May 1, 2015

A lot has been happening since I last wrote. I have introduced more groundwork into Charmer’s training and he is picking it up quickly. I have been working on different hand cues and body movements and he now follows when I change direction and speed. Pretty cool! He has a “calm” spot with his head beside my body. When he stays there he’s in a good spot. When he gets too far behind I create an incentive so he comes back up into his “calm” spot. He understands the cue to go out away from me to jog along the fence line and also the cue to come join me again. It’s been fun teaching him from the ground. He is also really starting to listen when I am on his back. I think it might tie-in to the groundwork we’ve been doing together. He knows he can trust me and we always have fun! Lots more training to come!

February 13, 2015

Golden Charmer has come a long way from where he has been in his training. Yes, there will always be days where I feel like he is on the same plateau he has been on for the past week, but today we had another breakthrough. Today was my first day working him with some cows. It took him a while to understand that I wanted him to go after the cows, but when he figured that out, he was really getting into it! Friday the 13th today. It was awesome!