VIDEO INDEX
Unfortunately, the bulk of my video needs to be converted from tape to digital.
But here’s more recent video taken digitally, mostly of my more recent dogs.
Be sure to read the descriptions under the videos on YouTube. You can also check out my YouTube channel for more video especially of non-GSD Vom Insel dogs.
Puppy evaluation
These 4 videos are of a litter of nine 8-week-old GSD puppies. Sire is my Hikita Vom Insel RFLIII-s, AD, HRDI-s/ge, CGC, HTDI-s, HXAds, HXCs and the dam is Paul Pettit's HTCH SG Gidget Tjuya Vom Adelhertz CGC, BH, HXBs, HXAds HXCs, HXAsM HRDIIIs, HTDIIIs, HTADIIIs, RLFIIIs. Litter is line-bred 3-3 on Magbert Vom Blitzen Stein SCHH3 (producer of many national and world level schutzhund dogs) and 3-4,3 on Mara vom Preußenstein SCHH3, IPO3, FH2.
Pups were tested in groups of 2 or 3 to better evaluate the individuals, which each video representing a different group of pups. Be aware though that puppies feed off each other and we might see different reactions with different mixes of pups and overall stronger reactions if we had the whole litter in there. At this age, it is typical to see no interest in the stock. So, that would not be a bad mark, but showing active avoidance would be. All pups in this litter were comfortable in the pen. All turned onto the goats, though some sooner and some more strongly. None caught and held on which would be indicative of too much prey drive and a bad mark. (Little nips are ok.) A very impressive litter indeed!
When working puppies this young you have to be careful not to put too much pressure on them and to protect them from harm. The goats should only have been prodded to move away from the pups or parallel to the pups, not moved towards the pups. And the stick should be ready to correct any goat who might try to put too much pressure on the pup. Actually, this is true for any age dog's first time on stock, but especially true for puppies.
Green M, Blue M & Yellow M http://youtu.be/lfZeNK11po4
Black F & Red F http://youtu.be/syn2q5rpFXU
Grey M & Grey F http://youtu.be/JGoAvLkeVn0
Orange M & Black M http://youtu.be/UKhDuVMdbE0
This is a video taken the same day testing prey drive of this litter on a tuggie pole:
http://youtu.be/GL1Jf90-QOc
Karu (German Shepherd Dog, bi-color)
11-weeks working goats-A
11-weeks working goats-B
14-weeks working sheep
Herding Tested exam
working cattle-A
working cattle-B
Working geese
12-month-old initial road work with sheep
First leg on Herding Started A Course Sheep (HSAs)
HSAd Reserve High In Trial goose run
Doing some ranch work
Tending graze to keep goats out of hay crop Karu keeps Nigerian Dwarf goats within a weed patch and out of the hay crop. He correctly stays on the part of the border nearest the goats, while occasionally going behind the tall mallow to make sure none of the goats are back there.
Karu dog-breaks Oregon Mini Geese This is the first day these Oregon Mini Geese have ever been worked by a dog. In this video, German Shepherd Dog, Hikaru Vom Insel, gets the geese used to being moved around by a dog. These geese do not like me and the female (darker grey with whiter breast) gets a little hissy whenever Karu makes them go near me. All goes pretty well until it is time to put them through a narrow area on approach to the repen. Then the female goose feels threatened in the tight (for her) area and has a real hissy fit. Kita must show patience while until the goose settles and moves away.
1-8 below are segments of Karu on RLFIII-s French course. 30-Oct-10 (Lots of visual blocks to filming this long and difficult course made for all the stops/starts in the filming.)
Karu was RHIT and was rated Excellent for this run
1Moving 5 head down alley
1 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXPZJIgU8-E
2 Taking the whole flock out of freestanding pen and along first part of road
2 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xyRYLkaYzDA
3 Doing the first half of the driveway loop
3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQ_aX0tYXBU
4 Driving stock to stop sign and then stopping them
4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GpmdK65b0JA
5 Bringing flock along rough path in field to graze, catching sheep, gather, starting back
5 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=etnafgkv8Pg
6 Returning along fence
6 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yr4boKwl8UM
7 Enter main property gate, car pass
7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p2rWZPba8iw
8 repen
8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cAaTzqP_c88
Kita ( German Shepherd Dog, black sable)
11-weeks working goats-A
11-weeks working goats-B
14-weeks working sheep
Herding Tested exam
working cattle-A
working cattle-B
12-month-old initial road and graze training part1 part2 part3 part4 (The 4 parts are 1 session, split up.)
HSAd High In Trial goose run
HSAd goose run (3rd place)
Early lesson on driving goats This is a very early driving lesson. The ultimate goal is to have him move the goats around independently of my position. He is used to making the goats fetch (follow me). “Awee” means go around the stock counter clockwise and “Go-by” is to flank clockwise. Ideally, the dog will go between me and the stock (do an “inside flank”) when given his directions while driving. This takes some teaching as foundation training has the dog going outside of the person when he flanks. It is still hard to pull this dog off balance (the point that holds the goats to me) and get him to go around past it. It is also hard to flank him because he is watching the stock and wants to go tuck them back in rather than go around where I am telling him. But he is doing fairly well for his training level. Notice when he brings the stock back to me, how he moves back and forth working the heads of the livestock. Compare to progress a few lessons later in video below.
Kita early driving, a few lessons later This video was taken about a half dozen lessons after the video above. He is now much easier to pull off balance (i.e. get him to go beyond the point that holds the stock me) and I can now get him to do inside flanks (between me and the stock vs. flanking around by going behind me) a much higher proportion of the time.
Kita first work of these geese & ducks This is the first time these geese and second time these ducks have ever been worked by a dog. The Cotton Patch geese have lived with the ducks for only 2 days. The challenges to working them are 1) not dog broke, 2) ducks & geese form 2 separate groups, each with their own mind, 3) ducks and geese may take different amounts of pressure and have different flight zones, 4) geese unaffected by my presence – will go right up to me, but ducks don’t want to go near me for ducks there is a repulsive shield around me. Despite this, they can be worked as one group but dog has to be very proactive in preventing groups going their own ways or needs to be very responsive to commands. Often Kita and I had different opinions at to which species needed the attention.
Kita dog-breaks Oregon Mini Geese This is the first day these Oregon Mini Geese have ever been worked by a dog. In this video, German Shepherd Dog, Hikita Vom Insel, gets the geese used to being moved around by a dog. All goes pretty well until it is time to put them through a narrow area on approach to the repen. Then the female goose feels threatened in the tight (for her) area and has a real hissy fit. Kita must show patience while until the goose settles and moves away.
Tending graze to keep goats out of hay crop part1 part2 Kita keeps Nigerian Dwarf goats within a weed patch and out of the hay crop. He correctly stays on the part of the border nearest the goats. The big goat with a lot of coat is a buck and is very new to the herd. He is not dog broke yet and so he occasionally challenges Kita.
Kita’s first time working turkeys Kita takes these young Bronze turkeys out of an alley way and into larger area and then moves them around. At times the poults move easily, at other times Hikita has to give them a “shove.” He works very naturally keeping them grouped. After taking them out of the alley a second time, Kita puts them away in their night pen. Kita working birds from this same group 4 months later
Kita fetchinging young heritage type turkeys and then working (mostly driving) a different group of older heritage type turkeys.
Kita finishing his HSAd title on geese. On this and the following run problems were due to my lateness in giving commands and to Kita’s slow response to some of them.
Kita getting first leg of HIAd on geese
Kita doing 2 Herding Intermediate C Course Sheep runs. The sheep were Katadin , a bit light for C, as can be especially seen at the take pen, but Kita does a great job of calming them. Though Kita is not actively moving along the entire flock, he is very much patrolling. He goes to the front of the flock and tells them with a glance to stay behind and not invade Dot’s personal space. Then, he stops and lets the flock pass until he is in position to cast a commanding glance at the rear of the flock to insure that they keep following. And then he moves to the front of the flock and repeats it all over. On the graze, he is not watching for those near the edge, but rather he is reading the sheep and watching for those with INTENTIONS of crossing the border.
March 3, 2012 High on C Course & High In Trial part 1 part 2
March 4, 2012 High on C Course part 1 part 2
Briga (German Shepherd Dog, black)
Holding goats in corner - Briga holds Nigerian Dwarf Goats in a corner. Two of them are rather aggressive towards her, but she does not back down and gives out very measured corrections to them. I just love the way she is tough but gentle with them at same time and works with a very clear mind. Many dogs would be chased off by these goats, but a good stock dog must be able to keep stock held when needed.
Herding fetching training - I had been working Briga very sporadically for a several months. This video marks her first work before I begin more regular training. The idea is for her to keep the Nigerian Dwarf goats coming to me when I move and to pull off and hold when I stop. In this video, Briga is working too closely and I am using the stick a lot to try to get her wider or to prevent her from circling me. The goal is to hit the ground, not the dog. The only time the soda bottle at end of stick makes contact with dog is with a pushing motion, not as a strike. I flick stick behind puppy’s shoulder each time I turn to “square up” her turns. Briga is slow to come to a stop when I stop and is frequently thinking about going in for a joy grip. The one time she actually dives in for an inappropriate grip, I completely remove her from the livestock. Note how I step on/grab rope when I catch her up. At end of stock work session, I do some obedience with the stock still present, though out of frame.
Herding fetching training plus 2 weeks - I begin the current session with line wrapped around a post. I do not release dog until she has settled and cleared her mind. You can see I am using the stick less aggressively than I was in the previous video, because the puppy is thinking more about working stock. She is now working much wider and calmer. Not only am I no longer having to really work to get her to pull up when I come to a stop, but she is anticipating it and doing it on her own as I approach the fence. This video ends with work on the command “close” (= remain in my general vicinity {even if I move around}) in the presence of the livestock.
Second time tending a graze Part 1 Part 2 This is Briga’s second time tending a graze although she had several sessions of walking up and down the furrow border on leash before being let off it the previous session. She settled right in without me even having to use the stick to keep her out. (I only had to use it for less than 5 minutes the first time.) She is tending alongside experienced dog Karu, who has the goats so well trained that no one attempts to leave it despite there being much better stuff to eat behind the dogs. You’ll probably find this video boring as Briga already understands the job and Karu has not left a lot of active work to be done. But note that both dogs are always watching their stock, even when laying down.
1st Solo Graze Tending 12-month-old German Shepherd Dog, Brigadier z Diehlomov, solo tends a graze for the first time. Previously, she twice tended along an experienced dog and prior to that had several sessions walking along the furrow on a leash. She is doing an excellent job of communicating with the 8 Nigerian Dwarf goats as evidenced by none of them attempting to leave the mostly eaten down weeds for the green oat plants on the other side of the border.
First time working cattle Brigadier works cattle for the first time. One of the heifers keeps challenging her and Briga wins each challenge without any back up from her handler, Dot DeLisle. This heifer will charge a dog if she reads any sign of hesitation or weakness. At times, all Briga needed was a step forward or a flick of her head. At other times, she snapped or delivered a well-aimed grip to the nose. All grips were executed with the ideal quick release. When Briga redirected her attention to me, it was usually because of rope pressure.
First time competing. Herding Started A course Sheep. Brigadier had a terrible set out for her herding competition debut. She held her down firm despite it taking the stock dog a long time to sort of get the sheep to the set out hay. But they were widely distributed around it which may have been the reason Briga crossed over on the out run. Handler Dot DeLisle wasn't going to let her get away with it and was able to call her back and resend. Briga overflanked in the beginning of the fetch, but once Dot gave the "slowly" command, she settled down and kept herself the proper distance off the stock. Despite the major loss of points in the first section, Briga ended up 4th out of a class of 12 because the rest of the run showed how a good stockdog should work. Not bad for her 4th time having even seen the A course.
Snake Plissken (German Shepherd Dog, black)
In this video, a goat came up to 13-week-old Snake's kennel to try to intimidate the pup. Despite staring down and few butts at the gate, the goat was unsuccessful in her attempts to dominate the pup. Round goes to Snake.
In this video, 15-week-old Snake Plissken has her first ever work on goats. Snake shows strong drive and good confidence, not backing down when the goats face her down (unfortunately sometimes visually blocked by tree). Snake also shows rudimentary attempts at true herding, such as trying to go to head, trying to put goats back together and pulling goats off fence. Snake has the makings of a good herding dog.
This video is of Snake's first time fetching goats at 16-weeks-old. She showed good learning and some balance. Handler, Dot DeLisle, first used silent stick, but it was too long to use without bottle on both ends for this pup so she switched to a shorter stick that was also noisy (pebbles in bottle on end). Note how Dot steps on rope to stop pup and also how she half wraps the rope around the tree to get a stop. This was a very hot day (temp 1/2 hr later was 104F), so a few times when Snake goes through shade she chooses to stop there and enjoy the relative coolness.
Drazi (German Shepherd Dog, black) & Klaatu (German Shepherd dog, black & tan)
Tending narrow graze 1 2 3
(Something about splicing together very short clips to make the ones above speeded them up from real time speed.)
Tending against oat crop 1
Drazi (German Shepherd Dog, black) & Grit (German Shepherd dog, black & tan)
& Talis (Australian Shepherd, red merle)
Tending 1 The older GSDs hold the heavy side that the goats want to go over to head home, while they let the Aussie use his youthful energy to do most of the patrolling, keeping the goats tucked in the graze.
‘Tor (German Shepherd Dog, black)
'Tor works goats for first time. She is 4-months-old. This group has a lot of young kids in it, so it was not a good group for letting a pup off leash. 'Tor showed excellent confidence, not showing any hesitation when some of the goats faced her down. She also showed a tendency to go around the goats rather than dive straight into them which is a good demonstration of instinct. Alas she was as interested in the goat poop as she was in the goats, but that should pass as she gets more into working the goats.
'Tor gets her HT. She is 11-months-old
Talis (Australian Shepherd, red merle)
Doing a gate sort Notice how the dog keeps rearranging the goats so that the particular ones I want to sort out end up in position to go through the gate.
Captain – Australian Kelpie
#1 – Cap has just shed off a group of goats and is taking them away from those left in the pen. One goat keeps trying to get back.
Cap stays on her until she stops trying to go back, at times working similar to a cutting horse. Note how once she drops her attitude, he drops his.
#2 – Cap does a take pen. He very nicely goes all the way to the back. (Too many dogs barely enter the pen and stand blocking the exit.)
He then applies quiet pressure, ever so slowly moving forward, until all the goats exit. He then hustles to get to them and get them back under his control.
His only command was to “get in”.
#3 – Here I am fetching goats with Captain. (Unfortunately, camera does not give a very wide view.) One goat, Red Dawn (red with dark red dorsal stripe),
keeps trying to break from the group, perhaps to get back to her kids in the home pen. Cap does a great job of naturally covering to prevent her from escaping.
At one point you even see him take a “Look Back” command
Various dogs trialing on geese at IEHDA AKC A Course trial November 20 & 21, 2010 (drizzly day)
Unfortunately, it was raining too hard to get my Karu’s other RHIT run. There were many more runs this trial, but this is all we videoed.
German Shepherd Dog, Kita, HSAd with handler Dot DeLisle, HIT
German Shepherd Dog, Kita, HSAd with handler Dot DeLisle
German Shepherd Dog, Karu, HSAd with handler Dot DeLisle, RHIT
Belgian Tervern, Timmy, HSAd with handler Judy Vanderford, HIT
Belgian Tervern, Ashley, HXAd with handler Judy Vanderford
German Shepherd Dog, Ellie, HSAd with handler Cynthia Binder
German Shepherd Dog, Tjuya, HSAd with handler Paul Pettit
German Shepherd Dog, Tjuya, HIAd with handler Paul Pettit
Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Annie, HSAd with handler Judy Vanderford
Pembroke Welsh Corgi, Birdie, HSAd with handler Judy Vanderford
Border Collie, Myrrh, HXAd with handler Margi Clutter
Border Collie, Maggie, HIAd with handler Marsha Dales-Bain
Belgian Sheepdog, Kris, HXAd with handler Peggy Richter
Belgian Sheepdog, Kris, HXAd with handler Peggy Richter