Yep, we moved out of the round pen and into the bigger field this past July. Nancy has us using sheep that are appropriate for our level so that he won't keep losing his sheep and break his confidence. They aren't knee knockers...they will definitely run if the dog doesn't hold them, but they aren't super flighty either.
He's doing well - is even starting to keep his head when pulling them off the fence (if I don't open my mouth and stress him out).
One thing I noticed when we moved to the field was that all of the crap he did in the round pen that we had to correct....it all came back again! Nancy was not surprised and said it's normal. That's why we go back to better behaved sheep, so we can maintain control and correct those old behaviors (buzzing, wool grabbing, etc.) Sigh... - so I'm back to circle work and stomping at him (applying pressure) and telling him to GET OUT again. The buzzing and wool grabbing stopped right away (thank goodness).
The last lesson we had him driving a bit and he did beautifully with that. He is now slicing in on his flanks when he's about 1/3 way out, and my verbal "Get" is not getting a response! I am now lying him down when he cuts in, putting myself between him and the sheep to help him and then send him again (and am now closer to correct if needed). As soon as he bends out, I move off of the sheep to release the pressure. That is the idea anyway...I still catch my green self being "in the sheep" too long, thus causing him to come in too close again. :-\
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