Shoofly Farm

Tell Me Thursday

2011-12-09T12:34:00.001-05:00

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

2011-10-26T10:44:00.000-04:00

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

2011-10-19T12:05:00.013-04:00

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

2011-10-17T18:50:00.007-04:00

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!

Edgeworth SDT

2011-10-10T13:45:00.005-04:00

This past weekend was our annual fall trip to the Edgeworth Open SDT in Gordonsville, VA, hosted by Tom and Florence Wilson. I love this trial, it's right at the top of my "must attend" list every year. The field is big and beautiful and it's a great challenge. This year our judge was Alasdair Lyttle and i thought he did a nice job of it. The field had a lot of very thick grass on it and it seemed to give the dogs and sheep some trouble as scores were generally lower than usual. There were lots of good parts to the runs, but no one seemed to lay down a really stellar run from start to finish.

I had 2 Open spots in the trial and my plan was to run Zac and Bill in the first round, then if Zac wasn't staying sound i'd perhaps sub Zeke in for him in the second round. Truthfully, i was just itching to give it a shot with Zeke to see what he'd do with that 600 yard outrun, one of the most difficult we'll ever run into at a trial. Given that I don't have a turnback on Zeke and only the sketchiest of redirects, i was trying to be sensible and not throw him in the mix but i sure wanted to try it. He's got a good head so i felt that even if he wasn't successful, it wouldn't cause any harm to his training. But i resisted for the first round and stuck to just running the 2 experienced dogs. Zac was my first up and had a pretty decent run around the course. I missed the crossdrive gates and thought the run was sloppy enough to keep us out of contention but in the end, Zac ended up placing 13th out of the 67 dogs. Bill had a very good run but troubles at the pen cost us several points and he finished 9th.

So you know what's coming, right? Of course, i put Zeke in for the second round! It was one of those years where lots of dogs were crossing over or not finding the sheep, but i just couldn't stand it so put him in as my 3rd dog. He was definitely seeing the sheep at the top, and left my feet nice and wide. I thought he was on a really correct path but gave him a little verbal "out" reminder just after he left, just for insurance, and out and out he sailed for a perfect outrun. I was dying to do a little happy dance standing at the post! He landed nicely, lifted a bit hard, and the sheep broke hard to the right down the hill, as they'd been doing all weekend. Zeke didn't quite know what to do about that and got them about half way to me before i managed to get him around to stop them. Back online and around the course, a little too pushy but not horrible, off to the pen, where the sheep decided they wanted nothing to do with being trapped in that small space. A bit of round and round but we did get them in, then off to the shedding ring where they were stuck together as if glued. No time to finish the shed but all in all, a great first time out at Edgeworth for young Zeke. What a good boy!

Zac was my next one up and again had what i thought was just an okay run around the course. I couldn't get anything close to a shed as the sheep were feeling very friendly with each other, stuck in a clump, and Zac couldn't get within 15 yards without them bolting around me. So with no shed i thought we were out of luck, but in the end we had held onto a 3rd place, Zac's highest ever finish at Edgeworth. He was really working well, especially with having been laid up with the injury. Bill ran towards the end of the round and was good around the course but for some reason decided he just wasn't going to shed and wouldn't come through for me. That was unfortunate as he had a high placing run up to that point.

So another Edgeworth is done, another great weekend passed on that beautiful field. The picture above of the field was taken last year, looking through Zeke's ears. I'd only had him a few weeks and he had the best time watching the trial and being around all the people and dogs. If you've met Zeke, you know he's a real "life is good!" kind of dog, all the time. He was just starting his sheepdog education then. I think it's pretty cool that he got up that field just a short year later. I'm just a little proud of him! :-)

Montpelier SDT

2011-10-06T14:14:00.006-04:00

The trial at the Montpelier Fall Fiber Festival was a great success this year in my opinion. It was mostly new folks running the event for the VBCA and they did a terrific job. The sheep were commercial polypays rather than the usual dead broke hair sheep and great fun to work. The course was short but the challenge surely wasn't.

I was happy with the performances of both of my dogs. Bill seems to have really picked up a lot of knowledge and confidence from his experience on the western trip. I could feel the confidence in his work as he muscled the stroppy sheep around the field. The first day was especially fun for both of us as he had a ewe that kept trying to break off to the exhaust while leaving her friends behind. It made for a nice puzzle for us to work out. He ended up in 2nd place both days and was the overall Champ for the weekend. I ran Zeke since it was a small course and i'm still resting Zac, and he did very well himself. The first day he had a good enough run that he'd surely have placed well, but i just could not get the sheep to part on the shed. It was no fault of Zeke's, other than perhaps he'd muscled them around a bit hard and made them not want to separate. Not accomplishing the shed also cost the pen points. He ran very well the second day as well, finishing just out of the placings.

Montpelier is a special trial for me in many ways. The first trial i ever witnessed was at Montpelier, with my first little BC puppy Bailey when she was just a couple of months old. My mom and dad attended the trial once, camping with me there. I have many memories of attending the trial with Joan over the years. It's bittersweet to remember traveling to the trial together last year, with her passing only short time after. This year a new memory was added. I always see Pat and Steve at this trial, the people who i placed my first real Open dog Ben with many years ago, to help with their goat herd (they exhibit at the fiber festival). This year, Pat told me that Steve had passed away earlier in the year, and she told me a goosebump-worthy story. A few days before he died, she found Steve with a peaceful look on his face and he told Pat that he was sitting in a field with Ben, that Ben was happy and healthy and it was beautiful. One of their guard dogs was there too but he was so happy to see his Ben again. Of course we just bawled all over each other but wow, what a wonderful thing. Pat's always said i gave them the greatest gift, but i think truly i was the one given the gift, of knowing how happy they all were together. Isn't it amazing where these little black and white dogs can take you and who you meet? (photo of Ben at the Bluegrass by Denise Wall)

Pipedream Farm SDT

2011-09-29T13:13:00.005-04:00

The dogs and i went to a new trial this past weekend, hosted by good friends Mark and Renee Billadeau, in Middletown, MD. I've been trying to get to the Billadeau's "new" farm for almost 2 years and finally managed it. What a lovely place. With their 200 year old farm house in the background (see picture), the field was beautiful and covered in lush green grass, the sheep were fit, and the company excellent. The trial field wasn't very large (150 yard outruns) but it was a good challenge for the dogs with the sheep sorting out the dogs as well as a long and difficult drive to attempt. Tidy lines and tight turns were hard to come by. There was a great group of folks present to compete, with lots of good cheer and good attitudes all around. I really enjoyed it and our host characterized it as "hosting a big party" afterwards, a good sign for sure. Everywhere i looked, people were pitching in and offering help, always a welcome sight.

Saturday began about noon and was for a Ranch class (same course as Open would run on Sunday, minus the shed). I was manning the judge's chair for the day and enjoyed it very much. The clerks were excellent and the competitors tried really hard. There were a couple of really good runs, but most folks found the course a challenge with the light sheep. Still, they hung in there and made the best of it, getting good experience in for themselves and dogs. The drive was the undoing for many but most managed to get it done and go on to try the pen. Carla King with Sage ended up winning, followed by Janey Harvey with Tony.

Saturday evening featured a delicious handler's dinner, hosted by Peggy Simpson and Todd Layfield, in their fabulous house. There's so much history in the area and the house has seen most of it in one form or another, being nearly 200 years old. Todd and Peggy have been working on the house for 8 years, reclaiming it from a state of disrepair and i thoroughly enjoyed walking around looking at all they've done.

Sunday brought out the Open dogs, who for the most part handled the sheep a bit better. They were getting a bit cranky but still held up and worked well. I ran Zeke early and he was still in "western" mode, pushing in on the sheep and causing lots of breaking and bolting. I was pleased that he was listening pretty well and maintaining his composure for the most part, but not too happy to see him slashing his righthand flanks on me - more work to be done there. Bill ran later in the day and drew up a nice group of sheep that were willing to settle and walk around the course for us. I mucked up the pen by letting the sheep bolt out of the opening when i had them 99% in but the run was good enough to get the blue ribbon. Karen Karkow's run with Jade (1st run of the day) was really nice and controlled, and she ended up 2nd.

All in all, it was a great little trial and i hope it becomes an annual one. It made for a nice start to the local trial season. Next up is the Montpelier SDT in Orange, VA this coming weekend.

Wild West Trip

2011-09-22T12:00:00.010-04:00

Sorry to be slow about posting on the trip. I had planned to post updates as it went on but very sketchy and limited internet access made that impossible unfortunately. It was a wonderful trip and very good for both my and the dogs' educations, to say the least.

Soldier Hollow is an amazing feat of organization and promotion, even more impressive this year with the ringmaster of it all having gone through several back surgeries in the 2-3 weeks prior to the trial. Mark Peterson is amazing. We got to pitch in and help a little with the promotion when Mark asked if i'd take a dog along to help with a morning news segment. Zac was a very good boy and you can see how it went here -- Connect2Utah segment
My heart was certainly in my throat when that sheep broke on Zac but it made for good tv!

Soldier Hollow was rough on me and the dogs as we finally came face to face with the real deal western sheep. I've heard that the sheep at SH are the toughest you'll face at any dog trial and i have to say, we sure had a tough time figuring them out. Zac ran first for me and though his score was very low, i was proud of him for sticking in there and figuring out how to move the sheep, even though they were alternately stalling out and then coming out after him. It certainly scared him when they'd go on the fight, but he showed his big heart staying in there and working it out. Bill seemed to have things figured out on his run but on the crossdrive started heading the sheep and finally shut them down, to the point where he just didn't know what to do to get them going again. I'd been trying to hold him back from it but not being insistent enough about it and it caught up to us. Bill didn't know what to do with sheep just ignoring him and finally we retired. On Zac's second run, he started bumping into the sheep at the top of the fetch to get them going and was called off for a grip. I was pretty surprised to get called at that distance since i sure couldn't see well enough to call it a DQ but that's what was called. Bill had a smoker of a run going for his second run when the sheep stalled out on him again. He did figure out to give them a quick nip to get them moving but so much time slipped by that i retired him instead of continuing to fight it. Overall it was a pretty poor showing but it sure taught me some handling lessons and i felt like the dogs learned some things too, especially Bill. I really enjoyed getting to watch all of the dogs run and Soldier Hollow is quite the show.

On Tuesday, we traveled to Meeker, where i had some practice time set up for the dogs before the trial started. Unfortunately, after a good workout Wednesday it became apparent that Zac had gotten hurt somehow, either at SH or practicing at Meeker. I got him some chiropractic care and started laser treatments in hope he'd be okay to run on Friday. On Thursday, Bill and I stepped to the post to meet the famous "Meeker sheep". I was very pleased with how Bill handled the sheep, and made some fairly drastic changes in how i ran him to accommodate the western sheep. It worked out pretty well, and even without a pen we managed a good enough score to get into the Saturday semifinals. Zac ran on Friday and handled the sheep nicely but i played it safe because of his injury, sending him the less rough way on his outrun to protect him. It cost several points as it was the more difficult direction and i had to redirect him a couple of times to get to the top without crossing over. That was enough to knock him out of contention for the semis. Bill ran very well in the semifinals but my inexperience on the western sheep again cost us dearly. We got around the course in pretty good fashion but things came to a screeching halt at the pen with a ewe that kept breaking out. Those western sheep react so differently from any we've worked before, and this was my first chance to even touch a pen rope with them on the trip. So we timed out at the pen and Bill ended up in 21st place for our first Meeker. I really enjoyed the Meeker trial a lot. It's a big undertaking but everyone is so nice and it went so well, while still having that "dog trial" feel to it. I hope to go again.

So on we go to the USBCHA National Finals in Carbondale, CO. It was a beautiful setting for a trial with Mt Sopris in the background. The sheep were amazingly even and a good test of the dogs, the trial field beautiful and green. Bill ran on Wednesday and had a very nice run, finally showing that he really had sorted out the western sheep in his mind. I was able to let him go and run him more like normal rather than the flank-flank-flank method i'd adopted at Meeker after SH. It sure felt nice to have my normal Bill out in front of me again. His score ended up 21st in the 1st round so we were through to the semifinals on Saturday. Zac ran on Thursday in a downpour and just didn't run well at all. His outrun was short and he shoved the sheep off to my left for the whole fetch. The drive started out fine though i was letting him move the sheep at a pretty good clip and then for some reason he busted into them after turning onto the crossdrive. I don't think he actually gripped but we were called off on a DQ. It certainly wasn't a very good run regardless. Bill drew up 6th in the semifinals for Saturday and really laid down a heck of a good run. We had a little wiggle going around the post and i managed to drive the crossdrive panels a smidge high, but it was a high scoring run even so. We got our split, managed to pen the western sheep (after i spent a few days studying how others were getting it done!) and had 20 seconds left coming out of the pen to get a single. I rushed into the shedding ring hoping maybe a collared ewe would bust off and we could have a quick call in, and heard the dreaded "thank you" from the judges. We were called for a grip though i still don't know where or how it happened. Someone said Bill bumped the sheep on the way to the ring but i didn't see it. It was absolutely heart breaking as our score without the single was a 145, good enough for a top 10 placement and a spot in the Finals. I hope to see video of it when the Finals DVD comes out because it must have been pretty minor and it certainly is out of character for Bill to do anything other than a polite "get moving" pinch of a bite at the rear of the sheep. I guess that's how it goes sometimes in dog trialing but i was sorely disappointed. It seemed Bill was peaking just right and our shot was suddenly gone. All in all though, it was a terrific Finals and the committee did an amazing job with such a huge undertaking. Here's a little video report from the Denver Post about the trial --
Denver Post report

And now we're home, missing the big open spaces and the incredible sheep out west. It was an exceptional learning experience for both myself and my trial team. The hospitality at all 3 trials was second to none and i'm so glad i was able to go on my great Western Adventure!

(1st pic by Maureen Robinson, 2nd by Mindy Bower)

The Beginning of the Trip

2011-08-31T18:20:00.012-04:00

It's been a long few days getting here - the camping area at Soldier Hollow:

We left midday on Friday and drove about 7-8 hours, then finished up the short hop on to Indiana to see some old friends. It was great fun! We went to a small art festival to see a couple of friends play on the gazebo stage - Jenn Rose and Christy.

Then we went to camp out at Deam Lake in Borden, IN, site of many good times when i lived in Louisville. It was fun catching up with my dear old friend Jenny and a few other folks. We grilled and had many margaritas and lots of laughs. Good stuff.

Sunday morning we were up early and reluctantly on the road again. I'd have liked another day to visit and catch up. But on we went, driving about 11 hours and ending up at a McDonald's parking lot in Stuart, IA. Yep, McDonald's. They had nice camper parking so there we stayed. Monday we were up really early and pounded lots of pavement, again hitting about 11 hours, getting a good start on crossing the continental divide, passing the highest point on I80 and landing at a Walmart in Laramie, WY. Tuesday morning we got a very early start and made our first trial destination of Soldier Hollow about 2:00. It was a little confusing figuring out where to park since i was the first one there! But with a little guidance (and one quick change of parking places after stepping on a yellow jacket nest in my first spot!), the camper was set up and the dogs and i were off to the practice field.

The Soldier Hollow folks have kindly provided a place to get the dogs out on some sheep, very welcome after so many days on the road. It's not a huge place, maybe 250 yards long, but the sheep are good and it's nice for getting the dogs out. All 3 dogs popped out of the truck and acted like they'd never left home, not missing a beat. That was nice to see.

(the practice field)

I was asked to help out with a spot on a local news channel promoting the trial this morning, so up early yet again. I decided to use Zac since he's been working really nicely. We were asked to take some sheep across a hotel parking lot to a very nice courtyard area at the front entrance. While Mark Peterson, the Soldier Hollow organizer, spoke to the reporter, i was to move the sheep around the turnabout in the back ground. Simple enough until one of the sheep bolted and Zac had to pull one of his crazy moves stopping her. In a parking lot, on pavement, with a crowd. And did i mention LIVE TV?! It ended up okay, and you can see the spot here --

http://connect2utah.com/libraries/nxd/media/?data=media_player&v=297667

After another session at the practice field, this afternoon i hooked up and hauled the camper into Heber City to repair the strap that broke under my freshwater holding tank back in WV. I'm sure glad to have that off my mind, kept waiting for it to fall out from under the camper. While there i got a nifty little shelf welded on the back to hold my generator. No more dogs peeing on it at trials, yay. Tomorrow i have a free day after practice time in the morning. I'm hoping to do a little sightseeing. Then friday Zac runs at Soldier Hollow, woo hoo!

And we're off! (again)

2011-08-25T14:54:00.004-04:00

Some might say I'm off all the time, off my rocker that is, LOL! It's the eve of the big western swing and i'm almost ready to go. One last busy, busy day to get through, then a short work day tomorrow, hook up and go! Today i need to drop Joe off with Laura, where he'll get to hang out with her dogs while i'm gone. I'm sure he'll have a lot more fun with her than being crammed in a crate so much with me, but i'll miss his happy pointy little face.

So tomorrow, Bill, Zac, Zeke and i head west. I plan to drive a few hours tomorrow and overnight at the very cool Tamarack in Beckley, WV. Saturday we'll be up and rolling bright and early towards Deam Lake in Borden, IN, where i'm meeting up with my old friend Jenny for some camping and reminiscing. We had some wild times at Deam Lake many moons ago. I'm hoping this campout won't involve having to run through the campground wrapped only in a shower curtain (yes, that happened, much beer involved and sneaky, sneaky friends). I suspect i'm safe on that count. Sunday i'm hoping to put in a longish day of driving and end up at Cabelas in La Vista, NE to spend the night. Monday morning, after some shopping (Cabelas, yay!), i'll pull out and head across NE into WY. I'm thinking i'll pull off at the Laramie, WY Walmart and overnight, then Tuesday morning finish the trek into Heber, UT for Soldier Hollow. The trial doesn't start until Friday, but i want the dogs to have some time to get used to the thinner air, and i have practice time scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. I'm planning to put in a good bit of time at the practice fields with all 3 dogs, at least at the first 2 trials, for the sake of the experience on range ewes, which are being brought in for just that. It'll be especially good for Zeke and Zac I think. My first trial run will be next friday with Zac and Bill gets his shot on Saturday, then both run again on Sunday.

So that's the current itinerary for the drive out. I'm hoping it goes smoothly and i get to see lots of good scenery. I really enjoyed the south to north drive along US85 in WY on my last trip, and am hoping this east to west trip across WY will be just as stunning.

Tell Me Thursday

2011-08-18T22:39:00.003-04:00

I think it's still Thursday anyway...

Laura's questions for this week!

1. Who is your newest dog? Where is he/she from, and why did you choose this particular dog/breeding?

Latest dog is Joe, my 7 month old pup sired by my Zac. Joe's dam Rhyme is out of a littermate to my Jet, who was off my old Ben. I wasn't planning on a pup now, and would have passed on this stud puppy but with all my dogs right there in the cross, i couldn't pass it up.

2. What traits drew you to this dog or breeding?
See #1!

3. What's on your feet right now?
My very groovy Crocs.

4. What are you reading right now?
Bossypants by Tina Fey. Kinda silly but hey. Finished The Help recently, awesome book.

5. What upcoming trials are you looking forward to?

That's an easy one! Leaving for Soldier Hollow, Meeker and the Finals next weekend, yee ha! Gonna try to take it all in and enjoy every minute cause who knows if i'll ever get the chance again.

Canada Trip

2011-08-12T11:03:00.013-04:00

Time for another catchup post. The dogs and i made it up to Kingston Ontario for the second and third days of the 80 Acres trial at Amanda Miliken's place. We missed the first round of Open since i didn't want to take the extra day off of work. Bill ran very well and sat near the top of the pack most of the day but some higher scores at the end knocked him down to 7th out of 98 dogs. Zac ran pretty well too and i thought might have placed but the judge saw things differently than i did, so nothing there. The real excitement of 80 Acres (other than the most amazing handler dinner ever, with fresh lobsters for all!) was running Zeke in the monday classes. He has so little trial experience that i really wanted this trip to tell me where he is in readiness. First up was the Nursery, a very small 5 dog class since it was the first day of qualifying for the 2012 points year. The outrun was probably 300-350 yards and i sent Zeke to his left - his weaker side naturally but the one i've spent the most time working on. I gave him a couple of encouraging shouts of "stay out" but he ran out really pretty well. The top and lift were nice and he was taking the lie down easily (yay! not being a bully where he has before at the start of the fetch). The fetch was very nice, with him taking little soft flanks from me to adjust the line. The drive was generally in the correct directions and straight but we turned short of both panels as Zeke overshot the flanks. Nice to the pen but the sheep went around, so i took the opportunity to train a bit on keeping him out on his flanks as time ran down. All in all, i was very pleased. Zeke wasn't done though, he was up at the beginning of a very large ProNovice Class soon after the Nursery run, and laid down a really nice run on a shortened course (200 yard or so outrun, shorter drive and crossdrive). This time i sent him right to see how that would go, and he went well. Good lines, hit all the panels, marched them right in the pen. After a long wait for the end of the class, Zeke won it. Yay, Zeke!

So on to the Grass Creek trial. I'd entered Zeke in the Open on the chance he might be ready, and since he'd done decent at 80 Acres, i decided to run him, so i was running 3 Open dogs again. First up was Bill, during a time when it was mostly yearlings that wanted to turn around and fight coming out. He handled them well enough but it ate up a lot of time and we didn't have enough to finish the pen and single. Zeke was next up and his gather was pretty good, with him listening nicely again. The drive was generally in the right direction but wiggly and very slow as i couldn't get him to come off the pressure where the sheep were really wanting to bolt. Not a surprising problem with a youngster who doesn't want to lose his sheep but it made for a lot of lost time, and we timed out coming into the shedding ring. Zac had a pretty decent go but ran when it was quite warm out. I had to keep things slow to keep him from getting too hot and i didn't manage the time well, and we timed out at the pen. So the dogs worked well enough but no placements in the first round and Bill and Zac would need stellar runs in the second go to get to the double lift.

Zeke was first up for me in the second round and his gather was again pretty good. The drive was better as he was freer flanking but this time he was overshooting the flanks a bit and again we missed both panels. The finish to the course was a single followed by the pen and Zeke did a fantastic job on the single, it was just beautiful. We ran out of time just as we got to the pen. His score was very low again but i was so happy with his composure over the 2 trials. I think i'll go ahead and plan to run him at the Nursery Finals next month, for the experience if nothing else. Zac was my second dog up and again ran in the heat. I kept him pretty steady around the course to save him for the finish and he had a great go, right up until the single. I couldn't be as careful as i wanted since they were hard to shed, and called Zac in on a single that was maybe a little too exciting for him. He came in beautifully but gripped on the hold. Too bad as he'd have easily placed well and been in the DL. Bill was my last dog and worked well around the course. I missed the crossdrive gates low unfortunately and that knocked us out of contention for a placement or the DL.

The trials were great as usual and it was a blast hanging out and socializing around the camping area. The dogs ran pretty well and i got a good idea what i need to spend some time on before we hit the road again in a couple of weeks. We certainly haven't peaked too soon at least! (All Zeke photos courtesy of Christine Koval - thanks Christine!)

Tell Me Thursday 8/11

2011-08-11T13:37:00.003-04:00

Okay, i'm finally joining up on this tell me thursday thing Laura started. No promises i'll manage to stick with it since i'll be on the road soon though!

1. In sheepdog training, how do you keep from taking yourself, your dog, your lack of progress too seriously?

Oh that's easy. I hang myself out to dry for judges to smack down at dog trials! Seriously, if you take it too seriously, you'll go nuts. As for lack of progress, well, i just remember the whole tortoise and the hare story and keep on trucking. I've been at this long enough now to realize there are plateaus and sometimes it just takes a long time to jump off them.

2. How many crates do you have? For reals.

Uhh, way too many? I really don't even know but it's got to be 25 or better. To be fair, at one time i had a lot more dogs, with a set of crates in the house, in the van i had at the time, in the dog building outside, and a couple at the farm in the barn. And i've gone back and forth on plastic vs wire too so that added a few. Not gonna go count them, that's for sure, ack!

3. How do you keep your dogs in shape?

I work them and i run them with the ATV, but really they're not as fit as i'd like.

4. Who is your favorite movie/tv star eye candy at the moment?

Oh geez, there are so many!

5. What is your livestock situation? Have your own? Borrow? Herd the cats?

No cats. Have my own though at the moment i have more borrowed sheep at the farm than my own! I try to get out and borrow sheep at other farms and fields when i can too.

Joe at 6 Months

2011-07-24T18:09:00.004-04:00

I got a little video of Joe (Zac x Rhyme) today. He's about 6.5 months old and has been on sheep 4 or 5 times.

I'm just letting him work as he wants for the most part. He prefers going to the right, and is much better to that direction, flanking freely and out far enough to get around the sheep and cover. He is willing to go left, but is tighter to that side so can't quite turn the sheep because he's always on their shoulders. That's why you'll see me whacking the flag on the ground to push him off just a bit as he goes past 10:00 or so. He seems to be figuring it out pretty quickly because he likes how it feels when he covers and the sheep turn to me. That's about the only thing i'd pick on right now and would want to fix early. I think he's going to be a bit of a lead sheep control freak like his father (I like it!). I like his feel for sheep and his cool head, and he's pretty comfortable going between the sheep and fence and also just walking into the sheep. Knowing so many dogs in his line, i'd have to say i like where he's at for a 6 month old puppy. They tend to be very keen dogs and there have been some hard grippers too, so i don't mind seeing him start out so sensible as i know he's going to just get more and more keen to work. I won't be doing much with him until the fall, even though he seems pretty mature for his age (we're just too busy traveling) but so far i'm pleased with what i see.

Our Next Adventure

2011-07-22T17:18:00.006-04:00

It's just amazing how quickly this blog gets behind and out of date. Hard to believe it's been over a month since i posted but there ya go. Actually, not all that much has been happening around here anyway, so it was pretty easy to let it lie for awhile. I've been working the dogs as time and hot temperatures allow. I got Joe started a bit, just a few trips into the round pen and one or two in larger areas, and he's looking pretty nice. He seems fairly sensible and has a nice cast to his flanks, which hopefully will mean he's gotten his father's nice shaped flanks and sweepy outruns. So far i like him but of course it's a long way from round pen to Open dog, so we'll see. Zeke has been getting as much work as i can get on him, which isn't enough, but he's coming along. I got the chance to take him to a big new field last weekend and i was very happy with his outruns and attitude, but he's still a work in progress, with little holes here and there to fill in. Pretty typical for a young male dog. The next year will really tell with him. I've got him entered in some trials in the next few weeks so we'll see how he does. I haven't decided yet if i'll run him in the Nursery Finals in September, but for now he's entered. Bill and Zac looked pretty good on that big field last weekend. I've been mostly conditioning them with just a little work here and there.

We're kind of in a holding pattern at the moment as we wait out record breaking temps in the area. Next friday we'll leave for a Canadian sojourn. First we'll hit the second day of Open at the 80 Acres trial (decided to not take the extra vacation so will miss the first day), and then Zeke will run the following day in Nursery and PN, unless i decide he's not ready. Then on wednesday one of my favorite trials starts, Kingston at Grass Creek Park. 120-something Open dogs, running twice, each round over 2 days, with a double lift final on Sunday for the teams with the highest cumulative scores. It's not a big course but the sheep are pretty challenging. It's a really fun trial with a great atmosphere. I was really pleased with how my dogs did there last year and i'm hoping they'll do just as well this year, and that it'll be a nice warm up for the next western trip, which starts about August 27. I'll check in again with a report after the trial!

Slash J Day 2/ Trip Wrap Up

2011-06-11T23:46:00.009-04:00

I should have written this post sooner as i'm having a devil of a time remembering my runs from the second day at the trial. Zac had a pretty decent run yet again and finished with a 79, good for 12th place and qualifying for a spot in the Top 15 Finals. Bill went into the second day with a good score to go on, but we had a terrible time in the shedding ring and fell 4 points short of making the Finals.

The Finals was great fun, probably more so for me since i ran first in the day, before the strong winds really got wound up. I'd have liked a run to watch before ours, but it was a good time to run. The first outrun ended up being a bit of a problem for several teams later in the day but Zac ran out pretty well. I thought he might be running deep enough to miss the sheep over a hill so i gave him a small call in whistle but i think he'd have landed fine without it. Fetch was a little wobbly but we hit the gates. Turn back was good but he ran very directly at the sheep and i couldn't get him to bend quite enough. He didn't cross but it wasn't very pretty since he was quite close to the sheep before seeing them and kicking out. Second fetch was pretty good and we hit the fetch gates. Turn around the post was good and our drive was very good, nice and clean with only a small bobble at the cross drive gates. We had plenty of time for the international shed but i couldn't seem to get the sheep to flow though i certainly tried. I'd get a few cut off and moved away, return to the ones i needed to work on, and the ones i'd shoved off kept coming back. I tried three different areas to park them and none were good enough as they wouldn't settle and eat. I didn't want to get too aggressive in the ring since Zac can get grippy there. So we ran out of time on the shed. All in all, it was a decent enough run though the second outrun cost a lot of points. I was really pleased with how nicely Zac moved the 16 sheep around and how soft and easy he was to handle, where he'd been running like a freight train. We ended up 6th.

So that's the end of the ND trials for us. It was an amazing experience and i'm so proud of my dogs. It was a thrill watching them learning so much and being so brave and so game for it. They both worked extremely well. Bill ended up with a 1st, 2nd and 3rd place over the trip, and Zac finished in the top 20% for HA points at 5 of the 8 trials, including all 4 ND trials. I'm pretty sure that had there been an award for high points across all 4 trials, he'd have won it (I can't find anyone who was higher). I really was looking at this trip as a learning experience for the dogs and myself as we'd never worked range sheep before, and jokingly remarked that we were coming out here to get our butts kicked while we learned some things. It seems Bill and Zac had other plans!

I've been enjoying clinics and lessons with Aled Owen here at Joni's place the last few days but tomorrow will be our last day here. We'll pull out first thing monday morning and i guess it'll be time to put away the winter coat and sweatshirts as we head east. I'm already looking forward to coming back next year.

Slash J Day 1

2011-06-05T10:45:00.003-04:00

Another amazing venue for a trial, and very wily sheep added to the mix here. 500 yards out and up a gentle rise, to 3 undogged yearlings. Fetches were very "creative" to say the least, with almost none even close to online. The hearing on the fetch was very bad. We tried to blame it on the wind but then it got still the second day of running and still the dogs were not taking whistles. I think a few whistles and shouts were getting out to them, but for the most part, another silent gather.

Bill ran the first evening of the trial, in terrible wind. Outrun and lift were very nice but the fetch was terrible. I got dizzy i was whistling so hard, as my dog and sheep ended up 100 yards offline. Finally one of my flank whistles got through, and all that did was cause Bill to actually circle his sheep, something he's never, ever done. Upon deciding that all of our fetch points were gone, i just shut up and let Bill fetch them straight to me while i caught my breath and prepared for the drive. Our drive was pretty good considering the wind. Most dogs were not hearing well at the driveaway panel but it seemed Bill heard most of what i was giving. Shed was neat, and we finally managed our first pen in the Dakotas! Score was 70, which seemed pretty good with the conditions but i thought surely it wouldn't hold up. There were a couple of other nice runs in the evening, especially Jean Gellings with her Star (what a nice dog!) scoring a 69. When we woke up to a still morning, i thought the hearing would improve and scores skyrocket, but it didn't happen, and only Vergil Holland and Scott managed to knock us down with a similar "lousy fetch, good other parts" run. It was just plain tough out there. Zac had a pretty decent run as well, with a better fetch (relatively speaking - probably still lost most of our fetch points). It had gotten hot though and i was out of dog by the time we got to the shed. We did manage the shed and had time for the pen but i elected to not push it with such a hot dog, and possibly lose our sheep off course as so many had done already. Zac's score was a 58, which kept him in the top 20% for the third trial. I think he's probably sitting in pretty good shape for qualifying for the big double lift at the end of these trials. Each dog's top 3 scores out of the 4 are added together, and either 10 or 12 will run back on the final day. That should be big fun on these sheep and this field! Tomorrow is the last day of running the Open, so we'll know then. Bill still needs another decent run since he had a DQ and just has 2 scores right now. Very exciting here!

The Big One

2011-06-05T10:14:00.004-04:00

Wow, what a spectacular trial. 900 yards up a North Dakota butte to 4 undogged yearlings. Incredible setting for a trial, sheep everywhere, wide wide wide open spaces. And talk about a silent gather - i'm sure it's nearly impossible for the dogs to hear at 900 yards anyway, but then add in winds that ranged from light to blow-you-over. It just amazes me what these dogs can do.

Bill was my first dog up, running in the one evening when the wind was actually at our backs, helping the whistles get out to the dogs just a bit. His outrun and lift were spot on. You can't imagine the feeling when your dog disappears over a ridge 1/2 a mile away and you stand there waiting to see where (and if!) he'll reappear. Somehow, some way, he knew exactly where he was going as he popped over the ridge directly behind the sheep, very deep, and came on with authority. The fetch was pretty wobbly and ragged, as he was learning his way on yet another type of sheep he'd not encountered, and without my help and he wasn't hearing my whistles. Once within range, he popped them right back online but it was about 100 yards too late to hit the fetch gates. Turn and drive were wiggly and wobbly, shed good, ran out of time at the pen, score was a 50. Zac ran the next day and put his own twist on the outrun, running very directly at the sheep rather than casting out, for oh, 700 yards or so. But then he broke strongly sideways and cast around beautifully, landing very nicely. Lift was good, fetch a little offline but pretty straight considering he was flanking around like mad trying to figure out how to handle the sheep. Drive was pretty good, shed good and again we ran out of time at the pen, score 60. The running was very tough. At the end of the round, Zac's score held up and we finished 8th. I think Bill ended up 18th, so just out of the top 20%.

On to the second round - Bill was again my first dog. The course was the same as the first round. Bill again ran out and lifted perfectly. After the lift, it was apparent he'd figured out the sheep a bit, as the first half of his fetch was beautiful, very straight and even, without a single whistle from me. The sheep ducked around the fetch gates and the bottom half of the fetch was more wiggly. The drive was pretty wobbly as the sheep were fighting hard to get back to the exhaust, one in particular. She proved our undoing at the single. I pulled one off and she broke hard, and though Bill caught her and her friends handily near the judge's trailer, it was called off course. I was very disappointed as i'd not heard about that line in the sand and had taken a calculated risk on the shed, counting on my dog to do just what he did - catch them and calmly return them to me. But that's how it goes sometimes. Zac's run was again pretty good though it feels like Mr Toad's Wild Ride with him on these sheep. He's supercharged and very, very hard to hold. But supercharged or not, he ran well and placed in the top 20% again, finishing 11th.

The Big One truly is a BIG one, and i'm so thrilled to have been able to run in such a super trial. And so very proud of my two dogs for running so very well. I'm still just in awe of what they can do!

Time to Wait

2011-05-30T11:38:00.003-04:00

No big news to report for the last couple of days. Just hanging out and enjoying good company and waiting on The Big One to start. The dogs are mostly resting up and stretching their legs when they can, on jogs with the ATV, after being crated so much the last couple of weeks. I know it feels good to them. I'm hoping to work Zeke a bit when we have the chance this week but that's hard to squeeze in with trial prep and such, not to mention the weather is pretty lousy right now with cold, wet and wind. He got a couple of minutes in yesterday in the small pen with a quickie reminder to behave himself a little better as he gets behind his sheep. I'm not too concerned about getting a lot done with him really. At his age, i don't mind waiting on him a bit. Off now for a ride to Dickinson to pick up our judge for this week. And hoping the weather cuts us a break for the trials!

TableTop Wrap Up

2011-05-28T23:26:00.004-04:00

So on to the rest of the trial. The 2nd Open trial had a bit shorter course and most of the dogs seemed glad of it. The weather was the kicker though. About 2 inches of hail fell and stuck around most of the day, as it was in the 30s with a strong wind right in our faces. Bill had a very nice run, finishing with an 86 and 3rd place. He'd certainly figured the sheep out and moved them smartly. The shedding ring was marked with white plastic bags with sand in them, and i couldn't tell where the shedding ring was as they blended in with the hail! Zac ran late in the day and the hail had finally melted away. Or perhaps it just blew away - the wind was strong enough to knock you backwards. Driving rain kept my glasses completely covered at the post during the run but Zac held everything together nicely and finished 5th. I was very pleased with how he was moving the sheep.

I didn't have anyone running on the Nursery/Ranch day (wednesday) but it was decided to begin the 3rd Open round late that evening. The outrun was long - i heard 600 and 700 yard estimates, so it was somewhere around that. The drive was fairly small but i thought the crossdrive was especially hard to see. The first 8 dogs to run either gripped off or retired, as the sheep were feeling very cranky. Unfortunately, Zac was one of those. He tried very hard to bring in his sheep and was handling one of them that was coming out and trying to hit him, but when a second joined in, he went on the attack with a hard hanging on grip and was DQ'ed. Fortunately, the sheep were a bit happier thursday morning. Bill had a pretty nice run, moving the sheep along nicely and giving them a good hock bite when they'd try to stall out. The crossdrive killed us as i had no clue where the line was. We hit everything and the rest of the course was nice though, and he ended up 9th.

Friday was the last round of Open and it was a double gather trial for everyone. Each dog would run out to the right about 500 yards, bring the group of four sheep through the fetch gates and drop them off, then turn back to the left about 450 yards for a second group of four. After the fetch gates and joining up the two groups, all eight sheep would go to the shedding ring, where they'd be split into 2 groups of four, and the four shed sheep would then be penned. It was quite a good challenge with many dogs having trouble getting the turn back done. The shed also brought several handlers to grief as the left behind sheep were happy to try to rejoin with the shed ones. Zac was my first dog to run and he had a nice first gather, though it was a bit slow with the sheep being quite heavy. The turn back was pretty good though the line to the second group was pretty direct. Lift was nice and he was getting them sorted out and moved down the field fairly well, when he finally lost his cool and again gripped off. It was unfortunate as he was having a decent run and seemed to have gotten the sheep figured out. Bill ran towards the end of the class and had a really nice run. His biggest problem was the first outrun, where he ran out as if he thought the sheep were well to the left of where they actually were. I had to give him a hard stop and redirect to avoid a crossover. Lift and fetch were good. He started anticipating the turn back before i gave it, looking around as he knew what was coming. I had to keep him tuned to the first group though, since we didn't have them quite far enough up field just yet. When i did give the turn back, he took it very nicely. I gave him a redirect on the fly just for safety's sake since i couldn't see him in a dip in the field but i don't think he actually needed it as he ran out a bit wide after getting it. Lift and fetch were good and we hit both fetch gates coming in. With the sheep nicely settled in the shedding ring and grazing, and about a minute and a half to go, i called Bill in and got a quick split cleanly, and we shoved them in the pen with one little break by one ewe. At the end of the day, hitting all the gates and being pretty clean around the course paid off as Bill was the winner. Second was Jeanine van der Merwe, with Linda Tesdahl and Alan Mills tied for 3rd/4th.

So that's the Tabletop SDT blow by blow. It's an excellent trial and i'd highly recommend it to anyone. The sheep were an absolute blast to work, being freshly shorn yearlings off the range, not worked by dogs before. They'd sure challenge the dogs and let you know what was in them, good or bad. I had a terrific time, even with the "challenging" weather. It was so much fun to see the dogs learning so much over the course of the week, with the sheep and also with four very different courses to run. I'm happy with Zac, as he hung in there and did his best. I think he'll figure these sheep out before we head home, and even if he doesn't, he's shown me his heart as he's never given up and never given in. And i'm over the moon with Bill's performance. He's really blown me away with his ability to calmly handle the challenge, and with his ability and courage. I can't wait until the next trial! For now, we're settled in at Joni Swanke's in Bowman, ND and waiting on the "The Big One" SDT, which will start Tuesday evening. 900 yard outrun, here we come!

Bluegrass and TableTop Day 1

2011-05-26T10:42:00.002-04:00

So i guess i should do some catching up. I'm sitting in the camper at the TableTop SDT near Colorado Springs with a cold blustery wind ripping away outside, so it seems a good time to do it!

The Bluegrass was well run and well organized as usual but it just wasn't my week there. I was very pleased with the dogs, and felt like Zeke and Bill both learned a good deal from the sheep but we were well out of the placings with every run. Bill had never run at the BG before and never been on that sort of sheep, and i was pleased with the huge improvement from his first to his second run. By the end of his first run, his eyes were all lit up and i could see he was having a ball working the difficult lambs. On his second run he really mastered them quite well but with 2 lambs breaking different directions, a high score just wasn't meant to be. Zac ran quite well. His first lot of sheep had a real rotten one in it and i was very proud of the job he did with it. Unfortunately containing it meant we were short on time so no shed or pen. Even without, he was in the running for the double lift with a 63. His second run was at the very end of the day in difficult light, and he had trouble with the sheep stalling out on the fetch due to their empty bellies and some poor handling on my part, so the DL was not meant to be. Zeke was quite full of himself on the novice field but was running out very well and showing good confidence on his driving. We have much work still to do on his fetch as he was bullying the sheep at the top end of it. It probably was a bit soon for him to be running really, as i feel he needs to be a little further along in his training. I may hold off on running him again until we can get home and get him evened out, perhaps by the fall.

We bugged out of the BG late morning on Saturday and started pounding pavement west. After 22 hours of driving and one nasty thunderstorm spent overnighting in a Walmart parking lot, we pulled in here at the TableTop SDT. It's a big, beautiful field with Pike's Peak in the background, with fresh range sheep. There are 4 Open trials across the week with 4 different courses. The weather has been interesting to say the least. The first day started nice but by the end of the day we'd seen about all the types of weather you could think of. Well, until the next morning when we awoke to rain followed by about 2 inches of hail! And the wind, wow. This morning is blustery but the sun is peaking out.

On Monday Zac was quite perplexed by the range sheep, which were more than happy to come out of their neat group of five and smash into a dog that didn't show authority. The outrun was about 500 yards and he ran out reasonably well and lifted the sheep, but lost his confidence and blasted through the group for a DQ. I think he just didn't know what do to move them, and when he ran out of options, he lost his head. Bill was quite spectacular on these range sheep though. I could see that the lessons he'd picked up at the Bluegrass would hold. Outrun and lift were perfect. When he arrived at the top end, the sheep were split and he just neatly tucked the single into the group and motored them right on down the field. Fetch was straight with a narrow miss on the fetch gates. When these sheep would get up on the ridges running through the field, they'd spin around and test the dogs, feeling confidence from being higher than the dogs. This happened not too far from the handlers post and Bill showed great poise in working his way through it. The turn around the post was difficult as the sheep would stall out and fight, not wanting to go downhill on the first leg of the drive. With 3 big sheep facing him off, Bill kept his cool and turned them down the field. First leg was good with a little stall on a ridge but about half way across the crossdrive the sheep stalled out badly. They weren't fighting any more but put their heads down in a green patch of grass and just refused to move. It took a long time but Bill finally took a good bite and got them moving but unfortunately all the stalling ate up our time and we timed out just before entering the shedding ring. Unfortunate since we didn't get our drive points and would have placed. The going was very tough on the first day.

I'll post something about Day 2 later on….

And we're off!

2011-05-15T20:48:00.003-04:00

We're all set and ready to roll! Camper is packed to the gills, truck hitched up, just got to wait until the morning and we'll be gone. I have the dogs about where i want them in terms of their work. Of course it would be nice to have a little more experience on Zeke, but that's what the trip is for. I feel like all 3 boys are working well, and Zac and Bill and were even ready a bit early, so we've been in a holding pattern this last week or two. It's all been light work, just a little tuning here and there. I do wish i'd done a better job conditioning them. Unfortunately my big plans for that never really materialized. There just aren't enough hours in the day for everything. I'm also wishing i hadn't scratched Moon from the Bluegrass. She's working well and it would have been fun to see how she did. Joe has gone on an adventure of his own - he's staying with his breeders for the month. I suspect he'll be quite spoiled by the time i get home and wishing i'd stay gone!

So part 1 of the big adventure starts tomorrow. I'm hoping the weather cuts us some slack. It's been really rainy in Kentucky this spring and i hear it's rained most of the last two days. Sure would be nice if it would clear up for the trials.

I'll try to post here as well as on Facebook with how things are going. If you want more regular updates and pictures of the scoreboards, "friend" me on Facebook.

Belle Grove SDT

2011-05-09T16:02:00.006-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, the dogs and i went to the first Belle Grove SDT at the site of last year's Finals. It was a terrific trial, hosted by David Clark and Cheryl Branibar. The field was different than the field used for the Finals but plenty challenging. The sheep were David and Cheryl's home flock of Montadales and were very fit and up to the challenge of 3 days of Open runs. The novice and nursery classes were held on yet another field, which was quite "interesting" - steep hills on the left and right, with a narrow valley between, where the sheep were set and the fetch was to be. The sheep were Barbara Ray's dorper/katahdin crosses. It wasn't a long course but the terrain sure bamboozled some of the young dogs.

I was very happy with the dogs' performances. Bill and Zac both ran very well both times out. I think i was more rusty than either of them! In spite of me, they both placed well. Bill was 3rd the first day and 4th the second. Zac was 7th the first day, and i think he was just out of the placings on the second (haven't seen the final results yet). He had a rough group the second go and i was thrilled with how well he handled them. It was a chore just keeping them on the field, much less getting around as well as he did.

Zeke started off well with a reasonably good run in Nursery, just out of the qualifying spots. Next he ran in PN and i felt like he was stiffening up on his flanks and getting a bit sticky. So in his next Nursery run, i got after him a bit to get him listening better and especially getting on him for not taking his stops. At this stage of his training, i think it's way more important to get good experience and training in than it is to worry about placing. We had the chance to try a 3rd Nursery run and i was happy to see the training paying off, as Zeke was pretty good. I also ran Moon in her first ever trial and she did pretty well! I was mostly happy with her PN run. It wasn't stellar but she got out nice enough to her sheep and kept her head, and finished the course. Since she'd done pretty okay, i put her in that 3rd Nursery class and i was just thrilled with her. She had a decent outrun and a very nice fetch (few and far between on that course), and was listening pretty well. She had a really lousy draw of sheep and at the turn around the post they started splitting and breaking back on her towards the exhaust. She didn't have a clue how to handle it but trusted me to help her as much as i could, and kept her head really well. I fiddled with it a little bit for the sake of getting some training in with her, and when i felt she'd had enough, we walked off. But i was just so pleased with her. I still think i'll be selling her if i find the right fit, but she's coming along.

So that's the quick trial report. Life is crazy hectic with trying to get ready to leave next week. I hope to have lots of good news to report from the Bluegrass. Zac and Bill will be running in the Open (Bill's first time there) and Zeke is entered in the PN and Nursery. It'll be a busy week!

The Countdown Begins

2011-04-05T10:41:00.004-04:00

Six weeks. Six weeks from today, the dogs and i leave on our big spring trip. It feels like it's racing up on me! We'll leave May 17 and head to KY for the Bluegrass, then go from there to Colorado Springs, CO for the Tabletop trial May 23-27. After that, we head to Bowman, ND for the Big One and Slash J trials from June 1-7. And from June 8-12 we'll attend and help out at lessons and clinics with Aled Owen at Joni Swanke's place in Bowman. June 13 we start the long trek home and should arrive here June 15th. Probably on our hands and knees after all of that travel!

There is so much to be done and so many things to fret over with such an extended trip looming. I've always felt like us sheepdog handlers are nearly as obsessive-compulsive as our border collies, and a big trip sure brings it out in me. I try to remember that the dogs are the biggest thing i need to concentrate on though, and to that end conditioning and training are foremost in my mind at the moment. I'd have liked to have started running them more for fitness a bit sooner, but our weather was just lousy last week so i've started this week. Last night was our first serious fitness run, a solid 30 minutes behind the ATV, up and down hills, at a good constant jog. Zac, Zeke and Moon all flit along, bouncing and racing and having a grand time on these runs, but they're more that type of dog and tend to keep pretty fit for shorter bursts like this with just their approaches to life in general. Bill on the other hand, is Mr Steady and very conservative with his energy in general, so he settles in to a pace and jogs right beside me. I'll have to work harder to condition him but he'll also make up for it on the trial field where he controls himself and doesn't waste a lot of energy. The other three are more likely to "hit the wall" so i'll have to work on stamina with them, and that'll come as i extend run times.

I'm searching out larger fields for the dogs to work on, as well as just different fields for the youngsters, small or large. That's part 2 of the dog prep. Part 3 will be nutrition but i haven't quite decided what i'll be doing along those lines just yet. All 3 dogs are healthy and young, so hopefully it won't be as big of an issue as when running an older dog.

So, other than obsessing about the more mundane things (ever tried to pack for a month on the road?!), that's the big focus right now. Dogs, dogs, dogs. I'm going to try to keep a conditioning and training log and will post it here maybe once a week or so if it seems interesting at all.

Long Shot SDT

2011-04-04T14:15:00.007-04:00

(photos by Michelle Dobbs)

I decided last week to pack up the dogs and head to the Long Shot SDT in Church Hill, MD this past weekend. It had been about 7 years since i'd gone to this trial, hosted by Sherry and David Smith, assisted by Sandy Hornung. I always enjoy the people who trial in the NorthEast, though getting there is a pain in the neck, having to drive through DC. Once there, the people are just lovely, very welcoming and generally enjoyable to be around. This trial was no exception to that general statement. The field was in nice shape and the sheep were fat and happy, bred ewes in very good condition. We stayed in a hotel since i still have the camper winterized, and it was one of the best ones i've stayed at (clean!) with a fabulous seafood restaurant across the street, all set on the shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Crab cakes to die for, yum!

Since we drove up early friday morning for the Novice day, I missed running Zeke in the first Nursery class. We did make it in time for the 1st ProNovice class though, and he had a very nice run. I sent him to the right, which is his favored side right now. He was a little tighter than i'd like, but not too bad. He kind of poked into the sheep after the lift but from that point it was all very clean and nice. Final score was a 72 (out of 80), good for second place. The second PN class was immediately after the first, and Zeke was back up again very quickly. The second run was pretty bad - i sent left to see if he'd widen a bit but he was really tight and not willing to stop or redirect at all. Fetch was good but he was overflanking on the drive really badly and the sheep kept doubling back on him, so i retired rather than fighting over it. The second Nursery class ran at the end of the Open on saturday, and i debated whether to run Zeke since his outruns had been bad in PN. I went ahead and ran him, hoping that the extra space and length would encourage him to widen a bit, and also so that he could do a much longer drive and hopefully get into more of a rhythm on it of pushing the sheep along. Fortunately, both of those happened. I sent him right and he bent out nicely as he made contact with his sheep. He was still a little tight on the back side, but his attitude was more correct. The fetch was pretty good and the driving was lovely except for when i very carefully steered high above the crossdrive panels. Pen was clean and final score was 79 (out of 90) for third place. If not for my poor steering, Zeke would have had his first Nursery leg in his first Nursery run ever. I was very pleased with my youngster! It was a pretty good place for running the young dogs and i wished i'd entered Moon in the PN. They were too full to add any extra dogs though, so she had to make do with some good socializing and learning to hang out and relax at dog trials. Joe had a ball charming every person and dog he could reach. He's quite the social butterfly.

Saturday brought out the big dogs for the Open. Zac was my first up and ran out fast and tight, not his usual outrun. He overshot the top end a bit but flanked back when asked, and then overworked the draw to the right by pushing the sheep well offline to the left. I don't know if he was in a dead spot on the field or it was just the adrenaline of a dog trial after a layoff rushing in his ears, but i couldn't get control of him at all until the fetch panels, even though i was yelling my guts out. From that point on it was a nice, controlled run but it sure started like a wreck. Bill's run later in the day was very nice but i just couldn't get the shed, no matter what i tried. The sheep in this flock can be awfully hard to separate and we just had a group that knew how to keep from splitting. It was unfortunate as we would have had a high placing score.

Zac was my first up again Sunday and did something i've never seen him do - going out to the right, he pulled up at 3 o'clock and walked in to the sheep directly from there. He was between the sheep and the setout pen and i guess he decided to hit that pressure point and hold it. I couldn't get him to flank at all either. Very strange. Afterwards it occurred to me that perhaps all those people who've run at this trial a hundred times knew what they were doing when they were sending left! I got him down just after the sheep lifted and got them online pretty quickly, and then went to schooling on him since i knew we were out of any kind of score at that point. I thought i'd get some training in since we were there and it wasn't a jam packed entry. The rest of the run was actually really pretty though i'm sure it sounded terrible with me growling at him and making him really listen. He probably wasn't too far out of the placings in the end. Bill's run was quite good though he pulled up a hair short at the top, lifting slightly offline and fighting me when i was trying to get the sheep back online for the first half of the fetch. They weren't far offline and he was determined to bring them straight, but i needed to move them over a bit. The rest of the run was very clean. I left before the trial was over but i heard he ended up placing about 5th.

So that was our weekend adventure. I'm very glad we went as this gives me a good idea what i need to be doing with the dogs before the next trial, in 4 weeks. It looks like outruns and long fetches are in order, as well as establishing some flexibility again. Our big KY/CO/ND trip starts 6 weeks from tomorrow so we'll be working hard on conditioning as well, starting today.

Trials and Dogs

2011-03-27T11:28:00.003-04:00

Catching up, yet again. It's been a busy late winter/early spring so far. There's the new Shoofly dog, Joe (formerly known as Hawk) and he's keeping the big dogs and i on our toes. He's very sweet and friendly, and oh-so-Zac-energetic. Moon and Zeke are tag team trying to keep him entertained. They're both very good with him in different ways. Moon is somewhat mother like with him, playing and teaching him games, and setting rules - he's not allowed to chew on her. Zeke is more like a brother and they wrestle and tumble and Joe chews on Zeke's neck mercilessly, having to get way overboard before Zeke will correct him. Zac ignores Joe and Bill keeps him at arm's length. It's always interesting watching the pack dynamics when they change like this. Gael was always a good puppy nanny and i'm glad Moon has decided to step up with her out of the house.

Last weekend was the 4th trial at the farm, held again to raise funds towards ovarian cancer research at Duke. It was bittersweet after losing Joan in January. I couldn't quite bring myself to call it Whistle For a Cure with her gone, but most of the trial proceeds will go to the usual fund (you can still contribute here). It was a lovely weekend weather wise and a big success. Even more people than usual pitched in and it all went off very well.

My young dogs, Moon and Zeke, are coming along really well these days and i'm quite excited about both of them. They're still very young at 19 months old, but looking pretty good and getting pretty trained up. They couldn't be any different. Zeke is very steady and natural, while Moon is my pocket rocket and needs a good bit of handling to keep things under control. They're going to keep me on my toes for sure! While very different, i think they both have a lot of potential. I've come very close to selling Moon several times but i think she's going to be a good one, though that may still be a little more time away. She's certainly exciting anyway. Zeke is a good guy, somewhat like Bill was to train. He's just my guy all the way and a real partner. They're both trying really hard in their own ways. Both are nearly ready to run Nursery, at least on good sheep. Moon probably isn't ready for big trial excitement on sheep that try to run away with her, not just yet anyway. Zeke is probably a little more ready to handle that just because of his nature but i'm not sure about longer outruns with him just yet. I think they're both ready for ProNovice though, and have Zeke entered in both PN and Nursery at the trial we're going to next weekend. I may run Moon if it seems like a good situation for her.

The Open dogs are finally getting out for a little tuning up and conditioning. They're both a little rusty but not too bad. Zac is a little wild for something to do and both are a little out of shape but we'll be working on that. We're heading to Sherry Smith's Longshot trial this coming weekend and it'll be fun to see how they run and to shake some of the cobwebs off of my handling as well! I'll report on the trial when we get back.

Moon-shine

2011-03-07T21:51:00.005-05:00

I got a little video of Moon this evening and thought i'd share. She's coming along nicely now though she's still pushy pushy pushy. There's a ton of come forward there and she's the most amazing athlete i've ever had. There's plenty she's still doing wrong but the bigger things (like sometimes not "seeing" all the sheep or letting one or two break off) are just young dog things that i'm sure she'll grow out of. In this video she's needing more than one stop command, which i hate, but she'd already been working for awhile and had been taking them nicely. She was getting a little brain-tired plus i had the camera keeping me from moving around or being quite as insistent as i might be without it. Just this evening she finally started giving me pace on the drive. You'll hear an embarassing number of "time!" commands but she's a really forward little dog and needs lots of reminders to hold her back out of the sheep. I was really thrilled with her today and can't wait to see how she does tomorrow!

Link to video: Moon at 19 months

How Things Change!

2011-02-27T20:39:00.004-05:00

So, scratch that last post - the newest Shoofly pup is Hawk!

After spending some time with the pups on saturday and talking with the breeders, we decided that it was a better fit for Taff to go with Mary Ann and Hawk to stay with me. I'm thrilled, just love him to death already. He's a great little guy. And Taff (to be renamed Bud) is a great fit with Mary Ann. They look good together! I think all 5 pups are ending up where they should be, things just worked out right. And little Hawk is already looking at sheep, which just makes me smile. He looks right at home in the middle of my pack.

Moon Update

2011-02-19T19:32:00.002-05:00

Moon is coming along well now. Or at least that's today's tune. It's amazing how up and down the journey is with a young dog, and that seems to be especially so with Moon. I know i've made a dozen different decisions this week on her future and my plans for her, enough to give anyone whiplash! But ultimately, Moon has made her own decision and is working well enough, and trying to work with me just enough, that i'm giving her more time. I've always seen talent and potential there but it's been real "work" working such a wildly keen dog. The last couple of days it's been fun, and that's enough to get me to hold off on selling her on, for now anyway. Or at least that's my thinking for the moment! She's being a bit of a pill in this video but not nearly like she has been, so i thought i'd share it. I do like how sharp she can be and believe with age and experience she's going to be a winner. I know she'll be fun to run and never, ever quit. She's getting some schooling in the second half of the video and you can see she's got lovely flanks and really is pretty biddable under all that fire, as she takes in and out flanks and will switch on the fly. I've been working pretty hard on the mechanics with her and plan to let her natural stuff come out more and more over time, as her brain starts to kick in more. She's so keen that it's been hard for her to really do a lot of thinking on her own. My hope is that by gaining some tools to use with her (flanks, steady, stop, etc) that i can help her when she gets over her head and needs my help, but also leave her alone to work things out when she can. We'll see!

Soldier Hollow Classic video

2011-02-09T13:28:00.000-05:00

I'm getting really excited about going to this!

Pupdate

2011-02-06T20:57:00.006-05:00

I went to visit the puppies yesterday and got a bunch of pictures. I put them in an album on Pbase (click the link) since there were quite a few. What a beautiful litter, and all very solid, with a lot of personality. I have a couple of favorites but of course it'll change several more times before i bring one home. Cap really caught my eye. He's quite the stand out, strutting around and quite full of himself. Sweep is nearly as bold but his most noticeable characteristic is his crazy wagging tail, it just goes and goes and goes. Hawk is gorgeous and playful, while Taff is a little more laid back but very sweet. Nell keeps an eye on all of those boys and has a little devil about her too. It's going to be so hard to pick just one!

And...i decided to accept the invitation to the Soldier Hollow Classic. Someone said "your dogs deserve to go" and that sounds like a good enough reason to me! It'll be a trick getting enough time off work to go but i'm going to see what i can do. It'll be an experience, one way or the other. All of these big trips and big trials might change my training and trialing strategy for the year a bit. I'll have to ponder on it more but i may decide to chill some on the two young dogs and try to make sure i put the Open dogs first. They youngsters both have two full years of Nursery so there's no reason to push it with them. Exciting stuff!

Soldier Hollow Classic

2011-02-05T09:43:00.005-05:00

(Soldier Hollow Classic website)

I got an invitation to run at Soldier Hollow today. What to do, what to do? I hate to miss the opportunity. But it's sure a long drive and a lot of days on the road with Meeker and the Finals too. It's an honor to be invited. I'm so proud of the performances of both Zac and Bill last year at the trials. Zac was Reserve Champion at the Kingston SDT double lift Championship and finished 4th in the first round at the National Finals, and very nearly made the Finals in the second, gripping off at the last second. Bill capped off a hugely successful Nursery career with the move to Open, his first Open win, second place in the first round of the Finals, and going all the way to place 8th in the Finals double lift. They're both such good dogs and team players. I'm very lucky to have them.

Pups, Dogs, and Trials

2011-02-04T17:40:00.003-05:00

Here's some cute video of the puppies, just starting to be good at playing --

I keep managing to be a little behind on sharing pics and such. This video is from Tuesday, at about 3.5 weeks old. They're 4 weeks today. I'm not making any progress on choosing one. If anything, i'm going the wrong way on it, as now i'm watching 3 instead of 2! I've pretty much decided to get a male, as i seem to get along better with the boys than the girls these days. I've also been trying to not look at Cap very much, since i know one of the puppy buyers has her eye on him. So that leaves Sweep, Taff and Hawk as my potentials. I'm going to try to go see them in a couple of days but planning to wait as long as i can to actually choose. I was happy to hear that my friend Mary Ann, who has Zac's sister Nan and also has my Gael now, is planning to get one as well. She lives close so i know i'll get to see her pup a lot, and i'm sure i can twist her arm into letting me work him some. It'll be nice to see how more than one of the litter does on sheep.

The dogs around here at doing fine. Zeke is still on restriction with a strain of some sort. I'm going to rest him for another 2 weeks, then get him back to light work. It's a good time for him to be having a mental break from training anyway, though i'm disappointed that i can't run him at the trial we're going to next week. As i mentioned above, Gael is now with Mary Ann and having a ball playing, toy chasing, boss everyone around, rollicking good time. I miss her but i know she's having a lot more fun with Mary Ann and Steve. Bill is back to some light work, coming back from a strained pectinius muscle. He and Zac are both just doing very light work and i'm running them off the ATV to get some conditioning started.

Moon is still here, though some days just barely. I swear i'm getting whiplash from the young dog roller coaster with her. One day she's great, next day i'm ready to boot her out the door, LOL! I know this is how it is with almost all young dogs, but the peaks and valleys are especially huge with her it seems. I have to remind myself she's only 18 months old and that i've only had her back here about 1.5 months too. I keep saying that she's a challenging one to train, but really i need to re-phrase that. It's a challenge to get my head in the right spot to train her. *She's* not the challenge, the *training* is. She's got talent, it's just up to me to to train her properly, and by properly i mean using the right mindset and method for the type of dog she is. It's not fair to get mad when she doesn't respond how i'd like to the usual ways of training. She can't be a different dog than she is and it's not fair of me to ask her to be. I just have to be flexible in my approach. Funny that i value flexibility in the dogs so much. This is a case where the dog will value some flexibility in me!

Our winter/spring trial schedule has changed again. I had planned to go to TX next week for the series of trials down there, but decided it was too many days away with gaps between the trials, and a bad time to be out of work with a big project in progress. Then i thought i'd go to FL for a long weekend at the Suwannee SDT but decided the long drive was again going to cost too many vacation days. So instead we're heading to a trial next weekend in GA that i'm looking forward to. I'll run Zac and Bill in the Open on saturday and sunday, and then Monday is a double lift competition with a full course including the international shed. Zac is invited and it sounds like Bill might get in as well. I think it'll be fun, if the weather cooperates. My dogs will be really, really rusty but we'll go have a good time anyway. I hope!

Zac x Rhyme pups at 2 weeks

2011-01-28T10:23:00.008-05:00

The puppies are 3 weeks old today. Here at their 2 week old pics. Taff, Hawk and Cap are tricolors, Sweep and Nell are black and white, no tri.

Taff

Sweep

Nell

Cap

Hawk
Hawk again

Moon Video

2011-01-24T15:16:00.002-05:00

Here's some video of Moon from this weekend. I'm very pleased to see her thinking more all the time. I'd still like to see her thinking more on her flanks and feeling the sheep more, but she's making real progress. I like her little drives, especially considering i've done absolutely nothing to teach her to drive. No walking along with her, nothing. She's just picking it up from wanting to work so badly and being so willing to flank and go with the flow for me. Her head is up a bit when she drives but that's because i'm quietly saying her name to hold her back from going around to head the sheep. She's going to be very stylish at the end of the day. I'm liking what i'm seeing!

Full Moon

2011-01-21T12:50:00.008-05:00

Catchy title, eh? There actually is a very full, gorgeous moon in the sky this week but i'm talking about Moon with a capital M. Zeke has managed to get hurt so it's going to be all Moon all the time for a little while around the farm. I'm hoping it's nothing serious with Zeke but he's on strict rest until we get it sorted out. I think it's a sprained or strained muscle so i've got him on rest and anti-inflammatories, and will be taking him for massage asap, and to the ortho if it's not improving quickly enough. Bill is exhibiting a nearly identical hitch on the opposite rear leg so i've got two on the injured reserve list right now. You'd think winter lay off time would be injury free, but it seems like maybe the slippery mud causes something about every year.

So on to Moon. I'm working on trying to bring out a little more eye and feel in her because she's really too rash and rushed in her approach to sheep. My dog broke flock only gets mildly annoyed with her current method, but i can guarantee most other sheep are going to be more than uncomfortable with it. I'd like to see her slow down and think more and i'd prefer she get the idea on her own rather than me having to handle her through it. I've tried the "wet blankets" approach with her - a term from horse training referring to working until the saddle blanket is wet, and beyond. Boy have i tried it. I'd hate to add up the amount of time little Moon has worked since the middle of December. I'll just leave it at hours and hours and hours. And hours. And more hours. Did i mention hours? If we could get on the wide open plains for full days of work for a few weeks, i think the method might work with Moon. It's certainly helped some but with my setup, it's not going to be enough. So i'm trying to come up with some different ways to get her brain engaged and see if her feet will join in. I'd like to have a bunch of fresh sheep that she'd really have to work hard to balance, but i'm not sure at this point that would help a whole lot. She doesn't always care just yet if she brings all the sheep to me (common young dog stuff). And while with most dogs it's easy enough to fuss a bit and get them caring, fussing at Moon and putting pressure on her to loop back for escapees brings out her bad side and she rushes in to the sheep in front of her (remember what i said in the last post about her getting hotter and faster when pressured on a correction?). So yesterday i decided to try her on one sheep. I've heard about this bringing out more eye so it seemed worth a shot. I wouldn't try this with many brash youngsters for fear of the sheep running headlong into a fence, but one of Moon's nicer qualities is that she doesn't get wound up and chase sheep when things aren't right (only does it when i put pressure on her, go figure). She's just not a chaser. I had out a cooperative Cheviot ewe who was more than happy to keep running off to some grain whenever the opportunity opened, and just sent Moon over and over to retrieve her. I've certainly worked singles before with my dogs, but it was very interesting watching one so loose eyed. I didn't see that Moon was finding the right balance point as she'd hit the top of her outrun, but i did see her leaning out on her flanks to cover and balance as she brought the ewe in to me. And i did see her start thinking about gearing down some as she fetched. I would be very happy if she'd put all that together in her mind and start allowing the sheep some room as she brings them in - she pushes well past the point of comfort for the sheep when she's behind them. I see her giving the sheep room in her flanks, so i know it's in there, she's just not making the connection when she's behind and coming straight on.

I'm going to keep trying some of the single sheep work with Moon and see how it goes. I also plan to "mechanicalize" her fetches more, to see if she doesn't start to realize it makes things go better if she eases up some. It's a funny game, this dog training stuff. I actually really like that she'll come forward without hesitation, that she's forward and game and wants things to get moving, and now. And yet at the same time i don't like it because she's not thinking enough for me. A few years ago, a friend pointed out to me how many sheepdog qualities are a double edged sword, where you get one thing you like but you have to realize there's that other edge to it too. So we'll see how this quality works out in little Moon with some time. I keep reminding myself that there are so many things about her that i admire - all that athleticism, another double edged sword?! - so i'm trying to stick it out and see where we go. It's been an interesting ride so far!

Young Dogs, Working Styles

2011-01-20T07:52:00.001-05:00

So on to working styles of the youngsters. I'll start with Zeke. He's a more quiet sort of dog with sheep for the most part. He has a bit of eye and quite a lot of feel for sheep. His flanks have a nice, naturally good shape to them, not too wide and not too tight. I'm still assessing his power and courage, but so far haven't seen signs of anything lacking in either area. He tends toward a more methodical style of work and i do spend time speeding him up occasionally, just trying to get him to be a little more brash and a little more trusting that things aren't going to get too out of whack if he isn't quite so careful. His brother Bill was like this as a youngster too and i found he grew out of it with time. It's a nice attitude towards work, that wanting to be right all the time and to not let things get messy, and one i quite enjoy. His outruns still need work as he tends to wind in at the top and while he ends up nicely on balance, he can be a little lazy about completely covering before he begins toward the sheep. Lifts are nice but the first part of the fetch can be a bit hard. It was a little difficult to get him started with driving but he's really getting it now and seems to enjoy settling in behind and just stroking along. I introduce shedding to many of my dogs early, and Zeke has loved it almost from the start. All in all, he's just a nice young dog, and enjoyable to train. He's not without his problems but he's a real team player. Not that he's especially soft natured, but I have to watch correcting him as it really crushes him to be wrong or to displease me. Fortunately, there's not much need for it with him.

Moon is a very different flavor of working dog. She's extremely keen to work with tons and tons of drive. No worries about hurting the feelings on this one! Correcting her is quite the challenge as she gets hotter and faster with any pressure put on her. It tends to stretch me as a trainer to figure out how best to communicate to her that i don't like something she's doing. She can really push my buttons, this one! She's very fast and as athletic of a dog as i've ever seen, with loads of stamina. I quite admire the athlete she is. She's not had as much time and training as Zeke, but is very quickly catching up to him. She's wicked smart, as quick a learner as i've had when it comes to commands and whistles. At this point she's not showing much in the way of eye and little feel for the "bubble" on sheep, but i'm hoping to bring some out. She pushes in too hard and sheep don't enjoy this, but she wants things to get moving, and moving quickly. She doesn't have a naturally square flank, preferring to come forward a bit then flare around, though we're working on that and it's improving. Neither her father or grandmother have naturally square flanks, but sheep were always pretty forgiving of it with them. I think it'll end up the same way with Moon, but i'd like her to release and flank when asked, so am working on it early. Interestingly, she does have a nice, natural bend on her outruns, giving nice room both on the sides and at the back, even at longer distances. She's a very good listener and very biddable, and is developing some pace on her fetch. Because she has so little eye and is so biddable, you can put her just about anywhere on a flank, on and off balance, and even on inside flanks. I've barely introduced driving to her and yet she'll drive sheep off a pretty good distance just because she'll go anywhere you tell her, plus she just *loves* to get in behind and make things move. I think she may pick up driving without ever really being taught exactly what driving is! I'm still assessing power and courage, hard to do right now as she tends to bully the sheep a bit with her speed, so that remains to be tested. She's more than happy to come right through sheep to me, so i expect she'll shed well.

So begins the tale of two youngsters. It's interesting to me that one is tight and fast yet has a nice bend to her gathers, while the other has nice feel and attitude yet is too tight on his gathers. Quite the opposite of what you would predict! I really don't think they could be much different in terms of overall working styles and strengths and weaknesses. I can't say for certain that i'll stick with both of them for the long haul but it's certainly giving me a lot to think and ponder and plot on during these dreary winter days.

The Young Dogs

2011-01-17T11:12:00.007-05:00

So "blah season" has settled in around here. Cold and icy, or rainy and muddy seem to be the themes this time of year. I get little snatches of dog training in when i can fit it, but also spend a lot of time plotting future adventures and pondering on the youngsters. My two youngsters this year, Moon and Zeke, couldn't be any different from each other. Both are right at 18 months old. It's a very good age, both will be eligible for the Nurseries for 2011 and 2012.

I picked Zeke up this past August from Joni Swanke. He's a half brother to Bill, by way of their father Lew. Zeke is a real sweetie pie, goofy and friendly and engaging. He decided he wanted to be my dog practically at first sight. I worked him a bit when i was out in ND and he immediately attached himself to me, to the point of chasing off my own dogs when they'd try to come near me! I really was trying to find a bitch to add to my pack, not another dog, but finally gave in to Zeke's charms and bought him. He's been such a nice addition. He's calm and respectful around the house and yard, and just generally a good guy to have around. He wants nothing more than to be a good boy and for me to be happy with him. One approving glance from me and his chest practically explodes with joy that he's made me smile.

Then there's Moon. Moon is a daughter of Zac and was my puppy from the litter. Unfortunately for Moon, i'd gotten all silly over Tug and never really bonded with her like i did him. When two puppies growing up together became too wild for my taste, i sent her off with a friend for raising. She came home after a while and it was still too much chaos for me, so i placed her with the friend. Over the last couple of months, it's become obvious that Moon is too intense as a starting sheepdog for a home without easy, consistent access to work, so she's come back to me. And what a different creature she is from Zeke. She does everything as fast as she can and is busy, busy, busy. She's a very sweet dog but is more independent, at least at this point. I'm starting to see flashes of her looking for approval from me, but only the tiniest snips before she's on to something else in her mind. She's kind of a pain in the behind to live with, being the "border collie your mother always warned you about". She makes her own entertainment in the yard, from chasing squirrels to digging holes. She's not too bad in the house. Though she'd like to bounce around and play rougher than i allow, she is able to settle down. I'd hate to see how she'd have been if she were a pet living with a first time BC owner in an apartment somewhere! I'm pretty sure she'll settle down and get with the program in my pack with a little time. I keep my dogs pretty quiet and calm, without too much foolishness going on. She's only been home about 3 weeks and is already chilling out a bit. Her father Zac is over the top keen for sheep work, but he's a lovely dog around the house and yard, and i expect Moon will be as well when she gets settled and grows up a bit.

So that's a quick introduction to my current projects, the Nursery dogs for this year. They are very different, for sure, and will be interesting to get trained up. I don't know how much of the difference is based on gender and how much on breeding, but i expect they'll keep me on my toes and force me to be flexible in my approach. Next up, i'll talk about how they are when it comes to sheep work, where they continue their "couldn't be any less alike" ways.

Puppies and trials

2011-01-10T14:19:00.006-05:00

The puppies are here! Four boys and one girl, born Jan 9th, all healthy and fat. I can't wait to get my hands on them and i know already i'm going to have a devil of a time picking one. It's probably a good thing they're 3-4 hours from me or i'd be curled up with them myself.

We're going to have a couple of trials at the farm this spring to raise money for ovarian cancer research and to cover some feed costs. Since i'm not lambing this year, the sheep have to pay their own way in a different manner than usual. It'll be a lot of fun and hopefully fill a niche as there aren't many trials around in the spring, and fewer and fewer all the time for the novice handlers and dogs. Entry forms are on my website at www.sheepdogsonline.com

Zeke had a less than stellar debut at the Edgeworth winter trial last weekend. He didn't quite know what to make of those zippy katahdin lambs. But he mostly kept his cool and i think it was good for him. I saw lots i liked anyway, as he was very serious about the whole thing, spotting his sheep nicely even though they blended into the terrain. He was very focused when it came time to run even though he was Mr Party Boy waiting around to go. He really cracks me up sometimes. I'm surprised he didn't get whiplash from whipping his head around taking in all of the people and dogs standing around. Big goofball.

Plans have changed a bit here and we won't be doing the TX trip after all, just too many miles and too many days off work. Instead i'm going to pack the dogs up and head to the Suwannee SDT in FL for some (hopefully) warm days in mid February. In addition to Zac and Bill in the Open, I'm planning to run Zeke in Nursery and thinking he'll be ready by then. If things go really well between now and then, i may even take a deep breath and try Moon in PN. We'll see!

New Years Catchup

2011-01-04T13:51:00.006-05:00

I'm sure doing a lousy job keeping up with the blog, aren't I? It's been a busy couple of months actually, as i'm trying to train young dogs in all the free moments i can find and there were a few holidays in there as well.

I guess i'll just catch up on the dogs first. Zac and Bill are doing fine, though both a little aggravated with me as i'm forcing them to take a little break. I'm so mean. But really, after working so hard towards the Finals and the fall trials, it was time for some down time for both of them. I'm trying to ease them both back into training and conditioning now, as we sneak up on a trip to Texas in February for some trialing. I don't plan to work as hard towards it as we did the trips this past year, or the trips to be made later this year, since it's coming at a time when we don't normally do a lot and i don't want to get too much out of that rhythm. Neither of them need a lot of work to be pretty sharp workwise. I may be singing the blues about not conditioning them better physically when we get there, but it'll just have to do. I don't think it's good to try to keep them tuned and at peak all the time. At six and three years old, they should be fine, where i'd be more concerned about a dog that was a little older. As long as it's not too hot, we'll be okay.

The lineup of dogs in my pack has changed a good bit since the fall. Gael is back in the pack and firmly re-planted in the middle of my bed. It's nice having her back home. She still wants to work whenever i'll let her, and she's still the demon on sheep she's always been. What a toughie she is, and still as stylish and fun to watch as ever. I don't work her much, as i kind of like keeping my blood pressure in the normal range! Zeke joined the pack late in the summer and is a great addition. I enjoy him so much, both on and off sheep, and am looking forward to running him in the Nursery the next couple of years. Moon has also rejoined the pack recently. What a little pill she is! Fast, energetic and keen, keen, keen, a little version of her father Zac. I'm seeing a lot i like in her work, in the short time i've had her back. If i can keep up with her, she should be a lot of fun, and like Zeke she has two years of Nursery as well. The youngsters are keeping me on my toes and in the training field as much as possible right now, since they're at an age where they soak up all i can give them.

Earlier in the fall, i let a friend take Tug home to live with her and her little group of dogs. He wasn't working out like i'd hoped for sheep work, and my friend adored him, so i bit the bullet and let him go, hard as it was for me. Tragically, last week she lost Tug in a bizarre accident. We're all still in shock and very, very sad that he's gone. It's hard to believe such a joyful spirit as his is gone.
So that's where we all are these days. Clicking along and trying to get past some sad stuff, and leaning forward to good things to come. The Rhyme/Zac pups are due this weekend, and there were 5 showing up on the xrays yesterday. That'll be a fun time, seeing what they look like and picking out the newest Shoofly baby. And we have some fun trips planned this year, to TX, ND and CO. So here we go, into 2011.

Puppies!

2010-11-09T20:07:00.006-05:00

Zac puppies are on the way! Due January 10th, out of a nice little bitch named Rhyme.
Rhyme's mother is Peggy Stein's Kit, a littermate to my Jet (sired by my old Ben). I'm really excited to see these lines being tied together. Ben was a very powerful dog and produced that in his pups. Rhyme's sire is Myra Soden's Moel Hemp, a very talented dog bred by Ceri Rundle. If you google Bwlch Hemp x Dolwen Fan, you will see many well known and accomplished sheepdogs that are bred the same as Myra's Hemp.

I expect the Zac x Rhyme pups to be athletic, very biddable, good listeners, with a lot of come forward, nice flanks and natural outruns, as there is an abundance of those qualities through all of the lines. Let's hope i'm right! They're due on my birthday and i think that would be a nice gift.

Here's a link to Zac's pedigree (click here)

And here's one to Rhyme's pedigree (click here)

And here is more info on Zac and some pictures of both him and dogs in his background (click here)

Packed Pen

2010-11-07T08:25:00.002-05:00

I've referred to the packed pen method of training in the past here on the blog. Yesterday some friends and i got together with 3 fifteen month old dogs and did a lot of packed pen work. We got a bit of video and i thought i'd share it on here.

This first video is Zeke and it's his first time ever in the pen. Normally i'd start a dog on a 6 foot leash but Zeke is pretty calm and has a good idea what the flank commands mean, so i just left him loose. I want him going calmly around the sheep and not flipping his direction. You'll see he figures this whole thing out pretty quickly and his confidence grows a lot in a few short minutes.

This next video is of Moon, one of the Zac puppies. She's done just a little packed pen work before this video. It's been a terrific training method for her as she's been quite the determined little gripper. With her confidence growing, she finds she doesn't need to be biting, and even when she does, it's mostly nice and workmanlike. She really reminds me of her grandmother Spottie in this video.

Fall trials

2010-10-18T10:37:00.007-04:00

The fall trials are starting to kick in now. I took Bill and Zac up to the Montpelier trial Oct 2nd to run. I just went the one day. It's close enough to drive up and back, and gives me an excuse to spend the day with my friend Joan, since she rides up with me. It was a fun day and nice to see some folks i hadn't seen in a while. The crowd was huge this year for the fiber festival, maybe because the weather was so nice. Zac was first up in the Open and had a nice run but i had trouble penning - the sheep were glued to my knees. I finally managed to convince them to go in by actually moving to the other side of the gate, with the rope across their backs, so that Zac could get close enough to make them move. Weird! We couldn't get them to separate for the shed at all. Bill ran later on and had a nice go, finishing 2nd for the day.

Edgeworth was last weekend and the lovely trial it always is. I don't understand why it draws mostly local people rather than folks from further away like it used to. I guess maybe because it's just after the Finals, and also there are so many other good trials in other parts of the country these days. But we ran about 60 dogs for each round. Zac and Bill ran out beautifully both days, which is always a nice feeling on that difficult outrun. Both were very good around the course, not losing many points there. I didn't do an especially good job on the at-hand elements (a chute, pen, shed/split) but that was no fault of the dogs. Not sure what was up with that, maybe just a bit of a let down after all the Finals excitement. Zac ended up 4th and Bill 8th in the first go, and both were just out of the placings in the second.

We're off this weekend to the Watercress SDT in Limestone, TN. The setting is absolutely stunning, up in the mountains among all of the fall color. I'm hoping having had a weekend off that we'll be back in a more competitive mode, or maybe i should say hoping *I* will be. Zac ran extremely well at this trial last year, with a nearly perfect run on the second day, the kind you don't forget. I'd love to see a repeat performance!

Finals strategies

2010-10-11T08:15:00.003-04:00

I promised to do a Finals wrap up blog, so here it is. I'll do it in two sections, one a more personal one and a second detailing some of the strategies i picked up and used since i do try to keep this blog at least somewhat educational (for myself and my poor memory as well as for others!).

First off, it was the most amazing week of dog trialing. I almost felt as if i should just stop right there, it'll never be topped. But you know that ain't happening, right?! My good friend Lauren was right there for most of the week and called it "fantasy week at the Finals" and it surely was. It was an amazing high. My dogs worked so well, i could not possibly have been more proud of the job they both did. They performed like the champs i've always known them to be, each winning their day in the qualifying rounds and not missing a single sheep through a single panel over 6 runs. I'm still awestruck by the job young Bill did and the trust he showed on the final day when i was asking him to perform so far above his training level. It's truly humbling what these sheepdogs are capable of.

The people at the Finals were absolutely amazing. I felt like i was riding a wave of good wishes and congratulations the whole time. I was just blown away by it. So many smiling happy faces who were genuinely happy to cheer us on and hanging in there on every whistle. Wow, it still gives me goosebumps. The level of competition was amazing and i have to say i learned an awful lot just being in amongst it and watching and studying. I try to remember that especially in this particular endeavor, "you don't know what you don't know until you know it". I think i know more now, or at least i'm aware of the more that's out there. All in all, it's been a surreal experience. The addition of the webcast and the Twitter feed added to the experience in ways i doubt anyone really expected. I've heard from people all over the country (and some overseas), both in and out of the sheepdog trial world, offering congratulations and telling me how much they enjoyed seeing both dogs run. Pretty mind blowing really.
Okay, so on to the trial strategies part. I have to give credit again to the competitors at the Finals. I was fortunate enough to draw up late enough in the Open that i could watch a lot of really good handling in both rounds, and formulate my own strategy based on what i was seeing work. Bill and i didn't have a real chance to do more than try to conquer the bad ewe he had in the Nursery, but i sure used things i picked up once we got to the Open.

Carla King ran very early in the first round of Open and went out and laid down a gorgeous, calm run to post a high score. The sheep responded extremely well to her quiet, gentle handling, especially at the shed, where she just calmly folded off her shed sheep. I hardly think they even noticed they'd been split! I tried very hard to emulate Carla's handling and quiet manner, easing the sheep around as gently as they would allow.

I noticed that one dog seemed to really settle his sheep and take a bit of the fight out of them by pushing them off a little hard to the right after lifting. It was almost as if he said "no breaking to the left, got it?" and they just bent to his will from that point. I decided to try that, giving up a point or so in hopes of keeping some others on the fetch. We had gorgeous online fetches the entire week, as well as very good drive lines, from the Nursery right up to the double lift and i think this was part of it.

I picked up my strategy for the very tricky turn at the post from watching a good friend compete. It seemed he was pushing the sheep offline to the right at bit so he could do a series of small turns/flanks rather than one large sweeping move around the post that would give the sheep a head of steam that the dog would have to try to stop. My dogs were happy to use this method and it seemed to help break the sheep from bolting. Once i had the sheep turned, i decided to have my dogs settle them a bit before letting them continue down the driveaway line. I'd stop the sheep and let my dogs eye them up a bit, trying to build some rapport and trust between them all, and also show the sheep that they weren't getting away from my guys. It didn't always work, i know Zac had some runners that hit that panel at a dead run, but it mostly did, and i think it also helped the dogs master the sheep when it was time to turn onto the crossdrive. They'd already explained to the sheep that they were in charge and there was no need to test them.

Another strategy i picked up watching a top competitor was to go through the panels a little deep rather than going for the tight turns we normally aim for. It's not worth risking the miss when you're trying to get to the next round. Another thing i picked up, and this was from my own mistake in Bill's nursery run, is to keep my fingers up so i can keep whistling when i need it. I'd dropped my hands to shout "lie down" before a panel with Bill, and when i needed a fast flank, he couldn't hear my voice command. Something to remember at trials with spectators, where there is applause on making panels.

The final strategy i picked up goes back to Carla's run, where she folded off her shed sheep so calmly. The sheep were bad for clumping up and not separating if they were pressured, so gentle handling was needed. I didn't manage to do it every time, but when i could, it did work very well.

I think that about covers the big stuff on strategies. It was quite the week, both as an experience to treasure and also for the education. Can't wait until next year in CO!

2010 Finals Slideshow

2010-10-01T13:07:00.007-04:00

Talented photographer Michelle Dobbs put together a lovely slideshow from the Finals. Enjoy!

Click here for the slideshow

Finals Top 17

2010-09-29T17:54:00.009-04:00

So on to the final day we go with Bill. I was disappointed to not be running two dogs in the Finals, both because i felt Zac would do well but also because it would have been fun to try it twice. Little did i know, but i'd get 2 shots at it anyway.

It was a much better weather day for a dog trial, overcast with cooler temps. Bill and i drew up 6th, a pretty good spot to run in usually. I might have preferred a little later draw just so i could watch and study earlier runs but at least we weren't 1st or 2nd. I was really concerned about getting Bill to do the turnback to the 2nd lot of sheep. He only has the start of a proper turnback in his repertoire. He understands the verbal "look" command means to turn around and look for sheep behind him. I've blown the whistle to him a couple of times to start teaching it to him, but always follow it with voice as he doesn't know it yet. He's been on a few turnbacks to sheep that were in sight, up to maybe 150-200 yards or so, and i did send him back to sheep that he couldn't see, about 50 yards away, once or twice at the farm, just before heading to the Finals. I didn't want to do a lot of turnback training just before the fall trials, since it tends to make dogs look back a little too easily on fetches if you've been working on it. Better to train it during the off season. Unfortunately, Bill was hurt during the past winter off season and missed out. So, it was with some trepidation that i stepped to the post. True, it was an honor to just make the cut, but i sure did want to try the course. I was pretty relaxed though. Someone (wish i could remember who!) had made a comment that Bill trusts me and he'd go back, and i took a good deal of comfort from that thought. It's true, we've gotten to be a pretty close team and i've tried to always be fair and not ask for more than he can do, and he does trust me.

The first group of ten was spotted about 600 yards out, in the upper left corner of the field. I'd already sent Bill out 3 times to the left, but to sheep spotted at 350-400 yards and in the middle of the field. He seemed to see the sheep though, and i set him up to run wide, and he went out very well, nicely wide, looking and kicking out as he went. He landed well, pulling up on the pressure, which was downfield to my left. Lift was nice and we started the dogleg fetch online. I had him hard on the pressure, pushing the sheep off to the right a bit to counteract that huge draw, and his fetch was nice, to the panel and through. We settled the sheep at the drop post, but as soon as i flanked Bill over to the right, the sheep broke hard left, as they did on all of the dogs. It was about as hard of a turnback as you could possibly set up. The dogs had to fight to keep the sheep off the exhaust and then just let them run off, and every dog of the day had trouble turning back, even some very experienced ones. I started giving Bill the whistle and following it with the "look" voice command. He was a good boy and released the first group well but just couldn't figure out what i wanted, as he couldn't see any sheep behind him. It took quite a while (felt like hours!) but after trying a few different things, i finally got Bill looking further upfield. He'd already crossed over, so it didn't matter how i got him out, i just needed to get him there. He started upfield, and i'm not sure if he was running back and thinking about the first group, or trying a come bye outrun to the right corner, but, i saw him finally see the sheep, stopped him and redirected him around to the proper away outrun. I could maybe have left him on the come bye path but i was wanting him to do it right and was doing a bit of training out there. He took the redirect very well, kicking out and landing perfectly on the sheep. The sheep took off like crazy towards that exhaust draw but Bill kicked around and caught them, and we kept them online, to the panels and through. That sure felt good!

Okay, so double lift finally accomplished and we continued on to the fetching. Bill did a beautiful job keeping the second group on the fetch line to the post, holding that hard pressure. Unfortunately, by the time we'd evened them up to the first group, the first group had disappeared from sight and were right up against the fence. I sent Bill down in there to try to fish them out (yet another blind turnback) but he came out with only about half. I couldn't see what happened, maybe he got confused by the people and dogs down there that were trying to keep the sheep out in the field, but he did let some get away. I think he should have been able to manage it but i couldn't see, and the groups had been held out in sight on the field on the previous runs, so the judges gave us a rerun. It was a big relief that we would get to continue on and try the course, but oh no, another double lift!We waited about an hour and stepped back to the post. The first outrun, lift and fetch were nearly identical to the morning one. When we got to the drop post, i had Bill push the sheep a few yards to the right, in hopes that maybe they'd stay but unfortunately they took off again when i flanked him around to set up the turnback. I wondered afterwards if a little more time holding them on the spot might have helped, but i doubt it. I started the whistle/voice routine again and though Bill did cross over and need some extra flanking to set up, he did go back and quite a lot easier than the first time. Again he landed well, fetched straight and the sheep were through the panels and coming towards the handlers post. This time, our first lot had been held further out in the field where we could see them. I decided to stop Bill and let the second lot run over to the first, with a plan to send him around them all. He had a hard time understanding what i wanted when he got there though. It was odd, but the groups stayed segregated even though they were really close to each other. Bill went around the back group but then locked in on the front group and was going to let the back one go. I had a heck of a time getting it worked out with him and we lost precious time, on top of all we'd lost on the first turnback (time started at 18 minutes on the second run, when i sent Bill to join up the groups). Finally we got it together and did the turn around the post and began the drive. It was actually more tricky than i expected, since there was a cheviot looking ewe with a friend who wanted to run off, and then a couple of really heavy ewes wanting to stop and stand at the back. Bill had to work really hard and do a lot of running from front to back to keep things together and moving. We wiggled around a bit getting the panels with those troublemakers but hit both panels and the drive was pretty decent all around, if a bit slow.

On to the shedding ring, where time was running low and i had a very tired dog after four 600 yard outruns. He had this "whew, i'm beat!" look on his face. Even fresh, Bill is still a little punky on his shedding since i haven't pushed it with him (one of our winter projects) because of his age. The sheep were being pretty cooperative though, bunching up some nice groups of uncollared ewes, and Bill was hanging in there pretty good. We got a couple of nice cuts, got down to about 3-5 uncollared ewes left and might have gotten it done but time ran out. All the time spent going back cost us there. But we still ended up with a 339 and 8th place!

I was so thrilled with my young guy. He worked his heart out and i was so impressed with how well he handled the sheep. They were big, strong, opinionated ewes who pushed dogs around all week. Straight lines were hard to come by and Bill had not just two, but four beautiful fetches, and also a lovely first leg of the drive. It was a very difficult turnback and he DID trust me, and listened and tried so hard to figure things out even though it was way, way over his head. He was calm, cool and kept his composure and the things he knew how to do, he did extremely well. And the things he didn't, he hung in there and worked out. I'm so very, very proud of him.

Next up, the Finals wrap up...

2010 SemiFinals

2010-09-27T14:13:00.006-04:00

What a ride. I'm still pinching myself to be sure it was real. Or maybe just so i can stay awake now that we're home - it was quite the trip to come down from!

Bill drew up 15th and Zac 31st in the semifinals round. We were running 5 sheep, 2 with collars. The course was a little bigger than in the preliminary round, with slightly longer drives and a 450 yard outrun. I worried with the earlier draw that Bill might be at a disadvantage since the afternoon sheep seemed generally better, but i needn't have. He ran beautifully, settling his sheep and mastering them, keeping them calm and cooperative. We were to shed off 2 plain, then pen and then single a collared ewe. We were very clean around the course with reasonable lines, shed and pen went well. We again had a missed attempt on the single but did get it. I'm not surprised Bill had trouble with the singles, he's still not completely solid on the shedding so we haven't done much singling yet, trying to remember that he is still a youngster. Final score was 174 and he ended up in 13th place, qualifying for the big show - the top 17 double lift Finals!

Zac ran later and like in the first round, had a real smoker going. He had a difficult ewe in the bunch but really mastered her around the course, showing great confidence and poise, and listening really well. He was totally on his game for the trial. We got around cleanly and into the shedding ring, and i just couldn't get the sheep to line up as i needed. The collared ewes kept staying in with the uncollared, and i couldn't get 2 plain ones together. I stayed smart to start with but then got caught up in pushing them onto Zac. I should have known better and kept things looser as we'd done in the first round. Finally the ewe that had been eying up Zac and giving him grief broke off and he nailed her for a DQ. Heartbreak as i was so looking forward to running him in the top 17 as well. I know he'd have done well, even with that nasty turnback, because we practice it. It was very disappointing but we'll just have to work on that gripping and plan to be back next year.

It was a bit of a nerve wracking day waiting to see if Bill would make it through. I thought he probably would but you never know, and there were some great teams running at the end. A really cool thing was that the semifinals were being webcast. I heard from friends and family all over the country who were watching it all in real time. How amazing is that?

Next post is on the Top 17...

Open Finals, Day 3, What Another Day!

2010-09-23T22:01:00.003-04:00

Well, this has been some kind of week. Zac had his run today in the Finals and did a terrific job! If not for one silly mistake on my part, he'd now be leading the National Finals with 3/4s of the dogs already run. As it is, he's sitting in 4th place, 2 points behind Bill in 2nd. No matter what happens from here on out, it's already been amazing!

Zac was set to run 30th today. I was hoping the sheep would turn sweeter in the afternoon as they'd done on wednesday but they sure took their time doing it. I'd thought the heat would make the sheep more cranky but it seemed to make them lose their inclination to fight a bit. They'd still take advantage of mistakes but weren't quite so nasty about it. I don't think they really changed until just about the time we ran, later than yesterday. Zac was really good to them though, and they seemed to like him so it's hard to say for sure. They were pretty opinionated on the split and single so it's possible he made them a little better around the course. Either way, they were happy to walk nicely right around. I sent Zac left and he went out beautifully, bending just where i was looking for it. He landed nice and deep, and i dropped him about 11:00 to counter the leftward draw. The sheep folded off the lift towards me and i got Zac over on the left quickly, and we actually pushed the sheep over to the right a bit. I didn't want them getting any ideas that they could take off to the left as they'd been doing all week. I kept the fetch slow and it was very straight and online except for the topmost part. It looks like our gather score is 8 off on the HA website, and that's combined for 2 judges, so that's about as clean as it gets. (Bill was 8 off too!). Drive away was perfect, straight through the panels and turn was tight. I got low on the cross drive, then took it high, but again, i didn't fiddle too much with it so we could keep a nice flow. I didn't want panelitis getting me - i can get nervous and start lashing around at them sometimes. Return leg good and the sheep ambled nicely into the ring and stopped. So here's where i get nervous a bit with Zac, as he's been quite good at gripping off in the ring, especially when we've had a good run. So i was very careful setting up the split and kept it really quiet with Zac. He came in a little slow and glanced at the wrong group, but the split was called, all fine. The left behind sheep got to the far edge of the ring and i brought the others back to them. The judges had told us specifically to regather in the ring, and i thought i had done it, but i must have been over the edge. And them somehow i managed to not take the group through the shedding ring, though it's nearly on top of the pen, so i got hit 10 points (5 per judge) for the error (they called me over and told me after the run). But off to the pen, where the sheep jostled around a bit but did finally go in. I decided Zac could grab a quick dip in the water tub, then got back in the ring and very carefully got the single with Mr Grip at the Very Last Moment. I kept him calm and cool and watched carefully since i knew we were having a heck of a run, and he just held it nicely. Woo hoo! Final score was 185. With those 10 points back, he'd be sitting at 195, six points above the current top score. We won't give those points away next time!

It's been a fun Finals with lots of good dog work, great for watching and studying. I know i've learned a ton watching the great handling and have been taking lots of mental notes. And i just couldn't be more proud of Bill and Zac. They're so much fun and such good boys!

Open Finals, Day 1, What a Day!

2010-09-21T22:14:00.010-04:00

What a day! The Open has begun and the running is tough. The committee moved the course a bit off the draw but someone forgot to explain to the sheep that that should have helped a bit. They are really pulling hard off to the left of the field, beyond the first drive panel. It's been a tough job all day getting that line with the sheep, and that's after fighting like mad to hold the fetch line. Whew. There were some really good dogs running today and it was very hard to even leave the viewing area because there was always someone running or on deck that i wanted to see.

I ran Bill late this afternoon in the #31 spot and i couldn't be any more proud of my young guy. I sent him left after waiting what seemed like forever for the sheep to be spotted and settled at the set out point. There was some breaking and jostling around but finally they did settle and off Bill went.He went out beautifully, bending in exactly the spots i'd have hoped for, and ending nicely deep. Because i felt the proper place to come in was around 10:30-11 o'clock, behind the lone tree on the field, i hit him with a steady whistle just as insurance, though it felt like he was making that decision just fine on his own. He came on quietly and with authority and the sheep folded off the top, straight at me. I started hitting the away whistle fast and furious as i wanted him set up on the left side and he took them pretty nicely, actually pushing the sheep a little off to the right. The fetch was pretty much straight and through the panels. The rest of the fetch was nice, turn around the post was pretty good though a bit wide. That really difficult first leg of the drive was just that - difficult - but it went well and we managed to stay online. The sheep stalled a couple of times but Bill just leaned right into them and they'd move off. I was loving how flexible he was being, locking in and pushing but still taking all my flanks and stops and walk ups right off. Through the panel, nice tight turn. The cross drive was a little more wiggly and lower than i wanted, but i didn't want to get too picky about it at that point and just kept it flowing over and through the panels. Return leg was pretty good and the sheep were nicely settled coming into the ring. We kept it calm and quiet and folded 2 off for the split, then eased them into the pen pretty easily with Bill just taking that job over for me as he walked them up and pressed them in. Deep breath and back to the ring for the single and we got a nice gap where i called Bill in but he hesitated and it closed, so a missed attempt. Another deep breath and we got a good one right at the edge of the ring. The judge took some time calling it and i fretted that they thought we'd left the ring but finally, whew, he called it!

I couldn't have been more proud of my young boy, he was a real champ out there. The strategies i'd planned to deal with the draw worked well because he was working so well with me and the sheep were listening to him. And even better yet, when they announced the score, we'd taken the lead with a 187! I don't know if that'll hold up for 3 more long days with all of these amazing dogs and handlers here still to run, but we'll surely make it to the semi-finals where we'll get another go at the sheep. Oh geez, now i have to figure out what to wear as it'll be televised on the live streaming video feed. At least i know what Bill will wear - he's going commando, LOL!
(photo above and in blog title by denise wall)

2010 Nursery Finals

2010-09-20T21:23:00.004-04:00

What a wonderful trial going on here in VA. The organizers have done a fabulous job. Great field, great sheep. The sheep have been a good test of the dogs without being too much for the youngsters.

It was a bittersweet sort of day for me with Bill. I was so excited to run him and felt he was very ready and poised to do well. Unfortunately the luck of the draw got us. The sheep have been mostly very good but we had the misfortune to draw one that was a real stinker. She juked and jived and tried every trick in the book to get away from the moment she stepped on the field. We were doing a right hand drive and the sheep had been breaking all day to the left, and honestly i started wondering how the heck we were going to deal with that ewe on the crossdrive before we'd even brought her off the top end.

I sent Bill to the left on his outrun and he ran out very nicely, wide and deep. I'd planned on stopping him around 11 o'clock to counter the draw to the left but he came in there on his own, walking in with calm confidence. The sheep still broke to the left a bit but Bill took my flanks well and caught them. They got a bit offline but not too bad considering how hard it had been all day to hold them. We got the panels pretty easily and kept them online the rest of the fetch. This whole time, that one stinker of a ewe was breaking really hard to the left side about every 10 yards or so. Bill did a terrific job catching her and putting her back in, over and over and over, while we both worked hard to keep the other 3 online and sticking close enough to not lose them while the bad one was breaking. And i mean she was breaking hard! The turn around the post was dicey but we got it done. The first leg of the drive had been tough all day, with the sheep not wanting to line out and go straight downhill. Bill did a pretty nice job with the line, even though that ewe was breaking harder than ever, and her friends were starting to think about ways to take advantage of Bill being so busy with the stinker. We got them nicely through the panel and then the race was on! We had to take the sheep in the direction they wanted to go, and go they did, hellbent. I managed to time it exactly how i wanted, will Bill on the top side of the sheep as they flew through the panels. I had to give him a hard down command and went to voice, which meant i was giving that all important flank command by voice just as the crowd cheered like crazy for the made panels, and Bill didn't hear me. That little error killed us (i think he would have heard a whistled command), as the sheep got that extra jump ahead of Bill and ran to the fence where they so wanted to go. It was down over a hill and i couldn't see, other than that stinker ewe breaking off and heading uphill. Bill worked his butt off to bring the other 4 out but we needed all 5 - time ran out and we didn't get our drive score. In actuality, that 5th one had managed to get through the fence and into the big flock of sheep hanging out on the other side of the fence so there was no way we could have gotten it back together at that point. It was just heartbreaking because we'd worked so hard on such a bad ewe and Bill had done a stellar job. The whole crowd was disappointed, the cheers when we caught that panel and groans when the sheep got away were huge. It's hard to not get behind a little dog working so hard and doing such a good job.

So it was a tough day but also in some ways a really rewarding one. Bill really got to show his stuff out there, and it really made me feel great to have so many handlers come up and compliment his work and commiserate over that rotten ewe. It was disappointing because i think expectations that Bill would do well in the Nursery were pretty high. I know i felt he would do well and i sure would have liked to have made the second round to run for the Championship. But as always, there's a little luck involved in sheepdog trials and you do the best you can with what you get. I think we did that yesterday. Now, perhaps the sheepdog trial luck gods could cut us a break when we run tomorrow in the Open...

Finals time!

2010-09-17T21:45:00.004-04:00

Finally it's Finals! 2010 USBCHA National Finals, in Middletown, VA at Belle Grove plantation. The course is beautiful and the local host committee has stepped in and done a stellar job. The sheep look fit, a group of 650 border cheviot crossbreeds, all 2-4 years old. The course is straightforward for the Nursery, right hand drive of about 125 yards on each leg, outrun 325 yards. I'm on the Handlers Association trial committee this year. I was on it at the 2007 Finals in PA and enjoyed it a lot, so am looking forward to it again. Basically, the local committee oversees what is happening outside the fence - crowds, vendors, all the million things that go into making this huge event - while the HA committee oversees the action on the inside of the fence - setting the course, watching every run for any kind of controversy or decision making that needs done, keeping things flowing and fair for everyone.

Tomorrow we begin the Nursery at 8 am and will go through the first 54 dogs on the running order. I don't run Bill until 91st, so will be watching closely and formulating my strategies for sunday. I can hardly wait to see him going out on that outrun since i've been aiming towards this since the 20 07Finals, when Bill was delivered to me as a 7 week old pup. He sat himself down in front of me, looked me right in the face with this open, honest expression as if to say "yup, i'm your dog" and now here we are. He's definitely my dog!

Finals Prep

2010-09-10T14:30:00.010-04:00

How about this, 2 posts in one week?! Okay, i'm sitting here feeling a bit sorry for myself that i'm not out west, suffering through Meeker. Yes, it seems the sheep are winning out there, but i sure wish i was there to give it a go. Next year, for sure. I'm just not good at sitting on the sidelines watching. I'm pretty sure the "reload" button on my browser is about to go on strike after being hit 7,659 times this last week with both Soldier Hollow and Meeker posting scores. Okay, that's probably a low estimate. Whatever did we do before the instant gratification of scores being posted on the web? Did we ever actually wait on results to appear in magazines, weeks after the events? And now, we cry and fidget when more than a handful of dogs have run and no scores posted. Are we spoiled or what?! So, i'm distracting myself with a second blog posting in less than a week, how about that.

Preparations for running the dogs at the Finals are going along fine. I can't say that i have much experience in getting dogs ready for something like this, but i'm winging it and feeling okay about it. I've only ever actually run 3 times at the finals. In 2003 at Sturgis, I ran Jet in the Nursery and Spottie in the Open. I have almost no recollection of Spottie's run though i do remember a lot about Jet's. It really was mostly a "just happy to be here" experience for me then. At Gettysburg, in 2007, i again ran Spottie in the Open (Zac was hurt) and i do remember a good bit about it, but again, we weren't competitive and i didn't expect to be. But things have changed with more time and experience, and i hope we will be competitive this time around. I know i feel more competent and have a lot of faith in both Bill and Zac. So, i'm taking preparations pretty seriously as i feel it's knowledge and experience we'll be needing this year and in future Finals as well.

It can be tough to do enough physical conditioning in this area of the country in August, as it's just really hot and humid most times. But i've been jogging and trotting the dogs pretty regularly for the last month, several days a week, for 30-60 minutes at a time. There are lots of dips in the pond as we circle past it and the dogs seem to never get bored with the same circuit, happily trotting along with tongues and tails wagging.

Another thing i've done in preparation is buy in a dozen fresh lambs to work the dogs on. These sheep react nicely to the dogs and are fun and interesting for them and me as well. I'm not working the dogs for long sessions, but we've been doing some shedding and penning, and also just gathering and feeling these sheep. I'm trying to get the dogs flexible in their work as much as possible but not doing a lot of drilling or even very long sessions. Both were very well tuned when we got home from Canada a month ago and i want them to be fresh and rested for the next few weeks of trialing. The new sheep will hopefully keep them sharp. I also have to be careful to watch how the dogs are taking the physical stuff. Both of them have had muscle injuries in the past and i don't want to push it too hard too fast and end up with them tweaking something. Bill has looked a little off to me once or twice since Canada so i'm being especially watchful of him.

With about 10 days to go now, i'm thinking about dietary considerations. This is where i feel most like i'm winging it, for sure. I started using K9 Energy Edge about a week ago after each working session. I'm also switching up their kibble just a bit. I've been feeding a mix of Diamond Naturals Chicken and Rice with a better, more "high power" food (Red Paw or Evo) for quite a while, but now i'm increasing the percentage of the better food. I usually feed once a day, just an evening meal, but will be adding a breakfast meal now, of a premade raw food. My reasoning for this is that i'd like to add a bit more fat to their diets. Also, i've drawn up all 3 times in the running order towards the end of the day. I'm thinking it would be better to not be running them with no "fuel" added to the system for like 18 hours before they run, and want to get them used to the new feeding regimen.

I think that's about all i'm doing on the dogs, well, except for just being extra careful about things like playtime in the backyard and such, where they might get hurt. I call it "bubble wrap time"! As for preparations for myself, i'm trying to get good sleep as we run up to the event, and thinking about places where i might fall down in my handling and making lots of mental notes. Actually, i'm also making some real notes, since i remember things i've written much better. I'll review both kind of notes and hope to be on my game when we actually get on the field. I know there's a lot of luck when it comes to a trial like the Finals, luck of the draw on the sheep, time of day, weather, etc., etc. I don't mind that, i know it's just part of it. But i really hate it when i come off the field thinking "if I had //fill in the blank// things would have gone better". So for me the biggest part of Finals prep is trying to figure out all of those things. I know experience is the best teacher for those things but i'm hoping the Finals this year will be less of a learning experience than in the past!

Not Catching Up, for a change

2010-09-06T13:10:00.012-04:00

How about this - a post where i don't have to start off apologizing for being a bad blogger and having to catch up?!

It's Labor Day weekend and there's not a lot going on around the Shoofly front. There's tons going on everywhere else in the world it seems like, trials all over the place, but we're not at one. I decided to just chill with the dogs and wait until the Finals in a couple of weeks rather than pack up and go to a trial beforehand. I'm positively itching to get to the Finals and run the dogs, that's for sure. But we'll be all rested up and i'm working daily on the dogs' conditioning to get ready. I'm sticking to mostly light work for Zac and Bill, with a little tuning up here and there. I got some fresh new sheep and we're having a good time working them. That's been good for them as well as me. Still, i wish the gap between Kingston and the Finals hadn't been so long. It felt like both dogs were right where i wanted them mentally for Finals when we got home from Canada. We'll see if it's held up.

I've been working the two youngsters pretty regularly. As with most youngsters, one day i think i have the next superstar and the next i'm wondering if they're going to work out. Zeke is a bit ahead of Tug in his training and seems a little more mature though they're the same age. Tug is keen keen keen and it gets in the way of his brain sometimes. Only time will tell but i'm hopeful that both will work out and at least one of them will be ready for Nursery next year. I'm also working Gael just a little, enough to make her a happy old dog.

I don't guess i've properly introduced Zeke. He's 13 months old, off of Joni's Lew and a bitch that is off of Raymond MacPherson's Roy. Zeke and Bill share the same father though i don't see a huge lot of similarity between them just yet. Here are a couple of pictures, in addition to the one above (and yes, i do have a matched set of white faced dogs for the Nursery with Zeke and Tug!)--

Meg

2010-08-31T11:18:00.003-04:00

Remember this little beastie?
You can follow the current adventures of Meg as she gets trained and begins trialing at
http://www.sheepdog.com/sheepdog_news/

Catching Up, again...

2010-08-22T15:13:00.018-04:00

It seems like every time i post i'm "catching up", but here goes again. Life stays pretty busy, just the way i like it, and i'm tending to just do quick posts on Facebook rather than be good about the blog. So, if you'd like more up-to-date posts, you'll probably have to join FB and keep up there. There are also many pictures on there from trips and trials to new and old dogs. I will try to keep the blog updated during the upcoming fall trial season. I laid out the calendar the other day and from the beginning of the Finals in mid-September to Thanksgiving, there is a fairly local trial every weekend but one. I don't think we'll hit every single one of those, but probably will make most of them. The dogs are running so well, i hate to miss anything!

So, back to catching up. I left on July 15th for a nearly monthlong trip of training and trialing. First i went to Joni Swanke's in Bowman, ND for almost 2 weeks of training and working the dogs. It was amazing, wide open spaces with wonderful sheep all around. I can't even begin to describe it all but it was great fun and i feel very fortunate to have been able to do it. New friends, new experiences, new training methods and things to think on, it was more than i could have hoped for.

After leaving ND, we went to the Upper Midwest Stockdog Challenge trial in Jordan, MN. Bill ran especially well, having gained a lot of experience and confidence from his ND days. Zac was a little off his game on the outrun, i think as he was adjusting to some things i was doing differently, and ran out a bit tight both days. But both dogs did very well. Bill won his 1st Open trial on the 1st go (and gaining enough points to qualify for the USBCHA Open Finals on the last day of qualifying), and was 4th the second. Zac was 4th on the first go. While on the trip, i'd started thinking it was time to look for a good retirement home for Jet, and an excellent home came up, so i let her go. It was terribly difficult to get in the truck and leave, but i know she's in good hands and is happy to be working again.

From MN, we traveled on to the Kingston SDT at Grass Creek Park in Kingston, Ontario. It's a wonderful trial that i'd attended several years ago, and had been trying to return to since. It's not a huge course but it's tricky and the sheep can be quite difficult. I was thrilled with how both dogs ran again, full of confidence and poise, and listening like champs. In the first round, i ran both dogs very near the beginning of the order (i had entered Jet and she would have been at the end had i run her). That ended up being bad for me as i had a terrible time in the shedding ring with both dogs, not completing the shed or being able to attempt the pen. I think with more time to watch and take notes between my runs, that perhaps i could have done a better job with the later run, but that's how it goes sometimes. Both dogs ended up with scores of 60, quite good comparatively speaking, for just the outrun, lift, fetch, drive. I loved how both dogs felt to handle, smooth and easy. Both ran extremely well again in the second round. Bill ran very late in the day, at a time when the sheep simply were not penning, and still managed to pull out a 69 score with no pen or shed. Not enough to get to the Final round (top 15 combined scores) but really a stellar job on his part. Zac ran at a better time of day and laid down a nice run for a score of 85, good for 11th place and a spot in the Finals.

We ran 8th in the double lift final and i couldn't have been happier with or more proud of Zac. He ran out beautifully and his turnback was all i could have asked for, clean and sharp. Fetches were good, with him holding the second lot to their line, rather than letting them pull offline to the first group. The drive was just what i wanted - straight lines, tight turns, all 20 sheep through both panels, though with some wiggling about and fancy footwork to get them clean through the crossdrive panel. Gotta love a dog that throws his whole self into flanking! Now 4 years ago when i went to this trial, Jet got into the double lift and we struggled mightily with the international shed, never managing to get it done. But despite being quite hot and more than a little excited, Zac did a very nice job and we got it done pretty easily. I couldn't seem to get the shed sheep to leave very far though, so i had Zac push the last 2 upfield towards their friends near the setout. This was sticky for me, as i knew the 5 collared ones were wanting to run up over the hill behind the post and to the exhaust area, so i didn't get to push those 2 shed ones quite as far away as i'd have liked, but i thought they were still plenty far enough away. And this is where i made our big mistake. Zac was quite hot by this time, as he was running during the only really sunny part of the day. I'd been sending him to water during the shedding to try to keep him cooler, as well as taking our time as much as possible around the course, but he was still pretty warm and it was affecting his work. He moved the collared sheep handily to the mouth of the pen though, and they were kind of stalled out there. Having about a minute and a half left to go, i should have been more patient and waited it out, and i believe the sheep would have gone in. I saw it happen several times exactly that way in later runs, but didn't have it in my mind when i needed it. Zac and i both put just a hair of pressure on the sheep and one ewe exploded out and ran up the field towards those 2 darned sheep that wouldn't get on upfield and out of sight. Zac got confused when i tried to get him to go after her, and the time spent getting him convinced gave the ewe time to rejoin the 2, and we had to return to the shedding ring. I really think had he not been so hot, that Zac would have caught that ewe easily, as he loves that sort of thing. While he was regathering the 3 sheep upfield, the 4 other collared ones made their way up over the hill and to the exhaust. I had Zac take the 3 to the 4 and spent many long seconds waiting for all 7 to reappear, just hoping and praying nothing awful was happening back there that would result in a DQ after so much nice work. Fortunately, they did come out, finally, and we went back to the shedding ring with very little time left, and time ran out. Final score was 234 out of a possible 340 (60 points gone on the shed & pen). It was a good enough score to hold up for Reserve Champion at the end of the day! It was a great placement against wonderful competition.

So now we're back home and gearing up for the National Finals next month in Middletown, VA, where Zac will run in the Open and Bill in both Nursery and Open. I don't plan to do a lot of training on those two, as i like where they are right now. Mostly i'll just do a good bit of conditioning with them, and also get a good jump on my young dogs. Zac's son Tug is starting to really come along now, after a crash course of sheep work in ND and i'm quite excited about him. And i brought home a new dog from ND as well - Zeke, a half brother to Bill by way of their sire Lew. I'm feeling lucky to have those 2, as they are both eligible for the next 2 years of Nursery competition. They'll be the winter project at Shoofly.

Home

2010-08-10T08:47:00.004-04:00

26 days, 5000 miles, 13 states, 2 countries, many sheep, wonderful new friends, new experiences, 2 sheepdog trials, one Open win for Bill and qualification for the Finals, and a Reserve Championship for Zac in the double lift at Kingston, and we're finally home. Happy to see everything is still in place here but sure wishing i had opened my eyes to another cool North Dakota morning and wide open spaces again today!

It'll take awhile but i'll put together pictures and a writeup on the trip soon.

WFAC, Hop Bottom SDT, Finals Benefit SDT

2010-07-05T13:30:00.004-04:00

It sure is easy to get behind on this blogging stuff. Life has been crazy busy this last month. Following the trial at Dr Ben's, we had to get ready and host the 3rd Whistle for a Cure SDT. It was a very successful weekend, with nearly $3000 raised for ovarian cancer research at Duke. The weekend after that, i loaded up the pack and we drove to Hop Bottom, PA for the PA State Championship SDT, hosted by Dick and Cheryl Williams. It's a fun little trial and they're always such gracious hosts. I was hoping to pick up some qualifying points on Bill for the Finals, but it wasn't meant to be, as we drew sheep that just didn't want to pen on both runs. Zac ran very well, finishing 10th the first day and 5th the second, out of about 85 dogs. The last weekend in June, we went to a benefit trial for the 2010 Finals at Dr Ben's place. There weren't a lot of dogs running but it was fun. Bill had a mostly really nice run in the first round, but a mess at the top with the setout knocked him out of the placings. Zac was winning the trial when he decided to grip after a successful shed. That was my fault for calling him in at a bad angle but it was disappointing as he had the trial won hands down. The second day, Bill had better luck at the top end and finished 3rd, picking up a couple more points towards the Finals. I don't know if he'll have enough, and we have only one more shot at it, but he's had a good year and will run in the Nursery Finals at least.

On the way to the benefit trial, i stopped and picked up my new camper. It's a little longer than the last one, and has a slide, and i think i'm really going to like it. There's a ton more room. I thought it was a good time as i'm getting ready to go on an extended dog training/trialing trip. I'll be heading to ND on July 17, training dogs for 9 or 10 days, then head to the Upper Midwest SDT in Jordan, MN, then head over to Kingston, Ontario for the big trial there. I'm especially looking forward to the training time, getting Bill and Zac and Jet out on a whole different kind of sheep than they've ever seen, on new fields, and spending some time getting Tug started, as well as seeing lots of new dogs, meeting some new people and getting some new training ideas. It should be quite the adventure!

Circle BR SDT 2010

2010-06-02T14:12:00.004-04:00

The Memorial Day weekend trial at Dr Ben and Emily Ousley's in Lawndale, NC is one I've attended nearly every year since i first started competing at sheepdog trials. So that's what, 16 years or so? Time sure has flown but one thing remains the same - the Ousley family are just the nicest people you'd ever want to meet and they bend over backwards to make all of us feel like we're family too.

The trial is set on a field that rises out in front of you in terraces, and the sheep come from the large home flock of katahdins. For the friday afternoon Nursery class, 5 sheep were run. I ran Bill and he did a lovely job, running clean enough that he nearly won the class even though we couldn't get the sheep penned. He ended up 2nd behind Christine and her Rook son Kaige. He continued to run very well in the Open classes over the weekend, though i'd have liked to see him deeper at the top end of his outrun. This field tends to bring the dogs in tight but i thought he was even tighter than i'd have expected. We'll be working on that a bit before the fall trials, though i won't overdo it as i think he'll be one to loosen up naturally as he ages. I was happy with his work the whole weekend, as he was very consistent and had good control of the sheep on every run. He ended up in 10th place in the first round and just out of the placings in the 2nd, and nearly made the double lift based on combined scores. In our second run, we had a ewe that just didn't want to be penned and losing that 10 points knocked us out of it. I also ran Bill in monday Nursery class but decided to just try to train on him a bit rather than run competitively. I wanted to work on his outrun and did stop him to redirect but the sheep broke down the field, which was unfortunate.

Zac ran quite well at the trial as well, though his overenthusiasm did hurt us in the first round. He had a gorgeous go around the course but was overflanking at the shed and we never managed to get it, losing those and the pen points. He did place in the second round, 14th.

I stuck around on monday to watch the Ranch and ProNovice classes and ended up setting sheep for the PN class. It's always fun to see how the dogs look from that end of the field. An extra added treat was getting to see my Gael run for the first time with Kelly. She did great!

It was a great trial with a lot of dogs to run this year, over 70 Open dogs in each round. The sheep seemed fit and mostly pretty even. We'll head back over to the same trial site at the end of June for a trial to benefit the 2010 National Finals.

Bluegrass Wrap up

2010-05-19T10:55:00.011-04:00

Sorry to be a slacker in posting about the KY trials but i was having too much fun to spend much time in front of the computer! The Bluegrass was terrific this year and i had a blast. There were lots of new handlers to meet and lots of new dogs to watch, as well as the chance to see what a year of progress had done for others. It's hard to beat the Bluegrass for a great time spent away from the handler's post. I know i came home excited and motivated about the dogs.

I was mostly pretty thrilled with how my dogs ran. Because i was limited to one dog in the Open by virtue of the draw, Bill was only running in the Nursery. He was a bit off his game on his first run, and was startled at the top end of the field as he picked his sheep up, by the set out person's big yellow boots, of all things (!). It was kind of funny really but not exactly how i planned our BG week to start. His fetch was very offline but the rest of the run was nearly perfect and he ended up about halfway down the pack. He was back to form on his second run. I gave him a very hard down at the top to get him to settle back a bit and it paid off, as the run was very good and he finished 2nd by one point. For the 3rd round of Nursery, the sheep come over from the Open field and things get interesting, as the young dogs meet the wily Texas lambs. The first 2 days were run on nice yearling wool sheep but they are pretty dogged. The Texas lambs have been worked in groups of 3 exactly one time in their lives, on the Open field. Bill's first run on these sheep was less than stellar as he ran right into them after lifting. We were lucky to not be DQed! He got more comfortable and was really enjoying them by the end of the run though, and ended up about 1/4 of the way down in the final placings. On to the final Nursery run, and Bill was really terrific. I went out with a different plan, and dropped him at the top just a hair short of balance so i could see him when he came forward, and hopefully keep him from rushing into the sheep. It worked like a charm and the whole run was beautiful. We ended up tied for first and won the run off, for a 1st place finish. I was really pleased and proud of my young guy for a great week. It was a bit like last year in the Nursery, where he got a bit better each time out and ended up winning the final day as well. It's nice to measure against such a large Nursery class, with most of the contenders for this years Finals attending, as well.

Jet was up in the Open class early on Thursday, a very good time to run as it's cool and the sheep are usually a little bit more agreeable. Unfortunately, we ended up wasting the good draw. I'd planned for weeks to send Jet to the right, in hopes she'd get deep enough that even with her habitual stopping short, that she could get a decent lift. But as i watched run after run on Wednesday end as the sheep broke back to the left, i decided to try sending her left instead. Stopping short would really leave her at the correct lift point, and we'd save tons of time that she'd have used easing over from the right side after pulling up. I knew it was risky but decided to try it anyway. Unfortunately Jet pulled up in front of the sheep, not even getting around them, and they broke back anyway. I kicked myself pretty good in hindsight, thinking i should have stuck with my plan to send right, as i'm sure she'd have gotten the sheep down the field but that's how it goes sometimes.

I decided to sub Zac in for the second Open run rather than send Jet out again. He's been working pretty strong and i thought the sheep would be better in the second round, and he would be the better choice. We were up early Saturday morning, when the sheep were good again. I was actually feeling pretty nervous, which is very unusual for me, i just don't get nervous at trialing much at all. But i was this time, i think because Zac didn't do well last year, having a lot of trouble getting the sheep down the field. But he's older and stronger now, and was running in a much better time slot, and he didn't have any trouble at all lifting. I let him get them well started, not worrying too much about them getting off line, as i wanted the draw back to the set out to fade before i messed with him much. We got them back in the vicinity of the fetch panels easily enough but i took him off the pressure on the sheep right at the panel and they slipped around. First leg of the drive was nice but i did the same thing at the panel, drew some pressure off the sheep and they slipped around (that was my nerves working on me, i think). Crossdrive was really nice, right straight through the panels (my nemesis in years past, that darned crossdrive panel, and it's the only one i hit). Return leg was very good, on into the shedding ring. Now i've had lots of trouble shedding at the Bluegrass in the past, but for some reason my nerves were gone (maybe because i'd given away so many points at the panels) and i was feeling pretty confident. I got it set up and called Zac in on one heck of a shed, tiny little gap, and he blew in like gangbusters. It was truly pretty darned spectacular. After it was called, the lamb tried to go over Zac and he went straight up in the air stopping it. Unfortunately, it then broke up the field and when he couldn't catch it in front (probably because i was yelling at him just enough to slow him down a hair), he grabbed it by the shoulder and we got the dreaded "thank you" for a DQ. All in all though, i was thrilled with Zac. He really ran well, listening to me and handling the sheep, and it was so much fun being out there with him. I'd have sure liked another crack at the sheep to handle our way through the run better, that's for sure.

It was a great trip to KY and i can't wait to go back next year!
(photos by Mindy Bower)

Chinquapinwood SDT Wrap up

2010-05-10T22:49:00.004-04:00

The 2010 Chinquapinwood trial was very nice. The trial is hosted by Mike and Laura Hanley at their beautiful farm near Lexington KY. It's a really gorgeous farm with manicured green grass, classic Ky horse fencing, and every detail is attended to all weekend, including a fabulous handlers dinner on Saturday evening.

I was very pleased with all 3 Open dogs this weekend. I spent the time between Shaker Village and this trial at the farm of Vergil and Anne Marie Holland, and was able to get a couple of lessons in with Vergil, and it certainly paid off in the performances of Zac and Bill. Both ran extremely well. Zac ended up placing in the first round and i was surprised neither placed in the second as they ran very clean. The drive panels are really tough to hit on this field and there are tons of misses but we hit them both on every run. Sheds were tight for us as several were made with only 1 or 2 seconds left on the clock. All in all, it was a very enjoyable weekend though i was disappointed to not pick up some qualifying points towards the Finals for Jet and Bill.

Shaker Village Rafting Trip 2010

2010-05-02T18:25:00.002-04:00

Oh wait, it's not a rafting trip, it just FEELS like one. 8.5 inches of rain, handlers unable to get to the trial field because of flooded roads, others (like myself) trapped at the trial field by creeks running over roads. Seriously, we do this for fun?! I have to say, Bob Washer gets the diehard award in my book. I heard he walked his dogs in across the flooded creek just to get here to run. I say i *heard* this, because i've been planted in my camper almost the entire weekend, emerging occasionally to run a dog.

The trial started Friday with the novice classes and two Nursery classes. It was a gorgeous day, sunny and pleasant and just nearly perfect. I ran Dot in PN and she did reasonably well. She was a little hesitant on her outrun, perhaps because the field is steep and rough with brushy growth. But she took her redirects, lifted well, nice straight fetch taking all the small flanks i was giving her. Turn was around a post set in front of the handler's post and was nice. Drive out was good but ended a bit to the right of the panels, and Dot decided she just couldn't take any away flanks there. She finally ran clockwise around the sheep and brought them back to me, and we penned easily. Even with the very costly missed panel and circling the sheep, she ended up 6th of 19 dogs. I was pretty pleased with her but won't be running her at the Bluegrass. She was still on the waiting list but i don't think she's quite ready for trials just yet.

Bill ran two Nursery classes. His 1st run was going extremely well though he had a difficult group of sheep. One kept lagging behind and trying to fade off and it cost us quite a bit of time on the fetch and drive out. I tried making up some time on the crossdrive by having Bill flank and bump her to speed the group along, and the one cranky ewe decided she had enough and bolted up the hill. Bill couldn't catch her, i think because his leg is still not 100%, and we retired. His second run wasn't nearly as clean and i missed the driveaway panels, which landed us 5th of 15 dogs.

Saturday morning the thunder and lightning began about 5am and the weather was the major focus of the rest of the weekend. Jet ran 5th and we were somewhat lucky on the weather. It wasn't raining when we began, but by the end of our run, the sky had gotten so dark i could hardly see, and it just opened up as soon as we came off and the trial was halted for a long break. Jet didn't run out well, pulling up well short, pushing the sheep off sideways. She didn't want to give up the pressure point and it took some doing to get her to put the sheep back online, but we got there fairly soon after the lift point. The rest of the run was very clean but the top end killed our score and we were out of the placings. Zac ran in the rain later on. He also pulled up quite short, as many dogs were doing. And he pushed the sheep hard off sideways and just wouldn't take my away flank to fix it. I couldn't get the sheep back online until the fetch panels and he just kept flipping back to overwork the draw. We got around the drive okay but were called on standard before shedding. I was very pleased with how well Zac moved these heavy sheep, lambing seems to have been very good for him.

Sunday brought more, you guessed it, heavy rain. I decided to run Bill in Jet's spot since she'd pulled up so short. It was hard to tell exactly what happened up top, but it looked like Bill pulled up short and the sheep ran back to the set out, without him even trying to stop them. I don't know if he was in front of them or just short off to the side, but either way, he did nothing to try to stop them. I wish i knew what happened because it wasn't very Bill-like, to my eye. He's not run out with any enthusiasm this weekend and i think his leg must be bothering him. It seems to bother him the most when he goes uphill, and this field is sharply steep to the top. He's definitely off somehow, either physically or mentally. I'll see how he does this week with some work and have to decide if he's really ready for trialing. Zac ran later and we got around without being called to the standard but i doubt we placed. I haven't seen scores yet. He ran out a bit better than saturday, finishing better, but still pushed the sheep off to the side and gave me a big fight about putting them back online. We got there sooner than yesterday but he sure didn't want to take those flanks again. Drive was clean, pen clean, then i took the front sheep on the single since we were about out of time and it kept presenting.

All in all, it's not been the start i was hoping for with this long trial trip. I'm going to try to work the Open dogs some this week, at some distance, to see if i can get a little more compliance out of them. It's a problem we run into too frequently as a result of working mostly in small fields.

Oh, have i mentioned how happy i am to have my own ark, a.k.a. camper here?!

Spring Trial Season

2010-04-23T14:21:00.008-04:00

The spring trial season is nearly here! It's been a busy few weeks around the farm and with the Shoofly pack. Lambing started about April 1st and just finished up this week. Final count out of 22 ewes is 19 ram lambs and 11 ewe lambs. It was mostly an easy lambing, only a little hiccup here and there. It's pretty amazing to look out on the farm and see about 70 sheep hanging out. That's a lot for my little place, for sure! I'll be having a big sheep sell-off after the Whistle for a Cure trial in June, trying to get back down to about 30 sheep total. It'll be tough picking out that many to sell but it's got to be done. Reserve yours now! ;-)

The dogs are doing pretty okay. Zac has been getting the lion's share of the work and is loving every second of it, in true Zac fashion. Lambing has been good for him. He missed a lot of this kind of work when he was younger and should have been getting it, due to injury. So better late than never i guess. He's not always completely confident he can handle cranky mama ewes but he's always in there trying his heart out. And he's learned to push silly baby lambs around, even if he does have a somewhat disgusted look on his face doing so. Jet is cranking along, Bill's been gimpy but i'm hoping/planning to run him at the upcoming trials anyway. Tug is cute as ever and still on hold for starting his sheep training. He's really rough on the sheep and i'm hoping to get a bit of help with him on our upcoming trip. Dot is settling in well and working more nicely all the time.

So speaking of the upcoming trial season, we're off to KY, leaving next Thursday. First stop will be the Shaker Village trial in Harrodsburg. This is one of my favorite trials, with a gorgeous field. Since there's a 2 dog limit on Open, i'm planning to run Zac and Jet in Open, with Bill in Nursery and Dot in ProNovice. Following the trial, I'm going to pull the camper over to Vergil and AnneMarie Holland's for a few days of visiting and working dogs around Lexington, and hopefully visiting my brother and his family in Louisville. Then we're off to Mike and Laura Hanley's Chinquapinwood trial, where all 3 Open dogs get to run, and Bill will run Nursery. Following that, we head to the Bluegrass Classic SDT. It looks like i'll only be able to run 1 dog in the Open this year, with my current spot very low on the waiting list for the second one, and I plan for that to be Jet. Bill will run in the Nursery and I'll have Dot in PN and then move her up to Ranch for the final 2 days. I may shift my plans on which Open dogs run when, but this is my current plan. Bill's been gimpy since injuring his rear leg in January and seemed to tweak it some last week, so it will be a late call on running him. I may sub him in for Jet if she doesn't run well at Shaker Village, and if the heat is getting to her at the Bluegrass, i may run Zac in the second round. I'm especially looking forward to the first 2 trials. It's a little harder to muster up excitement for the BG this year, with just one Open run per round. I know they have to limit the trial and this is the most fair way to do it, but i have to say, if i didn't have dogs to run on the novice field as well as the Open field, i probably would skip it. I don't see sitting around for 4 days (2 days for each Open round) to get only 2 Open runs in as a good use of vacation time and travel dollars. So, let's hope Bill does well in the Nursery and Dot gets off the waiting list (I expect she will) for PN and Ranch and does well there too!

I should have internet access on the road, and will be posting trial updates as often as i can here and on Facebook.

Van for Sale 2003 E350

2010-04-14T13:24:00.002-04:00

Edited to Add: Price is $6800

Van is in excellent mechanical shape, dependable, engine is strong, never any trouble with it. The 6.8 v10 is a great engine. 120k miles, mostly highway. I have the seats out (carried dogs in crates in the van) but do have them in storage. Has the vinyl floor rather than carpet. Fully insulated, rear air, power windows and locks. The van is in decent enough condition for its age. There's a small dent in the rear quarter panel but not a big deal One odd quirk that the dealers never could figure out - the odometer reads about 10% high, and therefore so does the speedometer. You just have to remember and adjust your speed (truck says you're doing 80mph but really you'd be doing about 72). Odometer reads 135k miles but actual mileage is about 120k (i have documentation). Brand new Michellin tires just put on last week. This is a very good van and a good buy, would be great for a passenger van or work truck either one. Great dog-mobile, stays cool even in full sun in NC summers.

Slacker

2010-03-22T15:14:00.006-04:00

Boy have i turned into a slacker about this blog. It's been almost a whole month since i posted, hard to believe. I did start on a new training article but haven't quite found the motivation to finish it. Maybe soon.

Winter is turning to spring around here. Temps are up, the grass is turning green and starting to grow, and the early flowering trees and bushes are coloring up. I'm still waiting on the red buds but the Bradford pears and forsythias are doing their showy stuff right now. It's nice at the farm right now as we're mostly past the mud season and haven't started the battle against the summer weeds. The sheep are fat and happy and look to be about ready to burst with lambs. Pre-lambing vaccinations have been done, we sheared the wool ewes this past weekend, and will do a last minute worming in the next week or so, and then lambing should begin around April 1st. I'm eager to get started with it after hearing of lambs all over from so many friends around the country on Facebook. I've also made arrangements to buy in a small flock of katahdins, so the ovine population at Shoofly is getting ready to really explode. They look to be nice sheep and i'm looking forward to working them while everyone else is off on maternity leave.

The Shoofly dogs are doing pretty well. It's been a very laid back winter for them mostly. Zac and Bill have both been on extended rest to recover from injuries. Both are just now coming back to work, and we have a job ahead of us getting ready for trial season. It's coming on fast, with our first trial being the Shaker Village trial, May 1st & 2nd in KY. They'll bounce right back to working okay, but we're under the gun on conditioning. Jet has been doing the lion's share of work this winter at the farm but it's not enough to keep a dog fit, and at almost 9 years old that's a pretty big consideration for running her. Right now, if everyone is sound and fit, i plan to run Bill and Zac at Shaker Village and Chinquapinwood, and Jet at the Bluegrass.

The puppies are doing well, growing up and mostly looking like dogs instead of puppies. Well, little fluffy Tug still looks puppyish sometimes, but Moon looks all grown up. Moon came home with me for awhile, but it became obvious that she and Tug really needed to be separated. They play too rough and are way into each other, and oblivious to people, when they're together. So this past weekend Moon went to her new permanent home with Laura C. According to Moon, that's where she belonged anyway. She just loves Laura and her pack, making that obvious when she squeezed through the fence wire to run and jump in Laura's van the last time she was around. It looks to me like a match meant to be.

In other Shoofly dog news, i've added a new dog. Dot is a 4 year old, fully trained dog who was having some trouble meshing with her owner at sheep work. Sometimes it just goes that way, and it's really quite nice that Dot's owner recognized this and let Dot go to a place where she might fit her handler better. I know it was hard to see a dog she'd raised from a baby puppy leave, and i respect her for doing what she thought was best for the dog. Hard to do! So far, Dot is fitting in very well and she seems to like working for me. She's a real love personality-wise and i hope to run her some at the spring trials. I'm looking forward to spending time working her and getting together with her on the field.

That leaves the Shoofly pack at 5 dogs, a nice number to be taking along to the trials in KY this spring. Right now i'm planning to go to the Shaker Village trial and stay straight through to the end of the Bluegrass. It'll be quite an adventure living in the camper for that long!

Family Pics

2010-02-21T19:33:00.007-05:00

I got a nice family picture of the "Spottie Family" yesterday. From L to R: Zac and Nan (Spottie x Link), Spottie herself, then the Zac x Chris pups, Ranger, Moon, and Tug.

This is a shot of the 3 pups, looking pretty grown up at almost 7 months old. All 3 are very keen for sheep. They're sweet pups, outgoing and friendly, and getting very curly!
I liked this picture of Zac and his sister Nan - someone said it looks like a prom picture. It makes me think "big brother, little sister". Nan was spending the weekend for a little training tune up.This is what most of the pictures turned out like. Who would think you could make six dogs *not* look at you, all at once!

Snow and Hill Training

2010-02-04T10:45:00.006-05:00

The winter weather here provided us with a nice training challenge that i thought i'd share. Last week we got several inches of snow and i grabbed the dogs and went out and worked in it. It's cold and miserable, but the weather provides a challenge that can be hard to find on a small farm with a well dogged flock of sheep. That challenge is the opportunity to make sheep go somewhere they really don't want to go, and allows the dogs to dig down and really push into some heavy, stubborn sheep.

My farm has a fairly steep hill. It's not huge but rises somewhat steeply. I love that hill, it's wonderful for training dogs. It's an excellent place to tap into natural sheep behavior and use it to my advantage, and to train dogs naturally. Sheep don't care for going straight up a hill, they prefer to amble on a diagonal up a hill face. Look at the sheep paths in a field - they're never straight up and down. If your feet were split in two right down the middle, you wouldn't like going straight uphill either! This is especially true with big wool sheep. Hair sheep have smaller, more trim feet so it's not as big of a deal to them, but they still don't love it. I use this natural tendency in sheep a lot in training. For example, when teaching a youngster to drive, i do a lot of driving back and forth across the face of the hill. The sheep tend to be happy and calm, not too heavy (as going uphill) and not too light (as going downhill, with gravity and pull to the barn at work). This is just one way i use that hill, there are many.

Back to the snow days. At the bottom of my hill, there's a runoff stream cutting through the pasture. It's dry or only slightly wet 90% of the time. It'll run after a big rain if we're not too dry out. But in winter it runs pretty frequently, especially in a wet winter such as we're having this year. And with a wet winter and a big snow melting, it's running pretty good. So, add a wet area with running stream and a snow covered hill to go up, and 40 sheep, about half of which are wool, and it's a very good opportunity for the dogs to get in there and really have to push and figure out how to *make* sheep move from the bottom area to the top. Other times, the dogs are mostly guiding the movement of the sheep, controlling the leaders, with an occasional push at the rear to keep the stragglers up. With this winter situation, the dogs have to figure out how to push sheep from the side and the rear, and it takes a good bit more oomph.

It's interesting to me to go out and do this with the dogs, and to see how their methods work or don't, and how the different dogs will adapt to it. If a dog is having trouble moving the sheep, i'll try to make it a little easier by asking them to take a more diagonal path. I'll also let the stronger dogs have the first shot at it, as it does get easier to move the sheep uphill once they've done it and broken up the snow some. Sometimes i'll do this as a drive, and sometime as a fetch. It's always easier to fetch than drive, so i'll add that variable to my training plan. It's a fun and interesting thing to do on a snow day.

Winter Drags on...

2010-02-02T21:49:00.003-05:00

It's really dragging this year, that's for sure. We've been getting a lot of rain, and even a pretty big snow (for this area) this past weekend. It makes training dogs a challenge when everything is so slippery and muddy. The farm drains pretty well but even with that, it's been pretty soupy.

Tug and Moon are growing up and getting big. At 6 months old, both are right around 30 pounds. Moon is still with Laura and i have Tug with me. It's really worked out well for me, as it's so much easier having one puppy at a time. And it's been good for the pups, for sure. They were way too into each other. Tug's a nice guy to have around and mostly is pretty calm and well-behaved. He has his moments of course, but he's handled all the indoor time this winter remarkably well. I've had him on sheep a couple of times recently and am impressed by his "want to" - he wants desperately to get into sheep. And he doesn't seem to have any "back down" to him, but yet he's fairly responsive to body pressure. He's a long way from ready to train, and i'll be curious to see if my early impressions hold out.

The big dogs are doing all right. Jet clips on along, sweet girl that she is. Zac is still on rest/rehab time. When weather allows, he and i are marching up and down hills at the farm, trying to calmly get him back into shape. I'm hoping to start working him soon, well, as soon as the snow and ice is gone anyway. I noticed some blood in his urine recently and we're trying to figure out what's causing that. I should hear something from the vet in the next day or two. Bill has been loosely on quiet/rest time. He was off on his left rear a few weeks ago and it seemed a good time to rest him.

We're off to the Lazy J SDT this weekend in Carnesville, GA. I'll be running Bill and Jet in the Open, in hopes of picking up some points towards qualifying for the Finals this year. Zac has enough points already that i can relax on running him. I would really like to get Jet qualified. She'll be 9 years old in April and is my best dog on tougher wool sheep. I plan to run her at any wool sheep trials i can get to this year. Here's hoping we get a break on the wet weather for this weekend!

Tug on Sheep

2010-01-26T21:33:00.009-05:00

He's surely keen at not quite six months old! Thanks to Christine Henry for the pictures.

Catching Up Again, Edgeworth Winter SDT

2010-01-12T11:12:00.005-05:00

Sorry, i've been slack lately on posting here. There's not a whole lot going on but i can do a Shoofly Dog update. The puppies are 5 months old and growing up, wild little creatures. Moon is a real sweetie pie and is spending time with a friend so she and Tug can learn to stand on their own. Together they are a 2 puppy wrecking machine and go completely deaf to outside influence. She'll come back in a few weeks but in the meantime is having a good time and stealing hearts. Tug looks more like Zac every day and is just the funniest puppy. He's really a good boy. We tried them and Ranger on sheep again recently and they still look like they'll be working fiends, keen keen keen. Just what i like to see at this age. Gael is still out on loan and working very well, behaving herself nicely. Zac is on enforced rest again, as i try to clear up a nagging soreness he was having. Hopefully he'll be back to work in a month or so. Jet and Billy continue along, no big news there, they just wish there was more sheep work to be had this time of year. Short days keep that from happening much though.

I took the dogs up to the Edgeworth Winter SDT this past weekend and ran Bill and Jet. I thought both dogs worked very well and handled the sheep nicely but just some little errors on my part in all the runs cost us placements. Both dogs were just out of it the first day, by a couple of points. Second day was the same story, after i had trouble penning on both runs. I ran Bill's Nursery run at the end of the second day and he did something that i thought was pretty spectacular. At the pen, a ewe decided to challenge him and he just hung in there, walking slowly forward, very calmly. Finally this ewe decided she was trapped and butted him. And he just stood there, calm as could be, as though a fly had just buzzed around his head or something, no big deal. I don't think anyone has ever tried to butt him before and he just stood in there like a very experienced, confident dog. Really, a pretty special sort of natural reaction on his part. The group calmly turned around and walked in the pen afterwards. That was worth all of the effort of getting there! It was a really nice trial as usual, though really cold out. The sheep were lovely and a lot of fun. I wish i'd been sharper but it's the off season and it surely showed. I don't know about the dogs but it sure seems i'll need a little tuning up before spring!

Merry Christmas from...

2009-12-25T19:10:00.001-05:00

And a Happy New Year!

2009 Broken Back Ranch SDT Report

2009-12-08T22:47:00.008-05:00

The Broken Back Ranch SDT, hosted by Steve Godfrey and held in Cowpens, SC, went really well this past weekend. The katahdin sheep were fit and relatively even from group to group. Kent Kuykendall did a fine job sorting the runs and it was great to see him at a trial for the first time in several years. The field had changed from the previous year, with a much shortened outrun, which was unfortunate. The crossdrive however, may have been the longest one i've ever seen at a trial, whew! It was interesting seeing seasoned Open dogs on that crossdrive. You could almost hear them saying "geez, are we ever going to turn and head back to the post?" as many of them lost confidence a bit about 3/4s of the way across. The turn around the handler's post was actually a turn around a hay bale, set about 50-75 yards in front of the post. Where many dogs had trouble with it last year, very few did this year. It was a pretty good course and a decent challenge.

On friday, the Nursery dogs tackled the full course twice, without the shed of course. The turn around the hay bale was confusing for some of the dogs but most managed to get it done and there was some nice work. Bill ended up winning both Nursery classes, but just barely. I thought his second run was really nice and smooth. The long drive brought out his eye and he got a little stiff on his flanks by the time we were ready to turn at the crossdrive panel, but we got it done in good fashion.

Zac was up first for me on saturday in the Open. He ran very well but i wasn't keeping lines quite tidy enough, with some wiggling around at both panels. Our turn at the hay bale was beautiful though, nicest one i saw all weekend. Pen was good and the single should have been. Zac helped me get a nice hole and i called him in. He committed nicely but somehow got off track as he came in and pushed into the two sheep i was trying to let leave, splitting them. The judge had already called it (i'm sure he'd have liked to take it back!) so we got the single but were hit heavily on points. It was a decent run and just out of the placings. I ran Bill in my second spot and he did a beautiful job! The whole run was very, very nice with good lines, tight turns and clean pen and single. The only problem with the whole run was that i let the sheep slip above the crossdrive panels and then pulled them through. It was a huge error on my part but i just saw it wrong. It was a real shame as it cost us 8-9 points and a 1st or 2nd place finish. Bill ended with an 85, in 9th place and a 93 won it. That was disappointing but he sure ran sweet.

Bill was up first for me on sunday. Unfortunately, we drew a ewe that didn't want to cooperate very nicely. She was workable but not one to win on, throwing her head up high and racing around the course looking for an escape. Bill did an admirable job working her but we just couldn't get her to settle down enough to get really good lines. And at the pen she was a real problem, breaking around the open side or around me and determined to not go in. After some really good work, Bill did manage to get her penned, just as time was expiring. It was a good learning experience for Billy, and i was really proud of him placing 3 out of 4 runs. His shedding this weekend was much improved too.

Zac was up a little later in the day and had a very good run. The fetch was a bit wobbly but i think he was trying to settle one of his sheep, get her broken into behaving along with the others. The drive and split were very clean and then we had a little trouble penning, when that ewe started acting up again. She led the group around the open side, then around me, just a bit out of the pocket on both sides, but Zac caught them and got them in and i got the gate closed with about 1.5 seconds to go. Final score was a 91, good for 4th place.

All in all, it was a very good weekend for the Shoofly boys. I was very pleased with how well they ran and how consistent they were. I'm looking forward to 2010 with them as my Open team.

Catching Up

2009-12-02T19:13:00.013-05:00

I can't believe it's been almost a month since i posted last. It's so easy to just pop out a status update on Facebook that i guess the blog is getting less attention. Mostly we're getting lots of rain and trying to get things done in between drippy days.

The puppies are getting big. At exactly 4 months old, Tug is 22 pounds and Moon 20 pounds. They're pretty good pups, mostly behaving themselves and not getting into too much trouble. Teething is in full swing and their ears are all over the place, up and down, front and side. It looks like Tug will be prick-eared and Moon floppy eared. I'm still holding out hope on Moon's ears going up, because i think she'd be even cuter that way, but it doesn't look good.

I tried both pups on sheep at the farm a couple of weekends ago, when they were about 14 weeks old. Moon thought the sheep were kind of fun, and found herself heading them off a couple of times when they'd run off, but didn't quite know what to do when she got there. Tug was really funny, barking and bossing the sheep around. He definitely didn't know what to do with himself but he was certain sheep needed to be told off! I wasn't too surprised considering how young they were. We tried them again, along with brother Ranger, at Julie's the following weekend. Ranger was terrific, confident and really working nicely, balancing and keen. He looked a lot like his dad Zac. Moon was a lot more keen to work and was right in the middle of the sheep, having a ball. Tug was still bossy and barked some, but he was completely fearless about the sheep, right in their faces. He'll stop barking soon enough and be fine. I'll hold off on doing any more with them for a little while. I usually don't even try puppies until they're 4 months old. But it was nice to see them all keen and confident. They were all quite different but they all want to work, that's for sure. I have video i'll post sometime, after conquering some technical difficulties between camera and computer.

The other dogs are mostly doing fine around here. Gael's gone to visit a friend for awhile and seems to have wiggled her way into being the best buddy of an 8 year old boy. I always thought she'd like her own personal kid to play with and it seems like it's so. Jet, Zac and Bill are doing well, splitting the work load at the farm and wishing there was more to do. We're off to the last sheepdog trial of the year this weekend in SC. Zac will run Open and Bill will be in both Open and Nursery. Jet will be my backup dog and run only if one of the others isn't performing well. We'll be heading to KY mid-month for an early Christmas with family and i hope to get the dogs over to Vergil Holland's for some training.

Here are some pictures of the puppies doing their thing!

Moon and Tug at 12 Weeks Old

2009-11-11T17:35:00.002-05:00

I love these pictures of the puppies at 12 weeks old. They really capture them both. The first, of Moon, was taken by Christine Henry at the Watercress SDT a couple of weeks ago. Moon sits like this a lot, deciding what she's going to get into next. The second, of Tug, was taken by Denise Wall at the same trial and it's so "Tug". He's a real thinker, looks at things and calmly contemplates what's going on. I think you can really see the grown up dog he's going to be.

Thanks guys for these great pictures. You're both so talented and i'll treasure them for a long time to come!

Rural Hill SDT

2009-11-09T13:48:00.009-05:00

...or, Billy is a Big Dog. :-)

(photos by Denise Wall)

It was a really good weekend at the Rural Hill SDT in Huntersville, NC. I skipped this trial last year since Zac was hurt and didn't decide to go this year until the last minute, and i'm glad i did. I decided to just run the boy dogs since Jet has never run well at this trial. Actually, that's putting it mildly. Her worst runs ever have come at this particular trial, with some pretty spectacular wrecks in my memory. Some trials just don't suit some dogs, and past weekends at this one with speedy hair sheep, a flat field, and a strong draw to the set out pen have brought out the worst in Jet. I felt like it would be better to run Bill in the Open and get experience for him than to cross fingers and hope for less than ugly with Jet. She probably would have been okay this year since the sheep were very good and the draw not so bad, but Bill needs the time on the trial field.

Friday started with the first of two Nursery classes. Bill ran reasonably well. I sent him right and he was a little tight but okay. Before lifting, he took in a big sniff at the top, earning a good screech from me for it. It's that time of year, when it seems 90% of bitches are in heat. And 100% of two year old males are definitely in heat! He sniffed again going around the course but his lines were good and we ended up with an 82, one point behind the two dogs tied for 1st and 2nd at 83. It's aggravating seeing him sniff out there but i try to remind myself that he's young and full of hormones, and should mature out of it. Zac did for the most part and he was quite bad about it. After the Ranch and ProNovice classes ran, we did another Nursery class. Bill won handily by 6 or 7 points. I sent him left this time and he ran out beautifully. I'm continuing to run him in the Nursery even though he's qualified for the Finals so he can get more trial experience. One thing i plan to do as much as possible is to send him once each direction when we have two runs at a trial. I'm glad i did this weekend since it changed my mind on which way to send him in the Open. It seems Bill has switched from being better on the right to going better on the left. I'll be curious to see if the right gets better again. He did take one quick sniff on the second Nursery run, but seemed to get it out of his system as he didn't do it on his Open runs.

Zac ran in the Open early on saturday morning and laid down a really nice run. I thought he was a little tight at the top end, but otherwise the rest of the run was really good. We lost 1 on the outrun, 1 on the lift, 0 on the fetch, 5 on the drive, 2 on the shed (he looked back at the wrong group as he came through) and none on the pen, for a 91. At the end of the day we ended up 3rd. 3 seems to be Zac's number, as we've finished 3rd several times this year. Bill ran near the end of the day and did a great job. I sent him left and he ran out wide and deep and landed perfectly. Fetch and drive were clean. We had some trouble shedding since the sheep were hard to split and Bill's still not really strong on it yet. But we did get it done, then ran out of time as we got to the pen. Final score was a 78. If we'd had time to pen (the sheep were very easy to pen, walking right in), he'd have been well into the placings. As it was, he was just out.

On Sunday, Bill ran mid-morning and did a beautiful job. Outrun was again perfect to the left, lift and fetch very good with Bill doing an excellent job settling the sheep on the fetch. Drive clean, and then a very, very nice shed and clean pen. Final score was an 89 which held up in the placings for a 7th place. Zac ran in the heat of the day and was just too on the muscle for the sheep he'd drawn, upsetting them and not having very good lines around the course. After 5 good runs at the trial, i was a little disappointed to not finish on a better note with Zac but that's dog trialin', as they say!

All in all, it was a good trial and a good weekend. I was very happy to see Bill improving with each run and being so consistent in his work. I hope it's a harbinger of good things to come! Next up will be the Broken Back Ranch trial in SC in December.

Liking Our Dogs

2009-10-30T14:04:00.004-04:00

A couple of recent incidents involving a couple of friends have me thinking about our dogs and what we think of them, specifically our competitors' dogs, not so much our own. I think it's pretty obvious that we're all a little "kennel blind" when it comes to our own dogs - it can be hard to admit faults in our own dogs. I actually don't think that's such a bad thing. I'll never be one to put someone down for liking their own dogs, even if it's a little overboard sometimes. I can think of a lot worse things in a person than over-liking their dogs!

What i've been thinking about though, is our opinion on others' dogs. A friend and i talk about it all the time -- "no one likes anyone else's dogs". Stop and listen to people talking sometime, or even just pay attention under the tent at a dog trial, and you'll think every dog running is a piece of junk, and hardly worth feeding. Start asking around about male dogs with an eye towards finding a stud dog, and you'll wonder how anyone ever breeds anything. I wonder why this is sometimes. Is it just human nature, to focus on the negative so strongly? I know i'm as guilty as the next person, tossing out my dislikes when asked about a dog, and having to remind myself that it wouldn't hurt to focus more on the positive things in that dog first.

I guess the point of all this is, we need to look at our own dogs in as honest a light as we can, for both the good and the bad. And we need to maybe think more about what these wonderful dogs are giving us instead of focusing on the bad parts, in both our and our competitors' dogs. Every dog has it's faults, EVERY one of them. But there's a lot more good parts than bad ones. It wouldn't hurt to think about accentuating the good stuff, both in how we look at them and in how we breed them. It's also probably a good idea to remember "no one likes anyone else's dog" when you hear the offhand (or not so offhand) comment that makes you feel bad about your own dog. I think maybe it's just human nature to be negative about it, so don't get too caught up in what other people think or say. It's what you think that matters the most. And maybe the next time you feel yourself popping off a negative comment about a dog, you can stop to note the good things about him too.

Watercress Farm SDT

2009-10-27T12:16:00.015-04:00

We're back home after a terrific weekend at the Watercress SDT in Limestone, TN, hosted by Jan Thompson at her gorgeous farm. I mean really, WOW, what a beautiful area. I wish i'd gotten pictures and i'll grab some to post here if i see any pop up on the web. The changing leaves were at their peak and we were surrounded by mountain after mountain. I walked to the top of the field the evening before the trial started to look at the course, and was knocked speechless when i turned around to see the incredible view with the sun laying across the golden leaves on undulating mountains. Whew, not to be forgotten.

Jan and her fabulous crew of helpers did a wonderful job with the trial. I can't think of a single thing i'd suggest to make it better. The field was large and challenging, the sheep were fit and fat and healthy. All in all, every detail was attended to. We were even treated to one of the best handler's dinners of the year to top it off. This was Jan's second year of hosting the trial. I didn't make it last year but I won't miss it again!

Friday was the Novice/Nursery day and i ran Billy twice in Nursery. He ran pretty well in the first go, though a little tight on his outrun. That was surprising as i thought he'd run pretty wide since he was going his wider direction and the field was very open to that side. Fetch and drive were good and the pen should have been good, but Bill took an extra step to push the sheep out just as they were going in. Twice. We finished 3rd for the go. Since he'd run so tight the first go, and Bill has plenty of qualifying placements for the Finals, i thought i'd just train a bit on the second go, trying to widen him out on his outrun. He wasn't having any of that, even though i stopped and redirected him several times, he wasn't bending. Around the course was decent enough but no placement since we were in training mode. I found out later there was a very nice engraved whistle as a prize for the overall and spent some time kicking myself for not trying for that. Lesson learned!

Saturday was a dreary, yucky weather day, cold with misty rain most of the day. I ran Zac around 14th or so. He ran out pretty well but ended up tight at the top, pushing the sheep offline to start the fetch. The fetch ended up pretty good once we got them back on line, pretty tight to the line and Zac had the group really nailed together. As we turned the post, Zac started fighting me, not taking the flank i was asking for and once he took it, i saw why. The lead ewe in the group took off like a bat out of hell up the field as soon as Zac took the pressure off of her. It was very odd and i'd have never predicted it from how they were acting on the fetch. Zac worked his butt off to catch her, well up the field and well past the first drive gates. We got back on the crossdrive line and finished out the drive in good control. Next was the shed and i was quite thrilled with Zac's performance there as we took 2 lambs off the group of 4 in fine fashion. He's gotten to be a really good shedding dog and it's a lot of fun for both of us. On to the pen where we worked to get the group in only to have time called as the gate was about 6 inches from shut. It wasn't an easy group of sheep and i was really pleased with Zac. Jet, on the other hand, was a little stinker when i ran her later in the afternoon. I knew she'd pull up short on this course, but the little you-know-what pulled up in *front* of the sheep, pushing them off backwards! I was very unhappy with her and then she didn't want to flank on the fetch once we got going in the right direction, so i went into training mode, thinking i'd try to salvage something from the run by getting her listening for the next day's run. I ended up walking off on the drive, once i felt i'd made my point with her.

Sunday was a much nicer weather day, sunny though still pretty cold. I decided to substitute Billy in for Jet in my morning run to give him experience, since i really didn't expect Jet to do much better than the first day. He ran out nicely to the left (oddly enough, the side he's usually tight on) and lifted well. After the lift, he pushed into the sheep, splitting them and knocking them offline. Actually, i think he did it twice before getting it together and into the range where i could have some impact on him. The second half of the fetch was nice, the turn and first leg of the drive good, and then Bill refused to flank right to turn at the panels. He didn't want to come off the pressure but the sheep started booking up the field, getting very deep before he finally caught them. We put them right back online and finished the drive very nicely. The pen was very clean and then we were on to the shedding ring, where we were to take a single off the back of the group of three. The sheep were very hard to split and we manuevered them around a bit trying to get a good shed, with Bill seeming to be "getting it" on the shedding, really keyed in and trying to help me get a gap. I was happy to see that, i think he's on his way to being a good shedder. Since the back single wasn't coming easily, and the sheep were so difficult to split, i decided to take the front sheep as she kept leading out and leaving a nice gap. We got slaughtered on points for it but the run wasn't going to be really competitive anyway. I didn't want to keep fiddling with getting it right since Bill was trying so hard, and wanted to do something to give him a sense of accomplishment. He came in nicely with good enthusiasm and was quite pleased with himself. I was very happy with him overall. I want to make sure he's having positive experiences since he's just moved to Open, and this was a good one.

After a long wait, Zac was finally up as the second to last dog of the day. I sent him off left as i had the day before and he kicked wide and deep, obviously having learned something from the first time out there. He landed perfectly and the sheep drifted off the top, straight towards me. He kicked to one side and i kicked him back over, and from there the sheep never veered offline a bit. It was a nice, calm walk straight towards me. I'd gone out hoping to work on having a nice flow to the run and Zac was giving it to me. I'd put him over on the pressure side to show the sheep they shouldn't veer off, being very careful to not let Zac overdo it and make the sheep turn off the fetch line, and then he'd scoot behind to make sure they were continuing towards me without stopping for a graze. Turn around the post was smooth and tight, and the first leg of the drive continued on as the fetch had, dead straight and a comfortable pace. With the late afternoon light, it was really hard to tell when the sheep were through the driveaway panels, and i was getting nervous knowing we had such a good run going. I wiggled the sheep just a hair to try to see if they were through and decided they weren't, driving on just a little further, and then saw a bit of shadow from the panel on the inside sheep's backside, so started the turn carefully. The group squeaked right around the panel and were through. The crossdrive was straight and online and just as we got to the panel i started protecting the bottom side a little too much and the sheep barely slipped around the top panel for 6 points gone (the first points we'd lost). It was pretty hard to see as the shadows were playing tricks around those panels, but i think nerves were getting to me. I don't get nervous usually, but having a good run will do it to me. I knew my run was good enough that it would place if i finished clean, even with the missed panels, so i kept the pressure on. Our return leg to the pen was very good, the pen clean as a whistle. On to the shed with about a minute and a half to go. We flanked back and forth a bit, trying see who might be the better candidate to split off and i decided on a lamb that was hanging at the back by just a hair. I wanted to string them out but they weren't having anything to do with that and were clumped up very tightly after having just spent 8 minutes leaning on each other around the course. I got in position and brought Zac slowly forward until the front two started forward, and calmly called Zac in - "this one" (weird since i never use that particular command). Zac came in strong and a bit far, and then was very exuberant trying to hold the single, and we lost 2 points on the shed (for coming through too far). Final score was 92, I was blown away, that was the best run i've ever had in terms of flow and control and lines. I'm still enjoying it today! We ended up in 3rd place, behind Christine Henry and Bob Washer, but really the placement didn't matter. The memory sure will.

It was a great trial and a nice weekend. The puppies even had a ball, meeting lots of people and dogs, and having great wrestling sessions in their pen with brother Ranger. Next up, the Rural Hill trial in 2 weeks.

Lexington SDT

2009-10-19T15:11:00.002-04:00

We're home after a somewhat successful weekend at the Lexington SDT, hosted by Dave Clark and Cheryl Branibar. Dave and Cheryl are delightful hosts and i don't think there's anyone out there who works harder to make sure we all have a good time. The field is gorgeous, sheep healthy, judging good, set out even and well done, and the handler's dinner superb. They try very hard to cross all the t's and dot all the i's and it really showed. Thanks so much to both of them!

Friday was a misty, dreary day, and much colder than normal for this time of year. We met to run two Nursery classes in the afternoon, each with 8 dogs so qualifying two youngsters for the National Finals next year in Middletown, VA. I was running Bill and he did a very nice job, especially on his first run, which i thought was smooth and flowing and really sweet. He ended up second in the first class and won the second, so now is officially qualified. I'll keep running him for experience, but it's nice to have the qualifying done so we can relax on that. I was very pleased with his enthusiasm, coming off a bad experience at the Edgeworth trial last weekend. He seemed none the worse for it, and perhaps even learned a bit from it as he was more willing to take some redirects over the weekend.

We lucked out on the weather over the weekend. It was very cold but not raining as had been forecast going in, whew. I ran all three dogs in the Open. Bill was first up both days and i was really thrilled with him. He ended up running when the sheep were especially cranky, and handled them and himself very well. The outrun was horribly tricky, with many experienced Open dogs crossing over or not finding the sheep. Bill certainly had trouble as well, but got out there both times. His first outrun was relatively clean, just one stop and redirect and on he went. The second time, he ran deeper and came across the pen full of sheep at the top of the field, which perplexed him. After a bit, i got him to go on around where he found his group of sheep. I thought that was a very good learning experience for him. It was a bit rough around the course, as it was for everyone, but Bill got around both days with fairly decent lines. We had a quick shed to finish the course saturday and then timed out at the pen on sunday. I really loved how Bill worked and held it together, and the authority he was showing over his sheep. Confidence was just shining through and i couldn't have been happier to see that!

I ran Jet second on saturday and she pulled up terribly, terribly short on her outrun and it took forever to get her over to lift. It was very frustrating, to say the least. Zac ran third and had a beautiful run, coming at a time when the sheep were being extra cranky and tearing around the course like crazy. He ran out well (after trying to cross behind me on his send command, which cost us dearly on points), nice lift, straight, calm fetch and drive. Pen was clean and when i looked down at my watch to see how much time we had left, i realized it hadn't started counting down! (probably because i was fiddling with resetting it, etc after Zac tried to go the wrong way). I was pretty certain time was short, so started rushing around on the shed and couldn't get it set up before time ran out. Turns out i might have had time to get it set up, but it was pretty tight. Overall, it was a very good run and i thought the score would be close to the leader at the time, but we ended up 7th instead, quite a way off the leading score. I think i must have been seeing the lines a little differently than the judge but that's the way it goes sometimes. I'm certain she was judging the lines tighter than i'd thought as well (note to self: be pickier next time, dummy!). The cross behind me surely didn't help much either. Anyway, it was a nice run and i was proud of how Zac handled and settled the sheep.

The runs on Sunday with Zac and Jet weren't anything to write home about. The sheep were racing around and really tired of the whole thing, and neither dog managed much with the groups we'd drawn. It was kind of a shame to see the sheep get so bad, since the rest of the trial was so well planned and executed. Not many dogs actually got to do a lift since the sheep were racing off the top end so hard, and that's a shame since that's when the dogs need to set the tone for the run. I'm not sure what would have made it better, perhaps running four sheep instead of three - i've seen that help tremendously at a couple of recent trials. It would mean another trip or two around the course over the weekend for each sheep, but that might not be so bad if it could be a calmer trip and not a race to try to beat the dogs. Moving the setout pens to a position behind the setout point, rather than off to the side, might have helped as well. The pull to the exhaust was hard but might have been okay if the draw uphill to the setout wasn't there as well. That's all just supposition though, no complaints here. It was a very good trial.

Now off to the Watercress SDT in Limestone, TN this coming friday-sunday!

Trials and Catching up

2009-10-12T17:40:00.006-04:00

I thought i ought to catch things up here, it's been nearly a month since i did. The last post about the dogs was right after the trial at Don McCaig's. The weekend following the trial we had a group lesson at Julie's, and little did we know but one of the dogs had picked up kennel cough at the trial. About 5 days after the lesson, Meg and Tug (formerly known as ZJ) started coughing, only 2 days before the WFAC trial. That sure threw a monkey wrench into our plans! With some careful planning and good common sense, we managed to get through the trial and to not pass it around to those attending, whew. Speaking of the trial, it really was awesome, and what great friends around here to come together and do such a terrific job. I ran all three Open dogs at the trial and they ran well enough. Bill was the only one to place, coming in 4th the first day. It's hard to run dogs and run the trial, so i was pleased enough with them. And Bill gets his first USBCHA points! Actually, if we need it, that could count as his first Nursery leg too - a top 20% placement in Open counts towards Nursery qualifying.

The day after the trial, the dogs that hadn't been coughing started up. Eventually all 7 managed to have kennel cough, but other than for Meg, it wasn't that bad, just a day or so each. Poor Meg coughed for 8 or 9 days and pretty hard. By the end of the week, everyone but her was done, so i loaded up Bill and Zac, and Joan brought along Brook, and we headed up to the first day of the Montpelier SDT. Zac ran very well but we couldn't get the shed. Had we run later in the day, i might have taken a cheap shed instead of getting stuck trying to do it properly. But we ran early and i didn't know proper sheds were going to be few and far between (not sure i saw more than a couple all day). Bill ran later in the day and got completely flummoxed by the heavy school sheep that just stood there with their heads down in the grain pan. He finally got frustrated and chased one off and grabbed it. I felt bad for him, he's just not seen anything like that before. Zac had similar trouble when he was young and got over it, and i'm sure Bill will too, but i sure hated seeing it. We spent some time working on it during the next week and he seemed to figure it out a bit.

So, on to the Edgeworth SDT this past weekend. I had all 3 dogs entered. I ran Bill first in both rounds and he didn't find his sheep either time. It was just too far out for him and without redirects and with only a beginning of a turnback, i didn't have a good way to help him. At the end of the trial, the Wilsons offered to let us help dogs that hadn't made it to the top, so i walked most of the way up with him and sent him to pick the sheep up. He was gimpy on one of his feet, so i didn't want to overdo it with him, but i wanted to be sure he got to find sheep. I doubt it will make that much difference but by next year, we'll have more tools in our toolbox for getting up there. I regret entering him but i doubt it'll cause any irreparable harm. I won't do it again with a dog that doesn't have the things i need to help him or her get out there.

This year, i finally got to run Zac at Edgeworth! He's been hurt the last 2 fall seasons, so hadn't run out there before. He had trouble getting out there but with some help, did get there at least. In the first round, i sent him right and it took 4 or 5 redirects, but he did get there. He lifted badly to the side but caught the sheep, and we got them online, and the rest of the run was really pretty. Lines were good, turns tight, good flow. The split and pen were extremely nice with Zac doing an exceptional job on the shedding. We ran out of time on the single, with it he would have been well into the placings. Zac's second run was pretty lousy. He didn't want to take the redirects and crossed over. He did take a beautiful turnback to finish on the left side (i'd sent right) nicely. The lift was straight and sweet but the sheep tore down the fetch like bats out of hell. It wasn't like Zac at all, he's a pretty pacey fetcher. I'm not sure if it was him or the sheep or a combination of both but it wasn't good. The first leg of the drive was similar, though at that point i finally had control on Zac so i know it wasn't him. Hearing was bad near the first gate and Zac took a wrong flank, causing the sheep to veer around. I decided to retire and so did one of the sheep - one of the rear ones finally had enough of trying to keep up with the running leaders and laid down. I had Zac catch the runners and settle them near the down one, and she finally popped up okay. Frustrating to say the least!

Jet had her usual good Edgeworth. She always manages to do pretty well there, and finished 2nd in each of the last 2 years, by one point each time. She ran out nicely wide both days to the right. She did pull up well short both times, on pressure (actually short of the balance point but covering it as she walked in). In her first run, she lifted well but the first half of the fetch was off, and then the rest of the fetch and the drive were nice. Her split, pen, single were really sweet. It's so much fun to shed with Jet - she makes holes with me and really partners up for the job, comes in like a bullet and holds like a brick wall. Her second run was the last of the day on saturday and the wind was blowing, making it hard for the dogs to hear. She still ran very well, the only real blip (other than being short up top) a bad miss on the crossdrive gates when she couldn't hear me. She ended up placing both days, the first time for that! She was 5th out of 60 dogs in the first round, and 9th out of 58 in the second. Go Jet! The trial was a lot of fun and i was very pleased with Jet and Zac for 3 of 4 runs. The first go featured a turn around a post about 100 yards from the handlers post to begin the drive, as well as a marked shed. I was very happy with the tight turns my dogs made at that post, and their shedding was gorgeous. I'll be looking forward to the winter trial at Edgeworth.

So next up is the Lexington SDT this coming weekend. Bill is entered in Nursery and Open, and Jet and Zac in Open. I'm not sure Bill will get to do all of that, he's got a sore foot so i'll have to see how he looks. I'll decide on the Open runs after seeing how he does both performance-wise and on his foot in the Nurseries. I want to back off a bit on him and not be pushing him on too quickly. I wasn't too happy to see him having trouble the last two weekends and don't want him having another bad experience, not so soon anyway. He'll be fine but there's no need to rush things with him.

Other than all of the trial stuff, i've been just having a blast with the puppies, Moon and Tug. They're great pups, happy and bright and funny. Tug especially cracks me up - he's a very playful little guy, just like his dad, and into everything. Moon is sweeter and more loving, and a better listener, wanting to do right. As much as i can't wait to see how they turn out as sheepdogs, i wish i could freeze them in place right now and keep them little! Meg has moved on to a new home. I'd decided to maybe keep her around longer but ran into a friend needing another dog, so decided to let Meg go to kind of help her out. But then she found another dog before Meg got over the kennel cough and was ready to go. While all of this was going on, a top handler stepped in and said she was looking and asked if she could see Meg, and bought her on the spot. I have a feeling we'll be seeing a lot of Meg on the national scene in about a year and i'll be crying the blues for selling her! But it's a good thing for Meg and for the rest of the Shoofly dogs too. It's easy to get spread too thin and then everyone gets cheated, and i was sitting here with four dogs at or under 2 years old. Too many.

I think that about catches us up on the dogs. Hopefully i'll have lots of good things to report after the trials the next two weekends!

WFAC Results

2009-09-29T11:23:00.001-04:00

Here's the official trial write-up. It all went great, couldn't have gone any better!
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The second annual Whistle for a Cure SDT was a resounding success. Held as a fundraiser for Joan Knight’s team in the Gail Parkins Memorial Ovarian Cancer Walk, raising money for ovarian cancer research, the trial smashed our goal amount by a long measure.

We were concerned about the weather forecast for Shoofly Farm near Oxford, NC as the weekend approached but even that worked out well. There was an occasional light mist during the running on Saturday, with heavy downpours overnight, and then the clouds parted for a gorgeous sunny Sunday, our main day for trialing, with spectators, raffles, gift item sales and our big fundraising lunch.

Start time was noon on Saturday, with just the Open class for this day. It was what I picture a farm trial should be, with nearly everyone there pitching in to help, a very laidback atmosphere, just good friends getting together for a little friendly competition. The outrun was not very long at 225 yards, but it was certainly tricky for some of the dogs. Four sheep, a mix of ewes, lambs and wethers, both wool and hair sheep, were set in a far back corner of the pasture, mostly hidden to the dogs by the rolling terrain and trees. Dogs sent right needed to negotiate their way around the farm pond, while dogs sent left had a clearer path but tighter top end and greater risk of bumping the sheep off before the lift. Just after the lift, sheep and dog dropped out of sight of the handler, coming up over the hill just before the fetch panels. They were a bit cranky about turning the post, then went back up a hill for the drive and back down for the crossdrive. Penning was pretty easy and then off to the split, which was sometimes pretty difficult. The sheep were a mix of two flocks, with 3 of each group from the home flock and a fourth from a neighboring flock. At the end of the running, we had a tie for 1st place between Julie Poudrier with Twist and Denise Wall with May. Another trip around the course for each found them separated by only 1 point, with Julie taking the top spot. 3rd place went to Peggy Wilkinson with Liz, and 4th to Robin French with Bill. It was quite a good day for the young dogs, as 3 of the top 4 places were taken by dogs just at or under 3 years old.

Sunday dawned wet and dreary but cleared off as we started setting up. With some hay spread on the mud, on we went. The Open course was completely different for the second day, with a more straightforward outrun, though still somewhat blind for the dogs, and the pond to negotiate to the right. The sheep again dropped out of sight on the fetch, but this time only if you weren’t exactly online. Fetch panels were eliminated for this course, as the fetch line passed through a marshy area at the edge of the pond. Two small trees marked the area of the natural “fetch panels” and the sheep had to be convinced to step down in there. The drive was pretty straightforward with a hard dogleg on the return leg, then pen and split. The sheep had learned where the exhaust was by Sunday, and the pen and shedding ring were fairly near it, so handlers had to keep it in mind and not let their attention wander or they’d end up off course quickly. We again ended up with a tie for 1st, between Julie Poudrier with Pip and Peggy Wilkinson with Sis. After the run off, Julie and Pip (in his 1st Open run!) ended up on top. Julie with Twist finished 3rd, and Tony Luper with Maid were 4th. Overall Champion for the weekend was Julie Poudier with Twist, with Reserve Champion being Tony Luper with Maid.

The quality of the competition in the afternoon novice classes was impressive. The course and sheep proved to be quite difficult for the novice dogs and handlers last year, but this year it was smooth sailing for the most part, as dogs and handlers treated the sheep well. The Ranch class ran a course somewhat smaller than the Open class, without the marshy fetch area. Ranch Champion was Lauren Seabolt with Mac, 2nd was Christine Henry with Meg, 3rd was Amanda Winecoff with Scott, and 4th was Julie Poudrier with Lark.

Pro Novice was won by Liza Williams, with a very pretty run by her Jet. Second place went to Kelly Jerman with Spottie, 3rd to Barbara Shumannfang with Kat, 4th to Sally Glei with Sid.

The Novice Novice class was very nicely done by all of the competitors, with a lot of calm, steady dog and handler work. Charlie Hurt and Deacon were the winners, with Lisa Roberts and Kat 2nd, Charlie Hurt with Patsy 3rd, and Pam Helton with Slick 4th.

The awards for this trial were truly unique. A local baker, Dorothy Booth, donated them. She took pictures of some of the Shoofly Farm border collies and printed them on icing on cookies, with different colors of “ribbon” (icing) around each one, to place each class. It was something different and quite fun.

The trial part of the weekend was really wonderful. The sheep worked well, the courses were good, and the competitors did a fabulous job out there. Even more impressive to me were all of the amazing people who threw in to put on this trial. I believe nearly everyone who attended ended up doing some job or task, and I know everyone pitched in as much as they could to make it all a fundraising success. I’m going to try to remember everyone here, but forgive me if I miss you – there were so many folks doing so many things, it was hard to keep track. Thanks to Julie Poudrier, Laura Carson, Peggy Wilkinson, Denise Wall and Sandy Gunter for all the setout and exhausting and all you did before and during the trial to help; to Dan King and Christine Henry for judging; to Kate Caldwell for the use of her sheep and for organizing and cooking the delicious lunch, Jim Knight for the yummy barbeque and Bonnie French for the slaw; to Joan and Jim Knight for organizing and running the raffle and sale stuff, and posting scores and announcing; to Lauren Seabolt for arranging the awards and the clerks; to our scorekeepers Barbara Shumannfang and Laurie Schulz; and to Dorothy Booth for the awards. I’d also like to thank all the folks who donated such nice items to the raffle, and those who couldn’t join us and instead sent in-spirit entries.

It was a great weekend and for the worthiest of causes, and I hope we can do it all again and even better next year!

Open 1 (20 dogs)
Julie Poudrier Twist 93
Denise Wall May 93
Peggy Wilkinson Liz 92
Robin French Bill 90
Tony Luper Maid 90
Peggy Wilkinson Buzz 85
Denise Wall Moss 82
Julie Poudrier Kat 82
Denise Wall Kate 81
Robin French Zac 77
Laurie Schultz Nara 74
Joan Knight Brook 73
Dan King Vic 63
Robin French Jet 54
Tony Luper Blurr 46
Colin Campbell Scout Ret
Julie Poudrier Pip Ret
Dan King Fann Ret
Laura Carson Nick Ret
Peggy Wilkinson Sis DQ

Open 2 (19 dogs)
Julie Poudrier Pip 88
Peggy Wilkinson Sis 88
Julie Poudrier Twist 86
Tony Luper Maid 86
Christine Henry Bess 85
Christine Henry Rook 80
Robin French Zac 78
Christine Henry Tweed 75
Peggy Wilkinson Liz 74
Robin French Bill 73
Peggy Wilkinson Buzz 72
Denise Wall May 67
Robin French Jet 67
Joan Knight Brook 54
Laura Carson Nick 50
Tony Luper Blurr 47
Denise Wall Moss 44
Laurie Schultz Nara 29
Colin Campbell Scout 21

Ranch (8 dogs)
Lauren Seabolt Mac 64
Christine Henry Meg 59
Amanda Winecoff Scott 59
Julie Poudrier Lark 57
Julie Poudrier Phoebe 51
Caroline Reichard Jim 36
Emily Falk Rae DQ
Mary Luper Ben DQ

ProNovice (12 dogs)
Liza Williams Jet 66
Kelly Jerman Spottie 64
Barbara Shumannfang Kat 63
Sally Glei Sid 63
Christine Henry Kep 57
Caroline Reichard Roy 54
Christine Henry Kaige 50
Robin French Nan 42
Laurie Schultz Boomer 36
Emily Adham Manse Ret
Laura Carson Linc Ret
Kate Caldwell Sam Ret

Novice Novice (9 dogs)
Charlie Hurt Deacon 70
Lisa Roberts Kat 68
Charlie Hurt Patsy 64
Pamela Helton Slick 63
Liza Williams Piper 55
Kelly Jerman Jen 53
Kate Caldwell Rose 47
Pamela Helton Bonnie 46
Emily Adham Case DQ

Covergirl!

2009-09-17T14:13:00.005-04:00

Gael is going to be a cover girl! Well, her ears are anyway. I sent in some pictures i liked to Nicole Rhodes, owner and editor of The Stockdog Journal, and she decided to use one for a fall cover. I really liked this picture of Gael looking out over what makes a border collie a border collie - the field and sheep. You can almost feel her saying "send me for them!".

Here's the link to the magazine webpage. Check it out and consider subscribing. Nicole is working hard to make it a resource for all types of stockdog enthusiasts. I especially enjoyed the most recent issue with an interview with Scott Glen and a review of one of his clinics.

Crystal Ball...

2009-09-16T16:16:00.004-04:00

I was looking at Dan King's excellent photos of the trial this past weekend. This is a nice one that he got of Bill --

It reminded me a lot of one i have of Bill at 4 months old!

20th Occasional Highland SDT, part 2

2009-09-15T11:22:00.013-04:00

(Here is a link to Dan King's excellent pictures from the trial)

So on to sunday we go. Zac ran 10th and the sheep were quite a bit better than saturday. He ran out nicely, stopping short of 12:00 but the sheep folded off the top end beautifully and straight towards me. I was extremely pleased at how nice the lift was, as good as any i saw all weekend. Fetch was pretty straight. Zac was weaving behind the sheep more than i like but the method worked surprisingly well - i'd have thought the sheep wouldn't like it, but when i held him back to straighten out, they slowed and weren't coming as straight. Zac was listening really well, even way out at the beginning of the fetch. Turn at the post went fine. First leg of the drive was wobbly but we got them through the gates. Crossdrive was similar but again through the gates. The single was gorgeous, with Zac flying into a very small gap and taking firm command of the shed sheep. The pen was good. All in all, lines could have been more tidy but it was a very good run with those kind of sheep and at the end of the day, Zac and I were 3rd behind Lyle Lad and Barbara Ray. I was very pleased with Zac for the weekend. He looked good and was learning the whole time.

Next up was Bill - yep, Bill moved up to Open! His Ranch run was so good that i thought we'd give it a shot. I knew his shedding wasn't quite up to par yet but it was a good chance to get some experience. The outrun, lift and fetch were really very good. I had to give Bill a couple of whistles on the outrun as he came up expecting the sheep to be further down the field than they were (from his 2 shorter outruns the day before). He took them well and got behind nicely, lifted with authority and actually rated the sheep very well on the first half of the fetch, not pushing in too hard as he's liked to do. He definitely learned something from his runs on saturday! The fetch was strong and straight, very nice. Turn around the post was good but the first leg of the drive very wiggly as the sheep didn't want to move off straight. The rest of the drive was pretty good. We were to do a single before the pen, and this is where things came to a halt. Bill did a very good job setting up the shed and was good and strong on the sheep. I got one small gap and called him in, and he flew in so fast it actually surprised me. The single moved towards him as he flew threw and he snapped at her nose as he blew past. If he'd stopped in the gap, it would have been a spectacular shed but he kept going on through and the sheep got back together. That's okay and really just about where he is in learning to shed. I've been trying to get him coming in with enthusiasm and to come in and on through since his preference is to come in slow and use his eye. He'll get it all put together soon. Anyway, that was our only real attempt and finally we timed out. It was a good first Open run and he certainly looked like he belonged in the Open class.

On to Jet's Open run. She ran out marginally better since i set her up to run out sideways but still pulled up in front of the sheep and then wouldn't flank once she got them going - they went way the heck to the left of the field. So once she got in range, i took the opportunity to do some schooling with her, making her listen and flank and stop as told. It was a good chance to do it since it was the sheep bringing out her problems and we don't get on those kind of sheep often. I knew she wasn't going to place as the running had improved a lot, not after that outrun and first part of the fetch. We got around the course in pretty good fashion and completed the single and pen. Hopefully it will help some with several trials coming up soon.

Last up was Bill's Nursery run. The gather was again very good, turn at the post fine though one ewe was giving Bill some dirty looks, but the sheep stalled out about halfway to the first drive gates and the one ewe started acting like she wanted to pound Billy. I let him try to sort it out for a little bit, but when he started looking nervous about it and avoiding her gaze, i went out to help him get things moving again, and we exhausted our sheep. It wasn't a great note to end on and i hated seeing him looking confused. Since Bill was the last dog in the class, we'd been asked to push the big group of sheep back up the field for the remaining classes. Before we could do that, Bill had to hold the group while the sheep owner caught up a couple to treat/cull. That was a lot of fun for Bill though a little confusing with people all around flapping arms and waving hands to catch certain sheep. Then we had to shed off about 2/3s of the sheep to take up top and that was a bit of a challenge, holding them apart. With that done, we marched up the field and Bill really enjoyed that. The sheep were hot, tired and hungry, and very hard to keep flowing, so he got to push in and do some nipping and generally really boss them around. They kept doing this swirling thing that less broke sheep will do, where they pack really tightly and move in a wave, in a circling motion. Hard to explain but pretty effective for avoiding predators (the weakest get swirled to the outsides) and for stopping forward motion. Anyway, Billy had never seen it before so he got to learn about that and to figure out how to sort that out. I'd felt bad about the Nursery run but this was a great way to end on a better note, as Bill's brain was about to pop he was learning so much.

So, that was the 20th Occasional Highland SDT. It was a very good learning experience for the dogs, especially Billy and Zac. The field was gorgeous and the sheep a good challenge. It's a heck of a drive up there (note to self: don't take the trailer across Highway 250 ever, ever again!) but was well worth it for the dogs' education. Now on to putting on our little benefit trial in 2 weeks and then the big fall trial season.

Catching Up, 20th Occasional Highland SDT, part 1

2009-09-14T22:45:00.002-04:00

It's only been a week today since i last posted but it seems like a lot longer. A lot has been happening. The puppies are now 6 weeks old and about ready to move to new homes. Turns out there won't be a whole lot of moving since Julie is keeping Ranger and i get to keep the other two! I've been pestering Darci since very early on to let me buy ZJ so i could have both him and Moon to raise up and train, and she finally agreed to it (THANK YOU, DARCI!) at the last minute. ZJ and Chris were scheduled to leave this past Friday, hitching a ride out west with Finals bound folks, but Wednesday afternoon we canceled ZJ's ride. Chris is on her way out there right now, where Darci is anxiously awaiting her arrival. I know that's going to be a very happy reunion on both parts. I'll get the pups this saturday when i go over to Julie's to do the monthly group lessons. Now i'm trying to come up with a new name for ZJ and having a tough time with it. Early on, i thought he looked like a Turk. Right now i'm tossing around Zeke and Creed. I'll have to spend some time with him to see what fits. Who knows, maybe he'll just stay ZJ.

This past weekend i loaded up the camper and the new truck, and the dogs and i headed into the Blue Ridge mountains for the 20th Annual Occasional Sheepdog trial at Don McCaig's near Williamsville, VA. The trial was a benefit for the 2010 National Finals, to be held in Middletown, VA. Donald has taken out some fencing and opened up a new trial field and it's very, very nice. The outrun is about 450-500 yards, flat 90% of the way out and ending in a steep little hill, where the sheep were set for the Open class. For the Ranch and Nursery classes, the sheep were brought to the bottom of the little hill, making the outrun probably 400-450 yards or so. The sheep for the trial were rented from a local commercial flock of polpays and not used to being worked in small groups.

The sheep were quite a challenge for the dogs. Open ran first on saturday and in the morning, it was pretty difficult to get the sheep off the top end and started down the field. Several dogs retired quickly, unable to shift the sheep. Jet ran 8th and when we were walking to the post, i felt pretty sure she'd move the sheep, but some good dogs had had some big trouble already. Jet's outrun was terrible, one of the worst outruns i've ever seen her do. She went right up the middle and wouldn't redirect for anything, eying the sheep the whole time. We managed to lose 16 of our 20 outrun points without even a crossover. I told someone afterwards that i was sure the judge must only be taking 1/2 a point for redirects as i was certain i'd blown 32 of them! Anyway, the sheep finally shifted and Jet got behind them, taking them well offline for the first half of the fetch. The second half of the fetch was good and then we hit the place where so many good Open dogs on Saturday met the end of their runs - the beginning of the drive. Group after group would stall out in this area and either fight the dogs or just simply refuse to budge. Clean grips were being allowed though nasty ones would earn you a DQ. Jet actually didn't have all that much trouble shifting the sheep here, though they did test her some. She's got a ton of power and used it well to her advantage, not needing to bite to convince the ewes to move along. It's so nice to have a dog with that "under the hood" when you need it. The drive was pretty good, and the split, pen and single also decent, though Jet felt she should peek back at the left group on the sheds. With all the difficulties on the first day, she ended up finishing 8th, even with the horrible outrun. I can't be too upset with her, she's been laid up with an injury and just came back to work. All i'd really done was a bit of driving last week to make sure her leg was holding up okay. I guess she decided she liked just driving around and not having to run out!

Zac ran later in the order and i was a little nervous about him with those sheep. He has a different kind of eye than Jet, not more but a stickier kind of eye, and can sometimes have trouble shifting sheep as he doesn't have the same raw power to back it up that Jet does. He ran out beautifully though he landed short - there were trees behind the set out point and he was drawn in to them. He lifted well but did have a little trouble getting them moving freely down the field, flanking defensively to cover the draw to the setout and stopping the forward progress of the sheep. But he managed to work it out in fairly short order and had a beautiful straight fetch. Many dogs were pushing the sheep well offline to the left, either not hearing their handlers commands or overworking the draw (as Jet had done), but Zac handled very well, taking every command i gave. I had planned to take the sheep quickly around the turn at the post and very tight, in hopes they'd not stall out, but a lagging ewe ruined my plan. Her 3 mates went right past the post while she held back and i had to put Zac on her. Meanwhile the 3 leading ewes got very deep behind the post, forcing an even worse version of the stalling out confrontation i'd been hoping to avoid or at least lessen. Zac was very good here, actually much better than i might have expected. He kept on coming forward and his eye didn't catch him up at all. The ewes just wouldn't move off and finally he started gripping. At first it was okay, pretty decent grips but one ewe tried to go over him and he grabbed hold of her neck and held on, while she went crashing into the fence and the judge called out "thank you!" to end the run. All in all, i was quite pleased with Zac's performance. It'll be nice to run him this fall - he's been injured the past 2 fall seasons. He got a little frustrated there at the end but my dogs don't see this kind of sheep all that often. He learned something.

Bill was next up in the Nursery. I was nervous about him meeting up with this kind of sheep for the first time so far out from me, where i couldn't be on top of how it went and back him up if he needed it. He ran out pretty well though i gave him a couple of quick call in whistles to keep him from getting around some trees that would kick him too far out. He landed really well behind the sheep and lifted with nice authority. He came on too strong after the lift as he likes to do, bringing the sheep too hard, which made the sheep pretty unhappy. Three took off strongly while one split off and stopped. I thought that would probably be the end of the run but after many long seconds, Billy somehow calmly convinced her to rejoin the others, now something like 100 yards away. I was pretty impressed with him there. The fetch was decent but the sheep stalled going around the post and Billy couldn't quite figure it out. He came calmly forward but didn't have quite enough confidence and ended up gripping and being called off. After his run, i took the opportunity to exhaust the next few runs with Bill to let him figure out the sheep. They were pretty hard to get off the field and it mimicked the problems at the turn around the post very well. Bill very quickly learned to walk strongly forward to get the sheep moving and his confidence grew a ton in just moments. He was practically grinning he was enjoying it so much after exhausting only three runs.

A bit later I ran Bill in the Open Ranch class and he was wonderful. Nice outrun, lift, much better treatment of the sheep on the fetch so it was pretty straight and calm. The turn and first leg of the drive were wobbly but not too bad, especially comparatively speaking. Crossdrive and return leg were good and the pen clean. It was just a nice, smooth run and ended up winning the class. I was surely happy with the little man!

Since this has gotten so long, i'll do a part 2 later on. Sunday was even better for the Shoofly dogs and Billy made his Open debut!

Pups at 5 Weeks

2009-09-07T20:21:00.018-04:00

I went over and had a really good playdate with the puppies yesterday. ZJ is about the cutest little thing i've ever seen, and he was feeling really active and playful. It's going to be so hard to see him leave next weekend. Moon seemed to decide she kinda liked me, was responding well and connecting with me. And Ranger continues to be just spectacular, bold and outgoing. His name will certainly suit his adventurous spirit. He reminds me a bit of his grandmother Spottie, always with a twinkle in his eye.

ZJ started out kind of tired, couldn't hold his head up and eyes open at the same time

Moon found a comfy place to take a puppy power nap

But Ranger is ready to go!

Come on, bring it on!

Go ZJ go!

Moon thinks these things look interesting...

We decided to weigh the puppies in a lamb sling and they weren't impressed

I'm gonna get you for this!

Shoofly Moon and the boys

2009-08-29T22:48:00.008-04:00

We decided today that Shoofly Moon sounds like some kind of southern belle name or something, kinda funny. The pups are getting to be wild things! Zac Jr was pretty sleepy most of the time i was visiting today but Ranger was Mr Busy, entertaining himself and anyone else he could engage. What a nice, confident, personable puppy he is. Moon was the most active i've seen her, wrestling and playing and attacking my feet. Cute, cute, cute. Julie said ZJ was the wild boy along with Moon this evening so he must have been saving up his energy. A couple of pictures - today Moon was the photo hog.

I love this picture of Ranger, it totally captures his inquisitive, engaging nature.

Moon blob. Cute Moon blob, but definitely Moon blob. Her seal impression.

They look huge in this picture!

Video

2009-08-26T13:06:00.001-04:00

Liked this one!

Puppies at 3 Weeks

2009-08-23T20:04:00.008-04:00

The puppies weren't feeling very photogenic yesterday but here are a couple of pictures anyway. By next weekend, they'll be moving so quickly we'll have to have video!

Moon in her thinking pose.

Zac Jr being cute!

Moon and Ranger playing kissy face

ZJ thinking hard about getting up and running around

Ranger wondering what he can get into next - he's quite the personable little guy.

And Meg says she's ready, bring on a baby puppy for her to chew on!

Puppies at 2 weeks old

2009-08-15T21:35:00.008-04:00

They're getting so big. Eyes are opening and they're trying to get around more all of the time. They've been really fussy so i took them this cooling pad today. Zac and his littermates loved the cooling pads when they were babies and apparently the new pups have inherited this since they curled up on it and have been blissfully quiet according to Julie. I may not be able to wait another week to see them again....

Sheep Reading Clinic Notes

2009-08-12T13:30:00.003-04:00

I did a small clinic at my farm a couple of years ago for a group of beginning handlers on "sheep psychology" or reading sheep. I'm hardly the expert i'd like to be on it, but i wanted to try to give these folks some things to think about. It was actually quite a good day in the end, i thought. After a morning session of talking about some things, i set up a maltese cross and the handlers tried putting sheep through it in pairs - no dogs, just 2 handlers working together. In the afternoon, after more discussion, handlers tried the maltese cross with their own dogs if they had one advanced enough. Those without dogs capable of it used my dogs. I mentioned this clinic just the other day to a person brand spanking new to the world of sheepdogs (hi Barbara! ;-) and decided to track down the outline from the clinic for her. After looking it over, i thought it might be good to post here, even if it might be a little cryptic. Food for thought anyway!

Clinic Notes, August 11, 2007

What makes a good handler? What makes a GREAT one?
Why is it so important to read your sheep?

Good handlers react quickly to keep lines straight, almost don’t know the line was off. Great ones are proactive, lines don’t get off.

Must think ahead, know what sheep are thinking. Thinking ahead about what sheep WILL do, not what have done and trying to fix mistakes – have already lost points. More important than point loss, the sheep are learning from the dog and handler to try to “disobey”.

Dog handling is about cutting off avenues of escape, or draws, and leaving only one option/direction to go. The best runs are ones where the sheep calmly DECIDE to go in nice straight lines. You make them make those decisions by taking the option of other paths away with your dog. Take the “escape thoughts” out of the sheep’s minds.

Reading Sheep: What motivates sheep?

Prey animal: Survival first and foremost – the only thing a sheep thinks about, at the root of ALL sheep thought is survival – is possible to backchain any sheep thought/behavior back to survival

Defense mechanisms = NONE.
Flight vs fight No real fight mechanisms, other than a bluff mostly (stomping, charging).
Teeth are made for eating grass – don’t have any pointed teeth, and no upper teeth.

270 degree field of vision (not clear, but wide), eyes on side of head
Excellent hearing, not so great vision

Flocking instinct/survival of the fittest/”sacrificial lamb”

Deal with threat to survival in order:
Safety
Food
Comfort (uphill, sun, shadows, etc)

Draws and Pressure:

All that leads to “draws” and “pressure”, affect on flight zone
Flight zone – changes all the time, even in an 8 minute trial run
Other sheep – flocking instinct
Barn – safe space
Feed – to eat, usual feeding areas
Dogs – diff colors, tied out
Sun/shade - comfort
Uphill – sheep paths, gravity
Sleeping area
Dips in field where it’s cooler
Shadows – vision thing, spooky sheep can balk

Different kinds of sheep act differently:

High headed sheep
Lead sheep
Lambs vs adults
Lagging sheep - Why do sheep lay down on a run?
Dog broke vs unbroken vs range sheep
Wool vs hair, wool blindness, etc.

Dog and sheep interaction:

Aggressive sheep – what will make a sheep turn on your dog?
Fight or flight – won’t relax and turn tail on a threat – dark stranger syndrome
Why do some dogs make sheep comfortable “sheep like them”
So why isn’t a really mild dog always the best choice?
Eye – breaking off eye, putting it on
Tension
Square flanks – round flanks – “off” flanks, what and why?

Bringing it all together:

Dogs teaching sheep and sheep teaching dogs through positive and negative reinforcement, comfort vs discomfort, threat vs relaxed

Penning / Panels / Maltese Cross:

Mechanics – how to
What things are going to cost points, the ideal
What goes through the mind of the sheep and dog?
The balancing act of pressure on/pressure off, flanks

Weekend, Puppies at 1 week

2009-08-09T21:41:00.012-04:00

Whew, what a weekend. Hot hot hot. Yesterday was lesson day over at Julie's and it was quite fun. There were a couple of visitors along in the afternoon and it was fun to talk dogs and hang out. Oh, and to visit with the baby puppies! They've sure grown, doubling in size in one week. Last sunday they were all right at one pound, with Moon being the smallest. This saturday they were all just about two pounds, with Moon being the largest and the white headed male the smallest. They're lifting their heads and pushing up on their front legs and really getting around. Their eyes aren't open yet but should be soon.

I got the chance to work Meg again and she did great (photo above by Dan King). She's a tough little nut but not too hard to get to on the sheep, and really works very sensibly. I love how strong she is to the head and how well she covers the sheep. She's been a real pill lately at home, so it's a good thing she looked so good! All in all, it was a good day.

Today was a long, hot day at the farm. A friend came over to work her dogs while she was in the area. It's always nice to see different dogs and styles and i enjoyed working with her, giving a couple of little tidbits of advice. She's done a good job with two nice dogs. After she left, i got busy with my new toys, a chainsaw and a power tree pruner (a.k.a. the chainsaw on a stick!). I'm trying to open the line of sight out there to increase training distances and also hoping to increase the course size for our Whistle for a Cure trial in September. It's looking pretty good!

So here are the latest pictures of the babies:

We Are Fat Puppies

2009-08-02T21:38:00.013-04:00

Oh yes, we are fat little puppies, fat little puppies are we!

(And here's how we get that way! Note Chris' convenient feeding position)

Puppies!

2009-08-01T00:54:00.005-04:00

They're here! The puppies arrived this evening. Chris did great and was being a good mom. She looked like "what's the big deal" when i got there, as if having the pups was hardly a blip on her day.

The pups are nice and fat and bright. They're all really pretty. The first born was a male, pretty much classically marked. The second is marked pretty much just like Zac on the body but his head is white with black ears and he has a light grey smudge across his forehead above one eye. I think the little female is especially striking, a very black body with black ears and on the top of her head, but then her snout and forehead are white, like someone dipped her face in white paint. She looks like her name should be "Moon" to me. :-)

For more pictures click HERE to go to my Pbase site