A Herding We Will Go

June 5, 2011

I promised Holmes that when he completed his Championship, he could do fun stuff.  Even though AKC hasn’t officially posted his status, I can count and he is finished.  So, today we trekked up to Edgewood (about 55 miles each way from my house) and met up with Corgi-herder Ellen Gerwin.  This was all about instinct and I’ll let you draw your own conclusions.  I will say it was blistering hot.  The ground was so hot that I thought Holmes had picked up a sticker, or two, because he was limping.  He seemed to forget about the serious case of hot foot once he saw the sheep family.

Holmes’ first sight of sheep on the move:

Second part of the first run

Then Holmes went and stood on the grass and Ellen turned on the hose to cool his feet — that ground was so hot. Once half his tongue was back in his mouth, we headed to the pen for round 2:

Always leave ’em laughing. Ellen stopped Holmes in the second run while he still wanted to play:

So — here’s the plan. Holmes and I are both going to take lessons from Ellen — but not together (at first). Ellen will work with Holmes and I will work with Ellen’s Herding Champion. Hopefully both Holmes and I will learn to do some things right independently. After a few weeks, he and I will begin working together to get ready for the August trial in Colorado. I hope you enjoy these videos of Holmes-puppy doing what he was bred to do — and doing it so happily.


8 Comments

  1. Susan says:

    How great to see Holmes so happy with sheep. It is a family thing. Best of luck in your training. He obviously really enjoys it.

  2. C-Myste says:

    Wow, I’m excited, Holmes is excited, and the sheep are excited!

    I can sure see his momma in him as he grows up. Like.

    • myeye says:

      I had no idea Phoebe had done any herding — Holmes has a double dose then — so it’s no wonder he was very excited by this opportunity

  3. DeAnn says:

    Good boy Holmes! You’re a natural! So glad you found a trainer “fairly” close to home. You’re going to have a blast. Um, was that Miss Nola in the background?

  4. Taryn says:

    It definitely looks like the talent runs in the family. Sounds like a neat way to learn, you on a trained dog, and Holmes starting out on a trained handler 🙂

    Check out my blog for some herding news as well…..

  5. Cheryl says:

    That was awesome! Good job, Holmes! He certainly has good instincts as Ellen was saying! And that’s not actually far to go for herding–I’ve been driving Chase and Treasure every week up to Ron’s which is further than the 55 miles you’ve got to go, and yes, it’s been blistering hot here, too–although we’ve got grass to run on so the dogs’ feet are not as impacted. Hope you have a great time–it’s a very confusing and difficult sport to learn, but the dogs love it so very, very much!

  6. Jean from NM says:

    Way to to Holmes! Great job!

  7. Jessica says:

    Is this the place right off the main road through Edgewood that has the little shed building with the runs attached and Corgis in them?? If so…its all of about 3 miles from my Parents house, and I now know what I will be wanting to be doing when I head down that way!! LOL.