Sheepdog News

I don't know how any of us are ever going to get any work done, with the Finals and the World Trial running simultaneously, and literate bloggers posting information from all over the globe.  I just wanted everyone to make sure to read Pearse Ward's great blog from the Finals site in Sturgis–reading his updates is the next best thing to being there!

The biggest event today was the news that Amanda had found Roz, or rather that Roz had found Amanda. Everyone here was very worried. There was a constant quest for information all day that finally ended around 3:00 with the good news.

Running started at noon today. Alison and I missed the 11:00 handler's meeting as we had gone to Newel to work our dogs a bit. The practice wasn't a huge success, but I at least left feeling I had made the right choice to run Hemp, who was working really well.

I spent a couple of hours exhausting sheep with Mirk. The fresh range ewes were very suspicious of the exit off the field, and sometimes getting the used sheep off took almost as long as the run. Mirk did a great job. He had multiple groups giving him the evil eye, and he only lost his cool once. I thought he was wonderful . . . but of course I thought that before he exhausted, too.

Herbert ran this afternoon and had a not-great run, but he finished.Which given these sheep is very difficult. He got 112 combined score from the two judges and was sitting 5th behind the top score of 148 after the 24th run, when we stopped for the day. The running improved as evening approached and it cooled a little. It was pretty warm on the field for most of the afternoon and the sheep were very cranky.Several dogs got stood off and had one ewe split off and run away. The low scores reflect the difficulty with just keeping the sheep on the field and moving, let alone getting the obstacles. I think it will be necessary to finish the course (in other words, get the pen) in order to get a high enough score to make the semi-finals.

I run sixth in the morning with Hemp. I'm hoping the sheep won't be quite so difficult when it's cooler. Course this didn't work out at Meeker, but who but a great optimist would keep doing this anyway?

Amanda hasn't arrived here yet, so I don't have the full report on her adventures. It's hard to drive as many miles as we all do in this sport without having an occasional travel adventure, much as we all try to avoid them. I think this one had as good an ending as one could hope.

Gene Sheninger has sent me an interesting journal of his experiences to date in Wales; as most of you know, he's a member of the U.S. Team, due to start competing with his two dogs on Thursday.  The journal is really interesting reading–check it out here. I'll post updates as I receive them.

It's nice to be able to post good news!  Roz is safe and sound.  Amanda spent the day running around the Casper environs handing out flyers and notifying as many channels as she could think of.  When she returned to the spot where the accident had occurred, she found Roz curled up and waiting for her.  Apparently she's a bit foot sore and has some minor injuries around her head, but she's safe and sound and mentally unscathed.  Thanks to everyone in our great community for all the help and suggestions!

Note from Heather: I'm a little late posting this, because of the Amanda-and-Roz crisis.  Sorry!

*****

I'm parked, unhitched, showered, and safely ensconced in my camper at Sturgis. Always so nice to get where your going.

Had a wonderful time at the Woodbury's. Not only did they feed me supper, provide ewes and a thousand spectacular acres to train on, but they took us all out to lunch in Buffalo. A wonderful hiatus on my trip–so nice to see old friends and get to revisit one of my favorite fantasies, the perfect Wyoming ranch.

I held Finals try-outs while at Woodbury's, and after running Hemp and Mirk I have decided to give poor, patient Hemp his chance to run. Mirk has done a great job, just missing the finals at both Meeker and Soldier Hollow but he's done a lot for a really young dog and I think I'll give Hemp his turn. Hemp has more experience than Mirk, and while he can be harder to run I think his hard pushing style might suit these sheep a little better than Mirk's more diffident approach. We'll know Wednesday if I was right.

Had a nice practice at Woodbury's; all the dogs were quite nice on their Dorpers. They're not much like range ewes, but it was a wonderful chance to give everyone a good run on sheep they could easily control and gain some confidence from working.

Gave Bill the day off. He damaged a toe nail on Friday and is still sore. I hope it's all better by the time he runs this coming Friday. I'm giving him a few days off to rest after Meeker and let him heal up. I feel he is for sure my best shot here.

I got to Sturgis at 7:00 and the parking area was already quite full. It was getting dark so I didn't get a chance to look over the field. There will be plenty of time tomorrow.

I looked for somewhere to wash the camper all the way here from Buffalo but no luck. So it's covered with mud. I stopped at a rest area and hosed off the door and the jacks. But it's quite a sight.

I received a cell phone message last night from Amanda Milliken, who asked me to post this information on the Internet.  Amanda was sideswiped by a transport 5-10 miles south of Casper, Wyoming on her way from Meeker to the Finals.  She thought that he had just hit her mirror and not the trailer, but apparently he had caused enough damage to allow Roz, her nursery bitch, to escape.  Amanda is parked with no cell phone reception, hoping that the dog will return.  She’s alerted the police and vets in the immediate area, but if anyone out here can help or has any information, please get in touch with me, and I’ll get in touch with her one way or another.  Roz is a small, smooth, dark bitch, very alert and friendly.  Please forward anywhere you think might be helpful.

Well, my morning draw wasn't what I had hoped for. Coupled with Bill's having a sore foot and being nine years old, I'm afraid the wild ewes were just a bit too much for us. The first bunch just outran Bill, and we missed the fetch by a mile; the second fetch went much better. We had a very good drive and shed, but a ewe broke at the pen and Bill was just too tired to catch her. That resulted in the group rejoining, and we lost the shed never to regain it again.  So we had what we professionals call a "crappy run."

After saying my goodbyes, I got the old camper hooked up and hit the road headed north. Herbert and Alison Holmes and I were fortunate enough to have been invited to stop at Jo and Leo Woodbury's beautiful ranch in Buffalo, Wyoming on our way to Sturgis.  I was eager to get to Buffalo and visit old friends.

It's about an eight hour drive from Meeker to the Woodbury's, and very uncharacteristically it rained for about half the trip. So by the time we pulled off the highway and started driving on the dirt road into the ranch, it was pretty slick. I did the last six or seven miles in four wheel drive. My camper is completely covered in mud.

View from the Woodbury's.

Any difficulties of the trip quickly fade in the face of Jo and Leo's hospitality. Don and Jeannie Helsley are here as well. We all sat long after dinner trading stories, many of them featuring Ralph Pulfer who had such an enormous impact on dog trialing in North America. Any time a group of handlers begin telling stories it's only a matter of time before most of the best stories begin to feature Ralph. I think it's time for someone to publish a collection of Ralph Pulfer stories.

And another.

I'm sure sorry we didn't do better in our finals run at Meeker. But there's nothing like spending an evening with dog trialing friends to remind me of what is really worthwhile about our sport.

All curled up now for a long winters sleep. It's in the 40s here, and after the warm Meeker weather it feels really cold. Tomorrow Jo and Leo have some ewes sorted off for us and we'll all work sheep before heading on to the Finals.

Bev and the dream team–Mirk is on the left, and Bill on the right

Long day, full of happiness and disappointment. Another day of perfect Colorado summer weather. Started out quite cool this morning and warmed to mid-70s by afternoon. There was a bit of wind off and on all day.

The great morning draws turned out to be very bad. Mountain lions got into the sheep at the ranch where they stay when we aren't running them and killed thirteen of the ewes. Today I believe we ran some of the witnesses. The early sheep were wild. The first five dogs were either DQed for grips or lost their sheep. Alas, Ethel ran first and was DQed in the shedding ring when she bumped a sheep.

Bill Berhow turned things around with a very good run in the sixth place slot, and the hopes of the semi-finalists began to pick up.

We ran five sheep with two collared for the semi-finals. After the drive, there was a shed of two uncollared sheep, a pen, and singleof a collared ewe, for a total possible score of 110. Bill Berhow was first and second when the dust settled, with a 91 and a 90. Ian Zoarb was third with an 89, and my Bill was forth with 84 (and the days dumbest outrun–he covered most of Colorado in an effort to make up for needing a re-direct on his first run).

Mirk ran well, but not quite good enough, ending up thirteenth: one point out of the finals.

At the conclusion of the running, we drew for tomorrow's running order. I am up first with Bill and Amanda is up sixth with Clive, the last run before the long lunch hour break.

Most of the top handlers got in with at least one dog, Dennis Gellings and Bill Berhow being the only two hands in with two.

Tonight there is a jackpot arena trial in town, but as this always runs very late, we are all hanging out here, and Amanda is creating another of her gourmet dinners for us. I fear I'm a awful freebooter, but I can't resist the great food.

I'm disappointed about Mirk, but after running 124 dogs and only taking twelve back to the finals, this trial is full of disappointed folks. 

I'm very pleased Bill got in, as he's my best shot at doing something in the finals.

People have begin pulling out for the drive up to Sturgis and the last trial of our little circuit. I'll leave some time tomorrow. It's an eight-hour drive, but because of deer and antelope you need to be careful about beginning driving at dawn and dusk until you get to the Interstate in Wyoming.

Another  lovely day, never got above the low 70s, and while the wind blew a little off and on all day, it was never a big factor in the running. The best running was the first few of the morning, with Ian Zoerb scoring the day's high score on the second run of the day with a 77.

I ran sixth and got off to a rocky start with Bill when he needed two re- directs on the outrun and then had three of his sheep break away and run over a hundred yards. A very scary start, but he pulled it together and we finished well, scoring a 74 and finishing second for the day.

The high-scoring early runs put the 63's that Mirkand Ethel had scored on the first day in jeapordy of not making the cut. Happily for Amanda and me, it ended up taking a 61 to make the semi-final.

After the draw, Amanda is running first and I'm up fourteenth with Mirk and eighteenth with Bill. Not brilliant draws, but I'm delighted to be in with two dogs.

We start with a 6:45 handler meeting. Looking forward to running both dogs and hoping for the best.

We are at the handler's dinner now watching a very funny magician.

Beautiful weather, coolish night got up to a breeze and clear skies.

Amanda and Bart got the day's running started with a demonstration run for local television. I ran sixth with Mirk. He had a really nice outrun off the left and managed to get the sheep through the fetch gates, albeit by a somewhat circuitous route. We had a reasonable turn and first drive leg. Wide turn and not great crossdrive, missing the second drive gate. Good shed and insufficient time to pen, scoring a 63 for our prodigious 13 minutes of effort.

In the east, this would be a disastrous score. In the difficult world of Meeker, it should be good enough to get us into the semi-final on Saturday.

The running today was a bit better then yesterday, with twelve scores of 60 or better as opposed to only ten such on Wednesday. The high score of the day was a 78 put up by Dennis Gellings and his wonderful bitch, Jan. Amanda and Clive had a very good go, scoring a 77. Carla King and Emma covered themselves with considerable glory on their first trip to Meeker by scoring a very respectable 71. Emma handled the sheep easily and looked to be having a good time on her first trip west.

I did a little exhaust work in the afternoon with Huck, followed by Amanda and Roz. Both youngsters handled the sheep with a lot of confidence and looked very capable.

Roz exhausting

Tonight was the annual art show where all the entrants for next year's poster are viewed.

Tomorrow is the last day of qualifying. Hope for continued cool weather and not too much wind.

I was very proud of Mirk. He was a good boy. Now it's Bill's turn.