Feral Koto @ 8th Herding

8th Herding Lesson...  We had no control and leadership with Koto.  We wasn't there for 3 weeks but it was not only she hasn't been to sheep herding for awhile.  She was trying to dominant the space and doing everything that she wants to do. She was constantly barking hard at the sheep and running full speed most of the time. I felt that we just let her to enjoy the "chasing".

We've learn very important lessons from Dave showing Koto how to slow down and focus on him.

When he did a demonstration with koto, She was still challenging and trying hard to dominate the space, but was not too bad herding... well its all up to us to control the space and make her to work for us! 

1) Consistency in command voice tone:  

"No" to correct behavior is ok to be strong or soft tone but commands like "Sit" "Stop" should be always the same voice tone. Clear NO and Clear Commands that is always the same.

2) Release command after "Sit/Stop" with hand signal:

 Koto has been releasing herself on her own as soon as she saw Dean putting his rised hands signal down.  

He has to put his hand down then release her to not let her release on her own.

3) Leash control and focus:  

Start with leash communication to show leadership in the space.  Make the dog focus on you.

Picture below are from the valley back of the herding school. After the lesson, We went to walk and It was just beautiful to walk around! We release all our stress and enjoyed running around green valley!

８回目のハーディングは完全にノックアウト。Feral とは全く訓練されていない野良犬、野性化したとか野蛮でどうしょうも無いという意味ですが、先生にFeral Kotoと呼ばれてしまいましたよ！ 羊に歯向かい吠えながらフルスピードで走る、コマンドは無視、もしくはいやいやゆっくり座ったり止まったりするけど自分勝手にコマンド解除！完全に”追掛ける”を楽しませただけでした。　見かねたDave先生が琴とデモレッスンをやってくれました。先生に付きっきりでもう一度細かく指導して頂いて大切な点を習ってきました。

1)　コマンドの声のトーンはいつも同じで。

2)　コマンド解除する際のハンドシグナルに注意。

3)　リードを放す前に集中力を高める為にアイコンタクトをとったりリードでのコミュニケーションでリーダーシップをとる事。

課題の大きな１週間になりそうです。公園に行ってボールやフリスビーを投げる前に練習します。 

下の写真は学校の近くにある谷。一気にこのレッスンでストレスの溜まったパートナーと一緒に気分を落ち着かせる為にレッスンの後散歩を行きました！琴も私達も一緒に走り回って気分爽快。本当に奇麗な散歩道でした