January 17th – 19th was a three day holiday weekend with wonderful warm, dry weather. It was a big holiday weekend for Kant and Echo. They both had herding lessons on Saturday and Sunday. It was great working both dogs two days a row. Kant is working on driving. She is getting so much better on holding a line. Echo and I are doing better each time we go out. We are working on a stop which I am using a stand and putting words to the flanks. On Monday we took an agility lesson with Debbie Berkley of High Voltage Agility. Jordana and PITA shared the lesson with me, Kant, and Echo. This was the first time Jordana worked with Debbie. It was also the first time for me and Echo. We all had a great lesson, learned a lot, and it was nice to know that Echo and I are on the right path. This is what I ended up with after our three day performance binge. I love tired dogs.

I had a huge break through with Echo in agility Friday when we went out to the barn to practice. Echo responds so well to my body preassure and I was pushing past the contacts and weaves because I thought I needed to race her to the obstacle to "help her" when what I really need to do was trust her, hang back just a second and send her to the obstacle; we never missed a contact or weave entry after that.

This weekend the weather was typical for Oregon in January; grey, cold, rain, snow, and sun. Lora was in Washington at a herding clinic so I had ranch duty. I like it better when Lora is around but it is also nice to be trusted with the ranch. Both days we let the pregnant sheep out to graze around the parking area. Kant does great hanging out with me doing the chores. After working on cleaning up around the barn getting ready for lambs that are coming soon, cleaning waters, feeding, and putting the pregnant sheep back in their field then Kant and Echo got to play. Sunday Slick came along to play. I love playing fetch with the dog and watching them run. When they bring the ball back they all try to get it before me so I made them sit. Echo did not like that game but she quickly figured out the only way to get the ball was to sit.