The "C" Word

Not that word you filthy people.

Confidence.

Otherwise known as The Bane Of My Existence or Soda Has None.

We are still plugging away at driving and still trying to get some inside flanks and part of her problem is a confidence issue. Today I was having her drive the sheep off of me into a chute (I like to have tangible goals when I'm practicing, otherwise, I get all "creative" and end up in all kinds of crazy places so I often use wide-mouth chutes or drive panels. I find that Soda seems to get the "Sheep go here" process well so I prefer chutes/holding pens that sort of thing so she can clearly see the goal. I don't think the goal is as clear with a drive panel. Longest parenthetical phrase ever.) and Soda would walk up and bend off the pressure into this weird half walk up/half flank diagonal weirdness. Actually, readers, this is what she always does when in the face of pressure. And it's pressure that's doing it but she doesn't have the confidence to walk straight into it.

So, we took out some sheep and worked in this long narrow chute (different than the first one) that she had to go in to push the sheep and had to walk straight and would be hard to try to head them off--not that that stopped her from trying! She definitely started to feel her oats a bit and may or may not have taken as cheap shot at a ewe ass but that's okay, she isn't the dive 'n bite sort of dog. When we were putting the sheep in the chute one of the sassy ewes said "This is lame, I'm outtie" and Soda said "NO YOU'RE NOT!" and got all real border collie on her and pushed her back with her friends. She likes to do that and that gets her really jazzed up.

Anyway, we worked on that exercise for a few minutes and I got a keener dog who was diving into the pressure but wasn't c.a.r.e.f.u.l.l.y walking into it but hopefully we'll get there. Probably in like 2015 or something.