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News About Lisa’s Clinic Held in Vacaville

 November 9, 10, and 11 Lisa was asked to hold a stockdog clinic for a group in Vacaville. Nine handlers and dogs participated and 5 other handlers audited the class. The weather held up very well. It was foggy for a couple of hours in the morning, but after about 10:00AM the fog burnt off and the sun came out. It warmed up as soon as the sun came out, but as soon as it set, it was cool just like it is here.

We arrived Friday afternoon, so Lisa could meet up with Debbie Pollard. Debbie runs the ranch in Vacaville and also does a lot of trialing and judging. She is well known and respected in these parts. Debbie asked Lisa to come down so her students could see a different way of training and trialing. Debbie mostly trains for AKC events, so her emphasis is on their rules, which are different from ASCA rules. Debbie’s web site is herding4ewe.com.  You can look at her website and see what is going on in Vacaville.

Lisa and Debbie talked for a while about what’s going on for both of them. Then the students started showing up and Lisa started getting acquainted with everyone and fielding a few questions from the group. A couple of the ladies had come down from Vacaville to Gardnerville to get some perspective from Lisa. Well, Lisa thought a good place to start would be sorting. On the Haase ranch there are 3 gates in one of the arenas. One is blue, another is red and the third is yellow. I guess there was some confusion on their primary colors. It was quite hilarious to hear the story. Have Lisa tell you the story some time. The group had a nice dinner set up and ready to go, so as soon as Lisa was set up and everyone arrived we sat down to eat.

After dinner Debbie introduced Lisa to the group and Lisa went up to the front to start the first portion of her clinic. She gave a little background about herself first and then talked to the class for a couple of hours. To know Lisa is to know she usually speaks more in actions than in words, but she has such a passion for herding that the words were just flowing out of her mouth. She spoke about her techniques, and how they can work for any type of herding dog, not just Australian Shepherds and Border Collies. She talked about learning from Sandy Moore, and going on to learn from George Costa, who also had a big impact on her herding abilities. She introduced several books which she has read.  Lisa is almost a fanatic when it comes to learning, which is a good thing, because she knows so much about herding. After she was finished talking, she answered questions from the group.

The next two days were spent with a variety of different dogs. There were Belgian Sheepdogs, a Shetland Sheepdog, a rocket of a Border Collie, an Australian Shepherd, German Shepherd, 2 Bearded Collies and a Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Lisa set up a small round pen setup in order to have control over the whole situation, including people, dogs and sheep. She took them one by one into the arena to see where everyone was stood in their style and progress. Some handlers were just learning, and others were veterans. Lisa’s calm voice, her instructions to “watch your flock,” and her “let the dog do the work” attitude were helpful to novices and veterans alike.

After everyone and their dogs had a chance to work, we went over to an arena with. The dogs were put away.  It was time for the handlers to herd the ducks, so they could see exactly what their dogs have to go through. It was a lesson in direction and calm steady commands, because ducks react so quickly and so different from the way you would expect them to. The first couple of people had a tough time, but they got the job done and were amazed at how hard it was! Then it was time for team penning, where two people went in the arena. One played the dog, and the other was the handler. The last team was Lisa and Debbie. Lisa was the handler and Debbie played the dog, but with one catch: Debbie was blindfolded!  There was a lot learned and a lot of laughs. It was a successful event demonstrating the effect of pressure and learning how to apply pressure.

The whole weekend was a real success. Lisa did a real nice job at her clinic, and the handlers loved it. Until the next clinic – That’ll Do!

NEXT UPCOMING CLINIC

A vote was set in motion and passed to have Simon Leaning hold a seminar. Simon Leaning is an accomplished trainer, and breeds Kelpies and Border Collies.  There will be a clinic held at the Haase Ranch in April. Chris Vaught has retained Simon Leaning to hold the seminar. Estimated fees for the event will be $100 a day or $300 for 3 days. Preference will be given for people who can attend all 3 days. The exact amount and dates will be posted soon. Please see Chris Vaught if you have any questions.