Don't Put Her on Sheep That Will Run

"Stella likes to be in charge of her sheep so, for right now, don't put her on sheep that will run." This was Scott's advice to me, and what did I do when I got back from Virginia? I put her on sheep that will run. Apparently, Scott really meant it when he said not to put her on running sheep. It was a disaster! Stella seemed worse than she was before I sent her to Scott's. I was in tears. Big snotty tears. I called Scott and, after he admonished me for doing exactly what he had advised against, gave me some guidance. "Get her on heavier sheep. When she starts circling and not taking her eyes off the sheep, keep the sheep away from her. Do it against a fence. Don't yell at her. If you have to, take a step toward her. It can take a few minutes, just be stubborn about it." I sniffed and thanked him.

Next work session at Cynthia's, we got some heavier sheep. Almost immediately, she started circling and trying to beat me. I looked for a fence and I couldn't find one nearby. Ok, so I took the sheep away and stayed between her and the sheep. 'Round and round we went. I said nothing. At one point I looked at Cynthia and said "I really really want to say something to her!" but I didn't. I was persistent. I was stubborn. I stayed with the sheep. She got wider and wider but didn't take her eyes off the sheep. After what felt like about 10 minutes, I saw it. She looked away from the sheep. She had conceded the point, I had won. I asked her to stop, she did. I gave her a flank, she took it. I asked her to stop and said "that'll do". I was too dizzy to keep working but rewarded her for bending to me. That's all it took. She started listening to me more and more. I still wasn't able to grumble at her though. If I did, she went straight to Uranus. I figured, it was easier to fight one battle at a time with her, and this was a battle well worth fighting first, regardless of how dizzy I got. The grumbling at her could come later.

I worked her all weekend that weekend and made the decision to go to a place closer to home to work so I could work her more often.