Continuing sheep work

Belle learns to fly . . .

Belle thinks she is supposed to FLY after her sheep. . .

Here are some various pictures of Belle and I learning to work the sheep. It's not as easy as it looks. Thank God for patient trainers!!!

Puppers and lambs

Here are some fun pictures of the Dice working the sheep and the new lambs.

Belle's Daddy and one of her sisters

Belle got to see her Daddy and one of her sisters. She had fun playing with her sister, but wasn't too sure about her Daddy. Her Daddy is Slate and Her sister is Dice.




This is one of Belle's sister's, Dice.



These are some of Belle's new friends. She learned a lot from them. Especially how to be a GOOD Girl. :)



This is Belle's Daddy, Slate.

More herding. . .

This was Belle working in the round pen. It sure was different from her first time on sheep. She actually started to work them and showed a lot of instinct. She wanted those sheep all in a row.

Goooood Girl!!!!

Our backyard . . . sigh

So here are some pictures of the backyard, just a few short months (10 months to be exact) since the yard was fenced. As you can see, there is not much grass left. There is now a "track" around the back side of the house. Belle is showing you how it is used. Smart little girl isn't she???

Maybe someday we will have grass. HaHaHa!!! Not as long as we have dogs that run as fast as then can, then come to a screeching halt at the fence, pushing the sand up in front of them as the stop. They look like a snow plow pushing snow out of their way.

We got to work SHEEP finally!!!

That was exciting. BJ wasn't too sure what to do at first. He got down in his play bow and wanted the sheep to play with him. Hmmmmm. . . the sheep where not impressed. But as we kept walking about the pasture and following the sheep, he finally figured out (and so did the sheep) that he really did understand that they weren't there to play with. It will be a lot of fun to get his natural instincts brought back up to the surface where they belong. He is still doing GREAT in agility. His favorite piece of equipment is the A-Frame. He literally flys over it without touching the top. It's amazing.

Belle did great on the sheep too. We just walked and walked around the pasture following the sheep from corner to corner. There were times that she would take off running after the sheep, get just so close, stop and bark at the sheep, then come running back to me as if to say "Ok, now what do I do with them???." She has a LOT of natural ability and will make a good stock dog. I actually think I might be able to do some trialing with her in a couple of years. That would be something.
Here are some pictures of the day from the sheep farm.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Profile of Belle at 8 months

Belle's progress at of Oct. 1, 2006

Here as some recent pictures of Belle. She's doing great! She is growing like a weed. She is still all legs and tail. Her head doesn't seem to fit her body yet. I guess it'll grow into her body someday. Her ears are starting to stay more pricked everyday. Sometimes she looks like she has helicopter ears. :)

She still likes to cuddle with me every night for an hour or so before bedtime. She'll put her two front paws on my lap and wait for me to raise the recliner foot rest to lift up the rest of her little butt to put her in laying position. Talk about spoiled!! Don't get me wrong, she definitely knows how to SPRING into the chair when she has the zoomies or BJ is chasing her. :)

Her favorite outside toy is her purple ball. She loves to play fetch. She also likes to play tug with Bailey. Inside she and Bailey will play fetch with stuffed babies or pull rope all day long.

Well enough talking, on to the pictures. Enjoy!!

YAHOO!!! The Fence Is Finally Finished!!!

I can't believe the fence is finally finished. And believe it or not, just as soon as the fence guys left, it started to rain. That was Tuesday and it has been raining off and on for the last couple of days (and nights). The dogs didn't care, of course. They love their new fenced yard and want to go out every chance they get. :) We're happy for them too, of course.

Dogs Enjoying their roomier yard

Bailey sees something at the other end of the yard. She's getting ready to run!!!

BJ making a quick turn around. Belle is just doing puppy stuff. Sniffing around.

This is looking into the yard from the side street.

Looking into the yard from ontop of the mound, down the fence line. in the back yard.

Trespassers Beware!!!

Sept. 7, 2006 Wating and waiting for the fence company . . .

We have been waiting for four weeks now for the fence company to come out and fence in our side yards and backyard. How frustrating that is I can't even tell you!!!

With four dogs running in a little 15' x 75' area it can sometimes get a little crowded. :) Not to mention running into each other, but running to the pine trees there or the A/C units or even ME, standing there watching them running around. Duh, I really need to learn to move out of the way. :)

Agility start on Monday night. BJ and I are going to give it a go and see if we can "make a good team" or just go make big fools of ourselves during the class. Whatever we do, I'm sure we'll have fun.

Belle is growing everyday. She is about 25 lbs. now. Healthy, happy and sometimes pretty obnoxious as a puppy can be. Callie has taken on the job as "mother" teacher and will take Belle's entire head into her mouth and "woof" to make corrections at Belle. Belle loves to play with Bailey and BJ. Her day consists of playing with Bailey, sleeping, playing outside, and training at night when I get home from work. She keeps losing her baby teeth and her adult teeth are coming in right behind them. She is still all legs and tall and looks gangly, like a colt. She'll be 5 months old on Sept. 11. Time flys!