Sheepdog News

Amanda: Mopping Up

I had a long twenty four hours of travel, a milk run to Ottawa from Regina.
The drive up from Plentywood, Montana in the morning was gorgeous but the Regina plains looked like rice paddies. They might better take up that crop this year if they could. I had a couple of hours to kill in the morning, so I checked out the MacKenzie Art Gallery in Regina and a couple of small galleries. I am a complete fan of the prairies. Home was reached at three a.m. and it never looked better.

The Dakota trials were ones to which I would gladly go back, given the opportunity. The extremity of them was a marvel. The outruns were colossal. I don’t know how such space could be found here. And of course the sheep were very demanding of any dog encountering them. For uninitiated eastern dogs, a shock. Without travel to such places, I don’t know how you could get the experience. The western fine wools get doggy easily. By the last day of Slash J, they had become quite civilized compared to day one, never easy, but significantly tamed down. Besides that they would die around here of foot rot or wet weather, they never stay crisp, like they were at the onset of the trial. The weather played a huge rule in the outcome of the trial. If the wind came up, there was very little chance of successfully handling through it. I loved getting my dogs on them. Each of them knows more for having been there.

All these people hosting these trials, Rene LeBree, Joni Swanke, Tom Kok, Barb Ross, Gloria and Harry Kerr, work hard at keeping people entertained and provided with high sport.
Some more pictures from the trip:
Wild Dakota Sky
Slash J 2011
Big One 2011

Amanda: Slash J, Le Fin

I hate having to win by weather but I suppose it could have worked against me too. I ran second. The wind came up with a vengeance and no one else really could make it.

Prairie Fire!

BevLive: Slash J, Day 3

Didn’t get as warm as yesterday, I think, and there was a strong wind at our backs all day. The running was very good on the smaller course with at least one score in the 90s and many scores in the 80s. Alas, none of them were mine.

I wasn’t disappointed with how either of my dogs worked. A pen would have gotten Nel in the double lift and Hemp was a good boy with poor steering on my part costing us the fetch gate. So tomorrow I will be spotting sheep for my friends in the double lift.

I missed a lot of the running as I arranged to buy a dozen sheep in Bowman at the livestock auction. This involved a lot of to-ing and fro-ing. I’m going to stay out here for an extra week and train my dogs on my new sheep. Then Joni has offered to sell the sheep for me. Sure is nice in places where people actually keep sheep. I’m looking forward to getting Joe and Odinn up to full speed. I have Odinn entered in the rest of this season’s trials and I want to try and get our teamwork smoothed out after her long layoff with her injured toe.

I hope someone posts who is in the final. I’m afraid the only ones I know are Jean and Dennis Gellings, Joni, Alison, Bud and Ron. They are running back fifteen so I’m missing a bunch. Sorry to be such a poor reporter. I did manage to get my new puppy picked out so my day wasn’t a total bust. Pictures to follow tomorrow.

BevLive: Slash J, Day 2

Got the open results wrong, sorry, Robin French was second not Jean Gellings.

We ran a combined Nursery/Ranch twice today. Very tough going for both the competitors and the set out crew. The sheep were hard to spot and often difficult for the young dogs to fetch.

There was some very nice work made all the more striking by all of the demonstrations of how difficult it actually was. Ron Burkey and his red, Star x Don nursery dog, Shadow, did really well every run. Amanda and Dory looked really good as did Dennis Gellings with his very young Sly x Roy.

My Joe was completely flumoxed by the sheep his first run. He fetched them and then had a bad hanging on grip at the turn. His second run he had a plan and inspite of his sheep being on their way back to the set out when he finished his outrun he brought them down with great aplomb. Nice run all the way around but no pen. He finished 3rd in the nursery and 4th in the ranch tied with Ron and Shadow who beat us on the out work. Joni and Sage won the second nursery and ranch with Dennis Edwards second in ranch and Ron Burkey second in nursery. I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten how the first ranch/nursery ended up.

It got quite hot today mid-80s and very little breeze. Tomorrow is the second open on a redesigned course. I believe the outrun has been shortened a little to aid in getting done and to make spotting the sheep easier.

It’s supposed to be hotter tomorrow then today. The sun here can get really hot with the clear, dry air. The sheep require a lot of herding which can really wear a dog out.

Tomorrow is everyone’s last chance to qualify for the double lift final. The 15 dogs with the highest combined three scores from the two trials (you get to drop one score) will compete. Hemp with two DQs is out of contention but with a good run Nel could still get in. She’s going to need to do better then her last run though.

Amanda: Slash J, Day 2

I had another long riding day today for the nursery and ranch dogs. The setting was very demanding Monty and Clive were sharp and my horse, Booze, was my trusted companion. Mindy Bower lent me her expensive fancy saddle and I had no more blistering, which made the day much more enjoyable.



The heat was a sharp contrast to the previous days’ cold and toughened up the running considerably. Dorey did not win but she was extremely good with things getting tightened up at the pen, in a bad way–no pens for us. Her close encounters with the western sheep paid off in worldliness.

During one of my spot jobs, the sheep were difficult, first rushing down the field, then up, just in time to meet the running dog. He did a classy job of walking into the face of three range fine wools, lifting them straight down the field. Guess who it was? Bev Lambert’s Joe, last year’s junior yahoo.

At one time in the afternoon, a wild cloud formation created a quasi rainbow. The cloud swirls with fantastic, other worldly. I tried to do it justice with a picture.



In the evening, Joni hosted a barbeque at her house. High spirits prevail. My boys get another crack at the field the sheep tomorrow.

Amanda: Slash J, Day 1

I have been nursing a couple of raw spots on my ass from saddle problems so I did not ride today. Early on, I spotted on foot.


I went to town for two frustrating cups of coffee where the milk was over heated and shoot. I cooked chicken supper, while taking in the hockey game. Canucks won in eleven seconds of overtime.




The dog running was tough. Vergil won with Dory’s boyfriend Scot. The wind dissipated so outside of the fabulous distance there were no good excuses. What a trial host. She just uses the other side of the extreme trial field for the nursery/ open ranch. a beautiful course in itself. Charmingly it was moved closer to the house so I could see while getting supper ready . The rest of the nursery dogs run tomorrow.

Joni has a litter of puppies I got out on the grass. A soft day at the Slash J.

BevLive: Slash J, Day 1

This was at least as hard a trial as the Big One. The outrun is shorter at about 500 yards but the sheep appear to be more determined. They are very tough to get off the top. This combined with a deceptively tricky outrun has ended many runs without the sheep ever coming down the field.

Once the fetch is finished, and some of them take a very long time as the sheep fight and split up in an effort to get back to their buddies in the holding pen, the turn is daunting. The sheep split at the turn and take every opportunity to get into the crowd and off the field. Many of them successfully alas.

The drive isn’t big but it’s very flat and again deceptive. The panels are metal and I found it very hard to judge where I was and managed to miss what should have been an easy second drive gate. Especially easy as I had seen about 30 people miss it the same way I did, duh!

Needless to say they shed (any single) very easily. But it’s a desperate struggle to get them reunited before they escape the field. Hemp did heroic work after his shed getting his sheep back together for the pen. Didn’t matter as I believe I put too much dog pressure on them and never got them in. Sure not my dog’s fault. He was hot and tired but never failed in his duty the many times he had to head them back to the pen.

It’s really tough sheep and trials like this that remind me how marvelous these dogs are. It’s easy for me to forget how good any run is when what I’m seeking is the perfect run. I was very proud of my “also ran” today.

The low scores reflected the tough going. I think Vergil Holland and Scott won with a 72 Jean Gellings and her dependable Star were second with 70 earned in all that wind last evening. Again I’m not sure as I didn’t see the scores at the end. There was hardly any wind today and the hearing seemed pretty good.

We finished the open at 5:30 and ran 20 Nursery dogs. We will run all young dogs tomorrow.

On a personal note I took Meg with her big cut to Baker, Montana and got her sewed back together. She has never evidenced any lameness or concern about the wound and would happily run all about. Alas, I have scratched her from the nursery. Too bad she won the last one and I was hoping to try her again. Only dog I have whose won anything here!

BevLive: The Big One, Day 4

New day, more wind. Was a very pretty day few clouds and tons of sunshine and 30+mph winds with gusts in 50s. Wasn’t blowing directly in our faces for nursery which was good.

The nursery course was over 300 yards up a hill. The drives were moderate as were the sheep after running in two open trials. Amazing what two open runs will do toward educating a flock of sheep. We probably had more pens in the nursery then in two open trials combined.

My dogs ran okay. Meg was short on her outrun and a bit erratic on her fetch and then settled down for an excellent drive and pen. Joe started out great, really listening and responding well. He missed a flank at the first drive and over compensated with a slice which got a DQ. I was delighted with him though. He handled the big course and the sheep very well. There were some lovely nursery runs, especially Bud’s winner. It was leading any way last time I looked.

After the nursery we all hurried to Joni’s ranch where the next trial started at 3:00. The wind was strong and nearly in our faces which didn’t slow Jean Gellings down at all as she and Star had a great go. I imagine they would currently be leading it. I ran Nel but she ran too wide on the outrun and didn’t handle the sheep well. We are running three fresh yearlings each run. We got through about 20 runs to day. Another 55 to finish the first runs on tomorrow when the wind is supposed to finally abate. A much anticipated event.

A big tractor just came and pulled Jim Swift out of where he got his rig stuck. There aren’t many of us camped at the trial. Tom and Joni cleared a section of fence and did some earth moving to make us a road but most folks feared getting stuck as much of the ground remains soft from all the rain. So there are perhaps 6-7 rigs here and the rest remain at the campground.

Meg injured herself somehow today. I need to take her in tomorrow and get her stitched up. Not life threatening but a nasty cut which will preclude her running her. Too bad she ran well today.

Amanda: The Big One, Day 4

Things wound up at the Big one today with a handful of open dogs followed by the ranch /nursery. Dorey’s run had some redeeming features but mostly it was a bust–a first encounter with western fine wools. I spotted a lot of sheep from horseback on foreign types of saddles, cowgirling up way over the top.

Just when you think you have seen everything, Marilyn Terpstra goes to the post. Her dog fence runs and crosses the road allowance over two fences and embarks on a fanciful outrun across a huge Dakota sized field. The set out crew saw her, alerted the bottom and Marilyn set off to find her on an atv. The next dog ran, but part way through the run, Tom Kok spotted the bitch running back to where she came from (home never looked so good) with an antelope chasing after her with astonishing ferocity. She chased her for 300 yards that we saw. Plainly the bitch had encountered her, with a new fawn and boy, was she going to teach her an unforgettable lesson. I don’t think she ever run through two fences again. When the antelope had her at the fence, the bitch made a mild attempt to defend itself at which point, Marilyn and Michelle Howard arrived on the scene. The antelope had a go at them and the bike. Such breath taking dangers, trialling in the Dakotas.

Joni changed around the trial field end for end. It’s a whole new experience. Another spectacular field. The sheep are charmingly difficult–newly shorn, yearling fine wools. We ran twenty dogs this evening and I get to run about seventh tomorrow. I hope no antelopes show up.

Amanda: The Big One, Day 3

In a strange turn of weather events, a fog blew in. The course
couldn’t be seen so everything stalled to the great frustration of
all, for two hours. That put us behind a loaded roster of dogs, which
our hosts generously arranged for us, lots of dogs. And now a 900
yard outrun.

The wind never gave up, but it shifted over the day, from not straight
into your face, to the side of your back. no one seemed to need
suicide watch due to the wind, although a couple of hands needed
suicide watch for the way their runs went. The running was nearly as frustrating as yesterday with scorers not
exceeding retirees and DQ’s.

I badly let down Monty, asking him on hard, not seeing he was directly
behind his sheep. He shifted a gear, as asked, and the sheep
scattered everywhere, painfully showing me where he had been. Clive
ran better.

I spotted sheep from Shannon Fritz’s horse which was very enjoyable.
Such a vista from there, the horse and hill combined.
The high scorer so far, is once again Lyle Lad and Shep. About
fifteen dogs are left over to run tomorrow before Nursery. Then we
all move over to Joni’s fabulous field for more sport, hopefully more
successful for your blogger. Her sheep look great.


The weather is meant to be cooler tomorrow with a wilder wind if
that’s possible. I get to run little Doris, Dorrit, Adorable, Dorey.
Her first crack at western sheep, and I can’t wait.

Crumby personal performance notwithstanding, I am having a wonderful
time, girl’s overnight with Michelle Howard and lots of fun at Joni’s
house.