Kemi Rhys, Coel, Rhemy & co: Clinics and trials

Brilliant weather and good company
(c) Jonna Paasila

Ned O´Keeffe 9-11.10
Elisa and Kari Kotikoski organized a clinic with Ned O´Keeffe again, this was the third time he was over this year. This time there were 7 dogs on the clinic, Ned knew us all from before which was good.
Last time we worked on the pace with Coel, this time we worked on calmer flanks. In the drive I start to get them right, to get them right when I´m preparing to shed still need a lot of work when he is way too fast there and frightens the sheep.
The weather was great, and we had a big bunch of about 100 ewe lambs, some dogs worked with a small bunch and some on the big flock. Ned is a demanding straight coach which I like, he digs out both handlers and dogs weak points, if you can take the straight feedback you will find pearls. He likes to play with the challening youngsters, so their sessions are often longer.
One afternoon we put up a small trial, this was good because I got to train trialling. Didn´t do any good, but managed still to keep the concentration.

Pop up -trials at Kotikoskis 24-25.11. Warning for cockalorum!
I was really happy when I heard about this, I have been working at the home field on the pace and flanks, so it was great to have the opportunity to test them at trials, before the Nordic Nurserys in Norway.

Saturday
The course was on a tricky field consisted of two fields with a big ditch between them. Outrun is about 300-350m, the first "fetch gate" was a brigde over the ditch and the line to the second fetch gate was dog legged to the left. If you are s shorty like me, you loose sight of the sheep and dog totally for maybe 20m when they come over the bridge and after that. The bridge is in a dip and some meters before it they have a strong draw to the left. If the sheep stops before the brigde, it´s really hard to see how they stand and what commands yuo should give the dog... You can´t push too much because then they are to scared to go over...if you don´t push, they won´t go either...or try to go along the ditch on the other side.

Trial 1
Rhy went first of my dogs and had an okay run I thought, drive a bit wobbly in the beginning and near to grip in the shed but didn´t. The judge seemed to like it though, so he got 101p which was in my opinion on the kind side
Coel had a good beginning and really good drive (27p), I think he was one of the few or the only one, who managed to make the sheep walk the whole drive. It was a bit slow so were timed out in the single, I was really happy with the drive.
Rhy won and Coel was 6th.

Because there weren´t that many dogs running, they decided to run an other class 3 (open), after class 2 and 1 were over.

Fog seems to suit Rhy
(c) Jessica Saukkonen

Trial 2
Coel run as third last, it started to be a bit dark and foggy, and the sheep were really testing. He managed to get them over the bridge, but there was a ewe challenging him...so before the first gate when he was preventing them to run to the exhausting pen for the third or fourth time, he got fed up and nipped the challening ewe. Thank you and good bye.
Rhy run as the last dog, I couldn´t see the sheep on the other side of the ditch at all because of the fog. Rhy had a really really good run, got 94p (?)
I think I have never ever had a run like this with Rhy, the sheep liked and trusted him totally (usually they are scared of him), he was smooth to both sheep and my handling and escorted the sheep gently trough the foggy course, the sheep were calm and me and Rhy were calm but concentrated. Jessica said it looked like the ewes had thrown their lives in Rhys paws, that they thought he was the only one on earth who could take them home safely.
Anyway, Rhy won again.

Jessica and Dew also had a really good run, but the bell rung as Dew came in and took the singled sheep. They really showed that they´ll be dangerous soon even if they still are unexperienced, now they became second!

Sunday
Rhy run first of my dogs. He had a little issue before the brigde, after that okay, think he got 90p.
Coel, this time his run was brilliant. Perfect outrun and fetch, only two off the fetch. Super drive, 27p again, he just walks with the sheep, the turns around the gates were calm and smooth, perfect on lines,good shed. At the pen they stopped and Coel was nose to nose with a stroppy ewe, if I had told him to walk on there he might have gripped, so I took the preassure off and flanked him and started over and in they went. Good single, but he was starting to get a bit too excited...and I had to shout to prevent him to not "stop" the ewe harshly.
Coel won with 101p, and this time he had really earned his points! Rhy was second with 90p.

The sheep at Kotikoskis are brilliant, they are light to drive but they often test the dogs, they aren´t giving anything for free.

Outletting bunch for class 2

It might be that the training tools I have found with Ned´s help, have started to show now and it´s rewarding to see that at trials also. Like usually I will come down soon again, but now I´m gonna sip on this candy again for a few days!

The rest of the day I was setting out sheep with Elisa in class 1 and 2. It was raining now and then but we still had fun, and it´s always interesting to see the dogs in the lower classes. A lot of the dogs seemed to be scared of the sheep, they try to avoid lifting them or rushes in or chase them rather than walk up and lift them. People often wamts to train long outruns and trial, before their dogs are ready... And when they ask you why it isn´t working and you tell them what you think, that the dog is scared and tensed near the sheep, that they should train close work and bild up the dogs confidence first, they get mad at you...

James McGee clinic at Putkisalo 27-28.11

I knew of course who he was, everybody does, but I didn´t know him. World Trial 2011 in Cumbria, was the first really big trial I had been to as a spectator. I still think James and Beccas run is the most exciting I have ever seen. When they got them not so cooperative sheep penned after an exciting international shedding, the grand stands just exploded and we cryed like babies. Becca was the World Champion 2011. Then I have seen Beccas son Silver only 1,5 yrs at the WT in Tain 2014 and winning the Supreme same year, really impressed of that youngster!
I had heard that James is a very strict coach, so we didn´t know what had in front of us...and I think all of us were a bit nervous. I think he was very calm kind and maybe a bit shy in the beginning, you had to bring up the problems you wanted to work with. He has a really good eye for details and a huge sheepsence, I understood he wants good listening dogs whit good feeling for it´s sheep.
I got a couple of new tools for outruns and shedding, plus confirmation to continue training the same way I have been doing. Maybe he said it to all of us, but for a change it was nice to hear that I have really good dogs that are extremely well trained.

In the evening we had dinner, Mika had made a madly good burgundy stew, the meat just melt in your mouth. Good wine, ice cream and James´s storys were a good ending of a good day.