Memorial Day work- updated videos

Debby and I had a great day of dog work yesterday.  I think we were out there for 9 hours! YIKES, crazy dog people!  The storm off the coast of FL kept it breezy and we only had one storm for 5 min or so.  Perfect day to work in FL.  I have Patsy's brother Wick staying for a month or so; he got to try ducks for the first time and work sheep.  Patsy, Abby and Sally all got to work as well.
Patsy did a great job!  She drove sheep all over and we got a couple of nice sheds (which is new for her).  Abby also did a great job, though she looks a little off I think she needs a adjustment...  Sally worked ducks and then helped us vaccinate the sheep.  What a nice girl she is!  Great chore dog and a lot of what a corgi should be; helpful with chores, overly pushy and strong:-))
We got a couple videos, I'll see what we got and put some up.
So first is Patsy on ducks and then her brother on sheep.  Unfortunately we didn't get any others...

Patsy sheep video

Here is Patsy's sheep work video.  There are a couple of rough spots but overall I was happy with her work.  This was her last go on sheep so I pushed her a bit more than I had previously.  She handled herself pretty well overall, but then again she does have more miles on sheep than cattle or ducks.

Cattle videos

GA workin

The dogs and I loaded up and headed to GA on Sat morning.  We finally got up to the Padgett's place late Sat afternoon.  While storms were building we did get a couple runs in on cattle Sat nite.  The dogs did well, we enjoyed a nice dinner with the Padgetts; they are lovely people and Tony was very helpful on the cattle.  I got some good pointers and the calves were great!
Sunday we got to work from morning until early afternoon.  Abby worked cows and ducks; Patsy worked all three stock.  They both did a great job really.  The calves were nice to work and very fair to the dogs, sheep were light but very sane and the ducks while a little ring sour were still good to work.  I didn't get any of the duck runs taped but got a couple of cattle runs and Patsy on sheep.   I'm trying to upload those now so will post when I am able.  I was very proud of both dogs; only sorry I didn't work Sally as well but I have to conserve money somewhere.  We will definitly be back again when we are able it was a great time, I'm looking forward to trialling several dogs this Fall/late Summer.

Flailing

Happily its me and not the dogs that are flailing about a bit.  I'm struggling to keep my drive and ambition alive. Beli was the definition of what I strive to create in my dogs.  Even though that memory is not dead I still am struggling to keep the desire to work the dogs.  For what reason do we push?  Is it the awards and ribbons, not for me its not.  I don't care what happens at a trial any more; I've had success there and it is short lived.  I won't disagree that it feels good while you are there but doesn't really have any staying power.  I want to strive for strong dogs that take control of stock and maintain that control to succeed at the job we've set out to do.  Trials are rarely that; it is usually a chess match to see who can outsmart whom.  Often it becomes a handlers game, who handles the dog through the course best?  That doesn't tell us anything about the dog but it looks good on paper.  We won X HIT and have X titles; what is that dog worth to you after the trialling is over?  What can he do when your sheep are on the road side running for the hills or need to be put on a trialer in the middle of a rainstorm?  Those are questions that are only answered when the need for them arrives, no judge can answer it for you.  Sometimes its difficult to keep your eye on the end game when there are so many temptations to sell out for the easy route.
So that being said I've not worked as much as I'd like the last couple weeks.  Often I'm frustrated and sad; the dogs pick up on it and act different each in their own way.  Patsy is worried, Sally is too just different and Abby well she just ignores me:-))  I've got to find the joy of training again.  This weekend we are headed to GA to work cattle/sheep/ducks with Abby and Patsy(who knows maybe Sally will get a shot).  I'm searching for something, sure hope I find it soon!