Winter was long and cold, but finally it's spring and pastures are green. Yesterday, Syyti met with sheep first time since last autumn.

Syyti had a chance to learn herding with a qualified shepherd. I am myself still recovering after an operation, and therefore I cannot hold the leash, let alone handle the dog with sheep around. Minna, our trainer, kindly handled Syyti herself. The first round was not that good but Syyti improved for the second round, as you can see here:



I held the video camera and was quite amazed by Syyti's performance. To the extent, that when Minna asked whether Syyti is related to Coh "Nahrof the Cohort", I couldn't figure it out and said no... Well Coh is actually Syyti's grandsire and Minna thinks that Syyti reminds his grandpa a lot, he even has same style in herding. I couldn't find a video clip of Coh herding, but here is a photo of him herding in Georgia, US.

Our little puppy is not so tiny any more. Syyti and his siblings turn 5 months today. Syyti weighs now 14 kg and his withers height is ca. 45 cm.

Syyti has been testing our nerves lately, by getting himself into trouble such as crawling under the house to do some digging work. As our house is a traditional log house, there's a gap in the stone foundation wide enough for a man, not to mention a dog. The problem is, that there's no one big space under the house but a number of maze-like tunnels. And naturally, Syyti has to go in the far end and bark there, pretending that he cannot find his way out. Until now, he has come out by himself every time, but I'm afraid that one day he will get stuck somewhere and we have to take apart a piece of the foundation to get him out. I'm now planning on building a not-too-ugly net to cover the gap.


Syyti has had also other new experiences. We travelled to my brothers wedding and stayed a couple of nights in a shed which was the only puppy-proof room at the manor's estate. Or, so we thought. Syyti managed to chew chips out of the floor and scratch the door when he decided to be bored enough.

We have continued our herding classes. Minna the coach has been satisfied with Syyti's performance, with mine, not so much... After tonights class, Minna will decide whether we should continue, or have a few weeks break. I still look forward to see the similar reaction in him we witnessed during our first class. With the permission of the Zi's owner Jarmo, here are the photos. The time difference between the first and the last photo is only 1,5 minutes. In the beginning, the tail and head are held high, in the last, they are lowered and the 4-weeks-old puppy controls the sheep with her stare.

Yesterday, Syyti saw sheep for the first time when we participated the herding class for young wannabe-sheepdogs. I was gladly surprised when he was more interested in sheep than their poop. In truth, he ate some poop, too.


First, I took Syyti around the pen in a leash, after the sheep. I took Syyti out as soon as he showed the first signs of tiredness. He's still so very young and his span of attention is extremely short.



As Syyti didn't show any fear or aggression towards the sheep, I could let him free for a couple of times when he attempted to go around the flock. During the second session, Minna held Syyti while I walked in front of the sheep. As for the handling, I need at least as much practise as Syyti does.



There were four other young border collies training herding, too. It was instructive to watch them, but it was sheer magic to see a puppy, younger than Syyti, running with her tail high and a minute later finding her herding instinct and starting to eye the sheep in a traditional BC pose. If I get a permission from the owner, I'll post the photos of the magical moments here.