Heres what happened at yesterday's lesson in Virginia. Since Sue had other beginner students who were still in the ring, she asked if I would mind going out into the 15 acre pasture with Bryna. It seems that in bringing in the flock for lessons, she knew that 7 were still out there somewhere, and she wanted them in with the rest (or their corpses found, since coyotes are possible, and foxes might have taken the single lamb). You can't see the whole field from any vantage point, since the land is rolling, and there is a creek and a small grove of trees.
We began to walk the perimeter, and found 3 sheep (including a lamb) fairly quickly, but where were the other 4? I had Bryna doing some very disciplined wearing and walking and downing behind those 3 sheep, and I think we had walked them about a mile around the perimeter of the field this way. (These were nice cooperative sheep, so you should be somewhat impressed, but not completely blown away by that remark.) We were almost at the far side of the field when movement near the small grove of trees caught my eye, and I saw the 4 remaining sheep bolting out of the trees toward the barn (not where we wanted to take them). Bryna saw them too. She started to bolt after them. I knew that while I wanted the 4, I didn't want her bolting on her own without my say-so. So I downed her. (Note: this is where to be impressed. Downing a young beardie gathering momentum toward a bunch of fleeing sheep is something I couldn't have done even 2 months ago.) I debated for a second and realized that this was a good chance to help Bryna learn that sometimes I wanted to work with less than the full group of sheep. So I kept her with me, wearing those first 3 sheep, and not letting her go after the 4. Oh, this was hard for her! She was overflanking relative to her initial work, and when she went to the side where the sheep had disappeared, she clearly wanted to go after them., and I had to down her and reflank her several times. But we did it: we got those 3 all the way across the field under control the whole time to the gate. Since she was showing skills she did not have even 4 months ago, I was very, very proud of her.
I am not going to dwell on getting the other 4 and Bryna getting belly-deep in mud/sheep poo (in which I darned near lost my boots), and stopping on the way home at the Fluff and Dry Dog Wash, and taking up more than my share of time in the doggie shower stall for an exceptionally well spent $9.50. Instead, I will jump our next task of working 7 sheep through the A course and letting Bryna get some great practice on downing. I really need to work on having her cover the sheep to be in the right position to hold them against the fence behind me. With a better down, I think maybe she might be starting to get it.
Anyhow, we went home feeling triumphant and filthy. I can hardly wait until the ground freezes here!