O Groomers!

Always the tchotchkes. Poor Grayling. "Get these things off me!" I did, right after I took a few snaps.

I got Jasper's license last week, and the clerk wrote "Whippet x" on the form. I said, "You think so?" and the clerk said, "We put down whatever the vet says on the rabies cert." OK. He does look whippety. The tail, though, is all Chihuahua.

Then this weekend a customer at the groomers looked at Jaspie and said, "Oh, a pit mix!" I was like, "What?!" She misunderstood my surprise. "Oh, they're very nice dogs!" she said. "My sister has one..."

It's fate, people. Lookit the boy ;~)

Sweet Jeebus on a dinosaur [with Finals vids and Dewi Tweed goodness]

Because actual scientists are just big old snobs. jesus horses by wullagaru for threadless.

For decade after weary decade there have been chuckleheads claiming that working border collies aren't all that, and who needs a real stockdog nowadays, anyway, and oh — remember to buy a pup from my non-working kennel! It's such an unoriginal, predictable sort of background noise that by now most people with working stockdogs simply tune it out.

Retrieverman is the latest to troll these waters, with a post entitled, of all things, Intellectual honesty on the effects of trials and shows. [H/T: For the Pit Bulls.] The one bit of intellectual honesty you'll find in his post is this admission: "I know next to nothing about actual herding trials."

And I'll be darned if he doesn't proceed to write paragraph after paragraph demonstrating just how little he knows about working stockdogs and actual herding trials. Seriously, I can't wait for his "Don't know much about geology" post.

A few points. First: nice to know that the press coverage of the USBCHA Finals has made an impact. Working border collies are amazing dogs, and it can't be repeated often enough that the border collie's brains and biddability and athleticism are a direct result of rigorous selection for stockwork, as opposed to rigorous selection for a pronounced stop.

Point Two: if you think the following comment by BC Board moderator Eileen Stein is "the funniest bullshit [you've] ever seen," you might be as ignorant of working stockdogs as Retriever Man:

[Border collies] are like Alaskan Huskies in that they are bred to a working standard rather than an appearance standard, and they are a breed rather than a type in that they have been bred to that working standard long enough that they almost always meet that working standard better than any other kind of dog.
[...]
Alaskan Huskies don't have a registry and border collies do -- that's the only significant difference.

I think the part he missed is that working sheepdogs and racing huskies are bred for different purposes, but who the hell knows. And not that racing husky people concern themselves with bloodlines or anything like that.

Point Three: there is nothing esoteric about a USBCHA sheepdog trial. Any stockdog remotely deserving of the description should be able to gather stock, drive the stock to specific areas, and help sort and pen the stock. This isn't rocket science: I've seen Lhasa Apsos manage it in a small corral with tame sheep — which, I should emphasize, doesn't mean that Lhasa Apsos represent the gold standard of stock work, however proud of their efforts you may be. A really good stockdog will be able to accomplish those tasks in wide-open, unfamiliar terrain, in an efficient manner, with unfamiliar stock. That's what a USBCHA sheepdog trial tests, and if that's hard to understand, I'm Lady Gaga.

Finally, if you'd like to see some of the best stockdogs in North America demonstrating their prowess in September's 2010 National Sheepdog Finals [and I would dearly love to watch some of those runs again], head over to the Finals Web Cast page and sign up for their pay-per-view. As Heather Nadelman reports, "You can skip around in the video and watch it in chunks at your leisure — the clock only ticks against your purchased hours if you're logged into the player." At 400-some yards the Belle Grove trial field was smallish [to this westerner], but the sheep were plenty challenging and the best work was awesome. Yes, I'm looking at you, Riggs and Patrick Shanahan :~)))

*************

This isn't from our Finals, but what a nice vid it is: Richard Millichap's most awesome Dewi Tweed gathers sheep in the Welsh mountains. Enjoy! [For those interested in the border collie's "genetic bottleneck," Kinloch has a link to Tweed's pedigree, with the inbreeding coefficient numbers listed for his ISDS parents and grandparents.]

2010 National Sheepdog Finals

Now with live streaming video of the 40 semi-final runs on Saturday and the double-lift final on Sunday! Awesome.

Jenny Glen is providing great play-by play here, and Heather Nadelman is doing yeoman's work and much more here. Check out additional reports from top competitors Bev Lambert and Robin French.

Have I mentioned that the splendid border collies at the National Finals are the best working sheepdogs in North America? Slick-coated, rough-coated, wire-faced [Polly Matzinger's James ran in the Finals on Wednesday] — yet for all their diversity in appearance, how similar they are in their aptitude for the work! Eileen Stein explains:

[Border collies] are like Alaskan Huskies in that they are bred to a working standard rather than an appearance standard, and they are a breed rather than a type in that they have been bred to that working standard long enough that they almost always meet that working standard better than any other kind of dog[...] Alaskan Huskies don't have a registry and border collies do -- that's the only significant difference.

[As you can imagine, this sort of talk gives conformation breeders apoplexy.]

Here's a lovely sheepdog trial photo, though there are no sheep in sight: this is Dennis Birchall with Mossie and Flash, the 2009 International Brace Champions. Yes, those are border collies. How I love slick-coats:


Dennis Birchall has won the Irish National six times, and is one of four most excellent judges at Belle Grove for our 2010 National Finals. Dennis, Mossie and Flash represented Ireland again this year at the International Supreme Championship in County Antrim, Northern Ireland, a county whose motto, fittingly enough, is "Through trial to triumph," but the triumph in brace this time went to Richard Hutchinson with Roy and Sweep. Michael Gallagher and Cap were 2010 International Supreme Champions — you can find more results at the ISDS website here.

Yes, I am insanely jealous of all the handlers, dog bloggers and others attending the Finals at Belle Grove. Thank god for that streaming video, is all I can say.

Related:

About the double lift

About the International shed

Great read: The Dog Wars by Donald McCaig
Zamora Hills [and some dog show]
This is not herding.

This is not herding.

This is not herding. This is not herding. THIS IS NOT HERDING. Photo by Brandon Thibodeaux for The New York Times.

It's prey drive. Say it with me: PREY DRIVE. Your dog is not herding.

But he's a "herding breed," you say?

Stop. Please.

Prey drive is what makes your dog nip at your elbow when you start running, if he doesn't know any better.

Also: there is no excuse for his not knowing better.

Ever notice how actual working-bred border collies — reactive dogs with the prey drive of a dozen hungry leopards — manage to run around an agility course without chasing and nipping at their handlers? Ever been to an actual sheepdog trial, and noticed how real stockdogs never "herd" spectators or stray children? That's because chasing people and nipping at them isn't herding.

So when I see something like this, I could beat my head on rocks. Dear jogger: your handsome Catahoula is not mouthing your elbow because he's a "herding breed." He's mouthing your elbow because he has no manners. Don't make excuses for his rude behavior. If you spend a little time training him, you'll both enjoy those jogging sessions a lot more.

[Have I made a distinction between prey drive and "herding" before? Why yes, in the very first post on this blog! I started this entire blogging endeavor just to rant about how much it grates to hear someone who has never worked livestock with a stockdog announce that Scout is "herding the kids" because Scout is a Sheltie and not a Cocker Spaniel and Shelties are "herding dogs" and oh please God make it stop before my head asplodes. Here is a reprint of that first post.]

**************

I know a number of keen, athletic dogs that love to crouch, stalk and circle. In fact, if they were border collies you’d say that they were stylish workers, with a fair amount of eye and good balance on their “stock” — but they’re not border collies. They’re not even “herding” dogs. They’re pit bulls, and the behavior they’re displaying is prey drive.

I’ve been told that most animal behavior texts don’t discuss drives, and when they do, the terminology is ambiguous. The consensus seems to be that the term is antiquated, though dog trainers discuss drives all the time: play drive, fetch drive, food drive, defense drive, fight drive. [Check out Schutzhund Obedience: Training in Drive at Dogwise.com.] Animal behaviorist Roger Abrantes writes that it is important to “distinguish between instinct and drive,” though, and I’m happy to give it a shot.

Drive means one of several varieties of “compulsive energy,” such as aggression, sex or self-preservation. Instinct is the inherent capacity to perform a complete behavior sequence: in this case the gathering of stock over vast areas of land and the conscientious management of that stock, in great or small numbers, in relation to a shepherd who may be close at hand or out of sight and miles away. This particular behavior sequence and its variations are instinctive in that they cannot be taught, only enhanced through experience, much as the ability to swim is acquired by young otters and flight perfected by young hawks. Prey drive, to use Mark Derr's definition, is “aggression that expresses itself as boldness and assertiveness in seeking and capturing objects.”

In his book The Sheepdog, Its Work and Training Tim Longton writes of his border collie Nell, who was suckling two-week-old pups and had been left home on a busy day. The shepherd and his helpers were endeavoring to move an unruly mob of lambs:

“[Nell] heard us trying to drive this lot along a rough bank where felled woodland and a landslide added to the hazards. I could hear her crying to be let out; a few minutes later she appeared, having gained the window. Two young lambs dashed uphill. Nell set off after them. She was fighting a losing battle, as the lambs split, and as soon as she had one on its way the other galloped madly in the other direction. I did not command her but, appreciating the position, Nell pushed one lamb in front of her and nosed it right in among the rest of the lambs. Then she returned for the other, which by now had escaped into a 200-acre field with 400 sheep in it. We continued our slow journey, and when we reached the far end there was Nell with a lamb pinned at the back of a gate. It was the lamb we wanted.”

That’s herding instinct. (Nell was English Shepherd’s Champion in 1951.) "It cannot be stressed too strongly," writes Longton, "that if you want a work dog both parents should be work dogs." Border collies bred to a working standard — that is, bred solely to work livestock — are the finest stockdogs on earth.

But when your sheltie, Belgian shepherd, beagle or Jack Russell runs happy, yappy laps around the neighbor’s grandkids, chases water from the garden hose until he’s soaked, nips at the hands and heels of your squealing six-year-old, runs furiously after every car, cat and bicycle he sees, or shows what passes for balance on dog-broke sheep in a round pen, that’s not herding instinct — it’s prey drive.

Prey drive is evident to some degree in most healthy dogs. Chihuahuas can exhibit prey drive. Poodles can display it. The only difference between their behavior and your neighbor’s sheltie’s behavior is that when poodles and chihuahuas get excited and chase children and nip fingers and heels, no one smiles and says, “Look! Bit-Bit is herding!"

The great majority of dogs in the American Kennel Club’s ironically named Herding Group would ignore livestock completely if it weren’t for prey drive. With sufficient prey drive, though, a responsive dog of practically any breed could win an AKC herding title. I’ve seen a determined pair of Lhasa apsos compete successfully in an arena trial, and years ago Diane Jessup’s pit bull Dread won high score on ducks at an ASCA [Australian Shepherd Club of America] competition — he pushed the ducks around the course with his nose. Not real herding, Ms. Jessup has said, just a good dog obliging his handler. (Dread was also titled on sheep.)

The American Kennel Club has always limited its herding contests to dogs in the AKC Herding Group: a face-saving conceit that perpetuates the myth of “herding breeds” with unique talents beyond the ken of pit bulls and Lhasa apsos. Perhaps this really was the case one hundred fifty years ago — before the onset of dog shows and breeding to a conformation standard — but with one or two notable exceptions, today’s “herding breeds" no longer have any working instincts that set them apart from Labrador retrievers or Dalmatians. In fact, during a major show circuit a few years ago, the most impressive “herding” dog at the popular “herding instinct test” was a friend’s golden retriever.

Herding, of course, has its evolutionary roots in prey drive. But prey drive itself — chasing, circling, crouching, stalking — is no reflection of herding background, instinct, ability, or potential. If it were, I’d be running my pit bulls in the USBCHA Finals.

I love dogs with high prey drive; they are easy to motivate and a joy to train. But when prey drive is dismissed, excused or poorly managed, it can place children and others at risk of a dog bite or attack. Ask my neighbor: Art spent time in the hospital after he was chased and pulled from his bike by a German shorthaired pointer. Dogs with high prey drive need appropriate exercise, good training and careful management — recommendations that apply to all dogs, but particularly to the ones that are more than two degrees north of stuffed.


When someone with a conformation-bred dog says, “Oh, look — Scout is herding the kids!” the truth is that Scout is only doing what any energetic dachshund, golden retriever or cocker spaniel would do under the same circumstances. It’s prey drive. It isn’t by any means unique to the so-called “herding breeds,” and it certainly isn’t “herding.”

*************

Related posts:
How to create a working stockdog
Great read: The Dog Wars by Donald McCaig
On titles and codes of ethics [or, "How can you tell if a dog is worth breeding if he doesn't have a title?" Answer: Watch him work.]
Zamora Hills [and some dog show]
The soft bigotry of low expectations suits the BCSA just fine
Inside animal minds

Coyote news

Coyote at Canyon, by jrtchris on Flickr.

From prairie naturalist Trevor Herriot's Grass Notes comes word that the government of Saskatchewan is offering a $20 bounty on coyotes. An excerpt from Trevor's post:

The provincial Environment department has ecologists who know that this kind of measure does not stop coyotes from eating livestock. Our universities have biologists and ecologists who could explain what happens when bounty hunters start killing a predator like the coyote. As a “k-selected” species, the coyote regulates its population according to food supply and mortality rates.

If there is abundant food but adults are being killed, the survivors, who are also the more successful and wise, immediately increase the brood size and numbers of pregnant females within the pack. Trying to control coyote populations by killing them has been compared to bailing a boat with a sieve.

Then why the bounty? Trevor again:

An interesting sidelight on the coyote bounty: I have heard via the grapevine that some of the loudest complaints have come from sheep farmers north of the Qu’Appelle in the Cupar/Lipton area, where British farmers have moved in recent decades to set up farming [...] They are undoubtedly a welcome addition to the local farm community, but if they come from Scotland or England they arrive with a certain set of expectations and experiences — about wildlife and about the government’s role in making the land safe for farming.

Trevor's post reminds me of the well-known [to border collie people, anyway] description of the shepherd's dog in England, written by Johannes Caius 400 years ago:

Our shepherdes dogge is not huge, vaste, and bigge, but of an indifferent stature and growth, because it hath not to deale with the bloudthyrsty wolf, sythence there be none in England, which happy and fortunate benefite is to be ascribed to the puisaunt Prince Edgar, who to thintent ye the whole countrey myght be evacuated and quite clered from wolfes, charged & commaunded the welshemë (who were pestered with these butcherly beastes above measure) to paye him yearely tribute which was (note the wisedome of the King) three hundred Wolfes. Some there be which write that Ludwall Prince of Wales paide yeerly to King Edgar three hundred wolves in the name of an exaction (as we have sayd before.) And that by the meanes hereof, within the compasse and tearme of foure yeares none of those noysome, and pestilent Beastes were left in the coastes of England and Wales. This Edgar wore the Crown royall, and bare the Scepter imperiall of this kingdome, about the yeare of our Lorde nyne hundred fifty, nyne. Synce which time we reede that no Wolfe hath bene seene in England, bred within the bounds and borders of this countrey, mary there have bene divers brought over from beyonde the seas, for greedynesse of gaine and to make money, for gasing and gaping, staring, and standing to see them, being a straunge beast, rare, and seldom seene in England.

"... about the yeare of our Lorde nyne hundred fifty, nyne. Synce which time we reede that no Wolfe hath bene seene in England." All killed.

It gives me a certain satisfaction to know [with as much certainty as I know anything] that the coyote will escape that fate and dance on Man's grave at the end, bounty or no. Check out Camera Trap Codger's photo of the trickster: Coyote beautiful.

Related:
Coyotes at home and away

Twig the Enforcer

Demon dog is swallowing Bounce whole, OMG...!

Bounce the matriarch and Smoky the yearling like to roughhouse. Bed, floor or front porch makes no difference. They both love a good game of Let's Roll Around and Chew on Each Other.

[As you can see, we're riding the red-eye express. Adds a certain je ne sais quoi to the blurry snapshots, no?]

Border collie Twig doesn't like roughhousing. "Fun" offends her puritan sensibilities, and by "fun" I mean "Smoky." She blames him for everything. Twig's purpose in life is to insert herself between Smoke and Bounce whenever they are playing and make Smoky by God stop. In fact, right this minute she just rushed into the kitchen to make those two behave themselves. Correction: to make Smoke behave himself, since, as I've said, everything is always his fault. If persuasion won't work, Twig isn't above resorting to threats of violence. It's a tough job, but at least it's work.

Much of what Smoke has learned about how to behave around other dogs [that is, to behave with more respect than he ever thought he had] he has learned from Twig.

No more tug-of-war — or else:

"You should put the camera down and say something to Twig. She's messing with me again, and it's having a bad effect on my self-esteem." Sorry, dude — you're on your own.

Piper, my sheepdog: June 9, 1994 - May 20, 2009

My oldest dog died in my arms at the vet's on Wednesday, after suffering a stroke. She was a few weeks shy of turning fifteen. I've made the other dogs all promise to live forever.

Piper was born here at home - born breech, if I remember right. Her dam had stepped out of the whelping box and when Piper made her entrance into the world, I caught her in my hands. She was smiling in the sac. I said, "You're mine," and that was that.

I've been trying to come up with a way to describe the difference between losing a companion dog and losing a working partner, and I'm afraid I'm not going to describe it very well. So many regrets, as Donald McCaig has written. Did I mention that I talk to my border collies in the same voice I use for people? I often use a mommy-wuvs-you voice with my other dogs, which may explain the situation in a nutshell, but anyhow.

Most of us love and have loved dogs that from a working standpoint are utterly useless, not that there's anything wrong with that. My first pit bull, for example, was great at doting on people and killing lizards. And that was pretty much the extent of his skill set, but I loved that dog more than any I've known, which is going some.

Sheepdogs, for me, are more complicated. They remind me of Remy in Ratatouille. [Edited to explain: Remy reads, knows the difference between a sous-chef and a chef de partie, and lives to cook. The other rats think he's weird.] Sheepdogs are thinkers, and the more they have to think about — the more problems they have to solve — the happier they are. Better still if physical activity is part of the mix. If work is love made visible, no creature alive has a greater heart than the border collie.

Piper was all heart and all try. She was a savvy, strong-eyed, plain-working dog, a journeyman of the best sort, and she never, ever gave a task less than 100%. She did her absolute best every. single. time. Did I deserve her? Not hardly. My efforts and abilities weren't in her league. Stock work is demanding and sometimes dangerous, but she never said, "Screw you, I quit. I'm tired of picking up the slack for you day after f*ing day, and I'm tired of picking up the pieces after your stupid mistakes. I'm outta here."

She never did that. When I messed up, which was often, she redoubled her efforts and made things right. She was so competent at the farm, so good at everything, that I took her for granted, and frequently mistook her talent for my own mad training skillz. I'll probably never have such a wonderful partner again.

At the end of the day she'd curl up in the kitchen, dusty coat, sore knees and all, and treat me as though a dish of kibble and a pat were the greatest gifts on earth. They give so much in return for so little, our sheepdogs.

I could drone on, but it would be better to leave you with a link to Bill Fosher's wonderful tribute to his sheepdog Molly, and a link to Mark Thompson's tribute to his Bodhi, from Setter Feathers & Quail Tales. Excerpt:

Bodhisattva is Sanskrit. A Bodhisattva does not seek “bodhi” (awakening or liberation from our worldly suffering) solely for himself (as a “yogi” does), but chiefly a Bodhi forgoes the path of enlightenment in order to assist in the freeing all other beings and aiding them into the bliss of Nirvana. This may be a bit metaphysical, but, in short, a Bodhisattva is a teacher. I always thought this a perfect name for a bird dog, as he should forgo his own desires, so that others may attain their own path to enlightenment. A Bodhisattva remains a humble teacher, among all other things, who forsakes his own learning (or path to greatness) in order to assist others in their path. True to his name, Bodhi did that, as well as having achieved his own enlightenment, which he occasionally gave us glimpse at having attained. In fact, I believe, he was enlightened from the beginning.

Piper was enlightened from the beginning. What a privilege it was to journey with her for the too-brief time we were together. That'll do, Pipe — good girl, good girl.


[For anyone interested, Piper was a granddaughter of the butcher's Mac, and on her dam's side went back to Glyn Jones' Bracken and Templeton's Roy. She was the daughter of my Bracken and Roger Schroeder's Don.]

Related post:
Vestibular disease

Spanked by a girl

It was a weekend of introductions. Smoky was eager to meet everyone. The border collies took one look at him and gave a collective shudder. Smoke is still a pup, so no blood was shed despite some dramatic snappage.

My pibble was the only one willing to run and wrestle with the new kid — no surprise, since she is the friendliest dog in the history of the universe. But when she says, "That's enough," she means it. Don't make her tell you twice. Everyone is sleeping very well these days, Smoke especially.

Girl, I can make things right: Smoove B strikes out again.

LIFE photo archive available on Google Image Search

From the LIFE photo archive: "Dog breeder Arthur N. Allen, whose border collie, Roy, won the North American Dog Society Championship 3 times in a row; here with potential future winner." 1961 photo by Robert W. Kelley. [They left a word out. It should be the North American — something, I'll think of it in a minute — Dog Society Championship... Ship? Ship Dog...? No... ]

Dude. The LIFE Magazine photo archive, all 10 million images, is going to be available on Google Image Search. From the Google Blog [with H/T to Lisa Gold, among others who've mentioned this]:

We're excited to announce the availability of never-before-seen images from the LIFE photo archive. This effort to bring offline images online was inspired by our mission to organize all the world's information and make it universally accessible and useful. This collection of newly-digitized images includes photos and etchings produced and owned by LIFE dating all the way back to the 1750s.

Only a very small percentage of these images have ever been published. The rest have been sitting in dusty archives in the form of negatives, slides, glass plates, etchings, and prints. We're digitizing them so that everyone can easily experience these fascinating moments in time. Today about 20 percent of the collection is online; during the next few months, we will be adding the entire LIFE archive — about 10 million photos.

That 20% should keep you busy enough for now.

The most beautiful dogs in the world

On the left, Stuart Davidson's Jim, a mostly black slick-coat. All things [that is, working ability] being equal, this is the type I'll fall for every time. Just one of many terrific new photos at Kinloch Sheepdogs: check 'em out.

Via CleverColliesDeb over at the Border Collie Boards, here are two videos featuring Aled Owen and Roy, this year's winners of the World Trial. The first video is their semifinals run, on five sheep. The second video is their winning run in the double lift final. Roy is sent for two packets of ten sheep each, with five collared ewes to be shed and penned.

Season's end III

To the left: Richard Millichap's Taddymoor Cap trying to stop the last uncollared ewe. World Trial photo by Kinloch Sheepdogs — more here.

A few more wrap-ups: visit the Alta-Pete Farm Blog for a nice post on Scott Glen's Pleat, who is retiring after his win this year at Soldier Hollow.

Via Sheepdog News: keep an eye on Gene Sheninger's coverage of the World Trial.

Excellent photos [so green...!] and description of Nick and Nancy Obernier's fine run at the World Trial here.

Kinloch Sheepdogs has an interesting World Trial report on their blog, and as mentioned before, great photos, with more to come. [Check out Kinloch's just-for-fun recalculation of the team scores.]

Season's end

Bob O'Donnell setting sheep at the 2008 USBCHA Finals, Sturgis SD. Photo — I'm guessing — by Pearse Ward.

The USBCHA North American Sheepdog Finals were won by a Canadian team, Ian Zoerb and his Peg. Reserve Champions were Bev Lambert and Bill. I'll let Pearse Ward call it [and huge thanks to Pearse for blogging the Finals so well]:

Ian Zoerb [and Peg] are on the course now with a nice first gather, good line to the fetch gates and flawless turn back. They had a good lift but got a little off line in the long grass near the top. As soon as they came out of the long stuff, Ian wasted no time in putting the sheep back on line and they were on a good line all the way to the fetch gates. The drive had nice flow and except for a short stretch coming a little low was on line most of the way around. In the shedding ring there was some outstanding work. Anyone who works dogs knows how tough it is to stop a ewe going flat out with her head down but Peg, after 25 minutes of hard work, ran that ewe down and caught her not ten yards from the shed group and without gripping turned her and brought the single back into the shedding ring. As nice a piece of dog work as you will see. That was the same ewe that had broken back once already, causing Ian to regather and reshed with only two left to shed off. It was too bad that such nice work will not count for Best Shed because it is up there.

Ian Zoerb and Peg have taken the lead.

Read it all here. I can't begin to say how great it has been to have such excellent descriptions of the work. Huge thanks to Finals Trial Committee Members Laura Hicks, Rene LaBree, Sharon Norstog and Jamie Spring for organizing the 2008 Finals. California brags: Nursery Champions were Suzy Applegate and Buzz; Reserve Champions were Jennifer Clark-Ewers and Gunner; and Sandra Milberg [of Sonoma Wine Country Sheepdog Trial fame] and Quill were seventh in the Nursery Championship. Jennifer and Sweep took eleventh place in the double lift finals; Sandy Milberg and Drift qualified for the double lift but DQed.

*************

Over in Wales, Aled Owen and Roy won the World Trial by one point over Ron Snoeck and Nell from Netherlands. Here is an update [along with some terrific photos] from Kinloch Sheepdogs. Thanks so much to all who provided words and pictures for those of us back home.

From the Finals

Be sure to check out top hand Pearse Ward's daily posts from the USBCHA Sheepdog Finals in South Dakota. Hat tip to Sheepdog News, where Bev Lambert reports on a lost dog [now found, thank heaven], and more news from the World Trial in Wales.

What're they serving at Meeker? Also: Yay, Wales!

Whatever Bill Berhow and his dogs Pete and Mike had for breakfast Saturday morning must have been seasoned with Kryptonite. On the famously difficult sheep at Meeker, the night after mountain lions got into the flock [read Bev Lambert's blog post here] Bill and Mike scored an impressive 90 in the semifinals, while Pete's run got a 91. Only three other dogs in the semifinal group of thirty topped 80 points [out of 110].

But in Sunday's double lift final, Dennis Gellings and his dogs Jake and Jan were the ones with special powers. Jake took first with 125 points, Jan took second with 119; Scott Glenn and Pleat took third with 105; and fourth with 100 points went to Ian Zoerb and Peg. Out of a possible 170 — told you those Meeker ewes are tough. Full results are here. [The 1993 poster shows Bill Berhow with his great dog Nick.]

Over at the International in Wales, three of the top five winners, including the Champion and Reserve Champion, were — drum roll, please — Welsh! Yay home team! Supreme Championship went to Kevin Evans and Mirk, with Alan Jones and Bet just five points behind.

Conditions at times were cold and soaking wet, and visibility was... well, check out the photo from the ISDS site:


But livestock must be looked after no matter what the weather, so sheepdogs and their handlers carry on. Full results for this year's International are here, here and here. And now, on to the North American USBCHA Finals and the World Sheepdog Trials in, wait for it... Wales! World-wise, we'll be cheering for Rhyme, mother to Bill Fosher's young Fern. Good luck, Haley! Good luck, Donald! Good luck, all!

Biggies

Prompted by the most excellent Shoofly Farm blog, I've added a little section in the left sidebar with easier-to-find links to major trials of the season and a few handlers' blogs to keep an eye on. Busy times!

Soldier Hollow

Results from Monday's double lift final are here. Scott Glenn and Pleat won; Bev Lambert and Bill took second [see Bev's blog reports at Sheepdog News]; and Faansie Basson and Jan [all the way from South Africa] were third. There are lots of terrific photos and a number of videos in the Soldier Hollow 2008 thread on the Border Collie Boards, most courtesy of the splendid Jan [ShoresDog].

Gratuitous "six degrees of separation" comment: set out was managed by my trainer Anna Guthrie and her hard-working crew. That's Anna in the pink shirt, as Amanda Milliken's Clive [fourth place in Monday's final] lifts his sheep in an early run:




Bill Berhow and Pete were champions at Soldier Hollow last year. Bill is a great handler and Pete is a wonderful dog, but this year the stars lined up for others. Jan writes of Pete's Friday run: "This video starts when he is almost down the hill on the fetch. Unfortunately, he had one ewe who was a piece of work, and it took him too much time getting down the hill, so he times out at the end. Given his sheep, he still gets a lot done, and he got a 62."



And now the scene shifts to Meeker... and the North American Finals, and the International and the World...

Websites to watch during a season of great sheepdog trials

Before the gather. Photo from the English National Sheepdog Trials website.

For an ultimate insider's look at some of the great trials in North America, check out guest blogger Bev Lambert's updates over at Sheepdog News. Bev won't need any introduction to sheepdog folks. She's handled her border collies to multiple wins at Soldier Hollow and Meeker and will be blogging from both of those challenging, prestigious trials, and from the National Finals, where her dogs Lark and the legendary Pippa were Reserve Champions [Lark in 1997, Pippa in 2002 and 2006].

Over in the UK the English, Irish and Scottish Nationals are done and the Welsh National is yet to come, along with the International and the World Trial [both in Wales this year]. The Kinloch Sheepdogs website has news updates, a blog, photos of dogs at work, trials results and quite a bit more. Kelvin Broad and Angie Driscoll are the humans of Kinloch Sheepdogs, and their website is one to keep an eye on — they're in Wales, in the midst of things.

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Represent...! The young dog that placed fifth at the English Nationals, Derek Scrimgeour's Fleece, was bred right here in beautiful California by Dan and Geri Byrne. Geri is a top handler, a tireless advocate for the working sheepdog, and one of the organizers of the 2009 USBCHA National Sheepdog Finals. Yay Fleece!!

Tomorrow is 'Take Your Dog to Work' Day

Or, as Laura Hicks of the L & M Ranch might say, "Life as we know it." I swiped the beautiful photo above from Laura's most excellent new blog. [Link is also in the sidebar]. Visit her site for lots of good photos and good reads about ranching with stockdogs. This is as perfect a day as any to recommend all the sites in the Border Collie Blogroll, not to mention Bill's blog and the Sheep Production Forum site.

"Apart from his work, there is not much to be said about the Border collie."

In addition to being a top hand with a dog, Laura is also a member of the Trials Committee organizing the 2008 USBCHA Sheepdog Finals in Sturgis, SD. The 2008 Finals website is the work of Pearse Ward, also a top hand. Those names may be familiar, even if you're not a border collie person. Here's a bit more about Laura. [Her Zac was the All-Around Stockdog Award winner at the 2007 National Finals.] And here is a photo of Pearse and his Riel.

I've already taken my dog to work (two of 'em) and would like to wish everyone with working dogs, as well as all of those who work with dogs, a very safe and happy TYDTW Day.

[The pullquote is by A. Croxton Smith, "Britain's leading canine authority," quoted by Tim Longton and Edward Hart in The Sheepdog: Its Work and Training, 1976.]

Bluegrass report is up at Shoofly Farm

Run over to Robin's blog for her report on the Bluegrass Trial. Tommy Wilson and Sly must have been ossum to watch — hope there will be photos posted on blogs and boards soon. Thanks, Robin!

The Bluegrass, and the 2008 National Cattledog Finals

Trial of the year, sheepdog trainer/handler Robin French calls the Bluegrass, and I won't argue — I've seen the run order. I dream of heading east some spring to watch those household names [to sheepdog people, anyway] and their terrific dogs.

Robin French of Shoofly Farm [also the name of Robin's blog, with useful posts on training and handling sheepdogs] is running Spottie, Zac and Moss at the Bluegrass this year, and has promised "a full trial report when we get home." Robin writes:

It's the best trial of the year, even if my dogs don't end up totally on their game. Lots of good dog work and it's a real SHEEP trial, where the fresh sheep mostly sort out the dogs, at least on the first round, before they get more dog broke. I love watching this kind of trial, where you get to see so much more of what's really in the dogs and it's less about who handles best. I'll be glued to the sidelines for the first round, that's for sure!

A number of handlers at this year's trial are also talented photographers, and I'll be keeping an eye out for their photos.

In Torrington, Wyoming, the National Cattledog Finals are winding up: final runs for both Open and Nursery are this Saturday, May 17. You can follow the results here. An up-and-down week for my trainer Anna Guthrie, but a miracle her good dog Tick was able to compete after the nightmare a year ago. [I believe Tikkle is eligible for next year's Nurseries as well.]

Good luck to all, and take lots of pictures! [That's Denise Wall's Kate in the photo above — Denise is running Kate in this year's Bluegrass.]