Tell Me Thursday #6

I guess since Laura at Crooks and Crazies used a question i sent her that i should play this week.

1. What is your ideal number of dogs?

That seems to be dependent on where i am at the moment. At home, i'd love to have maybe 3 dogs, 4 tops. I get a little nutty trying to live with more than that these days, though in the past i've had a lot more than that. I can remember happily watching my pack of 8 dogs running and playing at the farm and thinking i liked it, but now i think i'd be freaking out. When it comes to working dogs though, my number changes some. I like having 3 Open dogs. I know you can usually only run 2 at a trial, but i like having 3. Many times you can run 3, and it gives me a "spare", usually an older dog or a younger one, to go along with the main team. I also like having a Nursery dog to run. And then of course you need some youngsters coming along as well, and exciting puppy prospects and offspring of the Open dogs. It can add up quickly.

2. Lora wants to know if you find that your dogs are better or worse after time off from training?

That's a tough question for me. I find it very difficult to put a young dog away once i've gotten started on training. It's just my personality to put my nose down and push through. With the trained dogs, i make a real effort to give them a good block of time off from trial tuning when there's a break. I do find they need that, or at least some of them do anyway. Zac mourns if i try to lay him up but he's a freak for work time. Bill and Zeke are just as happy getting to have some off work time, as long as it's with me.

3. What is your favorite power tool? What power tool do you wish you had?

Remote control. Oh wait, you probably mean something else....chainsaw! But i bet you could guess that.

4. What did you want to be when you grew up?

Hmm, a vet maybe. Probably is why i grab at every bit of vet info i can about the dogs.

5. How many of your friends are not "dog people"? 

Very few!

Review of Mr Chewy.com

Recently, i noticed that several blogging friends were reviewing the MrChewy.com website, having received offers of $50 gift certificates to place an order and then review the process. I decided to give the site a try myself, and was well pleased with the selection and prices. They carry over 70 brands of dog food, from very high end choices to some for the more budget conscious consumer. Shipping on orders over $49 is free. Since the price of the Acana dog food i like was pretty much the same price as with the local retailer i usually visit, and there was a 15% off offer if you were willing to set up a regular delivery schedule (which can be changed or cancelled at will), i thought i'd give it a whirl and ordered 2 bags, along with some treats for the dogs. Since i wouldn't have to make time to go out shopping and also spend the gas money to get there, the savings definitely added up. The order process was simple and the food arrived very promptly, 3 days after i placed the order. All in all, it was a very satisfying transaction and you can count me among the happy customers. I might suggest they expand their selection of treats and chews, but i suspect that will probably happen as they get more established.

And that would be the end of the story but...i kept thinking about those friends who got the $50 gift certificates, and wishing i'd been one of the lucky ones to have received the offer. So, i sent MrChewy an email and said "hey, what about me?!" more or less. And wouldn't you know it, those lovely people at MrChewy granted my wish by extending the offer to me as well. How about that for service?!  Count me as a VERY satisfied customer now!

Still here!

I thought maybe i should do a little catchup post since it's been ages. All is well here.

We haven't been trialing this winter at all. The last trial the dogs ran in was Rural Hill in Huntersville, NC in November. It wasn't my favorite trial of the year. The field is very nice, the sheep were pretty good, set out was good, nice crowd, but the trial has some problems that really need to be addressed. I won't go into detail here on the blog but if you really need to know, send me a message.  I hope the problems can be addressed in the future but i have to say it's not the first time i've come home with the same concerns. We did attend another trial this winter - the Edgeworth Winter trial. But the dogs didn't run as i spent the weekend in the judges seat. It was a lot of fun and a good weekend. I enjoy judging and learn some new things every time i do it. The only downside is not getting to run my own dogs!

I've had a couple of fundays at the farm this winter, just nice, social days with some nice folks getting out to work dogs. Lots of good food and good fun. That was a great way to celebrate Thanksgiving and also to ring in the New Year.

In some exciting news, I bred Zeke to a nice bitch during the Rural Hill trial and there are three 3 week old pups coming along. I haven't decided yet if i'll be taking one, partly because it's 3 boys and i wanted a female, but also because in more exciting news, I bred Bill about 3 weeks ago. I've been waiting on just the right situation to come along to breed him, and this was it. I've leased Rhyme, Joe's dam. I'm very excited about this cross as the Zac x Rhyme pups are turning out to be talented, solid dogs. The cross brings together Bill's smoothness with the cool power of Rhyme's maternal line (my old Ben is her grandsire). Time will tell but i can hardly wait to see those pups!

So that's about it from here. The dogs have been taking it easy this winter, and Zeke and Joe are coming along in their training. I'm making plans for this year's trials and impatiently waiting on pups.

Tell Me Thursday

Since it's been almost 2 months since i posted here on the blog, i thought i'd play along with Laura's Tell Me Thursday thingie --


1. What are your plans for the holiday season?
Taking it easy and putzing around the farm during the actual holidays. I'll be heading to KY next week to visit with family and have an early Christmas celebration. That'll be nice, i don't get to see them nearly enough. I'm going to visit with Vergil and Anne Marie Holland on my way up, and work dogs a bit there. Christmas and New Years weekends will be spent at the farm, working dogs and working on some little projects i have in mind (chickens!). I'm having another little Fun Day New Years Day at the farm as well.

2. Do you decorate? If so, what have you done so far?
No decorations so far though i might dig out a few favorite things to sit around the house. I actually really enjoy Christmas and all the "stuff" (yes, even Christmas carols) but i don't put a tree up. No room really in my little house.

3. a. Favorite recent dog photo? b. Photo that shows your mood today (or one word)?

I kind of like this one. It's me and Bill at Meeker this year, and it fits both of those. It's a recent favorite and my current mood, sort of looking out over the next year, anticipation.


4. There's been a discussion on the BC Boards about "don't train for the novice classes... just train for open and the rest will fall into place." What are your thoughts on this?
Taken as a simple statement, i kind of agree. While it might be hard for a novice person to know exactly what "train for Open" means, i think it's a good thing for the dogs themselves if you don't get too hung up on things like wearing or really short outruns. I think the dogs learn better and enjoy training more when they're challenged a bit.

5. What are your top five cannot-do-without-them dog items?
1. Good dog food
2. Sheep
3. Crates
4. Vacuum cleaner
5. Truck for going places with them!

Watercress SDT

 View from the top end of the field, looking down field and over the campers. 

(Photos by Julie Poudrier)
Click on a picture to enlarge it.

 Jan's home and the view

The trial field, again from the top end.

Along the fall trial circuit we go, this time landing at Jan Thompson's Watercress SDT in Limestone, TN. This is one of the prettiest, if not THE prettiest trial locations we go to all year. Jan's perfectly maintained farm sits among the mountains and the view is beautiful, with the leaves changing colors all around. The trial is set on a large hayfield with little rolls and dips. Lots of folks pitch in to keep the trial running smoothly all 3 days, and the handlers dinner on Saturday evening is to die for, gourmet all the way featuring lamb raised right there on the farm. Setout was very capably handled (as usual!) by Julie Poudrier and this year's judge Scott Glen was imported from the faraway land of Alberta, Canada. The sheep were very fit and fat katahdin ewes and their lambs from this past spring, and the weather was perfect with cold nights and bright, sunny days in the 60s.

The trial began on Friday with the novice classes. We began the day with Nursery 1 and a reasonably sized (smallish) course for so early in the Nursery season. The dogs seemed to all handle it pretty well. Zeke ran very well, winning the class and securing his second qualifying leg for next year's Nursery Finals. Next up was Open Ranch 1, on the same course, won by Sally Glei with Lena. ProNovice followed, won by Chuck Dimit and Chad. Then came a course change that left those waiting to run Nursery 2 and Open Ranch 2 (running together) feeling a tad nervous. The setout and all panels were moved back to the spots they'd be for the first Open trial the next day, and it was a huge course for the youngsters. Actually, it was a pretty darned long drive even for the Open dogs! It was a fun challenge for the young dogs and made for interesting spectating as we watched the different dogs trying to master it. Zeke was the first dog up on the course and i was very happy with his performance. He had a little trouble with the outrun but his fetch and drive (the longest he's ever attempted) were very good and the pen quick and easy. His score held up at the top of the long list of Nursery and Ranch dogs running until right at the end when Chuck Dimit and Chad came along and laid down a beautiful run to win both Ranch and Nursery.

Saturday morning dawned cold but clear and Bill was my first dog up in the Open. He had a decent enough run but not his best by a long shot. Not sure what was up but he just seemed a little distracted. At the end of the day he finished just out of the placings. Zac was up mid-afternoon and had a great run going, with only a couple of points gone as we approached the shedding ring. Unfortunately he lost his patience with the sluggish pace of the sheep and decided a good goosing was in order to speed things up, resulting in a grip call and DQ. I was less than happy with the rotten beast giving away a potential win! Saturday's winner was Victoria Wilcox with a beautiful run with her Pat dog.  Sunday went quite a lot better for my guys. Zac was up very early, at a time when the sheep were acting pretty touchy, but managed a pretty nice run that held for a 10th place finish. After a very long day of waiting, Bill was the last dog of the day to run. The sheep had gotten very good at the end of the first day, so i was anxious to see what we'd get. As i'd hoped, the sheep got pretty sweet at the end and Bill had a smoker of a run. He'd hardly lost a point up to the crossdrive panel, where i carefully drove the sheep high and around the panel, grrrrr. It was a difficult one to see for sure. With a clean finish, about the only points Bill lost were on the crossdrive. But that was enough with the good running to put us 3rd for the day behind Chuck Dimit and Bob Washer. All in all, i was very happy with all 3 dogs. Especially gratifying were the 2 perfect sheds by Bill after having trouble at some of the trials this fall. I think i finally puzzled out the problem and hopefully the bit of quick training we did last week was the thing that helped.

So that's the play by play for this week's trial. Now we're home for our first weekend since August, and then we'll be off again to the Broken Back Ranch SDT the first weekend in November.

Lexington SDT

So on we go to the 3rd trial of the week, again set in the beautiful Blue Ridge mountains, at Broadview Ranch in Lexington, VA. Hosted by the most gracious of hosts, David Clark and Cheryl Branibar, this is a fun and very welcoming event. The field contains lots of cross country horse jumps, making for an interesting and challenging course. The Open outrun looked to be about 350-400 yards to me and the sheep are David and Cheryl's Montadale flock, trucked in to the ranch for the trial. Our judge this year was the inimitable Tommy Wilson and the setout crew par excellence was made up of Debbie Crowder in the sorting pens with Julie Poudrier holding the packets of sheep for every run of the 3 day event. It doesn't get any better in all respects there! The socializing was top notch as well, with handlers gathering each evening in the ranch cabin (very, very old with a wonderful fireplace) for food and merriment.

The sheep were very good at this trial, very cooperative around the course if handled well by the dogs and making them pay if not handled well. I thought they were a bit more challenge for the at hand tasks of shedding and penning in general, though there were plenty of sheds and pens for everyone, even if they weren't all trouble free. The Montadales seem to react a little differently to the dogs up close and weren't very reactive to the handlers. It was fun for me trying to figure them out anyway. The course both days ended with a split and pen of the 4 sheep.

I was lucky enough to be able to run all 3 dogs in the Open, as well as 2 runs in the Nursery with Zeke. Zeke was first up for me in the Open on the first day and i was very pleased with him. He was calm, cool and collected all the way around. We ran into trouble on the shed as i was trying to figure out the sheep. They didn't seem to want to string out for us and it took a minute for me to figure that out, as they flipped back and forth repeatedly. Knowing Zeke would blow into even a tiny gap, i finally just leaned in to show him where i wanted him to come, and he blasted in for a beautiful split with no gap at all. It sure is fun shedding with him! On to the pen where i began a day of penning woes. One ewe decided she'd just go under me instead of into the pen, and that pretty much became my pen theme of the day as i never did get a decent pen in 4 runs. Zac and Bill both ran very well around the course and through the shed, but i was just cursed at the pen for the day. Bill ended up 5th and Zac was out of the placings. The first Nursery class ran at the end of Open and Zeke had a nice run but the darned pen knocked us into 2nd place. Bob Washer won the Open for the day after a very, very close run off with Barb Levinson and Cy Peterson. Carla King and Sage won the Nursery.

Day two went a bit better for my guys but the competition was really stiff as one bobble here or there would knock you out of contention for the placings. Zac and Bill both had winning runs going up to the at hand work, but a missed attempt on the shed by Bill and a ewe skimming the outside of the pen on Zac knocked them down to 5th and 7th place, respectively. Zeke was laying down a smoker of a run when a quick overflank at the crossdrive panel got things out of whack and it took several points worth of effort to get back on track, knocking him out of contention. He was really on for his second Nursery class at the end of the day though, and won it handily, getting his first qualifying leg. Mike Hanley won the Open for the day. Bob Washer ended up overall champ for the 2 days, with Bill and me reserve champs.

Sunday brought out the novice dogs and i stayed around to watch most of the day. Wow, are there some good teams coming along there. Lots of good runs and nice dog work.

It was another fun few days at a wonderful trial, with gorgeous weather and nice people. The ranch is a lovely place with a lot going on. I enjoyed seeing the big chicken tractor and the pastured hogs, and even brought home a big bag of farm raised meats, yum. And now we're packing and preparing to head to TN for Jan Thompson's Watercress SDT this coming weekend.

Quiet Acres SDT

We followed up Edgeworth with a Tuesday-Wednesday trial in Grottoes, VA, at the Quiet Acres SDT. This first trial hosted by Dan and Sylvia King at their lovely farm was really great. The setting was gorgeous with the leaves starting to change in the Blue Ridge mountains (photo by Christine Koval). The rolling field made for a tricky outrun, the course was plenty challenging, the sheep fit and happy. The trial was a benefit for the Bluegrass and Belle Grove SDTs and drew a nice crowd. The atmosphere was relaxed and friendly and i had a great time. And the handler's dinner prepared by Jim Winecoff was wonderful.

I decided to drive up to the trial on Tuesday morning rather than trying to take the camper or stay over in a hotel, trying to preserve my dwindling vacation time. I really wanted to support Dan and Sylvia with their first trial, they're such great people and have been very supportive of our Whistle for a Cure trials. I rolled in about 2 runs before my first run with Bill. A few quick questions to figure out the course and off we went to the post. We had a fairly decent run up to the split (it was split-pen after the drive). I couldn't seem to get any sort of gap at all with the 4 hair sheep. No fault of Bill's this time around, it just didn't happen, and we ran out of time staring at one solid wall of 4 sheep. Zac was up second to last and he really had it down cold with the sheep, hardly putting a foot wrong. I love it when he runs like that! In the end, he'd scored a 92 and won the class for his first ever Open win. Hard to believe that it's taken this long but it's true. I think he's probably had 8 or 10 second places but never taken home a blue ribbon. Yay for Zac! I ran Zeke non-compete at the end of the day and was very happy with him. His outrun was very nice, fetch good. He was putting too much pressure on the sheep on the drive and making them turn around to look at him, which he didn't like. Things would stall out a little and he'd poke into the sheep to get them going. Not pretty but effective. Just young dog stuff as he figures out how to work the different types of sheep we run into.

It started pouring rain overnight Tuesday night. Sylvia had very graciously offered to let me crash in her RV for the night. Unfortunately, a small leak overhead turned into a bigger leak overnight, and it was kind of a drippy night in bed! I snuggled around a pot in the bed catching drips for a few hours but eventually it ran me off into the house and onto the couch. Pretty funny and now i have a good story to rib Dan and Sylvia with.

Wednesday morning was nasty and rainy and icky. I was up first so chose to run Zeke for the experience. He ran quite well again and i was happy to see he'd sorted out in his mind about moving the sheep, and things smoothed right out. He had a very nice shed but we timed out on the pen. I was feeling tired and creaky with the chilly rain so decided to sit the rest of the day out, and jumped in my warm, dry truck for the trip home. I hated to miss running Zac and Bill but it sure was nice with the heat cranked up, and we would be on our way to the next trial in only a couple of days.

It was a great inaugural trial at Quiet Acres, and i definitely plan to be back next year!