50-60m (I think - I can never judge it when I’m concentrating on the dog!) and lay at the end of the trail each time. Krissi watched to see where he went so that she could direct me if Mist got really off-track, and Mist got a visual cue in seeing Johannes walk out of sight from about 10-20metres. She was very keen! She jumped around, whining, straining at her lead, interspersed with looking desperately up at me - please let me start….. When we did start, I walked her to within a couple of metres of where Johannes had passed, swapped her lead for the tracking line and let her find the trail. She already seems to have learnt that when I get the tracking line out she has to wait for it to be put on before she will be allowed to start. It’s good to try to have the same routine each time. The first trail led along the gravel track then up a sandy track and round a corner. Johannes had had to hide in the ditch at the side of the track, and Mist lost the trail at this point. Her happily wagging tail dropped and she stood and whined helplessly - it was so clear she’d lost the trail and was very disappointed!! It didn’t take long for her to backtrack a little, and find where Johannes had gone off into the ditch!
The second trail was along a gravel track onto the gravel/tarmac area where we often train obedience, through a few metres with water a good few centimetres deep, along more gravel and into the vegetation at the side of the open area. Although she went off-track and towards the stream a couple of times (it was quite open and there was a breeze so she almost certainly just had air-scent in her nose), Mist used her nose on the ground and got back on track very quickly. I was really pleased to see that crossing the water didn’t phase her in the slightest and she didn’t lose the trail - there was some vegetation in the water and bits of tarmac/gravel showing so there was obviously still enough scent to follow. In the last 10m or so along the edge of the open tarmac/gravel area she weaved a bit, but kept working and picked up the trail again to find Johannes hiding just into the woods at the end. Yippee It was good to see that she has started to bring back the bite-leather to continue playing, rather than just running off with it. I’ve been working on this at home with various ‘tug’ toys, but it’s great to practice outdoors with other people, in more exciting situations too. Johannes was clearly exciting enough for Mist to want to continue the game
So, all went as planned . I wanted to try tracking in different types of terrain as early as possible, rather than progress lots with tracking in the forest and then begin again in other types of location. I thought that, while she is still getting quite strong visual cues, it’s a good time to teach her that this ‘game’ can be played in all sorts of places. Seems to have worked so far
Next step - more gravel/tarmac tracking, perhaps at Sviland again as long as there’s not too much wind. Find other places in other terrain - is the sheep field pushing it too far? May try when Jon’s home again….. would be great desensitisation training as well, but not sure she wouldn’t just track from one pile of sheep poo to the next . Gradually increase distance from Mist to her visual cue.
Posted: Tracking / Spor
16
July
2007
Well, Hønefoss anyway! It certainly felt like we’d travelled to the Far East and back. Jon had two orienteering races in Hønefoss and Larvik on Friday/Saturday and asked me if I wanted to go along and have a long weekend away. The sweetener was that Thule lives in Larvik and we could go to visit I agreed, without any idea where Hønefoss is - I thought Larvik was a long way (6+hours)…… Hønefoss is even further!
We drove to Setesdal on Thursday evening and stayed overnight at Flateland Camping - a really nice spot in fantastic surroundings. It was a pity really that we weren’t staying longer. Mist wagged her way around the campsite - people’s voices alone are enough to make her very happy She stood for ages staring at a tent, her tail doing 270degrees in delight, presumably waiting for the voices to materialise into real people - sadly it didn’t happen and we had to carry on on our evening stroll.
Our camping hytte - home for the night. Fortunately it was a relatively luxurious one, with a separate sleeping room (!) so we didn’t have to share our room with Mist, who likes to growl at and throw her toys around in the middle of the night
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On Friday we continued to Hønefoss, where Jon ran his race in the afternoon. Mist and I stayed in the carparking area where a trotting pony was training up and down - great socialisation for her….. after the pony passed a few times, she just sat and watched without trying to run out after it. Good start We wandered down to the assembly area to watch Jon finish and I was impressed with how relatively calm Mist stayed with kids running round and people all over the place. She couldn’t contain herself, though, when Jon finally came over, sweating and dirty after his race - just how Mist loves him best
After the race we drove to Sandefjord and stayed in another campsite, in a room in a shared building - it was somewhat less well cared for (read clean!) than the previous night, and Mist had to sleep in our room, but it did the job. The following morning we carried on to Larvik, just a short drive down the coast. We found the forest that I had been to when I took Thule to Larvik back in May, and did a couple of short tracking exercises with Mist (60+m, visual cue only from a distance, 2-3min wait-time, Jon at the end), before I went for a run. I chose to run around the lake we’d walked to (but not around) with Thule and her new owners - selecting a circular route, with no short cuts, and with a time limit based on the time Jon needed to be at his race start is quite strong motivation to keep running. I don’t think I’ve run that fast for that long in quite a few months!!
Jon’s race was a sprint distance race, based in Larvik centre. I left Mist in the car and walked up to watch him start, but managed to miss him finishing (he was quicker than he’d said he’d be ), then after a quick shower, he and I walked back into the centre from the car, with Mist, to collect his map. Heavy rain makes the traffic quite noisy and really excites Mist. I carried her the short distance where we were right by the main road, as she’s beginning to show typical border collie interest in chasing traffic Something to work on - but not in a strange town in pouring rain, with another 3hour drive to follow! Just before driving further, we stopped by at Thule’s new home. Her new owners were away for the weekend, but their son was dog-sitting so we were able to see Thule and Chico. She looked different for some reason - darker and more ‘adult’ , and didn’t recognise us at first…. but it’s only a good thing that she is so clearly settled and at home in her new home She still remembered what ‘Bang!’ means, when I said it quietly when noone else was listening and she rolled over on her back
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Saturday night we stayed in Birkeland at Kai-Erik and Kristin’s hytte. We were glad he walked down to the road to meet us, as they would have had to be quite complicated instructions to explain how to get to their hytte, which is furthest into the forest, up a tractor-track (at best!) and single-track. But what a fantastic place! Jon and I now want to buy a hytte! Kai-Erik’s springer spaniel Umi was great with Mist - very playful and patient both indoors and out. It was funny watching Mist chase after him, squeaking at him to ‘Wait for me!’
Puppy or crocodile?
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Uh, just cool it! Remember I’m bigger than you…
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Wait for me!
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Ok, I’m waiting…
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Contemplating…
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Posted: Miscellaneous / Diverse, Socialising & Environment Training / Miljøtrening, Tracking / Spor
11
July
2007
Sviland - open forest either side of forest road going to parking area.
Weather - Light rain on and off, mild, very slight wind
Figurants - KristinM (bite-leather) & Kai-Erik (rope ball, then chicken on rope for last go)
Repeated what we last did at Sviland - alternate sides of the road, someone stood 30-40m out into the forest, waved or jumped up and made some noise then moved out another ~10m and hid. Mist was really keen and even when I took her away from her starting point after her getting her visual/sound cues, and then returned, she knew exactly what she needed to do. On the middle go on the northern side, she hadn’t properly registered where Kristin was, and ran out on a diagonal to where Kristin had last been. Great that she was willing to search independently, but I need to make sure she runs straight out, so will try to make sure she is certain where the noise comes from next time. She was just bouncing with enthusiasm throughout - it’s so funny to see her run out as fast as her little legs will carry her . I was really encourage to see that when we went back in to the mid-line she started to pull towards the forest at the other side, as if she knew that’s where the next figurant would be. She also looked out hopefully into the forest as we walked back to the car
Next step: more of the same. Make sure the visual/sound cue is clear enough that she knows to run straight out.
Posted: Rundering
8
July
2007
Sunday morning soon became almost Sunday afternoon before we actually did anything! The weather was miserable - grey and raining. But Sunday is a day off, with no commitments, so we had to make the most of it. Jon and I drove to Alsvik to go running/orienteering. Mist got half an hour playing in the forest first. We did lots of recall practice between the two of us - she loves racing back and forth. The hard thing is getting her to stop - food is mostly not worth stopping for (maybe for squeezy cheese), but a bite-leather or rope ball is worth a quick play! And we took turns to hide behind rocks or trees while Mist was held out of sight, then with a small sound cue (clapping or calling) she was allowed to hunt them out. She thinks it’s great fun!
With Mist back in the car, Jon set off to run home (a slightly circuitous route, of course ) and I took the Tur-O map and ran off to collect a few orienteering points for the NRH O-Cup. It wasn’t long before I realised I’d forgotten to take a pen/pencil to write the codes down so had to make do with a stick and mud….. needless to say, there wasn’t enough space to write too many with this method, so that was my excuse for only doing half the ‘course’ and returning to the car, soaking wet from long grass, bogs, streams and rain, after ~50minutes. Still, it was nice to be out - fingers crossed for improving weather….
In the evening, I took Mist up to the sheep field again. I let Mist go loose as soon as we got into the field, and I ran away so she’d follow me. She was definitely not as cautious about the sheep this time. When she moved towards them, I called and ran away, and rewarded her for following with a quick game. However, this time the sheep were even more inquisitive too. I could hardly chase them away (that would only encourage Mist to do the same), so I just stood and watched while one slowly walked right up to Mist. I stood close enough that if it decided to butt her, I could step in. No such problem, though. Mist put her ears right back and licked the sheep’s nose The sheep just stood there - not particularly impressed, but sufficiently bemused to stay put . In the end, I just walked away and called Mist, showing her a toy. Fortunately the sheep didn’t follow. It will be interesting to see Mist’s reaction next time. I must go back to the farm and ask permission, as it’s not actually allowed to have a dog off-lead at the moment! But I’d love to be able to continue to walk up there often….. and do some simple ‘training’ so she learns to ignore sheep altogether. Maybe some tracking…….. but the trail-layer would definitely have to avoid the freshest sheep-poo or Mist would be far too distracted
Posted: Orienteering / Orientering, Socialising & Environment Training / Miljøtrening
8
July
2007
An excellent week for Dio06 (my SAR district). Tone is now qualified as a NRH instructor. And Johannes, Aud and Kåre all passed their assessed week for A-qualification (J) and re-qual (A&K).
Congratulations all of you
Posted: Congratulations / Gratulerer
