And Away We go!

Trial season begins this week, yeah! The dogs and I start our little journey by heading north on Thursday to the Borders on Paradise SDT in Turbotville, PA.  Open runs Friday and Saturday, and right now I'm planning to run Bill and Zac, with Zeke possibly subbing in for Zac on the second run. I had intended to slot Zeke into the second dog spot on my team but the old man (Zac turned 9 yesterday!) is working really well so he's back in. Zeke will be waiting eagerly on the sidelines for missteps on Zac's part, hoping to jump in. It's a hard decision really, since both of the Z boys are working well. I had the chance to train recently with a good friend, spending the day rotating through 6 different fields with 6 different and difficult outruns, and Zeke really nailed the outruns. But i feel Zac is more flexible around the course still, so he's in the lineup.

After the BonP trial, we head over to KY for a little visiting and then the Bluegrass Classic SDT starts on Wednesday.  I'm hoping to get some sheep time in for the pups before and during the BG. Devin has been with Vergil Holland for a couple of weeks, to get a little start on him, while I've been starting Spot. I like both of them a lot, so am hoping to do a little training with them while we're on the road. I've really been enjoying Spot and am looking forward to seeing Devin and putting time into him myself. Both look promising so far.

I'll try to post updates on the trials here as we go along, as well as posting scoreboard pics on Facebook. Since I'll be staying in hotels and not the camper, i expect to have wi-fi.

Clinic Weekend

Coming up this weekend at the farm -- a training clinic with Tommy Wilson. I'm really looking forward to this. Tommy has been in the dogs for ages and he's a real "dog man" in my mind. Shepherd, trainer, life long dog man both in Scotland and the US, yep, the real deal. I've always admired Tommy's way with training and running dogs, so quiet and trusting. Some of the trial runs that stand out in my mind after so many years of doing this sheepdog stuff star Tommy and his wonderful little bitch Sly. I'll never forget their quiet mastery of the Bluegrass course a few years ago. Goosebump-worthy.

Now to figure out which one of my dogs to actually enter in the clinic...

Catching up, again

I bet if i went back and looked, the theme "catching up" would be the most frequent on my blog. Time just manages to squeak on past. So, here we go again.

The dogs are clipping along. Zac is happy and bouncy and wishing i'd work him more. Of course, i could be a full time shepherd with a thousand ewes and only him for help, and Zac would still be wishing i'd work him more. I think he'll go to his grave with "sheep, sheep, sheep" running through his brain. I pulled him out and worked him some this past weekend and he's surely achieved that place of "an old pair of gloves", where we know each other so well and fit together so nicely. Bill is fat and happy, and i'm hoping we change that to fit and happy in the near future. It's about time to start thinking about shaking off the winter layer and getting ready for spring trials. Zeke and Joe have been getting more of my training attention, with Joe getting the larger part of that. I'm still trying to figure out where Zeke fits into my trial line up. He's such a good work dog, and i'd like him to be my #2 Open dog when Zac is ready to retire. Joe seems to be working his way into the line up as well. He just turned two and if he could just cool his overly keen self down a bit, he'd be dangerous on the trial field. I'm trying to remember that his father Zac was the same way at this age, maybe even worse about it, and he's ended up okay. Time will tell. Spot and Devin are now 10 months old and i'm playing around with them a little here and there on sheep. No big hurry on them, they're going to be pretty sensible.

All is well at the farm. I've got the flock numbers back up to a reasonable number, with a few bred to lamb in March. It'll be fun to have lambs around again after not lambing at all last year. I've switched back over to mostly hair sheep after having a wool flock for a few years. It's kind of nice to look out and see some color out in the pasture again, with a few reds and some dorper crosses as well. I like having a few of the wool sheep and some hair sheep as well, good for mixing and matching for training.

There are a couple of events coming up at the farm. First, i have Tommy Wilson lined up for a clinic February 2-3. Then at the end of March, we're having a "Rhyme puppy" get together. Kim is coming in from MI to visit with Rhyme, and I've invited pups and owners from all 3 of her litters to come out to the farm. That should be fun and i plan to get lots of pictures of the Bill and Zac pups.

So that's the latest goings on around here. Trial season is in a lull right now so not much to report there. That will change in the late spring as we start ramping up for summer travel and work our way towards the Finals in VA in October. I'm hoping for one or perhaps even two trips out west this summer so hopefully blog posting will be more interesting as we start leaning in that direction!

Ruff Tough Kennels

A while back i bought some of these Ruff Tough Kennels to try out. They're one piece of molded plastic and very strong. However, i wasn't very impressed with the plastic door. I was even less impressed when Zeke managed to open the door and let himself out. The company remade the doors with longer posts and sent me one. Well, Zeke can still push it open. This past weekend he did just that, breaking the plastic in the process. It scares me to think about what could have happened if he'd gotten his head out between the door and crate and been unable to push all the way through - i could have easily come back to a dead Zeke, strangled there. I've been in contact with the company and am waiting on a response, but felt i needed to get the word out about this potential hazard. I'll update when i hear something back. They've been very responsive so far.

Edited to add: I'm waiting on a couple of metal doors to be sent to me. I'm hopeful this will help with my own kennels, but it sounds like these are about the last metal doors the company has lying around. I really quite like the kennels themselves, but i wouldn't recommend them for determined escape artists with the plastic/composite doors. They'll be fine for most of my dogs, but not for Zeke. I'll update again after i get the doors and test them out with Zeke.

http://www.rufftoughkennels.com/

 

The Rest of October

The rest of October is a bit of a blur this year. We moved on from Montpelier to the Edgeworth trial. The trial field was moved this year, not on the big beautiful hill that I love so much. The course was smaller but still plenty challenging. With all that had happened, i have to admit i wasn't much in the mood for dog trialing and i think it probably showed in the results we got. I ran all 3 dogs and i don't think we placed a single time. I thought the sheep were a little less even than in the past, with running one hair sheep and two wool ones, as the home flock continues in the process of switching to hair sheep over time. But really, no excuses, just not a really stellar weekend for us.

We moved over to Quiet Acres for a Tuesday/Wednesday trial after Edgeworth. I'd asked Sylvia to let me take over running the trial for her, so that kept me quite busy. It was a good couple of days with tons of help and support and fellowship. I think Dan would have liked it. Zac and Bill placed both runs, with Zac winning the second day. I think Zac likes the field and sheep there. He's run 3 times there now (we skipped the second day last year) and won 2 of those. Funny how some fields and flocks just suit some dogs better than others.

Next up was the final trial to be held at Jan Thompson's Water Cress farm. She's done 5 years of trials and declared this to be the last.  It was sort of a mixed weekend for me. There are some folks there that i really enjoy, we had some decent runs, the weather was good then not so good, just kind of a "winding down to the end" sort of trip over all. The scenery was gorgeous as usual. Thanks to Jan for 5 great years.

Next up, a clinic this coming weekend in Virginia Beach and then off to the Rural Hill trial the following weekend. Fall sure is a busy time around here!

Sad Times/ Montpelier SDT

Trial season was rolling on along, with the dogs and i camped in Orange, VA the night before the Montpelier Fall Fiber Festival SDT, on October 5th, when we got some terrible news. Our good friend Dan King had suddenly passed away at his home. The news spread like absolute wildfire as those far and wide who knew and loved Dan reached out to others who felt the same. The feelings of loss and devastation were palpable in this little corner of the sheepdog world. I know that i personally still feel like i've been kicked in the gut when i think about it. Dan was a good man in so many ways and the world is a poorer place without him in it.

It was decided to continue on with the Montpelier trial though we were all still numb and in shock. In a tribute to Dan's spirit, everyone banded together and put on a fine trial for the public. There was a very moving tribute when it came time for Dan to go to the post, with one of his lovely handmade crooks placed on the post while Don McCaig narrated a perfect run by Dan and his faithful dog Fann. It was lovely.

The trial itself went very well. The sheep were cooperative and the large crowd at the festival very appreciative of the quality work by the dogs. People come year after year to this event, and know us and the dogs, and understand the course and what makes a good run. The Open class was fairly small at about 27 dogs. My guys did pretty well, with Bill finishing 2nd the first day and 4th the second day, and Zac ending up 2nd the second day. Barbara Ray won the first round, Sally Glei the second.  Really though, the weekend was more about being together with others who were feeling as hurt as we each were in our loss.

The service for Dan was held the Tuesday following, and was one of the more moving experiences i've ever had. The service was just perfect, held at the amazing haven Dan and Sylvia created in the VA mountains, and attended by a huge crowd of friends and family. Godspeed Dan. Your time here was too short but your effects on people in this world live on.

(Photo by Michelle Dobbs)

Rolling On

Trial season is now in full swing here in the mid-Atlantic area. This past weekend, the dogs and I went to the Pipedream Farm SDT, hosted by good friends Mark and Renee Billadeau in Middletown, MD. Mark and Renee bought this farm a few years ago and have been working their behinds off on it since, and it's really starting to show. I hadn't been there since the trial last year, and the changes to the house are wonderful. The fields were lush and healthy, the sheep fat and sassy. I was lucky enough to be invited to stay over for the weekend at the home of Todd and Peggy Simpson, a treat all in itself. Their home is so interesting and beautiful, and this trip i actually had time to explore and enjoy the grounds a bit in the daylight, as well as spending a little more time than is usually possible visiting with Peggy and Todd.

The course at this trial isn't especially large, with the outrun being somewhere around 200 yards. The sheep are set on the top of a ridge and dogs are generally completely out of sight at the lift. The drive is fairly long and set on the face of a hill, so lines aren't too bad to pick out. There's quite a bit of pressure with draws for the sheep back to the setout on the drive and also behind the handler's post to the exhaust for the fetch, so that's a bit tricky. Shedding was fairly difficult and penning was pretty straightforward though not a given. I ended up needing to pull Zeke from the trial since he'd had a canine removed and the vet felt it was too soon to run him, so Zac and Bill were the Shoofly team this time around.

Zac was my first dog up at #4 on saturday and he had a pretty nice run around the course. There were some minor bobbles but overall it was pretty good. The shed was very good, very clean, and the pen good. I thought it would place but didn't realize the shedding would end up being pretty difficult over the course of the day, and in the end, the score held up for 1st place. Bill ran later on and drew up a very difficult set of sheep. They broke hard off the top before Bill arrived and with some quick moves on his part, he caught them just before they'd made it to the fetch panels. We got them back online but they broke again at the turn around the post and Bill had to pull some pretty fancy work to keep them on the field and get them back online for the drive away. The sheep finally realized they weren't getting anywhere with trying to get away from him and we managed a very pretty crossdrive which i capped off by steering the sheep high around the panels. Off to the shed where the crazies started again. I thought i'd seen Bill slip and possibly tweak something on the turn around the post, so kept him from trying any heroics to control the sheep. When it became apparent that shedding was going to take full speed, i decided to retire rather than risk further tweaking on a run that had already gone to pot. It was a lot of fun trying to manage that difficult group, and i was thrilled with Bill's work sorting them out.

On sunday, Bill was my first dog up and i thought he really nailed it. I'm not sure where we could have cleaned up many points other than a wiggle in front of the driveaway gates and a pause before the sheep went into the pen. He was just really on. The judge wasn't quite as happy with it as i was, hitting his top end a fair bit, and we ended up in 4th at the end of the day. No matter, i was very happy with his work all around for the weekend. Zac was up later and he was really on too - laying down a really gorgeous run around the course. We were penning before the shed, and with only a small pause the sheep walked right in. On to the shed, where we got a nice split, i called Zac in, and my dog that usually takes out my knees on a shed refused to come in, very strange. I mean, i assumed he was in there and got all twisted up looking for him because he's ALWAYS there and i don't need to watch for him. Time ran out not long after with no shed and a 10th place finish. It's a little worrisome that he didn't come in and i'll be keeping an eye on old Zac-boy to make sure there's not something physically troubling him. He had a good run up to the shed, but his flanks were also a bit un-Zaclike. I had given him melatonin saturday evening because it looked like it would storm and he hates storms, so perhaps it was still affecting him. If i see any other suspicious things, i'll be having him checked over and test for tick diseases. Those things can present in very subtle ways so it pays to be wary of anything being a touch off.

So that's the report on the running at the trial. I had a great time socializing and hanging out, and seeing some folks i don't get to see often enough. It was a really pleasant weekend!

After the trial, i drove to Sarah Ruckleshaus' place in Chestertown, MD on the eastern shore for a day of doing lessons on Monday. I'd done a clinic a few weeks ago at Monroe and Evelyne Williams' place and afterwards Sarah asked if i'd like to do one at her place, but with all of the fall weekends filling up, we decided to try a mini-clinic/lesson day instead since i'd be fairly close at the trial. It ended up being a most excellent day, with 7 or 8 dogs and a nice group of people. I've been really resistant to doing clinics or lessons away from home before, but i'm finding i really enjoy it a lot. It's a very rewarding experience. I've been asked to do another the first weekend in November at VA Beach and i'm looking forward to that.

Next up, the Montpelier SDT in 2 weeks!