Singer, A Little Off-Key

Here’s an update on Singer. We are in the middle of a nine day trial. A few weeks ago we got some cattle in so we could prep our dog as many of us had never worked on cows. We also got some ducks in for the same reason. Singer took to working the ducks much better than we thought he would. On the cows he was was doing great. Then one day a cow turned on him and chased him across the arena and he crashed into and knocked down a panel. Well, Singer is now scared of cows and we have been working for two weeks trying to get him over his fear. The first three days of the trial were AKC events on cows, ducks and sheep. Singer’s first run on cows was not good. He failed to get around the cows and move them. I left my handler’s post and with the judges permission I helped him get around the cows, gather them up and put them back in the pen. This was to have Singer have a positive experience. Next he ran ducks at the started A course level and finished second in his class behind a Border Collie. The next day he began with sheep on the advanced A course. It was a very large class of 24 dogs. Singer finished and qualified in the top 25% with a sixth place. Four Border Collies and 1 Aussie ahead of him. Next was intermediate B course on sheep. Singer finished third in his class. He had another try at the cows with the same result as the day before. The next day was A course advanced again with a 24 dog field again. Singer finished fifth with only 4 Border Collies ahead of him. The it was B course intermediate again. Singer again finished in third place and earned his B course title. I will not move him into B advanced at this trial as there is an element called a shed that is required and we have not been working on it. The next two days were AHBA trials. First Singer was entered on HRD-I cows (Herding Ranch Dog). On this course I could help Singer a lot. We were able to complete the course with the exception of not trailering one cow (see photo big black white faced cow in foreground ). We qualified and it showed that Singer is slowly working at being more confident on the cows but has a long way to go yet. Next was his first try at HTD-II sheep (Herding Trial Dog). He finished first and did a great job. Yesterday he was entered in HRD-III sheep (advanced class for HRD). This was his worst yet. As we set up at the handlers post he appeared totally uninterested. When I sent him on his out run to gather the sheep he went about 30 feet away and came back to me. He did this several times as I tried to encourage him to go and get the sheep but he wouldn’t go any further than 30 feet away. I finally had to face the judge and excuse us and walk off the field with head hung low. Today is a day off then back to three days of AKC trials on cows, ducks and sheep again. I’ll let you know how the last three days go next week.