Up Top

A couple of weeks ago we set sheep with Julie P up at Robin's trial at Shoofly Farm. I started documenting as we went but got distracted along the way. But I thought I'd share up to where I forgot to take pics anymore.

We loaded up early. We rolled out around 6:30... though we were up before 5am.



As per usual, I had my priorities in order. See above for portajohn, and below for coffee. Priorites. I has them.



Once we got there we put the girlz into the sorting system.



Then I would lay Nick down over to the side...



And push the sheep out myself.



That being said... both sheep and dog tend to take advantage when you have a camera in your face. That was the first set of the day, and that sheep that turned back on me would turn out to be a troublemaker All. Weekend. Long. For the most part, though, the sheep settled as the morning went on and I thought worked pretty nicely.

I didn't get any pictures of how we worked the sorting system. I would leave a gap in the crush gate just big enough for my dog to get through. The dog - Nick or Linc, or in Julie's case one of her dogs, would go into the big crush pen and lie down over to the side while I'd move sheep up through the system. Once I got to the back pen (which would then be empty) I would have the dog just quietly hold their side while I loaded the last sorting pen from the back. It was a very quiet and (I'd say 98%) hands free system.

Then we'd go drink more coffee.

We did a little pen work and did quite a bit of setting out. Here Nick and I stand waiting for our next packet for the novice classes:



It was a nice weekend. Linc really surprised me with his maturity and some finesse I hadn't realized he possessed. Excepting one minor incident (a ewe lamb wound up feet in the air - still not sure exactly how that happened) he was a quiet but firm presence in there and I liked it. Nick was his usual good self.

I always love the view from the top.

Shoofly Farm Sheepdog Trial - March

Come join us for the Shoofly Farm Sheepdog Trial, on March 19-20. The trial is near Oxford, NC. Entries are now open, and spots are going fast. For entry forms please click here. It's going to be a lot of fun. To see the Shoofly Farm blog, go here. Hope to see you there! If you come I'll let you see Ginger's ears unfurl in person. See? Great trial, Ginger's ears, what more motivation could you POSSIBLY need?

Circle BR SDT Recap

I think I could do an entire post about rain, hail, air mattresses (human taco #2 anyone?) and then tents that leak. I won't - you guys get the idea. As usual Ben and Emily were so hospitable, and just a whole lot of fun. The field is gorgeous - terraced, and beautiful.

Day #1 in Open we ran about middle of the day. We'd been delayed for fog for an hour and a half, and it was pretty hot by the time we ran. I was having images in my head of last year in Ranch when it took three redirects to get Nick to the top, but this time he just went. He lifted the sheep really nice, took his down, and then proceeded to just bring the sheep down the middle of the field without more than a whistle or two from me. We were perhaps not as precise as the judge might have liked (lost 4 pts on our fetch) but it was so nice. He continued that on the drive away, and I think I blew one whistle at him after I set it up.

We had some squiggles - took a really wide turn at the drive away panels, but got it back online. Then... I misjudged the crossdrive panel. They went around high, and by the time I figured it out it was too late. We got into the shedding ring and it was the last two on the head. We settled the sheep and strung them out, I flanked Nick a couple of steps and called him into about a 1' gap. As I was calling him in I thought, "OMG, what have I done???!?!?" but he came in - and we lost nothing on our shed or pen. I feel like I could ride for YEARS on that shed - it felt fabulous.

We were on the leader board for a while after that. Lame as I am I took a picture. I'm not sure where we ended up - my guesstimate is somewhere around 15th or 16th.

Here... lame-o picture:

Open Day#2 we ran three from last - around 4pm. It was hot, and I knew after a long season of being off he'd struggle. He ran out SO nice - landed deep and easy, and lost nothing on his outrun or lift. Nice fetch, and then it all went to heck in a hand basket. From that point on it was a matter of containment. I think we got a mercy point each on our drive, pen, and shed. We never did get them in the pen as I sent him for water and we still couldn't get them settled.

But he gave me everything he had. He was trying desperately to figure out how to handle them, and even though nothing we did seemed to help he gave it all. What a good boy he is.

Monday... ProNovice... Linc. Nice enough outrun (a tad flat and short, but didn't lose but 1 and 1). After a few steps though (no lie down in sight) one sheep broke back to the set out. I retired rather than have a rodeo. Then we had the rodeo. It was a zoo - he wouldn't stop, blew through the sheep, one fell down (uh... he helped it a bit) all of this after the judge asked me to turn the sheep back to the single. LOL! I tried to grab him and accidentally whacked him with my stick - and then had visions of people saying I was trying to beat my dog on the field. Nothing like a little paranoia to finish out one's weekend, right?

After that Nick and I exhausted the rest of the P/N class. Nick would like for everyone to know that the only job in the world that compares to pushing sheep out of the pens is EXHAUSTING. He has hung a sign on his crate that reads, "Will exhaust for food. Or not. Just will exhaust."


We had a good time. This coming weekend we're working at Robin's trial, and then two weeks after that we're going to Roy and Debbie's. Beyond that I don't know, but we are certainly having fun.

(top photo by Robin French)

Water Cress Farm SDT

This past weekend we went to Jan Thompson's place in Limestone, TN. It was absolutely gorgeous - the mountains were spectacular, and the view on her farm took my breath away. The trial was really nice -the food fabulous, and everything ran very smoothly.

Friday Nick and I set out for Ranch. The sheep were a bit challenging to hold, but we had a ball. He is SO in his element setting out, pushing out, and working the pens. Anything that involves us getting in there and bossing sheep around makes him ridiculously happy.

Then I ran Linc in Pro-Novice. What can I say? He ran out pretty well. He stopped once, I redirected him, and he landed beautifully behind his sheep. He then commenced to do... nothing. He was just in over his head - he had no idea what to do with sheep that didn't run in abject terror due to his mere presence. I finally managed to jigger him around enough to budge them, and they bolted to the set out, where he again couldn't figure out how to lift them. I think we'll spend some time just picking up sheep here and there and moving them around. I think we'll also spend some time just letting him grow up a bit more.

Saturday morning Nick and I rolled out of bed to run second. He laid down a beautiful run - better than I would have ever expected in just his third open trial. We had *really* nice lines, and got our first shed in a trial. It wasn't a perfect shed (he took a hard look at the wrong set of sheep), but it was a shed. The sheep liked him, and though he was a bit on his horse until about 1/3 of the way through his fetch he was listening well, and did absolutely everything I asked of him. The sheep were very hard to shed all weekend, so we wasted a bit of time in the shedding ring. When he came through and the judge called it I almost did "The Charleston" in the shedding ring. For reals.

We timed out, unfortunately, as the sheep were about halfway in the pen. That's what I get for not wearing a watch, eh? I was just sort of out there tiptoeing through the tulips (I was all la la la la la in my head). Hah! I'm told that with the pen points we would probably have placed. Anyway, we made all of our panels nicely, and it felt really nice. I was pleased to see Nick holding the pressure nicely - I actually didn't say too terribly much to him.

Sunday we ran next to last. We scored better this run than Saturday's actually, but it didn't feel very good. By this time the sheep were *very* heavy. It was a strange combination because they varied from either bolting or being heavy (within the same run). Anyway, on the cross-drive he showed some stress, but he dealt with it anyway. His normal tactic to deal with heavy sheep is to flop back and forth goosing and nudging as he goes. I was pleased to see him just hunker down and keep pushing (albeit somewhat slowly). We only missed the cross-drive panels, we got our pen, and then timed out as we were trying to shed a single. We got the last one on the head but couldn't hold her.

The course and sheep were challenging, and I am pretty happy with both of us. Nicky boy was pleased with himself. Then again he's *always* pleased with himself. Several people commented about how I "kept my cool" so well, and I was so relaxed (hahahahahaha) and level headed. All I could think was, "Does this mean things were going to hell in a hand basket and I didn't notice?" and "Me? Relaxed? If they only knew." Queen of throwing up on shoes = ME.

Now that THAT is out of the way, lets talk about careening down a mountain. CAREENING I'm telling you. Julie swears up and down that it's not careening if there's four lanes of highway and the speed limit is 65, but I swear on Zippy's bloomers that we were freaking CAREENING down the mountains at dusk in a stoopid minivan. So what happens when one is careening down a mountain at dusk in a minivan? All of one's friend's seem to want to call. All I could do was screech out "I CAN'T TALK I'M CAREEEEEEEENNNNNIIIIIING!!!!!". When I got home I had to beat the pucker marks out of my seat with a rubber hammer. From here on out I'm just going to close my eyes coming down the mountain. I might be dead but at least I won't see it coming.

Photo by Dan King

Lexington SDT

We're back home, and I had a ball in Lexington. Cheryl and David put on a really nice trial. I don't know if they read blogs or whatnot, but if so Thank You both so much. I felt very welcomed and comfortable, and I'm glad I went. The field and sheep were challenging, the food was stupid good, and it was a good trial. I got to scribe for Barbara Ray for a while - and she is an absolute blast. I learned a lot, and enjoyed my time with her. Oh, and my toes were infinitely happy to be in the truck too.

It was a good weekend. Nothing froze, I didn't throw up on my shoes, and we somehow managed to not completely humiliate ourselves. Completely being the operative term. Dan and Julie kept me fed, Robin kept me showered, and dang if there wasn't actually room in front of my crates for me to sleep - and I stayed warm and dry. I did try letting Ginger sleep with me the first night but there just wasn't room. She got exiled the second night and all was good.

I decided to go on and run Linc in Nursery on Friday. I managed to get him out there on his first run, but once he got there he was a bit in over his head. He got the sheep covered and down the field, and we retired. However, I was really pleased with his attitude and the fact that he trusted me to get him up there. I'd say the outrun was about 3x anything he'd ever done. Second run his outrun was better, but he came in tight and pushed the sheep backwards. He flopped around them but as he'd rattled them one was trying to break back off to the back of beyond. To make a long story short she ran way way way back into the woods and tall grass. I had a hard time calling Linc off - he was very serious about bringing her back.

They got her back. Eventually. I was somewhat mortified, but to his credit he was trying very hard. She had other ideas. Yeah, OK, so it wasn't exactly our shining moment. Debbie Crowder Pen Goddess was up in the pens and Shay McMullen was setting out - and they were both very kind about it. Sorry y'all.

Nick's runs were better than I expected. I had to give him a lot of redirects to get him out there the first day but he too trusted me to get him out there. I sent him right the first day and it was completely blind. About halfway around he stopped and looked at me like I'd lost my mind. I just kept nudging... and though he crossed over he got there. He lifted his sheep nice and straight actually. He just rolled them gently off, and fetched them nicely making the fetch panels after a few wiggles. We did struggle around the post... gotta work on that. Our fetches are losing points as we turn the post.

His drive away was good but things got a tad squirrelly on the cross drive as they bolted at the turn. He hesitated on the inside flank there and though he gave it to me it was a situation of trying to catch them at that point. We missed the cross drive panels, and brought them back to the pen. The pen was set up so that the human was on the pressure side, so we really struggled to get them in. Apparently we got them in the pen right as time ran out and didn't get our pen points. But he treated the sheep well... they liked him, and dang if he didn't trust me to get him out there.

The second day I sent him left and gave him one redirect (and he was going to get there I thought but I was hoping to kick him out a tad... that didn't work though because my perception was WAY off). Because he came in tight he bumped the sheep, who bolted up the hill. He got on his horse and caught them though - I have to give him credit. He's struggled with running sheep in the past, and I kept calling him in, and we finished the last 1/3 of the fetch nicely. As we turned the post, however, they started turning and fighting.

Nick's never really had experience with sheep facing him off, and I was pleased to see him trying to figure it out. He tried standing his ground (they'd bolt around him as the pressure was behind him). He tried flanking and flopping... that didn't work. He tried walking in... and that worked pretty well. After a hard fought battle we got them going on their drive.... and made the drive away panels. After the turn he refused my inside flank and yet again it was bolt time. We managed to catch them and bring them to the pen. During the fight back down the hill, though, I somehow managed to forget where the pen was.

I turned around and said, "Hey. Where's the pen??". I didn't think anyone heard me, actually, but I was told later that the peanut gallery was howling. Evidently I said it with a Short-Bus look on my face. What can I say? I was concentrating on getting the sheep TO the pen... wherever it was. LOL! Anyway, we timed out before we could get them in the pen.

Our scores sucked. They deserved to suck. Nonetheless I have to have goals... and perspective, right? There were so many things I was happy with - for my dogs AND myself. I feel like I'm growing as a handler, and I think my dogs are progressing too. Besides...we didn't have the lowest score either day (yeah, OK, so it was the best I could come up with). Lofty aspirations, right? Hah! I was happy - Nick made some panels here and there, and there was some really good work in there. Nick did everything I asked of him and he really, really tried for me. I think this trial will have stretched him and taught him that when I send him for sheep... no matter where we are they'll be there.

I may be somewhat incommunicado (blog-wise) over the next few weeks. Thursday I'm heading up to Jan Thompson's trial, and at some point over the next few weeks there'll be some lessons in there. I'm planning to run Linc at Rural Hill in PN on the 6th of November, and I may see if I can get on the Open waiting list depending on what happens with lessons. Mid-November the Crazies and I will be farm-sitting, and then I'm planning to get to the VBCA winter trial at Tom Forrester's place in December.

Whistle for a Cure SDT Recap

This past weekend was one of new beginnings for the dogs and I. Nick and I both had a first - our first Open trial together, and it was Nick's Open debut! It was Linc's trialing debut in Pro-Novice. Surprisingly the fact that I was busier than a one-armed paper hanger working maybe accounted for the fact that I never even thought of throwing up on my shoes. I know, another first, right?

The trial field was great - Robin has spent weeks clearing out trees and brush, and has made it much more open and easier to see. The course wasn't terribly long - but it was challenging. The first day of Open a good bit of the fetch was blind, which was rather cool. The sheep were very good I thought - and though it was quite a mixture of hair sheep and wool sheep from two flocks, they worked pretty well for the most part while being a challenge as well. Nick and I traded off with Julie setting out and doing penwork along with the help from Denise, Peggy, Sandy and Dan. They were AWESOME - thank you guys! I think maybe I even prefer working up top - it's fun for me. It keeps me from obsessing and worrying, and it makes Nick happy.

We raised almost as much money this year as we did last year for Ovarian Cancer research as part of our friend Joan's team. She is such a special person that it's an honor to be a part of this and support not only the research but her too.

I'm not going to give a blow by blow of every step that was taken (I'm still too tired for that), but I'll give a decent recount if I can. Nick's first Open run he did everything I EVER asked of him and then some. He was sharp, thoughtful, listening well, and held it together really well. I was pleased to see him holding some of the lines on his own. His drive was a thing of beauty - only losing two points. Going into the shedding ring we'd only lost 12 or 13 pts. Unfortunately we wound up losing a ewe to the exhaust on a missed shed (totally my fault - I turned my back on her and she was GONE), and I retired because I couldn't see what was going on.

Dang. Shedding sure is a lot harder when you're doing it than when you're watching it. Oh yeah baby, I'm a darned good armchair shedder. In real time? Not so much. Yet. It's a lot harder to do the first time under the gun than it is just out in a pasture alone. When it's just me, my dog, the sheep, and no pressure we're like shedding fools. In the ring? Hah. For that matter there's a lot more pressure in general - there's a lot more to think about running in Open. There's a lot more that's expected and needed from the dog, and I cannot imagine how anyone could make breeding decisions when they've never gotten out of the novice classes. Open is a whole new ballgame. But really, that's another discussion. We're just at the beginning of our journey.

Our second run wasn't nearly as pretty - it took me until partly through the drive away to get ahold of Nick. By that point he had been setting out and pushing out the day before - and was quite full of himself. He buggered the sheep a bit starting his drive (and OK, on the fetch too) and was overflanking and winging around. I finally got his attention, and after that his drive was good. Fortunately the sheep were forgiving of his buggering and settled right down. I made a few novice flubs also - but we got around. We timed out in the shedding ring this time. Denise had given me some much appreciated advice (thank you Denise) after our shed the day before, so I was considering this as I went into the ring this time. I was disappointed to not have time to put it into action, but at least I was *thinking* about it. We got a score though! It wasn't a great score, but it WAS a score.

So YAY! We got a score at our first Open trial. That's not what I aspire to forever, but for the first one - with my first dog... I'm happy. Satisfied? No. Happy? Yes. I won't be satisfied to *just* get a score forever. But for today I'm floating.

Linc's Pro-Novice run was better than I expected. He gave me far more than I expected him to. I've been having a little trouble of late with him hesitating on his outruns. I was worried that this would be an issue... or that I might possibly find him hanging off a sheep on the way down the field. When he feels pressure from me he gets a little wiggy at the moment. I set him up to go left, and to my surprise he went like a champ.

He was a *tad* tight going out, but he kicked out and landed beautifully behind the sheep. He took his down whistle - dropped like a stone. The fetch was a tad off line (just barely missing the panels) but I finally convinced him to fix it after the panels. After the turn at the post there were two sheep bound and determined to head off towards the left. Two sheep were online going where I wanted, but I think he was afraid if he let off the pressure they would bolt up the hill. The two determined to go towards the goat yard were *really* determined, and I could see Linc getting wound tighter and tighter. I retired at that point - I felt like he was in way over his head. All in all I was more than pleased with him.

So it might not have been the most successful trial ever as far as scores go, but dang if my dogs and I didn't learn a lot. I was awful proud of both of them. Nick worked literally *all* weekend up top, and he held up physically and mentally - and still he wanted more.

Now we look ahead to the Lexington SDT in October. I missed the opening date of Jan Thompson's trial so won't be heading up there unfortunately. I'm disappointed, but maybe I should try paying attention. I'm tossing around the possibility of seeing if we can get in to run at Rural Hill since it's so close. That will probably be it for us and trials this year.

Later on I'll have a list of "Things I Learned Last Weekend".

Breezy Hill SDT

It was a weekend of ups and downs at the Breezy Hill SDT for us. We had a bit of trouble managing our way around the course this time - mostly doing well until we hit the drive away panels and then having trouble managing the draws to the setout and then the pond.

Saturday Nick ran out nicely and looked like he was stopping short - but the sheep lifted dead on. On his fetch he opted to put himself out to the side and to hold the line on his own - with only a few steady and stop whistles. We had a jog at the post, but then started the drive away. His drive away was about as beautiful as I could have asked for - dead straight, and straight through the panels. When I went to flank him he refused it - my guess would be knowing the pressure of the setout. Unfortunately this gave the sheep the message that they could get away from him. We managed to get it together for part of the crossdrive, but when the sheep got to the cross drive panels they bolted for the pond, and we didn't catch up until they were out of bounds.

We managed to retire and get DQ'd in the same breath. LOL!

Sunday Nick's sheep left before he got there (same thing happened in the run before ours, and the two after us) but he covered nicely and brought them down the field even prettier than the day before (we only lost two points on our fetch). We turned the post nicely, and had a nice quiet drive away. We were a bit off line late into the drive away, and missed the panels due to my being too conservative with flanking him to the away side (left hand drive) because I was anticipating that danged turn. He hesitated slightly to take his come bye flank but took it better this time. The sheep were already bolting towards the setout - but we caught them. Missed the cross drive panels but this time managed to catch the sheep before they could get away. The cross drive wasn't pretty, but we didn't lose the sheep. His line back to the pen was nice once we got them online. I pushed a sheep out of the mouth of the pen but we got them in on the second try - but not without some hard work on our parts.

So Sunday we got a score, albeit not very high - to land us about in the middle of the pack. I was super pleased with Nick for electing to not bugger the sheep at the top or on the fetch, and happy to see him put himself out there to hold the line. I need some work on helping him manage sheep that are dealing with strong draws, but I felt like I learned a lot.

It was cool to be thinking about how to handle these situations better - as opposed to just thinking about "I hope we get the sheep to our feet" or something like that. So... good times. Oh, and we tent camped. It occurs to me that the mystery of tent camping has worn off. I'd prefer the mystery of indoor plumbing or a travel trailer. Oh well, it is what it is - and I'm really grateful to be able to just GO.

Robin and Billy won Open Ranch and second place with Zac in Open on Saturday. Julie won Open one day with Twist, and then the other day with Kat. It was a good weekend for friends!

We'll be farm-sitting over the next week, so fun times ahead. We'll have sheep and cattle at our disposal, and plenty of room to walk and goof off too. If I can remember I'll take my camera with me and do some updates too - but I can't promise. It'll be a little bit like a mini-vacation for us. The person I'm sitting for only has one dog right now - that's like... weird. I'm used to my five plus anywhere from six to fourteen dogs.

In case I don't get near a computer in all of the upcoming flurry - Happy Independence Day everyone!

photo by Dan King

Circle BR SDT - Memorial Day Weekend

I rolled up to Dr. Ben's about mid-afternoon on Saturday with five dogs, a tent, and a minivan. It was already warm and muggy, and they were unfortunately almost already finished with Open when we got there. They decided to do Jackpot Runs, so I entered Nick on a whim. Nick had never done quite such a long outrun, and we'd never worked on a terraced field. Suffice it to say that I set him up wrong, and then when he started to pull in I stopped him to redirect him - and it weirded him out. Nick's generally a pretty good outrunning dog - he typically runs wide (often wider than I'd like) and deep, and finds his sheep. Where I stopped him he couldn't see the sheep, so he was all like, "What? What? Why are you stopping me here??". Let me say... it's a long way up that hill, but it makes for some good activity points.

After that, she who shall rename nameless provided me with a Margarita flavored wine cooler to drown my hurt feelings in. Unfortunately the combination of empty stomach, a drink drunk too fast (I was bolting it down as we pulled up to the Church for dinner), dehydration, and being a lightweight to begin with yielded a slightly tipsy me. So there we were in the Church for dinner, and the judge was sitting with us - and I'd never met her before (although she's very neat) - and I was an inebriated novice handler. Bad combination. I managed to keep a lid on it (by basically shutting my trap and sitting there as quietly as I could, which wasn't easy), which was a very good thing. When we got back, however, Julie and I began to set up our tents. Fortunately Robin was nearby to rescue me, as I was stumbling over things, trying to figure out how to set up my tent.

Later that night I managed to stumble out into the woods (sans flashlight 'cuz I didn't want anyone to know I was going to potty in the woods). I fell into a hole, and then I peed on my feet. Oh yeah, good times.

It rained. It rained and rained, although there were some breaks, and when it wasn't raining it was so humid that it was impossible to ever get truly dry. I'll admit, however, that this was far preferable to the blaring sun and 98 degrees that we usually somehow wind up with. But did I mention that it rained? And that we (Julie and I) were sleeping in tents? Poor Julie's tent leaked pretty badly, so she had it even worse than I did.

Anyway, when Monday rolled around I ran Nick in Nursery and Ranch. For Nursery they set the outrun up about 2/3 of the way up the hill. I had to redirect Nick once, but he took it this time. Looked good... right up until the point where he came cranking right into the back of the sheep. He then proceeded to punish them yet a second time. It took me until he was about halfway to me before I could get ahold of him - and when I finally got him to stop the sheep started running even faster. We mostly flanked wildly and tried to keep them from running off into the sunset at that point. I was rattled, the sheep were rattled... oh but Nick was having a great time. He managed to even chest butt them when they tried to head to the exhaust.

We had our lowest score ever (although it was in fact a score). I think we managed to get two points on our drive - but I think those were mercy points. Anyway, I didn't make the connection initially to his buggering the sheep being the cause of the running (and looking back I can't say that I blame them) but Robin helped me to see that, and I developed a plan for our Ranch run.


We walked to the post in Open Ranch and I sent him to the right instead. I had to redirect him twice, but I got him all the way out there (it was the full course with a maltese cross and then pen). As soon as the sheep lifted their heads I put him on the ground. I let him take a few steps, and dropped him again. After rinsing and repeating he got the message and we had a really nice run after that. He basically marched the sheep around the course from that point. We had a nice enough fetch - a few wiggles, but nice. We had a jig turning the post, and Nick managed to goose them, so we had to catch them before they could think about the exhaust.

The drive away was really nice. We had a few issues with the crossdrive (wide turn and a few jogs off line, and it took me a bit to get them back on line). It was, however, probably one of the better crossdrives we've managed. It was a LONG drive. Actually, it was a big course for us, really, all the way around. We managed the maltese cross with not a single point off - it was really pretty, as was the pen. We wound up third in Open Ranch - 4 pts out of first. We lost 6 pts for the redirects on his outrun. There were some really nice runs, and I was very pleased with him. We even got a cool third place plaque to hang on the wall.

On the way home I noshed on some Ghirardelli brownies that Julie made - they were OMG good. I had a good time, but it was good to come in out of the rain. I enjoyed getting to scribe some for the judge (Lyle Lad) - I felt like I learned a lot. She was very personable, fair, and consistent.

That was our weekend. I am not sure what's up next. I had intended to move Nick up to Open before too long, but now I'm feeling more like we might need a bit more time in Ranch. We shall see.

Picture by Julie Poudrier

Round 2

Saturday was... more of the same. Nick wasn't taking my lie down whistle at the top, wasn't taking ANY sort of stop on the fetch, and was goosing the sheep in a zig-zag pattern until I finally got ahold of him just past the fetch gates to finally get them back on line. The drive, however, was lovely - a tad slow (we walked the sheep around, but the line was really good), and as a result we timed out before the pen. Again. But I learned some things this weekend, and at this point (being my, what, seventh or eighth trial or something like that?) that's a very good thing.

So, after yesterday we went back to Julie's and had a "you lie down you little twerp" discussion, which surprisingly consisted of a whistle, and a "HEY!" and then a dog that dropped like a stone every time I told him after that. Why didn't I do that at the trial? I dunno. Sometimes I don't think quite fast enough on my feet. We worked a little on fixing his fetch, but I'm having a bit of trouble grasping what Robin is asking us to do. So I'm going to roll it around a bit for a few days, and just fool around and try to "get it". That's usually how the two of us work best, Nick and I, is this latent learning thing.

I worked Linc a bit yesterday too, and was pleased at my calm attitude, which in turn resulted in HIS calm attitude. He was looking good, and hopefully I'll get him worked some this week too.

Other than that I watched the basketball game last night (GO HEELS!) and went to bed early. Now it's another week.

God save me from teenage boy dogs this week. That is all.

Today's Runs

Well, I'm pleased to announce that we got NUMBERS, and I did not throw up on my shoes.

That counts for something, right?

Hah. This stuff still sort of blurs and whirls around for me, so unlike Julie who manages to generally be able to recount everything beautifully, for me it's more like, "well, we didn't totally suck". So here is what I DO remember:

Run #1 - outrun was nice, but he was pulling up a bit shallow. He, however, realized it and flared out beautifully to land nice and deep, and walk up straight and confident. He was, of course, walking up right through my "LIE DOWN" whistle. My emphatic lie down whistle, in fact. According to Julie he also managed to effectively lift the sheep, GOOSE them, and then lie down. Doofus. Fetch was offline until after the panels, he did NOT want to let off of the pressure to correct the line, nor did he want to stop. Turn at the post was lovely, as was the drive away.

The cross drive for the first run was a pull back through the fetch panels, which he did pretty nicely. We managed to time out at the pen though. Wanna know why? His idiot handler had neglected to check how it opened during the handler's meeting, and thought she was going to have to take the danged thing apart to get them in it.

So sheepdog trialing noobs, listen up. When the seasoned veterans tell you to make sure you know how to open the pen, you should listen. For reals.

Second run his outrun was nicer, though he slightly overran. Lifted a bit crooked (I thought, but his lift score was better) and then same fetch as before. Same exact score, actually. Drive away was a hair squirrelly, mostly due to the dog deciding that maybe he should see if he could just do what he wanted to. We discussed it. I won.

He did the most beeeyoootiful crossdrive he's ever done. Up until today every cross drive we've done at a trial has mostly been him goosing sheep, winging around to cover, me trying to get him around, rinse and repeat. Today he got in there and with some steady's and some small flanks damn if we didn't actually drive some sheep.

That being said, we timed out before we got to the pen. This course was the full drive (it was a long drive) and as a result didn't get our drive points at all. We did miss the crossdrive panels, and had a squirrely trek back to the pen because the sheep were bound and determined to get back to the setout. They'd neglected to tell the judge that we'd have an extra minute, so we timed out when we shouldn't have. But hey, there were others who managed to complete the course AND pen on the smaller amount of time, so fair enough. I'm not complaining at ALL.

I think we ended up fifth or sixth in the first go (there were some really, REALLY nice runs after ours, including Robin's Billy - who is very young, and looked very good, and Denise's May who kicked some serious young dog bootie). I don't know where we wound up on the second run - but I think I won the "Who can have the lowest score that is a NUMBER" prize. Wonder what we get for that?

Here's the thing... we didn't do all that great from a score standpoint, and we didn't get our second Nursery leg, but I'm so happy with him and our runs. They were very respectable, and I was just pleased as punch with his driving. There were a lot of things that he gave me that he hasn't been, and I think the time off did him some good. He's gotten a lot tougher, and I truly had a ball today. The weather held out until we were finished too, so that was a very good thing. Anet has a beautiful place, and I really liked the challenges on the field.

Update on tomorrow to follow!

Broken Back Ranch SDT Update

Well, the good thing is I didn't barf on my shoes. I felt like it, but I managed to at least appear outwardly calm this weekend.

Nursery, Friday, Nick's first run... is mostly a blur. Outrun was nice, lift a little off, fetch started out squirrelly, but got it under control. Actually, we didn't lose many points on that part. I think zero off on the O and L. I can't remember if we made the fetch gates or not, but when they got to my feet it was like Nick didn't want to flank. We made a REALLY wide turn at the post, and had some trouble getting them online to start the drive (right hand). He finally got them online, and the drive away was right lovely (made the panels pretty dead on) - and he was taking tiny flanks on the fly (with whistles) so nicely. We made the turn at the gates, and slightly overflanked, resulting in needing him to flank come bye.

He'd been a tad odd on the fetch, and by this point he was really sluggish and off (flanking REALLY slow and REALLY wide), and acting/moving a bit oddly. We got the sheep almost online on the crossdrive, putting one through the gates and the other three missed low. When I flanked him to bring them to the pen he looked really weird, and I realized he wasn't having an attitude problem but a physical problem. He wouldn't even come all the way to the pen, but the sheep walked in for me. When I flanked him to bring them out he started holding up a rear leg. Yikes.

So Tony exhausted the next set of sheep and I pulled him out to look at him. He was hobbling funny on the back end. Anyway, to make a long story short we wound up in the middle of the pack scorewise, but any good feelings I might have had about the good things were quite overshadowed by my worry for my dog. I scratched his second run. I've had him on anti-inflammatories, and have been resting him. He's looking fine by today, but I'm going to keep him quiet for the rest of the week - and might either pull completely from the cattle trial next weekend or substitute Spottie for Nick. If he's still funky by the weekend I'll take him in and have my vet take a look.

Spottie... was a very good girl. I walked to the post with my heart pounding in my ears. On the first run the OLF was really nice. I did give her a redirect on the outrun, but I'm not sure she needed it. On the fetch the dogs were to turn the sheep at a hay bale instead of bringing them all the way up and I really struggled to get her around there. We got things under control and the drive away was reasonable. Cross drive was really wiggy, and we were having troubles communicating. I don't think she was being obstinant, we just weren't quite together. At any rate, we wound up retiring at the end of the crossdrive (right at the panels one sheep broke away and I had trouble getting her to cover... and by the time she did the sheep were practically at my feet again), but I was pleased with what I felt was reasonably respectable considering she's only been with me three weeks. She wasn't taking my whistles very well this weekend, even though she has been at "home".

Second run yesterday she stopped short on her outrun, so the lift was a bit off, but she did take my flank on the fetch to get them online. But, then I couldn't get her quite around that hay bale to make the turn (almost did, and at the last second she decided NOPE), and we wound up RT with our sheep at the exhaust. The judge was great, and came out and told me that at that point I could have sent her the other way - and although that would have been crossing our course (the reason in fact why I didn't) that it would have meant we could have kept going. See? You get to learn all kinds of cool things when you jump into things feet first!

They gave us these cool handlers badges, and I was so excited I thought about pinning it to my undies and wearing it forever.

We ate good this weekend, that's for sure. All of my friends had some really nice runs laid down, and it was fun to be a part of it. I got to scribe for the judge, and had an absolute ball! It was quite chilly, though, and I'm glad to be back home and in my bed. So that is it - the good, the bad, and the ugly. It wasn't quite the spectacular display I'd hoped for, but reasonable and respectable - and certainly not a total trainwreck! The hospitality was great, and the field was absolutely gorgeous.

Now I have to actually go do some work at work.

A Trialin This Weekend...

So this is me packing. Like it? Yeah, me too. We're headed off to SC this weekend, and if they have room and will agree to squeeze me in I'm going to ask them to let me run Spottie in Open after all. Robin's going to hide in the van. In a trenchcoat. And a Fedora. Just for good measure.

Nick has two nursery runs tomorrow, and I plan to roll out of here by no later than 7am. That means I need to go to bed... uh... now? The jeans I'm wearing tomorrow are in the dryer, my clothes and snacks are in the van, and all that's left is a few minor details.

Oh, and I sent in my entry to run Nick on cattle next weekend. This is me over here throwing up on my shoes at all of the new experiences I'm planning to undertake in the next few weeks... running a dog in Open, running a dog on cattle, getting a divorce, spending Christmas with people I love and truly enjoy this year...

Spottie says, oh, it's you again!

I was hoping you were someone... else. Oh, wait... what is THAT? Are you going to throw it?

I didn't think so. You're not much fun when you have that camera thing in your hand. I'm on to you.