This week Sol attended her first herding lesson here in the US. I was very proud of the talent and confidence she displayed in the short runs we allowed her to have at such a young age.
Within 3 short interactions with the sheep we saw confidence, restraint, drive, and natural gathering tendencies. All qualities we are looking for in a nice herding bred dog. My main goals for this little girl are to excel with her in herding not only in the competition realm but also at home. We plan to acquire some land and animals in the future and the dogs will be an invaluable tool for us to help manage the livestock.
Rowan also went to herding this week and we are finally seeing the light at the end of the very very long puppy tunnel when it comes to these slow to mature dogs. All the pieces are coming together for him from the over year long foundations we have been putting on him. Its interesting to see him work in a new field and display struggles but when we go back to a field he began in and hasn't seen in months, it's like riding a bicycle.
Our goal for Rowan is to be trialing in AKC HSAs by the end of the year. This is a very attainable goal for where he is at right now but we aren't rushing anything. He still has so much puppy left in that big brain of his that we don't want to trial too quickly.