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The ground can become
too hot for the dogs to
work. The way to easily
tell is to take the palm
of your hand and place
it on the ground and if
you can not keep it
there for a count of 5 it
is to hot for the dog to
walk on.
Some will work
through the pain and
blister their pads. (Editors
note: Herding term used
for this is that the dog
has a torn or blistered pad) The
way to insure that this
doesn't happen is to
release the heat from
the ground by wetting the
ground
down., the evaporation of
the water from the
ground carries off the
excess heat, cooling
the ground .
With such a larger area covered by the sprinkler system the arena itself becomes cooler making it nicer for us humans also. The sheep do not seem to care one way or the other. The exception is when they are overworked by the dog/handler, then they pant just like the dogs do when they are hot. It is their way of letting out the internal heat or they turn and fight.
The child's wading pool outside of the working area is provided for the dogs to release internal body heat which is best done through the pads on their feet. Do not wet down the dog's COAT What I want to call your attention to is the afternoon time. It is not valid when no one is out and I am not expecting anyone else or when we are still running dogs. If you are one that comes out late please assist the others as they put away the course panels.
On rainy weather days class will stop if/when the facility becomes unusable ( So do the trials). When in doubt check the banner on the home page! It is there to keep you abreast of any changes to the availability to hold our herding class. Provided I know before I go out there.